Martin Simpson Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals Volume 2 – Creating Your Own Arrangements. Martin explains how he creates the sounds for which he is so admired. He imparts invaluable information that will help the learning guitarist develop their own distinctive sound, while improving technique and musicianship. Working in alternate tunings, Martin covers a broad spectrum of songs, showing you how to find the basic melody and then fill out the arrangement. You’ll learn how to embellish tunes and move them into other octaves. This DVD helps to dramatically expand your ability to create you own unique arrangements. Martin Simpson’s compellingly...

A guide to the traditional blues playing style of the Mississippi bluesman who lived in Memphis and had a gift for storytelling and showmanship. Walter ‘Furry’ Lewis recorded 25 songs between 1927 and 1929, as well as several albums in the 1960s for Folkways, Prestige and other labels after being rediscovered as part of the great blues rebirth. As a guitarist, Furry Lewis was a two-finger picker with a huge vocabulary of sounds at his fingertips. He worked effortlessly with both broad strokes and intricate detail, possessing a fluidity that recalls the talents of the great Robert Johnson. Guitar...

Steve Kaufman: Figuring Out The Fingerboard – A Flatpicker’s Guide To Improvising. If you’ve ever wondered how the hot flatpickers improvise solos using the entire length of the guitar fingerboard, and wished you could take your own distinctive breaks in jam sessions or performances, then this DVD is for you! Steve Kaufman has developed an amazing system that clears up the mystery and teaches you the notes, scales and chord shapes you’ll need to play fluidly and confidently anywhere on the neck. Anyone can learn Steve’s system. Starting by picking out well-known fiddle tunes in their simplest form, Steve...

Jorma Kaukonen is one of the legends of rock guitar. He started out as an acoustic fingerpicker but became a mainstay of the San Francisco rock scene in the mid-’60s when he joined The Jefferson Airplane. Later, he and bassist Jack Casady formed Hot Tuna, which tours and records in both acoustic and electric configurations. Jorma has released more than two dozen albums, both solo and as a member of various ensembles. His live performances throughout the world continue to draw enthusiastic crowds of both electric and acoustic music fans. Jorma Kaukonen teaches favorites from his personal repertoire and...

This DVD lesson is for the intermediate and advanced fingerstyle guitar player. It is for the student who feels comfortable with an alternating bass techique and wants to expand and explore ideas in blues and ragtime using more advanced right and left hand techniques. The four instrumentals featured in this lesson are all extended compositions offering a variety of musical ideas. Piano sounding blues in the key of A are presented with Mississippi Blues and Blues For The Mann. A Blind Blake approach in the key of C is used for the Glory of Love. Struttin’ Rag in the...

This DVD lesson has been designed to help beginner and intermediate students of fingerpicking country blues guitar improve their playing skills and increase their repertoires using an alternating bass technique. Stefan Grossman illustrates and explains in detail ten fingerstyle arrangements in the keys of C, D, E, A, G and F. These popular blues and ragtime songs come from the playing of Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, Mance Lipscomb and Elizabeth Cotten. Each tune is discussed and taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split screen so that you can clearly see what each hand is...

Corey Harris has absorbed American country blues traditions and plays them as authentically and powerfully as anyone on the scene today. He has also explored the African guitar styles on which much of the blues was based, and on this remarkable instructional session he teaches songs and instrumentals that bridge the gap between the two cultures. Corey starts by teaching two blues in C: High Fever Blues, his original based on old Charlie Patton/Tommy Johnson style blues, and Blind Blake’s more rag-like C. C. Pill Blues. Tuning to open E, Corey gives you a detailed lesson in slide guitar....

Marcy Marxer – Guitar Soloing 101: An Easy Guide To The Fingerboard. Anyone can solo on Guitar! Marcy Marxer’s DVD shows you that as long as you know your basic chords you can start playing melodies and improvising lead parts. This easy-to-use method brings all of the frets, notes and strings into clear focus, providing a useful roadmap to the guitar fingerboard. Marxer teaches you scales both across the neck and along the string, allowing you to visualise your path along the guitar finding melodies and intervals within chord shapes. She introduces simple tunes including Frere Jacques and Will...

You the tools you need to get over the musical speed bumps – without crashing and burning as you go. It’s all a matter of getting your right- and left-hand mechanics working correctly, and Steve has powerful advice and well-thought-out exercises to help you. Using tunes like “Old Joe Clark,” “Soldier’s Joy” and “Big Mon” as drills, Steve works on your hand and pick coordination and shows how to practice for best results. Tips on left-hand fretting positions (keep a light touch, very little skin on the back of the guitar neck), combined with how to hold and move...

Adrian Ingram’s detailed examination of Wes Montgomery’s unique style is a tour-de-force in the art of jazz guitar. Besides covering the more overt aspects of Montgomery’s style, such as thumb and octave techniques, important yet seldom discussed substitutional devices and soloing conceptions are also examined in detail. Rare film footage of Wes, together with Adrian’s performances of classic Montgomery tunes, like 4 on 6 and West Coast Blues, further illustrate the ideas covered in this important video lesson. Everyone with an interest in jazz guitar will find something of value here. A working knowledge of Wes Montgomery’s characteristic techniques...