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Review #21: Kalamazoo Gals by John Thomas

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Is this one of the best or worst books for learning about vintage Gibson acoustic guitars?

Kalamazoo Gals by John Thomas is a great book for vintage guitar enthusiasts, anyone curious about why folks are so crazy about vintage guitars, anyone generally interested in the Gibson guitar company and its founding, and anyone interested in the culture and society of the U.S. home front during World War II.  The author weaves the stories of the 1942 – 1945 Gibson “banner guitars,” the personal stories of the largely female workforce of the time, and the context of the wartime manufacturing regulations.

This book does NOT teach you how to play the guitar – it is non-fiction novel.  John Thomas put a tremendous amount of research into this book, making multiple trips to Kalamazoo, MI (where the Gibson factory was located).  He presents his findings with a sense of humor, making for an enjoyable read.

When many of the male employees at Gibson were sent off to fight in World War II, local women (the “Kalamazoo Gals”) stepped in to fill their shoes at the factory.  Despite heavy wartime regulations and an inexperienced, largely female workforce, Gibson built some of its most revered guitars – the “Banner Gibsons.”  Mysteriously, the Gibson company denies ever building these guitars!

John Thomas sought out the Kalamazoo Gals for their first-hand accounts of working at the Gibson factory during WWII, and along the way he discovered their personal stories.  He poured through old shipping ledgers to decode Gibson’s strange serial numbers system (or lack there-of) so that we can more accurately date these vintage guitars.  He X-rays a bunch of Banner Gibsons to discover exactly what made these guitars special.  Finally, he produced a musical album to capture the sounds of the Banner Gibsons.

The early chapters of the book present the history of Orville Gibson and his founding of Gibson guitars in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  As a guitar player, I was intrigued by the history of the company and how it is intertwined with American history.  I had no idea that Orville Gibson was fond of gaudy pinstriped suits and built interesting instruments like harp guitars and lutes.  I have a new respect for the company’s history having learned about how it scraped by during the depression, building both guitars and children’s toys, and how it aided the WWII effort by taking a bunch of contracts to build military weapons.

You will gain a much deeper understanding of Gibson’s flattop guitar models and their histories.  You will read the stories of several specific guitars that were owned by famous musicians including Buddy Holly and Woodie Guthrie.  You may develop an itch to acquire a vintage guitar – the massive, resonant sounds of these guitars and the stories they carry are truly special.

However, most importantly, you will hear the personal stories of some 15 or so Kalamazoo Gals.  It is touching to follow along as John Thomas clearly develops meaningful relationships with these women throughout the course of his research and interviews.

Be sure to check out the album, The Light Still Burns, by Lauren Sheehan and produced by John Thomas, to hear some of the Banner Gibsons in action!

Published in 2012 by American History Press.

My eBook: 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 eBook on fingerstyle blues will be out soon!  I’ll provide order details here.

My upcoming book, Arranging for Fingerstyle Ukulele, will be published by Mel Bay in 2025.

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 #1: Best Beginner Fingerstyle Methods

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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 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 guitar method 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.

Best Beginner Fingerstyle Methods:

  1. Alfred’s Beginning Fingerstyle Guitar (Lou Manzi): Great all-around book to learn solo fingerstyle guitar.  Beginner to intermediate.  Not specific to any one subgenre of fingerstyle.  Nice organization/flow of information with a decent difficulty progression.  Good finger exercises to build some dexterity or to use as warmups, decent explanations in the text (but not too wordy), and nice sounding original tunes.  There aren’t any arrangements of famous tunes, but there are tunes “in the style of ___.”  I personally like working through this book with my students.  Additionally, many of this book’s lessons have sparked creative ideas of my own.  First book in a three part series, so you can continue your studies!  Audio recordings are available.
  2. Travis-Style Guitar from Scratch (Bruce Emery): This book is a gem!  This is a method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle guitar using an alternating bass (in the Travis style).  This is one of the best books I’ve found for complete beginner to intermediate players who want to learn this specific style.  Even if you want to play other sub-styles of fingerstyle as well, this isn’t a bad place to start your journey.  The material progresses logically with lots of exercises that build on each other and lead perfectly into performance pieces (old classics like Oh! Susanna, House of the Rising Sun, Jingle Bells, etc.).  Each time Emery presents a new concept, he incorporates it into updated arrangements of each tune.  Emery’s sense of humor is infused into the text of the book, keeping detailed explanations lighthearted and entertaining without losing sight of the important information.  Audio recordings are available.
  3. Fingerstyle Guitar from Scratch (Bruce Emery): I don’t love it as much as Travis-Style Guitar from Scratch, but it is still great general method book.  You will not learn to play solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements (other than a very brief introduction to the topic), but you will receive a great foundation if you are just starting out with fingerstyle.  Complete beginner to intermediate.  Emery’s sense of humor is once again infused into the text of the book, keeping detailed explanations lighthearted and entertaining without losing sight of the important information.  The book is focused on fingerstyle accompaniment using arpeggiation and Travis Style / alternating bass patterns.  This book would make an excellent primer for either Alfred’s Beginning Fingerstyle Guitar or any other fingerstyle guitar method.  Audio recordings are available.
  4. Hal Leonard’s Fingerpicking Guitar (Doug Boduch): Short and sweet method to learn to play accompaniment and solo fingerstyle guitar through famous popular tunes.  Beginner to intermediate.  Guitar teachers may find this book to be a great teaching supplement.  The progression of topics is well laid out, the examples and arrangements are playable and sound good, and the text is concise.  This book is great if you just want to play arrangements of popular tunes, but I’d recommend that you work with a teacher if you want to learn more about how to apply the information outside the book.  Audio recordings are available.  Don’t confuse this with the next book. 
  5. Hal Leonard’s Fingerstyle Guitar (Chad Johnson):  Not to be confused with the previous book, this book is a more in-depth method for learning to play both accompaniment and solo fingerstyle guitar.  Beginner to late-intermediate.  I love the chapter on arranging music for fingerstyle guitar.  There are lots of popular songs – either short samples of the accompaniment parts or full solo instrumental arrangements.  Lots of examples, although they don’t always build on each other very well, creating some tough swings in difficulty.  Audio recordings are available.  I’d recommend Alfred’s Beginning Fingerstyle Guitar over this book unless you specifically want the popular song arrangements.
  6. Mel Bay’s Complete Chet Atkins Guitar Method (Chet Atkins): Excellent method book aimed at beginner and intermediate guitar players who want to learn to play solo fingerstyle guitar arrangements in the style of Chet Atkins (the majority of which utilize an alternating bass/ Travis Style).  If you are interested in this country-blues style of playing that Chet Atkins made popular starting in the 1950s and lasting until his death in 2001, this is a great place to start.  This book ranges in difficulty from easy to intermediate, although a few of the final arrangements are fairly difficult.  This one is moves faster and gets significantly more difficult than Bruce Emery’s Travis-Style Guitar from Scratch.  I’d really recommend going through Emery’s book first and then tackling this one if you are primarily interested in solo Travis Style playing.  This book is arranged much differently from Emery’s book.  Each section focuses on playing in a new key signature, and each new key presents new challenges and new opportunities.  This book also gets you playing up the neck (but don’t be in a rush to play up the neck!).

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

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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 better musician and human being in general.  This is NOT a method book with specific instructions and playing examples.  It reads more like a non-fiction novel that you would read in your most comfy chair.  The text is easy to read and flows well from topic to topic.  Every section will provide you with ideas to improve your playing, organize your practice time, conquer your stage fright, connect with your audience, etc.  I’d recommend this book for all skill levels, but especially for beginner and intermediate fingerstyle guitar players.

If you are looking for ways to motivate yourself or to get yourself over a musical plateau, this book would be a great investment of time and money.  It is a great supplement to other instructional books, video lessons, and in-person lessons.  Spend 5 or 10 minutes reading prior to your practice session, waiting at the doctor’s office, or while traveling.

The book is organized into three parts: “Your Soul,” “Your Craft,” and “Your Listeners.”  Part One: “Your Soul” contains lots of ideas that you might find in a general self-improvement book.  Most of the advice is not specific only to becoming a better guitar player.  Adam recommends playing music that really speaks to you, focusing on your strengths, and setting goals with specific plans to achieve them.  Some of this may be a little “heady” for some readers with ideas of “musical truth” and allowing your subconscious mind to guide you towards achieving your goals.  Even if that’s not your cup of tea, stick it out (you will likely find something useful) and you will be rewarded later in the book.

In Part Two: “Your Craft,” Adam discusses how to actually improve as a musician.  He goes over the stages of artistic development, the ten areas of musical study (concepts like “what to play” and “how to play”), how to practice effectively, and how to get out of a rut.  This section of the book gives a great overview of what is actually involved in mastering your musical craft.

In Part Three: “Your Listeners,” Adam shares some of what makes him so great as a musician and performer.  He provides practical advice on finding gigs, dealing with stage fright, and satisfying your audiences.  I love what he has to say about performing music that is both inspiring to you and entertaining for your audience.

If you like what Adam has to say in this book, you should absolutely check out his recordings, his successful YouTube channel, his podcast (Fingerstyle Guitar Hangout with Adam Rafferty), and his online courses.  He is incredibly talented at not only playing the guitar, but at arranging popular tunes for fingerstyle guitar.  I personally learned so much from him through his courses and through an interview that I did with him around 5 years ago on Fret Buzz the Podcast.

No guitar required while reading this book!

Published in 2020 by Crescent Ridge Publishing, LLC.

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

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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 Travis style).  This is one of the best books I’ve found for complete beginner to intermediate players who want to learn this style.  The material progresses logically with lots of exercises that build on each other and lead perfectly into performance pieces (old classics like Oh! Susanna, House of the Rising Sun, Jingle Bells, etc.).  Each time Emery presents a new concept, he incorporates it into updated arrangements of each tune.  Emery’s sense of humor is infused into the text of the book, keeping detailed explanations lighthearted and entertaining without losing sight of the important information. 

I can’t overstate how effective this book is with my students.  Emery will present a single idea like how to play an alternating bass line under an A minor chord.  Then he’ll present a series of exercises in which you play a single melody note each measure while maintaining the alternating bass line.  Each exercise will place that melody note on a different beat within the measure.  This approach provides great training that slowly, steadily, and thoroughly develops your physical skills.

The tunes at the beginning of the book couldn’t be more approachable (as solo arrangements), even for beginner students.  The first arrangements don’t feature any syncopation (the melody notes all land on the down beats), making them much easier.  They don’t sound as complex as the later arrangements, but they sound pretty good for beginner students!  This makes it fun and builds confidence.  It is incredibly valuable to see the same tune arranged multiple times with increasing levels of complexity and difficulty.  Aside from getting physically better at playing guitar in this style, you will gain insight into how to add variations to your own arrangements in the future.

No modern tunes in this book.  However, if you work through this book then you’ll be in a much stronger position to approach popular tune arrangements from other sources.

This book is entirely focused on solo Travis-style playing.  You will not learn Travis-style picking patterns that you might use to accompany yourself while singing.  Your guitar will do the singing!  Also, you will not learn other solo fingerstyle approaches like using block chords, arpeggiation, and other modern percussive techniques.

The book focuses on the keys of G major, C major, and A minor.  Three pages at the end are dedicated to the keys of A major, E major, and D major (in drop D tuning).  The book also keeps you playing down in first position (at the nut of the guitar) – no playing up the neck.  This keeps things more approachable.  No complaining here!

Audio recordings are available for all exercises and tunes!  Just go to the author’s website and download.

All playing examples are provided in tablature (TAB) only!!!  Chords are notated above the TAB.  Rhythms are clearly notated.  I enjoy reading standard notation and teach it to interested students, but I don’t personally think much (if anything) is lost by not providing standard notation for this subject matter.

I recommend using an acoustic steel string guitar rather than a standard classical guitar since there are multiple tunes that utilize the fretting hand thumb over the top.

Published in 2006.

My eBook: 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 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 #18: Alex de Grassi Fingerstyle Guitar Method

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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 method book for learning to play solo fingerstyle guitar.  You will learn many of the nuts and bolts that bolster de Grassi’s technique, musicality, and general style.  This is an amazing book (a 192 page tome of information!), but it is dense and highly technical.

If you are thinking about investing your time into this book, consider what sub-style of fingerstyle you are interested in.  Listen to Alex de Grassi’s playing to see if that is the direction that you want to go in.  I personally love his playing – he uses a lot of classical technique, he has incredible control and clarity, he is extremely melodic, expressive, and musical, he tastefully uses some modern percussive techniques and cross string ideas, and he plays music that sounds like a blend of folk, Celtic, and blues.  If you want to play like Chet Atkins or Tommy Emmanuel, start with a different book.  If you want to play like Andy McKee, Preston Reed, Don Ross, or Mike Dawes, this book has several very applicable chapters and isn’t a bad stepping stone.  This is a great book if you want to be a well-rounded and precise player.

De Grassi claims that this book is for beginner through advanced players.  The first half of the book certainly contains a lot of “beginner” fingerstyle information, but I highly discourage beginner players from starting with this book as their first foray into fingerstyle guitar.  There are more approachable books with easier arrangements and less text.  If you are a big Alex de Grassi fan and you’re dead set on going through this book as a beginner, it would be helpful to work with a teacher and/or to supplement it with another more beginner-oriented method book (see my other videos/reviews).

I think that this book is very beneficial to a late beginner or intermediate player who can already smoothly play some solo fingerstyle arrangements.  This book will tweak your physical techniques, your tone, and your artistic touch (phrasing, articulation, dynamics, etc.).  

Overall, the 2nd half of the book is very “heady” with many advanced concepts that beginners don’t need to bog themselves down with.  These concepts include difficult cross-string ideas, reasons to use alternate tunings, complex rhythmic ideas (cross-rhythms), modern percussive techniques, and ways to add depth and dimension to your sound.

The repertoire in the book consists of traditional tunes and the author’s original tunes.  There are several full song arrangements, but most of the examples are song fragments.  De Grassi breaks down these fragments in great detail in order to demonstrate the topic being discussed in the text.

There is SO much detail in the descriptions.  He gets into the nuances of how to physically perform a technique, where to place your fingers, how to control note durations, etc.   The text is very dense, and it took me a long, long time to get through it.  I recommend listening to each (wonderful) audio example, then reading the text pertaining to that example, and then playing that example.  You will likely need to repeat this process multiple times for each example or topic.

The audio recordings are invaluable for hearing the artistic details, ornamentation, and complex rhythms of the examples.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so tied to the audio recordings of a method book.

All playing examples are provided in standard notation (treble clef) and tablature.

You could use either a steel string acoustic or nylon string classical guitar to work through this book.  You don’t have to fret any bass notes using your thumb over the top (although I like to here and there).

Published in 2012.

My eBook: 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 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.

Topic Talk #3: Repertoire

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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 repertoire, maintaining it can require a lot of work.  To stay performance-ready, you need to plan time for repertoire review into your practice schedule.  How often you review each tune depends on your own abilities.

In the video I discuss a couple options to ease the burden of gig preparation.  You can use sheet music or an iPad on stage, or you could split a gig with another musician.

Keep a notebook with your repertoire list so that you are efficient with your repertoire review and so that you never lose track of a tune.  If you perform for different types of gigs, you will need multiple repertoire lists.

Your repertoire will continually grow and evolve.  Some old arrangements will fall off of your list as you add new ones.

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

My eBook: 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 music is available on all streaming platforms – links on my Linktree page: linktr.ee/joemcmurray

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.