Beginner Blues Guitar National Guitar Workshop

First, I will discuss the facts and then give my opinion about this book.

The book is the authorized curriculum for the National Guitar Workshop. It is published by Alfred Publishing and is the first in a set of four.

There were three selling points for me. It starts out very simply. A CD of all the lessons is included, and the lessons and CD include jam sessions. The first few lessons include how to pick notes on each string of the guitar to a particular rhythm. After you have completed this, you will progress to playing a few chords and twelve-bar blues in D.

Then, there are a large number of lessons in which you will play a pattern of notes on each string, eventually working to the point where you will be working up and down the neck and across a number of strings. Once you complete these lessons, there is a short 12-bar blues in A where you play the rhythm part and then a simple solo riff.

The instruction covers reading music (standard and tablature), scales, shuffles, several common blues chords and progressions, moveable chords (barre chords), moveable scales, hammer on/off, and bends. Throughout the lessons, there are opportunities to jam with a band from the CD. The final lesson is a long jam session where you will practice everything you have learned to a Blues Jam in A.

Now that I have covered the facts, I have to say that I am very glad that I bought a Blues Guitar for Beginners. I am now at the point where I can play a strong lead for a 12-bar blues song in the keys of A and E.

I highly recommend this book and the series if you want to learn how to play the blues.