Guitar Blues. Gitarre, Tabulatur (Acoustic Masterclass) [Englisch] [Musiknoten]

Kenny has done it again. Acoustic fingerstyle blues students have once again received some truly golden learning opportunities.

I don't know just how much credit I can claim, but I emailed Kenny a few years back and practically begged him to release a book that contained not just the framework of songs, but whole songs, including different chord voicings, fills and runs and turnarounds and essentially everything a student would need to know to play a song, instead of playing a basic 12-bar several times.

That's exactly what Kenny has delivered in this book. It's his top-drawer, grade-A material that he's sharing here. Not many performing artists would be willing to do that, I think. So I feel like we students owe him a debt of gratitude.

The material ranges from Lightnin' Hopkins-style blues to very tappy-toe ragtime, and it's all just a ton of fun to listen to, and to play. It's all in standard tuning, no slide involved. There are certain points where Kenny does something really difficult--a quick turnaround with 9th chords, for instance--where he provides reasonable alternatives (using 7th chords instead). Nice touch. He moves at a faster pace in this book than his previous books, but he's covering a lot more material, too.

I must say that I was a tad disappointed--irritated, even--when I discovered that the CD that comes with the book does not by any means contain all of the music in the book. Mostly, the CD covers the main themes in the songs. To hear everything, you have to order not one, but two of Kenny's other CD's, i.e., not instructional CD's, but his commercial releases.

But then I realized that it would take a lot to cover all of the material in the songs. Not to mention that there are probably copyright issues on reproducing entire songs, even if they are from Kenny's own CD's. And beyond that, if you add up the price of this book, and the two other CD's, and then you consider what a goldmine of terrific material you're getting, this is the bargain of the millennium. Excuse my hyperbole, but I've already picked up so many new things from this book, as I have from his other books, that I find it hard to speak calmly about Kenny's work.

Beginner students should be advised that this material is probably beyond them. There are always exceptions, of course. Some beginners are fiercely determined (not to mention more talented than I), and can tackle more challenging material. When I was starting to learn fingerstyle, this stuff would have simply killed me, and made me feel helpless. So in general, I think beginners are better off with Kenny's first two books. (The first is no longer in print, I think, but "Acoustic Blues Guitar" is, and it's excellent for beginners.)

In a way, working through this book has made me a little sad. I've come to realize that my own playing, and my own musical knowledge, have reached a point where soon I won't need books or ideas any more. Even as I started working on the first song, I immediately had alternate ideas that I started throwing in (many of which I learned from Kenny's earlier books). I've reached the point where I hear a run in my head that's different from Kenny's, and I can figure it out and work it into the song in place of something Kenny offers. So although I've never met Kenny, I feel nevertheless like this is almost the end of a personal relationship, because I've (nearly) outgrown the need for help with my playing.

I've bought maybe 200 guitar books over the years, a sizeable number of which are devoted to acoustic fingerstyle blues. Kenny's are not the only books that have helped me. But his outweigh all the others by a large margin. I can honestly say that, if it weren't for his book, "Acoustic Blues Guitar," I might have--probably would have--given up for good on fingerstyle. Now, five years later, I've reached the point where I'm ready to play open mics, and I can improvise at will on ragtime themes. (You just can't imagine what that means to your own soul until you actually do it for the first time.) I don't discount the importance of my own hard work and dedication in making that happen, but Kenny's help was also of fundamental importance.

I agree with the very detailed review by a_reader_999. The only comment I can make is, you can purchase the indivudual songs and listen to previews of Kenny's music at the Apple Music Store - everything except Sick Boogie. Not only is this cost effective, but you can stop and playback songs from iTunes much easier than from a CD.

This is a song book for the intermediate player who wants a challenge, or the advanced player who wants to learn Kenny Sultan's unique style and songs. It is an outstanding instructional book that accompanies his two solo albums.