Learn from transcriptions in the styles of Clarence White, Dan Crary, Charlie Waller, Peter Rowan and others. Over 30 tunes in tablature and music notation, plus photos.

For anyone who's ever wanted to add bluegrass to their list of playing styles but never knew where to begin, Guitar Roots: Bluegrass provides all the elements for finding an authentic bluegrass sound. Clear, easy-to-understand examples demonstrate slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, alternate picking, syncopation and more. Get pickin' with this all-inclusive bluegrass primer.

Welcome to Bluegrass Breaks: Guitar! This book is a collection of 23 guitar solos or breaks plus 16 introductions or kickoffs in a range of styles and levels of difficulty. The solos are aimed at advanced beginner to intermediate guitarists looking to expand their repertoire of lead guitar solos. All the solos are recorded in split-track format at two speeds and are available online. This book includes: Easy Carter-style solos with the melody played on the bass strings, punctuated by chord strums.More advanced Carter-style solos with hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides and more. Hot flatpicking solos with lots of eighth notes, played with up and down picking. Essential fiddle tunes for every modern bluegrass lead guitar player. Crosspicking solos played with two different crosspicking patterns. Solos using the real dropped D and the faux dropped D tunings.A variety of kickoffs, generic and for specific songs. Extensive notes on the breaks and the techniques used to play them.The breaks in this book are based on are some of the most performed bluegrass, old-time, and gospel songs - songs that you're sure to hear played at jam sessions, picking parties and on stage. Includes access to online audio

The twentieth anniversary paperback edition, updated with a new preface Winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association Distinguished Achievement Award and of the Country Music People Critics' Choice Award for Favorite Country Book of the Year Beginning with the musical cultures of the American South in the 1920s and 1930s, Bluegrass: A History traces the genre through its pivotal developments during the era of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys in the forties. It describes early bluegrass's role in postwar country music, its trials following the appearance of rock and roll, its embracing by the folk music revival, and the invention of bluegrass festivals in the mid_sixties. Neil V. Rosenberg details the transformation of this genre into a self-sustaining musical industry in the seventies and eighties is detailed and, in a supplementary preface written especially for this new edition, he surveys developments in the bluegrass world during the last twenty years. Featuring an amazingly extensive bibliography, discography, notes, and index, this book is one of the most complete and thoroughly researched books on bluegrass ever written.

The author, three-time national flatpicking guitar champion, has compiled this rousing collection of dazzling flatpicking guitar solos. A companion audio featuring Steve's foot-tapping rendition of each arrangement is included. The book is in notation and tablature. All the songs in the book are performed on the audio. Onthe video, Steve plays both slow and fast versions of each solo. Steve's performance on the up-tempo versions of the challenging solos is absolutelyastonishing. Includes access to audio and video online

This comprehensive study of contemporary flatpicking guitar technique presents numerous solos for the beginning through advanced flatpicking guitarist along with tips on creating your own flatpicking arrangements. The book addresses the tablature system, tuning, right and left-hand technique, use of the capo and themicrophone, transposing using the Nashville numbering system, bluegrass back- up, arranging flatpicking solos and instrumentals. If you're into country or bluegrass music, or if you just want to develop outstanding flatpicking technique, this book is for you. Written in standard notation and tablature. The stereo play-along audio online features Steve Kaufman's rousing performance of each flatpicking solo! Also includes a videio online containing some of the solos andtechniques presented in the book. Audio and video download available online

This volume of the new series, School of Country Guitar, from Mel Bay includes a from-the-ground-up explanation of one, two and three string guitar bends - a basic essential technique in today's hot country guitar style. A variety of licks in the string bending and western swing lead styles are included. Important chords and useful scales in thirds on all string pairs unlock the secrets of creating interesting original solos. In notation and TAB, includes audio CD of examples.

Three-time national flatpicking champion Steve Kaufman teaches you how to buy a guitar, the easy way to fret a note, how to read chord charts and play all the basic chords, basic bluegrass strumming patterns, bass runs and walks, hammer-ons and pull-offs, how to read tablature, picking lead, crosspicking, practice techniques, and much more.

My First Country Guitar Picking Songs is an ideal book for beginners interested in learning country-style guitar and basic reading skills. Author Steve Kaufman uses his award-winning method to teach principles of flatpicking, basic chord fingerings and notation, within the context of classic country songs. This book emphasizes the versatility of the country guitarist as a lead instrumentalist and rhythm accompanist, from lyrical melodies to swinging strumming techniques.

In this book, journalist, composer, songwriter, teacher, and 2003 Winfield Flatpicking Guitar Champion, Jeff Troxel, delivers a masterclass in arranging fiddle tunes for flatpicking guitar. These 20 themes and variations on favorite bluegrass melodies are designed to improve overall musicianship and augment your own arranging skills. Ideal for the intermediate to advanced flatpicking guitarist, the author reveals techniques for enabling readers to create their own theme and variations settings. Suggested rhythm guitar chords and light left-hand fingerings are also provided. Troxel points out that one of the unexpected benefits of learning and memorizing themes with variations is that the process will ultimately facilitate linear and harmonic improvisation. It would be a painstaking process to learn this skill from a teacher or a harmony textbook, but once memorized, the scale and arpeggio patterns within these tunes and variations will set you on a viable path towards original improvised lines. As a bonus, the author includes a generous appendix containing several of his Flatpicking Guitar Magazine articles that deal with aspects of musicianship that every guitarist should know. While written in standard notation and tab, if you have relied solely on tablature and recordings in the past, this book can provide the key to understanding essential music theory and reading standard notation. If you’re not quite ready to learn to read standard notation, you can still use the tab and the author’s excellent online recordings to learn these delightful arrangements. In any case, it will be fun to get these settings of standard bluegrass tunes “in-hand” and use them in future jam sessions.