Cheap The Art of Solo Fingerpicking : How to Play Alternating-Bass Fingerstyle Guitar Solos (book and CD) (Guitar Books) Review
This book was quite a challenge. I went through the Art of Contemporary Travis Picking rather quickly (by quickly, I mean several months, so this may not be quick to some) so I figured this “sequel” would go by in a similar fashion but this really ups the ante. As a result, the pieces you will learn are much more satisfying to play and listen to. I highly recommend starting with the aforementioned book because most of the picking patterns and special techniques learned there are taken for granted in this book and may add to the learning curve. Believe me, you don’t want to be worrying about performing a hammer-on or slur while maintaining rhythm to a variation on the outside-in travis pattern. You will have enough on your plate! You can start with just this book if you’re willing to work harder in the beginning.
I like how Mark makes direct references to specific artists, such as Leo Kottke and John Renbourn, and demonstrates some of their contemporary techniques through examples and songs. Some topics discussed are right and left-hand damping, using the thumb to play melody, playing scales (major and chromatic), using harmonics, alternate tunings, rolls (playing 3 to 5 strings in succession and spacing the picking evenly over a beat) and increasing overall speed via effective hammer-on and pull-off techniques (the essence of how the final piece, Strawberry Curl, is played).
The book is not easy, but very little in life that’s worth doing is easy. I spent months on the first 9 to 10 pages, but once things started to click, the rest of the book began to go by faster. Once I gained good, relaxed control and coordination on the first song and the following pages of exercises (especially playing a major scale while playing the alternating bass) I was able to make very steady progress but that was a hurdle to overcome. “Devil’s Dream” took me some time because of the need to alternate rapidly between the index and middle fingers in the treble while maintaining the alternating bass. But once that control was there, it remained, and I was able to apply it to other pieces I was working on.
Pay attention to the suggested fingerings and always try all ways if more than one is presented. I can easily wrap my thumb onto the 6th string, so I will tend to do that when it makes the overall fingering easier (much to the dismay of classical guitar teachers everywhere).
After working through this book about halfway, I was able to manage some pieces from Fingerstyle Magazine (an achievement in my eyes!) and going into alternate tunings is no longer a scary concept. Traversing the neck to bizarre chord forms, while still not always easy, becomes easier to deal with and something that you accept as normal at this level of playing.
By the way, when you finish this book, you will have some excellent show-off material in your repertoire. My favorite songs are Flier and Strawberry Curl (in Double Drop-D tuning). I heard Mark perform “Flier” this summer when I attended his annual fingerstyle guitar seminar and I made it one of my goals to play a duet on this song with him next summer (if I am able to go back) during the student recital (maybe even at normal tempo!).
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