Blues You Can Use: Complete Guide to Learning Blues Guitar [Sheet music]

I have looked at a wide range of guitar tutors in my time. Some have proved excellent. Others have only been fit for recycling. I have rarely felt that a book-based tutor was ever so straightforward to use that a relative beginner could dive straight in and quickly play effectively. This book is the exception to that rule. The pieces are well graded and although the level of difficulty tends to accellerate fairly quickly - it never becomes silly or demotivating. One previous reviewer referred to it as a 'challenge', and that is quite right .... but it's a challenge based upon basic foundations that are easily and quickly acquired.

I said this book was for relatively new beginners. By that I mean that you need a bit of basic knowledge about chords and you also need to be reasonably familiar with reading and using guitar tablature and to be able to associate that with fretboard positions at the top of the neck (up to the 5th fret at first, and then the 7th. By the time you reach that stage you will be proficient enough to move on down towards the 10th and 12th frets).

Although based upon electric guitar playing - the CD uses such a guitar - the book can be used very successfully with the sound qualities of an acoustic, though probably less well so with a nylon-strung guitar. However, it wouldn't be impossible if you accepted that you wouldn't get that 'low down and dirty' sound that seems to typify many of the blues types and examples.

And what's the flaw that I mentioned in my review heading?

A previous reviewer commented that the one thing the CD lacks are a few examples of pure backing tracks to help you practice and jam. I totally agree. That is a really bad oversight and would have made the whole enterprise as near perfect for a beginner as it would be possible to get.

I'm still awarding the book 5 stars because of its quality and content ..... but that one oversight is such a shame. However, there are solutions in the form of 'jamming' CD's that can be bought in guitar shops, or simple software that can be found which allow you to program your own chord rhythms and sequences. Some of that software is even free (like the simplistic but interesting 'Chordplay') or at least, not very expensive. The only one that Amazon seem to stock is Jammer Pro 5 which is pretty expensive --- but look in 'remainder' stocks for earlier versions or do your own searches.

One last tip, When you are reasonably proficient, it does become possible to backtrack to earlier tracks on the CD and play 'against' the given solo. This isn't easy, but it's worth trying ..... but don't try it too soon or you'll end up feeling schizophrenic!

First lets get this out of the way... like everyone says, this is a very good tutor and I've progressed in the 2 or 3 months I've been using it. But it's not perfect. My key complaint is the lack of explanations accompanying the pieces. In one there is a complex (for a novice) section where you play and bend a string, hold it while you play another string at the same fret, before playing and releasing the original bent string. Not a word of explanation! I got there in the end but you're left on your own to figure it out. Often fingering is obvious but when it isn't (boy am I struggling with "9th Chord Blues") don't expect any guidance. Fortunately the next couple of pieces look easier, but I am still worried that, with so little guidance, I will eventually hit a barrier I can't pass. Hopefully I wont. I feel trecherous for being critical, because so far I have made real progress. Probably a superb book if you have a teacher to work with. And if you are teaching yourself? Yes still buy it, it's still very good, but it could have been 5 stars (and easier) with just an extra sentence or two of explanation along the way, particularly about fingering...

...10 months after writing the above and I am proud to say I have now finished the book! I can now play some great pieces and have a good theoretical knowledge, though I know I'm only at the end of the beginning of learning blues guitar. It's a challenging book: the chord theory is thorough but complex and some of the progressions suddenly get quite difficult with root 5 ninth chords an early challenge, followed quickly by sharp ninths, flat ninths, 13ths, flat 6ths, diminished 1sts etc - it was quite confusing and it took a while for the theory to sink in. The progressions by the way are just a series of chords to play, with no advice as to strumming rhythms - for me that is a gap.

Lots of scales too... but these are very logically introduced and clearly explained and are all essential to playing blues guitar. Perhaps 2 pieces/tunes per lesson would have been useful as I had to stop moving through the book for several weeks at one stage while I consolidated scales and progressions. But writing these tunes can't be easy so perhaps 2 per lesson is a lot to ask. I still don't really understand finding and using "sixths" and "thirds": the explanation of those could have helped more, but one book can't be expected to make everything crystal clear and it did introduce these concepts. Alternate picking is introduced just after "Getting Funky", about a third of the way through the book... I can't see how you can play the earlier pieces without using this basic technique, so it's strange to introduce it so late.

"Ninth Chord Blues" was for me the hardest piece in the whole book and it was only half way through... don't be tempted to give up at that stage, it sounds great once finally "in your fingers" and things never get that hard again! Some of the pieces are given slow and fast speeds... fast can be very fast... a couple of pieces I still struggle with "full tempo". I maintain some more help with fingering could have been given... but working things out for yourself has some benefit I suppose. However at one stage you need to use "tap-on-technique", but you're left to search Wikipedia for what that actually is... that ommission isn't great.

I've focussed on the criticisms, but this is a great book... it gives you a real grounding and some great bluesy tunes to play on the way. All I'm saying is that for me there are slightly too many small criticisms to make it warrant all 5 stars, but it's very close. One final warning: I've practiced pretty hard but it took me over a year to complete; many will certainly be more naturally gifted and a lot quicker, but few will complete a lesson each week. Anyway don't mistake this for a bad review, it's not, it's a very good one and the proof is I've now bought "More Blues You can Use". So expect a review of that... er, but it may be a while...

To paraphrase the well-known varnish advert: "It does exactly what it says in the title". I have been playing/trying to learn(!) for about 4 years now, have had some lessons, bought a shed load of different tutor books, CDs etc, and watched different players. All have contributed to my progress to some extent or another, but none so much as "Blues You Can Use". This book has singularly progressed both my understanding and my ability, in easy steps that are also fun. It is really well constructed, with some theory at the beginning of each stage, followed with a piece to learn which puts the theory into practice, with an accompanying CD so you can hear what it should sound like!. And each stage builds on the last, progressing through licks, phrases, chord shapes and scales. Most importantly it links these concepts together so that it all ultimately makes sense, at whatever level you want to understand it.
As other reviewers have already said, if you are an absolute beginner you might struggle without some assistance, but if you have been learning for a while, and perhaps reached the legendary "crossroads", then this could be your route map to greater understanding (and playing pleasure) of the fantastic musical genre that is the Blues.