1st Piano

Intermediate Blues Guitar from National Guitar Workshop is a book and CD tutorial package that teaches electric blues guitar techniques. It covers both rhythm playing and soloing in a number of styles such as blues rock, boogie, and funk blues. The book presents the techniques and examples of a number of blues legends, The Kings - BB, Albert and Freddie, as well as Hendrix, Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The method targets players who have a basic knowledge of blues chords and scales, or who know rock guitar. The book presents a thorough review of music and blues theory so you can follow the discussion in the rest of the book. If you have little or no blues experience you might find the exercises get hard quickly. The Beginner's Blues Guitar book in the same series would be a better place for you to start. The book covers these main topics which I'll describe in more detail below. 1. Blues theory 2. Blues chords and rhythm playing 3. Blues technique 4. Scales

The harmonica is an instrument that rarely gets its due from writers and musicologists, yet it has played an enormously important role in American popular music of the past hundred or so years. Harmonicas, Harps, and Heavy Breathers; The Evolution of the People's Instrument is a good effort at rectifying this situation. Author Kim Field -- who is himself a peformer as well as an aficianado of the harmonica -- traces the development and history of the intrument, with a look at the popular harmonica bands of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the use of the instrument in the genres of blues, country, rock, jazz and, yes, even classical music. The book is especially rich in profiles of the leading harmonica players both past and present. Field personally interviewed a number of harmonica masters; his description of his encounter with DeFord Bailey (now deceased), the black harmonica star of the 1930s and '40s Grand Ole Opry, who virtually disappeared from

Alfred Publishing has published a number of world percussion books. What sets Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion aside from others is that the book or CD can be purchased separately or together. This aspect alone could be very appealing for educators. Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion appears to be written for music and social studies teachers and drum enthusiasts looking to bring new ideas into their playing. The authors cover 28 different instruments, grouping similar instruments together in single chapters. The format for each chapter is consistent, beginning with interesting historical and origin factoids. Tuning and playing position are then discussed prior to demonstrating the performance technique. Close to 90 black-and-white photographs aptly demonstrate playing position and technique. Drum Circle: A Guide To World Percussion truly is a fantastic introduction to a large number of percussion instruments from around the globe. Here, players will be in