A Must Have Country Book

[tele-martini]

I try not to recommend books on this thread because I've found what works well for some does not for others. I also recognize the fact I buy too many books and never finish them thinking they are great at first but loosing interest well before the last page.
http://www.amazon.com/Hal-Leonard-Country-Guitar-Method/dp/0634039490/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223994629&sr=1-1
That being said I've been working out of this book for a few weeks and haven't lost any interest yet.I was a typical blues/rock player who lately has found a strong interest in playing country music. When ever I tried soloing over a country song or chord progression it always came out sounding like blues. So after buying a couple books featuring the newer nashville style of playing I realized I needed to learn the basics and the classics. I think the above book is a very comprehensive and well laid out set of lessons teaching the style and some (23) of the classics. Note not all of the songs are completely transcribed and some are no more than the basic riff but this book hits the nail on the head for me.
Not quite to the end yet but Ill get there with this book. Greg Koch is a very talented guitarist and instructor focusing on the must know stuff of this style.

[jsntg]

This is a good starter book. From the review I posted on Amazon:

In this beginning to intermediate manual, Mr. Koch does a great job of spelling out, playing, and building on the basics. Travis picking, hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, vibrato, scale runs, sus chords, double stops and chickin' pickin' are all introduced and presented in several forms. He peppers the manual with licks at each stage and provides several backing tracks on the CD you can solo over. Its progression is very intuitive and baby-steps-walk-before-you-run driven. Most of the material is very accessible to the beginner although some selections like Sugerfoot Rag at 234 bpm and the Jimmy Bryant licks will confound you. For this reason he provides a slow version which is still pretty fast. I used the Amazing Slow Downer to slow everything down and would come up to tempo using this software. Otherwise this manual is a very straight-forward, succinct introduction to country guitar. My basis for comparison is Michael Hawley's 'Red Hot Country Guitar' which is more advanced and develops some of the basic motifs like single note soloing in composite/blues scale, double stops, bends in much more detail. I would recommend Hawley's manual after completing Mr. Koch's. Both books will take approximately 3 months to thoroughly digest with a moderate (20 hour/week) practice schedule.

I'm mostly through Trovato's 'Country Solos' right now and it's a blast.

Hugh

[Theusla]

I ordered the book. Maybe it will help my Twang.

[Joxter]

So did you first buy this book because it has a Tele on the cover?

[Brewboy]

I just ordered a copy also. Some have GAS, I'm a learning materials junkie!

[bcbeak]

Thanks alot .. you just cost me $40 ... bought this one ... and two others recommended by Amazon. LOL

I think I have:

GIAS = Guitar Instruction Acquisition Syndrome

[tele-martini]

Originally Posted by Brewboy

I just ordered a copy also. Some have GAS, I'm a learning materials junkie!

Ahh so I'm not the only one!

Originally Posted by bcbeak

Thanks alot .. you just cost me $40 ... bought this one ... and two others recommended by Amazon. LOL

I think I have:

GIAS = Guitar Instruction Acquisition Syndrome

What were your other two choices ? BTW I rarely order just one book at a time also.

Originally Posted by Joxter

So did you first buy this book because it has a Tele on the cover?

I bought the "Country Solos" book by Steve Travato and the Red Hot Country book by Michael Hawley and they both have Tele's on the cover so maybe your on to me.

[Debbie]

I ordered this book after I saw your original post too. It looks like a great book and I'm going to start it tomorrow. I seem to be very stuck on blues and I think this will be a good book to get me looking in another direction to open some things up. Thanks for the recommendation!

[FirstBassman]

Well, since this thread is still around ...

I, also, have BAS and VAS

I remember getting this book but not being too crazy about it. I have forgotten the specifics (sorry) and think that I either returned it or sold it. I'll check and see if I still have it.