DVDs

This excellent DVD will help develop your melodic guitar signature. Every artist spends a lifetime developing the artistic signature that makes them unique. Learn what it takes to expand your musical personality effortlessly through fun-to-play fusion songs. Lessons include: new sounds with bluesy octaves; tones with the thumb and fingers; various picking techniques - expressive double stop snaps, finger and pick combinations; dramatic new hand techniques and cool hammer-on, slur and bending runs.

Expand and develop your blues touch, taste, tone and 'tude by learning cool new songs that you can play today! Go to the heart of great touch and tone through exercises including: Pick technique, pressure, release; Perfect intonation; Dozens of great blues techniques; Hammer on and pull-off licks; Great melody playing; Get the most from a melody line and Developing a solo.

If you want to play blues guitar like B.B. King, Eric Clapton or Buddy Guy then this 80 minute DVD will get you on track. Starting at the beginning with first-position key-of-E blues licks, Fred Sokolow shows how to play lead and backup like a modern blues guitarist. You'll learn: Several moveable scale patterns and licks for soloing. Moveable chords and chord based licks for backup. How to play melodies, chord backup and improvised solos on blues classics Stormy Monday, Everyday I Have The Blues, Killing Floor and Baby Please Don't Go. Intros and endings. Enough theory to understand the 12-bar blues structure and be able to play backup and solo in any key. Boogie bass lines, vibrato, note-bending and more. Level 2, 48 page tab/music booklet.

Learn to play electric blues guitar with Stuart Bull.

Stuart Bull has taught literally tens of thousands of guitarists worldwide through the highly acclaimed TOTAL ACCURACY series. This 2 DVD set comprising of Electric Blues Volumes 1 & 2 includes tutorials for: blues scale positions, phrasing ideas, fast blues licks in the style of Gary Moore, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton etc, solo construction, blues runs, major/minor pentatonic combinations, string bending ideas, slide playing ideas and much more.

Hosted by Luthier and Mel Bay Author, John LeVan from The Guitar Services Workshop. John will cover how to: Clean, Condition, Polish and Restring several different types of electric guitar. Don't miss John's interview with World Famous producer Michael Wagener and guitarist Wolf Hoffmann from the band Accept. These industry professionals will provide valuable advice and insight for players of all levels.

In December of 1995, Hot Tuna travelled to San Francisco to play a concert at the legendary Fillmore auditorium. Fortunately, the moment was captured on film. This DVD conveys all the excitement and power of that performance and of this three decade wonder band which has one of the most faithful audiences in popular music. Songs include "Ode For Billy Dean," "Do Not Go Gentle," "Candyman," "Good Shepherd," "Ice Age," and many more.

Freight Train will be a century old in the year 2005. Its author didn't quite live to become a centenarian herself, though she did win a Grammy (Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording for Elizabeth Cotten Live) when she was 93. Both the song and its author are inexorably linked in the minds of most anyone aware of either, yet this DVD vividly demonstrates that there was far more to Elizabeth Cotten and her music than Freight Train. This DVD presents three concert performances by Elizabeth Cotten recorded in 1969, 1978 and 1980. Recollections of her life and music are prompted in the 1978 concert by interviewer Mike Seeger, who played a major role in recording Cotten's repertoire. Mike is also close by in the 1969 and 1980 performances. From 1969: Freight Train, What a Friend We Have In Jesus, Ruben, Vestapol, Washington Blues, A Jig and Spanish Flang Dang. From 1978: Freight Train, Wilson Rag, Georgia Buck, Rattler, Spanish Flang Dang, Judy's Got a Rambling Mind, Mama, Your Son's Done Gone, Wreck of the Old 97, Jesus Is Tenderly Calling Today, Vestapol, Buck Dance, Oh, Babe, It Ain't No Lie, Ontario Blues, Mama, Where's the Baby and others. From 1980: Graduation March, Freight Train, Spanish Flang Dang and Shake Sugaree.

The third in a three-volume series, "From The Waist Up," narrated by U2's Bono, follows Elvis' path to stardom. Charting his remarkable 12-month trajectory from unknown singer to pop icon, this series of television performances culminates in Elvis' legendary appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. DVD version includes 5.1 audio, trivia, filmography, and discography. [55 MIN.; COLOR/B&W; NOT RATED]

Expand and develop your string-skipping technique with Danny Gill.

One of the most frequently asked questions in the field of guitar education is “What do I practice?”. This excellent DVD series provides lessons and pieces of music exclusively written for practicing essential guitar techniques. By combining the technique lessons with the music and learning the piece from start to finish, you will not only improve your ability, but also get a sense of achievement and fun from practicing.

Expand and develop your sweep picking technique with Andy James.

One of the most frequently asked questions in the field of guitar education is “What do I practice?”. This excellent DVD series provides lessons and pieces of music exclusively written for practicing essential guitar techniques. By combining the technique lessons with the music and learning the piece from start to finish, you will not only improve your ability, but also get a sense of achievement and fun from practicing.

Expand and develop your two-handed technique with Andy James.

One of the most frequently asked questions in the field of guitar education is “What do I practice?”. This excellent DVD series provides lessons and pieces of music exclusively written for practicing essential guitar techniques. By combining the technique lessons with the music and learning the piece from start to finish, you will not only improve your ability, but also get a sense of achievement and fun from practicing.

ADRIAN INGRAM is widely recognized as one of the foremost authorities on jazz guitar. He has written extensively on the history, players, styles and instruments of the genre. As an educator he ran the prestigious jazz guitar course at Leeds College of Music for almost 15 years, during which time he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) for his outstanding contribution to music education. He holds masters degrees in music education and music performance.

"A scholar as well as a professional guitarist for over 30 years, Adrian Ingram is a respected and prolific writer ... one of jazz guitar's most gifted players as well as its foremost historian."

Bob Benedetto

This DVD lesson covers everything you need to know about the basic language of jazz. It teaches clearly and concisely all of the necessary techniques required for advanced jazz guitar playing.

The Essentials of Jazz Guitar is not only vital for those new to the genre, but also of value to seasoned players who may have glossed over the valuable building blocks of jazz theory. It begins with basic chord scale relationships and chord construction and then progresses to extended and altered chords, substitution, harmonic pluralities, song-form and indispensable chord progressions.

A detailed tab/music instructional booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD.

A comprehensive demonstration of how to clean, condition, restring and setup several different electric guitars. Hosted by Luthier and Mel Bay Author, John LeVan from The Guitar Services Workshop. John will cover how to: Adjust the trussrod, bridge saddles, string nut, pickups and the intonation, as well cleaning & conditioning. Don't miss John's interview with World Famous producer Michael Wagener and guitarist Wolf Hoffmann from the band Accept. These industry professionals will provide valuable advice and insight for players of all levels.

This DVD lesson is for the intermediate and advanced fingerstyle guitar player. It is for the student who feels comfortable with an alternating bass techique and wants to expand and explore ideas in blues and ragtime using more advanced right and left hand techniques.

The four instrumentals featured in this lesson are all extended compositions offering a variety of musical ideas. Piano sounding blues in the key of A are presented with Mississippi Blues and Blues For The Mann. A Blind Blake approach in the key of C is used for the Glory of Love. Struttin' Rag in the key of E brings together three distinct sections. It opens with a blues piano sounding motif and then steps into a more country atmosphere. It finishes with a series of bass licks reminiscent of Merle Travis's Walkin' The Strings.

There are many challenges to master in these four instrumentals. Each is taught phrase by phrase and then played slowly on a split-screen. A detailed tab/music booklet is included.

Tunes include: Mississippi Blues, Struttin' Rag, Glory of Love and Blues For The Mann. 76 minutes.

This DVD lesson has been designed to help beginner and intermediate students of fingerpicking country blues guitar improve their playing skills and increase their repertoires using an alternating bass technique. Stefan Grossman illustrates and explains in detail ten fingerstyle arrangements in the keys of C, D, E, A, G and F. These popular blues and ragtime songs come from the playing of Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, Mance Lipscomb and Elizabeth Cotten. Each tune is discussed and taught phrase by phrase and played slowly on a split screen so that you can clearly see what each hand is doing. A detailed 44 page tab/music booklet is included with this lesson.

Tunes include: My Creole Belle, Louis Collins, Oh Babe Ain't No Lie, All My Friends Are Gone, See See Rider, Sugarbabe, Monday Morning Blues, Candyman, Sister Kate and The F Rag

This DVD is the follow-up lesson to Fred Sokolow's Beginner's Fingerpicking Guitar. It presents six classic fingerpicking tunes solos and accompaniments with a bluesy and country flavor: Creole Belle, Hesitation Blues, Sitting On Top Of The World, Ain't Nobody's Business, Hey Hey Hey and Blues For Dixie. Fred plays and sings each arrangement up to speed and then slows them down explaining any unusual or difficult licks. Close-up views of both hands make it easy to learn the arrangements. Along the way you will also be taught:• How to fingerpick in several keys, Soloing and accompaniment in standard, dropped D and open D tunings, Moveable chord formations, Several major scales, A fingerpicking scale exercise. 55 minutes / Level 1-2. A detailed tab/music instructional booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD.

This two DVD set is for the beginner and intermediate guitarists who want to start fingerpicking. Rev. Gary Davis use to tell his students that playing the guitar was easy. He would say that a piano player has only two hands (the left keeps an alternating bass while the right plays a melody) but a guitarist has three hands! Our right hand thumb is one hand and plays the bass figures while our index finger is our second hand and plays the melody. Our third hand is our left hand which fingers chords. The results produce a full and orchestrated fingerstyle sound with a rhythmic bass played against melodic lines. This is the alternating bass technique which we sometimes jokingly refer to as "bum-chick." It is the most popular fingerpicking style played and has been used by legendary guitarists. Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis, Merle Travis, Doc Watson, Chet Atkins are but a few of the giants of this style.

On these two DVDs we will explore how to master the alternating bass style. Each tune is taught phrase by phrase and then played again slowly on a split-screen so that you can carefully see what both hands are doing. A detailed 60 page tab/music booklet is included. As well, you will see footage of some of the great fingerstyle players such as Rev. Gary Davis, Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Merle Travis, Brownie McGhee, Elizabeth Cotten, John Jackson, Pink Anderson and Doc Watson.

Volume One: Oh Papa, Shake That Thing, Death Come Creeping, Nobody's Dirty Business and Make Me A Pallet Of Your Floor 88 minutes.

Volume Two: Coffee Blues, Crow Jane, Oh Mary Don't You Weep, Delia, Old Country Rock and Will The Circle Be Unbroken 82 minutes.

This DVD illustrates how traditional country blues guitar techniques and styles can be extended and explored to create new textures and styles. Blues tunes are demonstrated in the keys of A, D and E, and Woody Mann teaches how variations and improvisational ideas can be developed. The styles of blues legends are discussed and analyzed. Includes a companion booklet. (65-minutes)

So you’re interested in learning how to play fingerstyle guitar. In this lesson Buster B. Jones will take you from the very basics and start you on the road to fingerpicking. Buster’s no-nonsense, clear instruction will have you picking melodies in no time. You’ll find phrase-by-phrase instruction for all the exercises and songs. Split-screen techniques are featured so that you can study and clearly see what each hand is playing. You’ll learn: how to tune your guitar; left and right hand playing positions; basic chords; chord movements; right hand patterns and techniques. A detailed tab/music instructional booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD.

In this second volume of Fingerstyle Guitar From The Ground Up, Buster B. Jones continues to show you all the tricks of his trade so that you’ll be able to fingerpick in the style of Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. Buster’s clear and down to earth explanations will have you fingerpicking in no time. You’ll find phrase by phrase instruction for all the exercises and songs. Split-screen techniques are featured so that you can study and clearly see what each hand is playing. You’ll learn: More right hand patterns; Right hand rolls; More chord movements and Fretboard logic. A detailed tab/music instructional booklet is included as a PDF file on the DVD.