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Rating: 
Summary: This book ROCKS!
Review: I dig this book. It starts out with about 25 riffs in the Texas blues style. None of them are "raw beginner" type stuff. For example, they require a lot of bends, even 1-1/2 step bends, and those bends are in some pretty fast riffs. So you need a certain amount of experience under your belt, or you'll feel completely frustrated. It has made me work my fingers off.On the other hand, if you do have at least a bit of experience, and you know your scales, your pentatonics, etc., then you learn some seriously cool riffs. Some of those riffs that you've always heard, but could never figure out on your own. I've been working on a couple in particular that, when played up to speed, are of the jaw-dropping variety. I almost can't believe that it's me playing them. Crank it up, baby! The rest of the book is a collection of rhythms, with tab for all of the rhythm playing. These go on for six or eight choruses, so you have plenty of room to practice playing the riffs you've worked on. Then, you'll get two or more chourses of the same rhythm, with a sample tabbed solo played over it (which will incorporate some of the riffs at the start of the book). All of this is also great stuff. Don't get me wrong. This is *not* a book to learn how to play lead. This is a book for somebody who already has a fairly good idea of what lead-playing is, who wants to learn some neat tricks. The author says that he uses the book with his students. If you were using this book with a teacher, I can see how this would be a good "from the ground up" tool to learn to play lead. But if you're just starting out, and you don't have a teacher, don't expect this book to teach you to play lead. Anyway...this has been one of the funnest books I've gotten yet. In fact, I expect the author to reimburse me for all of the strings I've been breaking from these bends! Heh heh.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad I guess
Review: I had issues with this book. Mainly because of the author's approach to teaching the patterns of the minor pentonic scale. I guess I must be old fashioned. I learned by practicing the whole scale on all the strings in every posistion, then learning licks in those patterns. The author kinda goes backwards from that. He teaches you licks and then shows you the patterns they belong to. I guess that works well for some but it didn't seem like the best way to teach. Another thing that irritated me was the CD. It only had a couple songs to learn but they were pretty long. This made practicing a bit more of chore than a fun activity. I got bored with the songs before I could finish learning them. I think its better to learn much shorter songs when you're first learning a new type of music. That way you stay interested in learning because you are introduced to a wider variety of material and the task of learning seems much more managable because you only have to learn a small amount at a time. I did get a bit out of this book and CD but overall I guess I was a little disappointed. I highly recommend John Ganape's "Blues you can use" series of books. I would look into them before buying this particular book.
Rating: 
Summary: Great
Review: I really like this book. I fully aggree with the author. I am getting better at playing the blues. There are some very good fill-ins which you should carefully avoid to miss. They can make wonders to your guitar-playing. I have been playing blues (and guitar) now for some 8 months, and bought approximately 20 different books. This book is exactly what I needed to get a bit more confident. Yes, it feels as Robert Calva is present and teaches when you go through this book. Strange feeling, I begin to feel as a blues-player, suddenly !!
Rating:
Summary: A word from the author................
Review: Okay, I know some of you will question the objectivity of the author writing a review of his own work but I intend just to give some information regarding this book. I have used the material in this book with my students at Musicians Institute for many years now and have gotten great results. After working through this book my students are much better players and improvisors. Regardless of your level and musical background you can get allot out of this book/CD. So, if you are into blues and want a good primer on blues guitar or play other styles but just want to improve your blues playing, then this book is for you!
Rating:
Summary: A word from the author................
Review: Okay, I know some of you will question the objectivity of the author writing a review of his own work but I intend just to give some information regarding this book. I have used the material in this book with my students at Musicians Institute for many years now and have gotten great results. After working through this book my students are much better players and improvisors. Regardless of your level and musical background you can get allot out of this book/CD. So, if you are into blues and want a good primer on blues guitar or play other styles but just want to improve your blues playing, then this book is for you!
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