Guitar Books the Podcast

Dec 02 2024 25 ep. 20 mins

Guitar Books the Podcast artwork

Join Joe McMurray as he thoroughly reviews guitar books - method, technique, song and repertoire. There are hundreds of books on the market, and Joe will help you to find the best book that explores your area/style of interest at the proper level of difficulty.

Joe is a professional player and teacher with a formal background in jazz guitar, but extensive experience with folk, rock, blues, funk, and classical styles on instruments including the guitar, ukulele, piano, bass, banjo, and drums. He has released two solo fingerstyle guitar and ukulele albums, played on numerous rock recordings, and written his own book on arranging for fingerstyle guitar.

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Comparison #1: Best Beginner Fingerstyle Methods

Dec 02 2024 18 mins

If you want to get started playing acoustic fingerstyle guitar, you will benefit from private lessons with a teacher, online video courses, listening to fingerstyle recordings, and of course… books. It is beneficial to mix and match all of these resources. Remember that everyone’s brain works differently, so you may gravitate more towards certain styles of learning / methods of

Review #20: The Inner Game of Fingerstyle Guitar by Adam Rafferty

Oct 17 2024 12 mins

Is this one of the best or worst books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. The Inner Game of Fingerstyle Guitar by Adam Rafferty is an inspirational collection of practical advice on becoming not only a better fingerstyle guitarist, but a b

Review #19: Travis-Style Guitar From Scratch by Bruce Emery

Sep 23 2024 27 mins

Is this one of the best or worst method books for acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. This book is a gem! Travis-Style Guitar From Scratch, written by Bruce Emery, is a method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle guitar using an alternating bass (in the T

Review #18: Alex de Grassi Fingerstyle Guitar Method

Jul 08 2024 32 mins

Is this one of the best or worst method books for acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. The Alex de Grassi Fingerstyle Guitar Method, written by fingerstyle legend Alex de Grassi and produced by Stringletter (the publisher of Acoustic Guitar Magazine), is a metho

Topic Talk #3: Repertoire

May 02 2024 9 mins

Quick advice, tips, and tricks for improving at fingerstyle guitar, ukulele, etc. Selecting and maintaining a repertoire of tunes is critically important. Whether you want to casually play for friends/family or you aspire to perform at a local bar/restaurant gig, you should intentionally choose repertoire tunes that suit your desired performance outlet. Once you’ve built a

Topic Talk #2: Practicing

Mar 30 2024 10 mins

Quick advice, tips, and tricks for improving at fingerstyle guitar, ukulele, etc. To progress as a musician and achieve your long-term and short-term goals, it is important to practice well. Practicing efficiently and effectively will help you to improve faster with less practice time. This is relevant not only to fingerstyle guitarists and fingerstyle ukulele players, but to al

Topic Talk #1: Musical Goals

Mar 18 2024 7 mins

Quick advice, tips, and tricks for improving at fingerstyle guitar, ukulele, etc. In order to progress as a musician it is important to have clear long-term and short-term goals. This is relevant not only to fingerstyle guitarists and fingerstyle ukulele players, but to all aspiring musicians regardless of their chosen instrument or genre of music. Figure out what your long-t

Review #17: Hal Leonard Fingerpicking Guitar

Mar 02 2024 26 mins

Is this one of the best or worst method books for acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Hal Leonard’s Fingerpicking Guitar, written by Doug Boduch, is a method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle (or “fingerpicking”) guitar or fingerstyle guitar acco

Review #16: Acoustic Guitar Fingerstyle Method by David Hamburger

Feb 08 2024 27 mins

Is this one of the best or worst method books for acoustic fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. David Hamburger’s The Acoustic Guitar Fingerstyle Method is a method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle (or “fingerpicking”) guitar in the American roots styles

Review #15: Fingerstyle 101 by Dan Thorpe

Jan 12 2024 20 mins

Is this one of the best or worst method books for fingerstyle guitar? You can learn to play music by simultaneously using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books. Dan Thorpe’s Fingerstyle 101 is a method book for learning to play fingerstyle (or “fingerpicking”) guitar. The book is appropriate for absolute beginner fingerstyle players who