The Complete Guide to Playing Blues Guitar Part One - Rhythm Guitar: Master Blues Rhythm Guitar Playing (Play Blues Guitar Book 1)

I retired this year and learn to play the Blues Guitar was on the top of my to do list. I have been messing around with trying to learn to play the guitar for over 40 years. I have tried private lessons, books and videos but nothing has ever really clicked for me. After giving it a go I usually give up in frustration and my guitar returns to the deep recesses of my closet waiting for the next time I get inspired. I started by digging out my old materials and started watching lessons on YouTube. Although this was helpful I soon discovered that I had no real direction and was not sure that I was progressing. So I decided to look for a book series that would give me a framework or curriculum to work with. After a lot of research I found this book and have been using it for two weeks. I can say that I have made more progress in this time than I have ever made in my past attempts. The lessons are easy to understand and build in a very logical order. They get to the point and get you playing right away. The audio and backing tracks make the lessons fun and challenging. I look forward to practicing every day and believe I have finally found a book that will help me reach my guitar goals.

I've been playing guitar for a few years now, and only recently have I begun to wrap my head around the concepts I learned long ago and how it translates to the intimidating fretboard. I bought this book not long after I started out and found it frustrating, limited, and unhelpful. Opening it now, I can see it has a wealth of practical knowledge. The book is actually pretty sparse - there's not many examples, and it is not overly descriptive. Again, this can be frustrating for a beginner, but now I see the language is precise and the examples are mainly there to get the gears working - it's written to encourage experimentation. The first few chapters are ok for getting a basic shuffle going, but beyond that, I think you'd really want to know your way around the fretboard, know how chords are constructed, know how various voicing are built, etc. Once you're there I think anyone interested in playing the blues in a really cool way (beyond just the shuffle) could really get a lot out of this book.

I was a metal guitarist for 20 years. Always had problems playing the blues. Just could grasp the structure. I know is a slow version of a lot of heavy metal. I’ve only had the book for a few days. I love how engaging the author is with the reader. It is a nice approach compared to a lot of music books. The book moves you forward quickly. But not too fast. It is simple to read. I have book 2 in the series ready as soon as I finish this one. So far I am very happy with my purchase. Once I finish I review again on my progress and ability to adapt to blues.

This is a great book for beginners. It is clear and concise, leading straight to the fun stuff, and referencing several original blues greats so you can do your research when not actively practicing. I plan on getting the get of these books. Also, great support and free videos.

Let me start by saying that I love the blues. When I started playing guitar in my late 40's, I took some lessons and then, like I've done most of my life, I went looking for literature to augment my skills and knowledge. There are thousands of books purporting to teach you to play in whatever style you choose, from beginner to advanced. It is all very confusing and overwhelming. Suddenly, here was a book whose author made no such claims. I downloaded a sample and read the first couple of pages with some scepticism. Then I went to the author's website and downlaoded the backing tracks. The text and tab proved easy to read, and together with the tracks, I was soon starting to sound like a blues player, so I bought the first book, followed by the second and third volumes to complete the set. I have to say that I haven't been disappointed and I have bought several other books subsequent to this and they continue to provide me with and ever expanding repertoire of styles without fail. I still have to work hard to master the techniques, and the going is sometimes slower than I would like, but this has more to do with aging fingers and lack of talent than the books (lol). Thank you Joseph Alexander.

The first time I ever played the blues was at an outdoor BarBQ at White Rock Lake in Dallas in 1965. The guys I jammed with were all older than me and I just followed along. Amazing fun! I'll never forget it. I only wish this book had been available back then, because I would have gone straight home and boned up real quick so next weekend I could have amazed them all! This book really opens up the fundamentals of playing rhythm for blues guitar. It breaks it all down, one piece at a time, so you get both the gist of it all, plus there are more than enough details to get you started off right. If you already know how to play it, I'll wager that you'll learn even more. I have another of Mr. Alexander's excellent books, "Jazz Guitar Soloing Compilation," and they are both high caliber in with respect to their clarity and they way they progress. If you really dig the blues, and you want to explode your understanding about how it all fits together--and make your playing even more fluid and instinctive--get this book. You can't go wrong. After all, rhythm guitar is the heart of the blues. If the rhythm guitar just ain't with it, the whole ensemble suffers. But when you're right there in the pocket, everything else rocks steady.

I bought the first three volumes of this series, and figured I'd review this one since it's the most likely one someone would purchase first. I've been playing just about anything with strings for more decades than I'd like to think about, and I own hundreds of technical music books. I'm always looking for interesting approaches, different ways of looking at theory and application, and, especially pertinent regarding Mr. Alexander's works, the most efficient ways to teach. So here it is: if you're a relative novice looking to play blues or rock, you'll be wasting a lot of time if you buy any other book. 'Complete Guide' bypasses everything you don't need to know (you can waste years on that stuff), and provides a comprehensive, standard, easily applied method of learning rhythm and lead for blues, which is the basis of rock and much of jazz. With a bit of effort, you'll get to the point that you can play with others faster using Mr. Alexander's method much more quickly than if you'd gone to music school or tried another approach. The sound files are very helpful, later books in this series seamlessly build on the material presented here, and if you want to later try any of the Jazz or 'modern guitar' material, you'll be treading comfortably familiar ground. I'd thought it had all been written, and than nobody could add much to the genre. I was wrong. Buy this one, you'll be glad you did.

After retiring at 65, I was looking around for things to do. Meanwhile, I found myself wishing for the umpteenth time that I could play the blues on guitar. Well, inspiration met desperation, and I bought my first guitar. I was ready to supply the blood, sweat, and tears, but i knew I still would need a guide. I searched around the web and decided on this Fundamental Changes book because it seemed comprehensive and understandable. After a year of playing I can’t say that I’m T-bone Walker yet, but this book is taking me on a methodical journey toward my goal. Clear explanations and numerous audio examples make following the lessons easy and fun. Since then I have purchased several books in the series, and I have never been disappointed. Just when I have another question, I find out there’s a “Fundamental Changes” book with the answer. Highly recommend!

Ich habe mir schon vorher Gitarrenbücher gekauft um endlich spielen zu lernen. Meistens fangen diese bei Adam und Eva an, wie sitze ich richtig und so. Ich habe zuvor schon andere Instrumente gespielt und finde so etwas eher ermüdend ... Auch findet man hier oft nur kurze Einführungen in verschiedene Musikrichtungen, die einen nicht alle interessieren müssen. Hier bekommt man genau das, was drauf steht. Nach einer kurzen allgemeinen Anleitung geht es sofort zur Sache und man lernt die Struktur, erste Riffs, Akkorde, ... Man fängt gleich mit dem an was einen interessiert und bleibt bis zum Schluss im Thema und wird nicht mit 'anderen Dingen' abgelenkt. Ich habe mir die Kindle Versionen gekauft, da man hier meiner Meinung nach ein großartiges Preis/Leistung Verhältnis hat. Auch die Website des Autors finde ich klasse, da man hier nicht nur die mp3 zum Buch bekommt, sondern auch interessante Videos und tolle Anregungen. Inzwischen habe ich schon einige dieser Kindle Bücher des Autors und wenn ich denn mal alles durchgearbeitet habe (ok, das kann noch etwas dauern :) werden bestimmt noch einige dazu kommen. Wer ein Einsteiger Buch sucht und bisher weder Gitarre noch Bass gespielt hat sollte allerdings andere Angebote in Betracht ziehen. Die Kindle Bücher lassen sich übrigens auf verschiedensten Tablets und Reader sehr gut durcharbeiten, da man nicht viel liest sondern sich mehr mit den Tabs (oder Noten) beschäftigt und die Zeit eher (hoffentlich) mit üben verbringt. Daher muss auch die Auflösung des Displays nicht so hoch sein wie beim Lesen von Büchern. Funktioniert auch klasse am PC.

I am a beginner guitar player and I have a tendency to look for books/lessons that can combine clear and direct content with easy to understand language and concepts (because English is not my native language, I am from Brazil, and because I can learn faster that way). And if the material has some kind of practical tools to match the theory or some kind of media content to help you grasp the concepts easier, even better. This book, in my pesonal opinion, has all the above. The content is king and is brought to you in a way that you can learn at your pace (I have a lot of other stuff to study, so, that's a must for me), practice using the free audio files that you can download at the author's website, and you feel like you are being taught by someone who is in total control of the lessons and the material. I started to work with the first book and liked it so much that I decided to buy more books from the same author and even the volumes II and III of the Blues Guitar Series. Great Stuff.

If you want to move past basic chord strumming and truly understand the foundations of blues rhythm, Joseph Alexander’s book is an exceptional place to start. This book is highly recommended. It builds your skills logically, ensuring you have the confidence to jam with others.

Goed en duidelijk boek

Though blues is said to be more of a feel than just technical playing, a structured training approach helps . This book is definitely useful to develope basic rhythm playing in blues. A good starter for blues. Thanks