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FLATPICKING GUITAR INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL
With all of the various instructional books, cassettes, videos, and CDs that are available on the market today, it has become quite confusing and frustrating for flatpicking guitar students to try to pick which instructional method or title would be best suit their particular needs. In this catalog we have tried to present the material that we offer in organized and logical categories in order to make your decision easier. A brief description of these categories, and links to instructional materials applicable to them, are offered below:
Beginners Material:
This is material which is oriented to the beginning flatpicker. Some of it assumes that you already know how to play some basic chords. The material in this section will teach you the basic skills of bluegrass rhythm guitar playing and lead flatpicking and begin to build your song repertoire by introducing you to some simple songs presented in an easy-to-understand and easy-to-play manner.
Rhythm Guitar Instruction:
This category includes all material which is specifically designed to teach you how to play rhythm guitar. Although most of the materials in the beginners category covers basic rhythm playing, this section also contains material which strictly focuses on more advanced styles of rhythm guitar incuding bluegrass, Celtic, gypsy jazz, and western swing rhythm.
Repertoire Builders:
This is one of the most important categories for developing the ability to get out there and participate in jam sessions. The material in this section is basically designed to teach you how to play new songs. After you have spent time learning the basics of lead flatpicking and rhythm playing, this category is where you will turn to build your flatpicking repertoire. Some of the books contain very basic beginning level material while others offer intermediate and advanced level arrangements of the songs. We have indicated the level of skill required to work with each title in this category so that it might make your selection a little easier.
Improving General and Technical Skills:
This category includes the material which teaches you general guitar topics such as tone, timing, tuning, good practice habits, metronome use, ear training, improvisation, etc. Most of this material is not skill level specific. Beginners, intermediate, and advance students can all learn from this material since you can never really get enough foundation training.
Learn From the Legends:
This section covers stylistic instructional material. In other words, this is where you will find books and videos which teach you how to play like Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Norman Blake, Russ Barenberg, Dan Crary, etc. This is where you can learn how to play tunes exactly like your favorite artists might play them. The majority of this material is on the intermediate to advanced skill levels.
Irish, New Acoustic, Gypsy Jazz, Old-Time, Western Swing:
In this section we will include those styles of flatpicking music which are “other than bluegrass,” or fiddle tune flatpicking. Topics such as acoustic jazz, Celtic, old-time, Western swing and gypsy jazz will be presented in this material.
Transcription Books:
Each of the transcription books in this section from Mel Bay publications provides you with the standard music notation and tablature transcriptions to some of the best flatpicking CDs on the market today. Since these books showcase the tunes as they were played on the artist’s CD, the majority of the material is appropriate for the intermediate and advanced level players.
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