blues

Comparison #3: Best Fingerstyle Blues Repertoire Books

March 3, 2026 by joemcmurray Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:58 — 11.1MB) | Embed

Looking to learn new fingerstyle blues tunes to play on your acoustic guitar? This is a rundown of my favorite fingerstyle blues repertoire books.

Hopefully you have already seen my previous video of “Best Fingerstyle Blues Method Books.” Method books provide a guided course of study with explanatory text, exercises, example tune arrangements, etc. In this video I will be talking about my favorite fingerstyle blues repertoire books, which simply provide tune arrangements and possibly some background info for each tune.

I’ve been through many, many books, and I have been teaching and performing professionally for over a decade, so hopefully my insights can help guide you to the book that is best for you!

Be aware that all of these repertoire books provide standard notation and tablature, and most of them do NOT provide any picking or fretting hand fingering. Working out optimal fingering is extremely important when learning an arrangement – good fingering choices make playing easier and minimize the potential for mistakes.

Best Repertoire Books

1) The Complete Acoustic Blues Guitar Method (Mann, 2014)

Repertoire book that presents lots of tunes from across the many subgenres of fingerstyle blues. These are solid arrangements that occasionally provide multiple choruses to show variations- this is extremely valuable for extending short tunes into performance length pieces. It is also worth analyzing the author’s variations so that you can learn to create your own!

Late beginner to advanced, but majority of the tunes are of an intermediate difficulty.

I really like the organization of the book: tunes are organized by subgenre, and within each section the tunes are arranged from easiest to hardest.

Each tune comes with nice historical background info and listening recommendations.

2) 12-Bar Fingerstyle Blues (Rubin, 2012)

Repertoire book.

Mostly intermediate.

More repetitive grooves than some of the other fingerstyle blues books on the market. Fewer lyrical phrases in the melodies.

I like that the tunes organized by subgenre, but the difficulty jumps around from tune to tune.

For experienced players, this is a fast book to work through. Because each tune is a 12-bar chorus, you will get a lot of ideas that you can digest, combine, and make your own in the future.

Next, I want to introduce a special book that doesn’t quite fit into the simple “Repertoire Book” category:

3) The New Art of Ragtime Guitar (Saslow, 2011, 2017 2^nd Ed.)

This book is essentially a repertoire book of ragtime blues tunes, but the analysis that accompanies each tune is extensive and extremely valuable.

Late beginner to advanced and difficulty progresses with each tune.

These tunes are really fun, and you will gain valuable insight from the analysis. The author coaches you through fingering choices, his use of guide, anchor, or pivot fingers, etc. These lessons will make you a better player.

4) Fingerstyle Blues Songbook (James, 2005)

Another repertoire book with good arrangements and historical background info.

Honestly, it’s not all that much different from Woody Mann’s The Complete Acoustic Blues Guitar Method, but this book is much shorter.

Late-beginner to intermediate, although advanced players will certainly enjoy the tunes as well.

5) Complete Country Blues Guitar Book (Grossman, 1992)

Repertoire book. Good arrangements. Lots of authentic tunes.

Stefan Grossman is an incredible musicologist who helped rediscover and promote much of the old fingerstyle blues music of the 1920s and 30s. I really like the interviews and historical information that he has included making this a great coffee table book.

Late-beginner to intermediate.

Tunes organized by subgenre.

Strange TAB.

*6) Solo Blues Guitar (Rubin, 2006)

Repertoire – I’m putting this book at the end because it is NOT a fingerstyle blues guitar book. The examples can be played fingerstyle, but most seem to work best with a plectrum/pick/flatpick. However, I want to include this book for a couple reasons:

It is focused on solo blues guitar arrangements
I LOVE this book. These examples are fun and they inspire me to improvise in new ways with new grooves.

Like Rubin’s 12-Bar Fingerstyle Blues, these tunes also feature repetitive grooves alternating with melodic lines and licks, rather than choruses focused on lyrical melodies.

My own books:

Fingerstyle Blues Guitar: An In-Depth Study of the 12-Bar Blues in E Major – Books 1 and 2 are available in paperback or eBook through Amazon [https://a.co/d/g7Udsso (Book 1) and https://a.co/d/aDbh4H0 (Book 2)]. The first priority of these books is to quickly get you playing a solo instrumental 12-bar blues, & then to build on it until you can freely improvise or “jam.” You should be up and running by the end of the third chapter, and each following chapter will add icing on the cake.

Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2026.

My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcokTG6C598OhTslHH5uo?si=hrQb7FViSZewDRSgECw9Ew:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, “Open Road,” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.

Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

Comparison #2: Best Fingerstyle Blues Method Books

February 20, 2026 by joemcmurray Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 15:12 — 21.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

If you want to get started playing 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 toward certain styles of learning / methods of presentation. I love learning from books because I can read the text at my own pace and as many times over as I want. Seeing the music written out is extremely helpful for me – I always had more difficulty keeping track of song forms or chord progressions without some sort of written reference.

So, for those of you who want to utilize a fingerstyle blues book to beef up your chops, I’ve done my homework and I’ve distilled my favorites into this “greatest hits” list. I’ll try to be objective and describe who each book is best suited to. Additionally, I’ll separate things out and first tell you about my favorite method books and then my favorite repertoire books.

Method Books

Guided course of study with explanatory text, exercises, example tune arrangements, etc.

Repertoire Books

Tune arrangements and possibly some background info for each tune.

Method Books

** Travis-Style Guitar From Scratch (Emery, 2006)

My all-time favorite book for learning to play solo fingerstyle guitar with an alternating bass or “Travis-style”, which is used in much fingerstyle blues playing.

Beginnner to intermediate.

Lots and lots of exercises, smooth difficulty progression, repeated tunes at increasing difficulty levels, text with a sense of humor.

* Fingerstyle Guitar From Scratch (Emery, 2003)

Great for absolute beginner guitar players looking to step into the world of fingerstyle guitar.

More focused on fingerstyle accompaniment or backup rather than solo fingerstyle guitar.

Now on to my favorite method books that are focused on fingerstyle blues.

1) Acoustic Guitar Fingerstyle Method (Hamburger, 2007)

Method book – could be the best initial book to work through if you’re just getting started with fingerstyle blues or fingerstyle in general. Effective organization of topics, progressive exercises, short but fun song arrangements at the end of each chapter.

Primarily aimed at beginner to intermediate, but some of the final chapters are fairly difficult.

Overall, this book provides a great overview of the techniques and approaches used in fingerstyle blues, giving you a solid foundation.

After working through this book, you could move on to any of the other method or repertoire books that I’m about to introduce, where you can refine your skills and technique, learn to improvise, and learn more tunes.

2) Fingerstyle Blues Guitar: An In-Depth Study of the 12-Bar Blues in the Key of E Major: Books 1 & 2

It is without shame that I present my own books.

These method books are focused on lyrical improvisation over monotonic bass.

First priority of these books is to quickly get you playing a solo instrumental 12-bar blues in the key of E major, and then to build on it until you can freely improvise or jam.
You should be up and running by the end of the 3^rd chapter, and each subsequent chapter will add icing to your cake.
Organized the books so that the concepts and exercises progress logically, thoroughly, and with a smooth difficulty progression.
- Take care to explain how to immediately apply each concept to your playing.

These are essentially one long book split down the middle: Book 2 picks up right where Book 1 left off. It was just too long – it would have been around 350 pages.
I recommend that everyone start with Book 1, which is suitable for all skill levels.
- Complete beginner players who work through the first few chapters should be able to improvise a satisfying fingerstyle blues solo.
- Intermediate to advanced players will breeze through the first few chapters, but will hopefully pick up some useful information starting around Chapter 4.
Book 2 is more suitable for intermediate to advanced players.
- It digs deeper into higher level concepts that are more technically and theoretically difficult, but will elevate your playing to new levels.
- You will learn to play new scales, turnarounds, rhythms, time signatures, key signatures, and more!
Again, I recommend that everyone start with Book 1, and then move on to Book 2.

When comparing my books to other fingerstyle blues books on the market, most other books focus on playing the blues over an alternating or Travis-style bassline, although they may present some material on using a monotonic bassline.
One other book, which, SPOILER, happens to be the next on my list, focuses on playing the blues over a monotonic bassline – Joseph Alexander’s Fingerstyle Blues Guitar.
- I was honestly very influenced by this book, and I highly recommend it in addition to mine!
- However, Alexander’s book focuses more on teaching you a bunch of authentic blues language and licks over the monotonic bassline, with less emphasis on putting together a full lyrical 12-bar solo, nonetheless a full multi-chorus performance. In my books, I actually provide lyrics to help guide the spontaneous creation of melodies.
- My book starts from a more beginner-friendly place and builds with a much more gradual difficulty progression. Easier melodies and rhythms at first, with many, many examples.
- My book also focuses on the bigger picture of putting together a cohesive blues chorus and then a cohesive multi-chorus performance.
One other aspect about my book that is very valuable is that I have provided both fretting and picking hand fingering throughout every example. Optimal fingering is extremely important when learning an arrangement – good fingering choices make playing easier and minimize the potential for mistakes.
I have spent a lot of time working through other books, I have real world experience, and I’ve tried to create a series of books that will be most effective at teaching you to actually jam on the blues.

Now, a downside for many of you will be that I can’t currently offer audio recordings (I have 2 little kids and life is incredibly busy!), but I can email you the GuitarPro files for every example if that would be helpful. I’m also happy to send out videos of specific examples if you reach out. joemcmurrayguitar@gmail.com

Available thru Amazon [https://a.co/d/g7Udsso (Book 1) and https://a.co/d/aDbh4H0 (Book 2)]

3) Fingerstyle Blues Guitar (Alexander, 2015)

Method book, focused on improvisation and licks over monotonic bass.

Late beginner to advanced, like my books, but it is best for intermediate. It’s honestly a great companion to my books!

Lots of great licks and blues phrases, but not as much explanation about how to apply these phrases into a cohesive blues chorus or multi-chorus performance.

My advice is that you take each phrase from the book and incorporate it into a 12-bar blues. Then spend time improvising your own similar blues phrases over the 12-bar blues.

Overall, if you want to learn to improvise over the blues using a monotonic bassline, there is a wealth of valuable information in this book, and it takes a wonderful approach, but I think that I have filled in some gaps with my own books.

4) Beginning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar (Berle / Galbo, 1993)

Method book. Does a good job starting from the basics and providing exercises that progress gradually and logically. Almost entirely focused on playing the blues with an alternating or Travis-Style bassline.

Beginner players who can play basic chords through to intermediate players.

This is the first fingerstyle blues book that I’ve come across that provides a great chapter on how to incorporate singing over your guitar playing.

Overall, a very solid purchase if you are a beginner looking to learn to play traditional fingerstyle blues with an alternating bassline.

5) Rainer’s Acoustic Blues Guitar Picking School (Brunn, 2022)

Method book, but minimal text and fairly short book overall. Valuable info and exercises, but less comprehensive.

Late beginner to intermediate

You will gain important technical/physical skills to play fingerstyle blues, but there isn’t much explanation on how to approach a new blues tune, there’s not much music theory to help you choose the proper notes while improvising, etc.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It gave me good workouts and I got some new ideas.

6) Fingerstyle Blues (Rivera, 2020)

Inspiring, well-graduated method book for learning to play fingerstyle blues.

However, this is for intermediate to advanced fingerstyle players.

Each chapter ultimately provides a full performance tune, but starts by describing a new concept or technique (or two) and providing examples that prepare you for the performance song.

Overall, this book has some really cool tunes and ideas, but to be clear, I would not recommend approaching this book until you’ve worked through at least one of the other books that I’ve already mentioned. You will get more out of this one if you are adequately prepared.

7) Roots and Blues Fingerstyle Guitar Explorations (James, 2014)

Last on my list is actually a hybrid repertoire/method book, Roots and Blues Fingerstyle Guitar Explorations (James, 2014).

I call this a hybrid repertoire/method book because it is mostly a collection of tunes, but with a few exercises and extra technical explanations and historical anecdotes.

Again, this is a book for learning to play fingerstyle and bottleneck blues.

Late beginner to advanced fingerstyle players but is best for intermediate players.

This is at the bottom of my list here, but it is good for learning open tunings and how to play fingerstyle blues using a slide.

Before we go, I want to introduce another special book that doesn’t quite fit into the “Method Book” category:

* The New Art of Ragtime Guitar (Saslow, 2011, 2017 2^nd Ed.)

This book is essentially a repertoire book of ragtime blues tunes, but the analysis that accompanies each tune is extensive and extremely valuable.

Late beginner to advanced and difficulty progresses with each tune.

My own books:

Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook.

Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2026.

My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcokTG6C598OhTslHH5uo?si=hrQb7FViSZewDRSgECw9Ew:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, “Open Road,” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.

Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

Review #29: 12-Bar Fingerstyle Blues by Dave Rubin

February 12, 2026 by joemcmurray Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:01 — 33.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Is this one of the best or worst method or repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar?

You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

12-Bar Fingerstyle Blues by Dave Rubin is another great repertoire book full of 12-bar blues choruses. I loved the author’s other book, Solo Blues Guitar, and now I recommend this one as well – these fun arrangements inspire me to improvise in new ways with new grooves. However, unlike the arrangements of his other book, these arrangements all need to be played without a plectrum. This book has some tunes that late-beginner fingerstyle players could handle, but the book is most appropriate for intermediate players.

The tunes in 12-Bar Fingerstyle Blues contain more repetitive grooves than some of the other fingerstyle blues method books on the market. Fewer lyrical phrases in the melodies. Whether that’s what you’re looking for is up to you. However, I find that these pieces present some great grooves that you can use as the foundation for your own variations and improvisation.

To really get the most out of the book, you will want to:

Learn an example as written,
Understand and internalize the groove – the shuffle, chord stabs, etc.
Create your own melodic variations and improvisations while maintaining the original groove.

By treating each short 12-bar tune as a seed or template for your own creativity, you can really milk these ideas and extend them into longer performances.

This book presents a lot of great 12-bar choruses from various subgenres. For experienced players, it is very fast to go through the entire book. Because each tune is a 12-bar chorus, you get a lot of ideas that you can digest, combine, and make into your own in the future. This book is simple and effective if you know how to use it.

I appreciate the chronological organization of this book, which separates tunes out into subgenres including Delta and Southern Country Blues (the longest section), Ragtime Blues, Piedmont Blues, Prewar Chicago Blues, Texas Blues, Postwar Chicago Blues, and Modern American Solo Steel-String Blues. Unfortunately, the tunes don’t really follow a clear difficulty progression. Within each section, multiple keys signatures and grooves are presented, and some happen to be a bit harder than others.

At the beginning of each subgenre, the author presents some cool history and key players to listen to. I try to set aside time within my practice sessions to listen to lots of recordings of these players. Personally, I listen on Spotify. This listening is time well spent as it attunes me to the sounds and feel that I should aiming for as I play the tunes.

12-Bar Fingerstyle Blues provides both treble clef and tablature for each arrangement. Unfortunately, no fingering is provided in the music. For each example, I notated my own fingering in the music, after which I was able to play much more smoothly, accurately, and confidently. The skill of choosing sensible fingering is important, and you will need to look elsewhere to further develop this skill.

Recordings are available online through Hal Leonard’s website. These will be very helpful to many readers. As with Solo Blues Guitar, the recordings were done by Doug Boduch, the author of Hal Leonard’s Fingerpicking Guitar, which I reviewed in Review #17.

My own books:

Fingerstyle Blues Guitar: An In-Depth Study of the 12-Bar Blues in E Major – Books 1 and 2 are available in paperback or as an eBook through Amazon [https://a.co/d/g7Udsso (Book 1) and https://a.co/d/aDbh4H0 (Book 2)]. The first priority of these books is to quickly get you playing a solo instrumental 12-bar blues, and then to build on it until you can freely improvise or “jam.” You should be up and running by the end of the third chapter, and each following chapter will add icing on the cake.

Arranging for Fingerstyle Guitar: go to http://joemcmurray.com/checkout/ to purchase a pdf of my eBook. Learning to arrange melodies will also help your fingerstyle songwriting and your understanding of the inner workings of fingerstyle guitar.

My upcoming book, Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2026.

My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcokTG6C598OhTslHH5uo?si=hrQb7FViSZewDRSgECw9Ew:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, “Open Road,” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.

Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

Review #28: Solo Blues Guitar by Dave Rubin

February 6, 2026 by joemcmurray Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:12 — 25.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Is this one of the best or worst method or repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar?

You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Solo Blues Guitar by Dave Rubin is different from any other book that I’ve reviewed thus far in that it is not a fingerstyle guitar book. The examples can be played fingerstyle, but most seem to work best with a plectrum/pick/flatpick. However, I want to review this book for a couple reasons:

It is focused on solo blues guitar arrangements
I LOVE this book. These examples are fun and they inspire me to improvise in new ways with new grooves.

Solo Blues Guitar by Dave Rubin is a repertoire book for learning to play, well… solo blues guitar! With a plectrum. This book is suitable for intermediate players who already have some knowledge of the blues and how to improvise. Each example provides a groove that intersperses melody and lead lines. To really get the most out of the book, you will want to:

Learn an example as written,
Understand the rhythm guitar groove – the shuffle, chord stabs, etc.
Insert your own melodies and improvisation while continuing to hold down the original rhythm guitar groove.
You can try creating variations to the original groove as well.

Other than a half-page introduction, there is no text in this book. Only full 12 or 16-bar blues examples:

(35) 12-bar, single-chorus examples in the keys of E, A, G, and D,
(15) 12-bar, two-chorus, slow blues examples in the keys of E, G, and A, and
(5) 16-bar examples with non-standard chord progressions in the key of A.

Solo Blues Guitar provides both treble clef and tablature for each arrangement. Unfortunately, no fingering is provided in the music. For each example, I notated my own fingering in the music, after which I was able to play much more smoothly, accurately, and confidently. The skill of choosing sensible fingering is important, and you will need to look elsewhere to further develop this skill.

Recordings are available online through Hal Leonard’s website. These will be very helpful to many readers. Interestingly, the recordings were done by Doug Boduch, the author of Hal Leonard’s Fingerpicking Guitar, which I reviewed in Review #17.

My own books:

My upcoming book, Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2026.

My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcokTG6C598OhTslHH5uo?si=hrQb7FViSZewDRSgECw9Ew:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, “Open Road,” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.

Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

Review #26: The Complete Acoustic Blues Guitar Method by Woody Mann

January 1, 2026 by joemcmurray Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 24:46 — 34.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Is this one of the best or worst method or repertoire books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar?

You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Despite the book’s title, this is not a traditional method book for learning to play fingerstyle blues guitar. This is a repertoire book containing fingerstyle blues arrangements in a variety of subgenres (i.e. ragtime and delta blues). The book does offer more than a traditional repertoire book in that it has technical and historical notes before each tune, and then it occasionally introduces a new technique through a tune. This book is suitable for late beginner to advanced fingerstyle players but is best for intermediate players. I really like the organization of the book: tunes are organized by subgenre, and within each section the tunes are arranged from easiest to hardest.

If you have zero experience playing fingerstyle guitar or fingerstyle blues, this is not the best book to start with. If you do have some experience, this is a great book for learning fun tunes, improving your skills, and learning some background history.

What stands out about this book is that some tunes include multiple choruses. If you’ve studied fingerstyle blues from books, you’ve seen one or two page arrangements that, as written, are too short for a full performance. You might have gathered that you should play the original arrangement and then create multiple variations to instrumentally simulate different lyrics for each verse of a vocal tune, to extend your performance, and to make it your own. However, most books don’t actually write out any variations. The Complete Acoustic Blues Guitar Method is wonderful in that some of its arrangements do contain 2^nd and 3^rd chorus variations. These are great for beginners and players that just want to play a tune that lasts more than 30 seconds, and they are even more valuable for players that want to see and study concrete examples of variations. You can learn a lot from analyzing these variations and then you can implement these ideas into other tunes in your repertoire.

Difficulty ramps up quickly in this book with the majority of the arrangements in that intermediate difficulty range. Beginner players may want to first use a traditional method book:

A general fingerstyle method like Alfred’s “Beginning Fingerstyle Guitar,” or
A more focused method like Bruce Emery’s “Travis-Style Guitar from Scratch.”

Then you could utilize Woody Mann’s book as a supplement as you’re working through the method book. Later beginners should aim for the first tune or two from each different section and see what specific styles of fingerstyle blues catch their ear. You will improve faster and have more fun if you play tunes that are aren’t too difficult, so don’t get bogged down with the hardest tunes in the book.

The Complete Acoustic Blues Guitar Method provides both treble clef and tablature for each arrangement, but neither fretting nor picking hand fingering is provided. At least you can tell which notes should be played with your thumb by looking at the treble clef – bass notes have down stems. Regardless, the skill of choosing sensible fingering is important, and you will need to look elsewhere to further develop this skill.

Recordings are available online through Hal Leonard’s website. These will be very helpful to many readers. It’s fun and educational to hear some of the author’s little variations and stylistic techniques (slides, bends, etc.) that aren’t written into the music.

The book doesn’t use the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc. No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping.

My own books:

My upcoming book, Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2026.

My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcokTG6C598OhTslHH5uo?si=hrQb7FViSZewDRSgECw9Ew:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, “Open Road,” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.

Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

Review #24: Beginning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar by Berle/Galbo

November 20, 2025 by joemcmurray Leave a Comment

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:33 — 44.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Is this one of the best or worst method books for learning to play acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar?

You can learn to play music using a variety of resources including teachers, online resources, and books.

Another great find! Beginning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar, by Arnie Berle and Mark Galbo, is a method book for learning to play fingerstyle blues guitar (both solo and accompaniment). This is first fingerstyle blues books that I’ve come across that provides a great chapter on how to incorporate singing over your guitar playing. The book is suitable for beginner fingerstyle players who can play basic chords through to intermediate players. I blew through this book – the material progresses logically with exercises that build on each other and lead perfectly into complete 12-bar examples. The majority of the book is focused on playing using an alternating bass (Travis style). Rest assured, if you work through this book, you will build a solid fingerstyle blues foundation and you will learn a few cool 12-bar choruses. You will still need further instruction to develop your arranging and improvisation skills as well as your tone, rhythmic feel, and fingering choices.

After some introductory material covering blues history, form, rhythm, and picking hand technique, the book jumps right into exercises to develop your alternating bass technique. Assuming you can already play your basic chord shapes, the book methodically shows you how to play the alternating bass over the I, IV, and V chords in the keys of A, G, and E. Each chapter presents a new layer of complexity (new melody note options, new rhythms, new fretting or picking-hand techniques, new chord voicings, etc.), with progressive exercises that always culminate in a full 12-bar example. The authors really did a great job in organizing the topics and calibrating the difficulty progression – the book flows well. Although the examples of the early chapters sound “major” and bland, they prepare you for the addition of “blue notes” and other bluesy techniques that add some soul to your sound and immediately make your playing more satisfying. Just stick with it through those early chapters!

Late in the book, the chapter on how to incorporate singing over your fingerstyle blues guitar playing is special. You won’t learn anything about vocal technique or tone production, but you will learn about the call-and-response dance between your vocals and guitar playing. You will learn how to accompany your vocal lines (the “call”) and then play a guitar riff or chordal “response.” First, the vocal melody is provided in standard notation and on the CD – you will want to learn to sing this melody. Then the guitar part is provided, which you will learn separately before adding the vocals on top. Then the authors provide alternate “response” riffs that you can substitute into the segments of the tune when there are no vocals. Players with more experience can improvise their own riffs in these spots. Finally, you will learn a few turnarounds that you can substitute into bars 11 and 12. By the time I was finished with this section, I was really jamming out, improvising, and having fun with the example tune.

The book culminates with five complete blues tunes that incorporate everything you’ve learned and jump-start your blues repertoire. Four of these tunes are traditional and one is an original. Three are vocal tunes and two are instrumental.

Beginning Fingerstyle Blues Guitar provides both treble clef and tablature for each arrangement. Minimal fretting hand fingering is provided (sometimes written into the music, sometimes provided via tiny chord charts written above the music, and sometimes discussed in the text). Picking hand fingering is only provided in the music for the first chapter, although you can always tell which notes should be played with your thumb by looking at the treble clef – bass notes have down stems. The skill of choosing sensible fingering is important, and you will need to look elsewhere to further develop this skill.

Recordings are available on an included CD. These will be very helpful to many readers.

The book doesn’t use the modern percussive techniques used by modern players like Michael Hedges, Don Ross, Andy McKee, Mike Dawes, etc. No thumb slaps, guitar body percussion, or tapping.

My own books:

My upcoming book, Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2026.

My music is available on all streaming platforms at https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dcokTG6C598OhTslHH5uo?si=hrQb7FViSZewDRSgECw9Ew:

Pins on the Map: my third fingerstyle guitar album was released on January 19, 2024. Watch the first single, “Open Road,” on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/uPBh8sZQsT4?si=EM_wAwnHFqU1VC9C.Riding the Wave and Acoustic Oasis: my first two fingerstyle guitar albums.

blues

Footer

Subscribe to Podcast