Guitar Picking Tunes Flatpicking Classics

Here is a collection of flatpicking arrangements with a fresh approach. Commonly played fiddle tunes like "Bill Cheatham", "Chinquapin Hunting", "June Apple", and many others, are explored in new ways with variations that progress musically into extended arrangements. Techniques such as cross-picking, floating notes, harmonics, and other devices pertinent to flatpicking are presented in a musical context. Guitarists will gain new insights into flatpicking technique, style, and arranging while expanding their repertoire and building their vocabulary of licks and phrases. The book and online audio recordings also present original concepts for solo guitar within the flatpicking idiom. Written in standard notation and tablature. Includes access to online audio.

A collection of classical pieces arranged for flatpicking guitar, together with a few modern flatpicking originals in the classical style by William Bay. Includes works byJ.S. Bach, Dowland, Handel, Krieger, Mouret, Playford, Praetorius, Quantz, Rameau, Sanz, and St. Jacome, as well as music by a couple of anonymous Renaissance lutenists-21 pieces in all. All selections appear in standard notation and tablature with fingering and suggested guitar chords when appropriate. The online recording includes all of the selections in the book

A collection of 19 flatpicking solos in the beautiful and rousing old-time style, reflecting the spirit of late 19th and early 20th century rural America. Written in standard notation and tablature. Includes access to online audio.

Guitarist, composer, songwriter, and Mel Bay author—Jeff Troxel has been successful in the flatpicking contest world as well as being a sought-after college and summer camp instructor. In this book, he shares a lifetime of knowledge about one specific role of the bluegrass guitarist— that of accompaniment or “backup”. Beginning in Chapter One, Troxel lays the foundation for what is to come in rendering alternating bass lines, chord progressions, ornamentation, intros, endings, bass runs, chord-melodies, pedal tones, and other essential concepts that contribute to effective rhythm guitar playing. Five appendices address: Basic Music Theory, Capos and Transposition, Tuning, Guitars, Picks and Strings, and Lead Sheets for the dozen bluegrass tunes featured in the book. All music appears in standard notation and tablature with 69 audio tracks. By the time you finish reading and playing the examples in this book, you’ll be ready to jam or perform with the best! Includes access to online audio.

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.

Many great Scottish traditional tunes can be traced back to 17th century lute music. In this collection, multi-instrumentalist Rob MacKillop has transcribed and arranged 25 popular tunes derived from various lute manuscripts. While idiomatic to the guitar, some of these arrangements include fast runs and chord changes, so are best suited to the intermediate-level flatpicking guitarist. This guitar collection consists of the same melodies in the same keys found in its mandolin counterpart, Tunes From 17th Century Scotland Arranged for Mandolin (Mel Bay Publications). In both books, suggested chords are provided wherever appropriate. Consequently, the settings work fine as either mandolin/violin and guitar duets, or as solos for either instrument. Until now, most of these appealing dance tunes and airs have not been available as guitar arrangements. Here, except for two tunes in drop-D tuning, all are in standard guitar tuning. With MacKillop’s spirited online recording, generous performance notes and standard notation and tablature for each selection, get ready to explore a wonderful new take on an old repertoire! Includes access to online audio.

This book and 2-CD set was intended for the mature picker who desires great arrangements to the classic songs we hear, sing, and play. Included are great sounding solid songs which are fun to play, but not with those "impossible" blinding runs. This unique book is also perfect for the beginner who is ready to branch into the intermediate world of guitar. 'Amazing Grace', 'Blue Ridge Mountain Blues', 'When the Roses Bloom In Dixie Land', 'Georgia Mail', 'When You and I Were Young Maggie' are just a few of the 45 full blown songs in this terrific volume. Lyrics, notation and TAB along with pictures, performance notes and, of course, companion CDs are all included; another must-have from Steve Kaufman.

Flatpicking guitar style delivers the clean, sharp solo sound that defined some of the greatest bluegrass recordings of the 1950s. Now you can learn to play famous fiddle tunes specially arranged for guitar. Each song includes performance notes which give you helpful hints and tips on playing slides, double stops, fiddle shuffles, tremolos, ornaments, syncopations, and much more!