The Complete Guide to Playing Blues Guitar: Book One - Rhythm (Play Blues Guitar) Paperback – December 15, 2013

I've purchased a LOT of guitar instruction books over the last 3 years of guitar playing. My focus is Blues, hence me picking this book up. What I like MOST about this book is, it is SIMPLE in it's instruction and approach, yet the ideas are really rooted in musical theory. It does NOT clog up pages with music theory. I have a TON of books that do, and end up putting those down because I'm just not there most of the time on concepts, and I JUST LIKE PLAYING GUITAR. I don't always want to THINK ABOUT STUFF when I'm playing. I have used this book consistently for over a year now, and I LOVE it!!! Some of the reasons I like it are: there are a LOT of examples in each chapter, and they progress at a manageable pace. The examples are MUSICAL. Big bonus. The examples are not too difficult causing frustration, and not too hard causing boredom. I've learned a LOT of really great chords using this book.!:-)The way I practice is, I'll go thru a chapter, all the examples, and then spend about a week each chapter, then go to the next chapter, then repeat the previous chapter. I just keep repeating the older ideas along with the stuff I just learned. This is not a super in depth "music theory" guide, but rather a really logical guide with just enough info so you grasp the concept. You're not bogged down in theory. I use this book and maybe only one or two others more than ANY other guide books I've bought. This is PERFECT. If you're into the blues, the ONLY other one I use as much as this one is "Blues you can use," which is awesome as well, and worth purchasing.I feel like I know what I'm talking about as I've purchased about 30 instruction books trying to find something that works for ME. We all learn differently, but this one is really worth looking into if my story sounds similar to the way you like to practice/study. And maybe I'll see ya out on the road eventually! :-)

I've just started with this book. Joseph keeps it real simple, gradually adding complexity. I feel I'm becoming grounded in the rhythms by working with the audio tracks and repeating and repeating. Seems his approach is to get one to feel it first in order to play it correctly without a lot of technical musical explanations. Ultimately, it's how much time I put into it that will prove the results. Certainly, from watching the videos, Joseph is a real guitar talent with a knack for explaining and demonstrating the genre. Look forward to weeks and weeks working through this volume and then, no doubt, picking up the other two Blues volumes. Would have given five stars, but either it's my eyes or some of the chord diagrams are either too small or appear a little blurry. No doubt a publishing issue and not with the author.

Excellent book in an excellent series. Not only is the information provided in a progressive, easy to approach format, but the amount of information is staggering. For each style or idea, tracks and artists are mentioned so the student can hear what this technique can produce with some practice. The information itself is easy to understand with no musical theory, but for those with some musical theory, the exercises themselves can be analyzed and the patterns can then be adapted across the fret board. The provided audio tracks not only provide audible examples of the exercises, but also has tracks with a backing band playing in a specific chord progression. This allows the student to practice by playing with a band that stays on time, wont yell at you for messing up, and they never mess up the form! I am a book nerd that went to music school for percussion, but now play mainly strings. As a result, I will read and buy any and every type of book available. I've seen method books galore on a variety of instruments and not only is this specific book a good resource, the entire series is very high quality. This book will not only get you playing blues rhythm guitar in a short amount of time (after the first couple exercises I felt like I was really jamming some blues) , it will provide tools for you to improve your playing, improve your knowledge of form and the function of the form, and help the player to add variety to a standard progression (specifically where it shows how to mix in different chord inversions/constructions, melodic motives and broken syncopated concepts).

absolutely incredible!! i've been playing guitar for over 35 years, and i've noodled through numerous tutorial/instructional books, but this one has released the juices of creativity that i've never encountered in any other instructional - and i'm only half way through the d*** thing!...what separates this instructor from all the rest?...i think a lot has to do with not bogging you down with superfluous "musi-speak" (jargon - a major distraction that only creates more cognitive dissonance), esoteric only to a cult initiate...never was quite sure why most instructors feel the need to overwhelm you with such baggage, but i'm guessing a lot has more to do with impressing you than instructing you...j. alexander takes you straight to the practical applications and makes you feel relaxed while he's doing it - and gives you permission to explore your creative side, i.e., you don't get the impression he's saying, "you must do this exactly the way i'm showing you or else you're not getting it!"...i once heard a professional musician say that it's not really a gazillion tricks, licks, and numerous years of quantum music theory that will make you a great player; it's more like doing a lot with a little - simply taking a few musical motifs, licks, etc., and going around the world with just a handful of simple ideas...how refreshing...j. alexander is implying that "hey, you can do this too"...i have the entire set of the "...complete guide to...blues guitar"...i'm looking forward to the other books...i think i've hit paydirt - finally!...buy the book(s) friends; they're all loaded with fun, useful info for the price...you won't regret it.

This is hardly a complete guide to blues rhythm guitar, I already have a fairly good knowledge but wanted a refresher.I'm sure there may be some useful material here but I don't like this book at all, there isn't a complete song/tune to play, the fonts for the chords in the tab are ugly and sometimes hard to make out.I was bombarded with emails to sell me more stuff after I downloaded the audio, i didn't ask for that, it was unwelcome and unprofessional.If a beginner was to complete this book I don't believe they would gain a sound knowledge of blues rhythm, although they may gain some useful theory info.

Bought this for my ten year old daughter. Love it. Easy to follow, logical and intuitive. If only all music books and tutors taught this logically. The praise for this book is justified. As a teacher of anything you have to have a plan as to where you are leading somebody and many teachers don't as they are musicians not teachers. This author is obviously an excellent musician and an excellent teacher which is IMHO quite rare outside the classical field. I have had teachers myself who teach you far too much complex stuff before you understand the basics, whereas this book goes logically from simple one step at a time building on concepts and gently adding manageable progressions never straying from the central concept and enabling you to develop a genuinely useful blues vocabulary. A great learning book for blues guitar beginners who want to start simple and realise that you need to do a lot of groundwork before you can even begin to attempt the flashy stuff properly. I will be definitely looking at his other books. With authors like this and the Justin guitar website (he is also an amazing teacher) and a bit of knowledge of how to practice (i.e giving the notes their full value and not cutting them off, knowing to practice with metronomes or drum machines and practicing really slowly and only moving on to the next speed until you are ready) people who can't afford lessons can now learn the guitar really easily.

Having bought Joseph's "The CAGED System and 100 Licks for Blues Guitar" (see my earlier review) it was a logical step to also buy this book. Especially as I had by this stage also started having lessons with Joseph over Skype - me in the UK, him in Thailand!The book is really excellent in its simplicity of explanation and good audio tracks to help get you sounding the way it's intended with minimum fuss.Indeed, having the book as well as the lessons was perfect, as they were a great compliment to each other. We covered things in more detail in the lesson, but I was able to refer to the book if ever I felt unsure of my memory of something - it's all there. Well structured, progressive and nicely paced.Oh, and very reasonably priced too, when I think of the plethora of other tutorial books I have bought down the years that I have been studying and learning Blues guitar; this series finally delivers more than is promised on the cover.

This turned up on time and was exactly what I was looking for..simple to read, simple to download the music with zero fuss..great soundtracks to some great examples of progressive blues rhythm guitarI've been playing guitar for a number of years and had never bothered to go back and learn some for he fundamental basics of how Blues rhythm is built, with some great runs and fills this book does it all..highly recommended if you want an easy to use tool with some great examples to expand your repertoire

Having already bought several of Mr Alexander's books on jazz guitar playing, I knew just how well he is able to break down and explain often quite complex musical topics in a way that allows not just the understanding but also the immediate application of them. This book assuming no pre-knowledge, starts with the absolute basics, but soon progresses in small, manageable steps to expand the dedicated reader's blues' vocabulary in quite sophisticated melodic, harmonic and, above all, rhythmic ways. I can't wait for the forthcoming second book in this two-part series which will focus on soloing. If it's anything as good as this one, the two books together will certainly approach the 'completeness' promised in the series' title.