| Search Amazon.com merchandizes using this form |
Acoustic Guitars:
The Guitar Book
Today's info: "Best is first reviewing several products prior to purchasing at Amazon.com."
NOTE: All online transactions are processed at Amazon.com's secure server,
using the latest technology on internet's secure transactions.
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $18.34
You Save: $ 11.61 ( 39% )
(prices subject to change)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Average Customer Ratings:
This publication, for advanced fingerstyle guitar players, is the first book in the United States of Bensusan's arrangements. It contains sections on all aspects of guitar performance, emphasized with pieces by various composers, including Mr. Bensusan's traditional Irish fiddle tunes, French ballads and more.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS:
Binding: Spiral-bound
Dewey Decimal Number: 787
EAN: 9780881886207
ISBN: 0881886203
Label: Hal Leonard Corporation
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 188
Publication Date: 1987-03-01
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Studio: Hal Leonard Corporation
SIMILAR ITEMS:
• The Guitar of Pierre Bensusan Volume 1
• Intuite
• Musiques
• Pres De Paris
• Altiplanos
CUSTOMER REVIEWS:
The Guitar Book -
Pierre Bensusan has written this amazing book which,not alone takes the mysteries out of DADGAD guitar-tuning,but also gives invaluable tips on guitar playing in general.The tablature is a great help in finding which fret and which string to use, because there are many different "places" on the fretboard for any given note.Without this,as a classical guitarist,I would find Pierre's music very difficult to sight-read in standard notation (which is provided also;and very clearly written.) Apart from all the technical stuff,the end product sounds beautiful! One example is an arrangement of Handel's "Water Music".It is impossible to overstate the importance of this brilliant work.
"How To Play The Guitar in 30 Days!"
Learn from the best -- This guy shows you how to bypass guitar lessons & get REAL results! Results that got him featured on channel 7 news, hits FM radio, recording studio's and live on stage to thousands!
Learn to Play Guitar
Quickly learn the secrets to mastering the basics of the guitar and amaze your friends and family. At only $19.95! Instant download and free bonus software represents exceptional value.
The key to DADGAD -
Pierre Bensusan is a musician's musician. The first time I saw him (which was in 1977 at a folk festival in the little village of Hoeilaart in Belgium), I was so knocked out I bought his first two albums on the spot.
Since then, of course, he has become world-famous, expanding his musical vocabulary all the while.
The pieces in this 1985 book, however, are all drawn from that earlier time, before the effects pedals and so forth, when his main influences were easily discernible to be the notable guitarists of the English folk revival; particularly John Renbourn, Nic Jones and Martin Carthy.
Contents
======
Along with scales and exercises there are 35 tunes, as follows. All are in DADGAD tuning except where otherwise indicated.
The Return from Fingal
Le voyage pour l'Irlande
Rakish Paddy
Le lendemain de la fête (EADGBE)
Près de Paris (FDGCF)
The Ash Plant (FDGCF)
The Morning Dew (FDGCF)
La danse du capricorne
De Trilport à Fublaines (DGDGCD)
Heman Dubh
Maurice au pays des merveilles
Clementine, Mandarine et Reine Claude
Merrily Kiss the Quaker
Cunla
Murtagh McKann
The Pure Drop
The Flax in Bloom
Le moulin á parfums d'Emmanuelle
Water Music
Le voyage pour l'Irlande (EADGBE)
Le lac des abbesses (DGDGCD)
The False Knight on the Road
Digital
Hekimoglu
Climats doux et tempéres
Suite flamande aus pommes
La marche du sonneur égaré
Sí Bheag, Sí Mhor
Santa Monica
Au jardin d'amour
Solilaï
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Nice Feeling
Bamboulé
Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum (CADGAD)
Most are from Pierre's first four albums:
7 from Près de Paris
5 from 2
11 from Musiques
6 from Solilaï
6 miscellaneous
The pieces are arranged in order of difficulty (it's noticeable that all those from Solilaï come at the end).
As well as the above, there are recipes, advice, photos, poems from the author's wife, and much more. In fact it's not so much a music book as a total brain dump.
Accuracy
======
The transcriptions are, by and large, very accurate, but there are nonetheless some curious anomalies.
One is that "Le lendemain de la fête", given in standard tuning, was recorded by Pierre in DADGAD, and is given in that tuning on his DVD The Guitar of Pierre Bensusan, Vol. 1. It's certainly playable as written, but it doesn't sound quite right. What the explanation may be for this, I can only conjecture. However, "Le voyage pour l'Irlande", is given twice here, once in each tuning; so maybe it's just that Pierre plays (or has played) these pieces both ways.
Most annoying, however, is that the staff notation is written at absolute pitch, even when a capo is used, e.g. "Le lac des abbesses" in G capo'd at 4 is written in B. This makes the staff impossible to read without reference to to the tab, for the 15 pieces in which a capo is specified.
The key signature of "La marche du sonneur égaré" should be one sharp, not two; since although the key is D, the mode is mixolydian, and so the Cs are natural (as confirmed by the tab). However, there is the occasional C#, so, again, you have to check both the staff and the tab.
Presentation
=========
The book is conventionally bound and does not take kindly to being opened flat. My copy (about 20 years old) is falling apart.
Summary
=======
This is one of the greatest guitar books I've ever come across, so much so that even the quirks mentioned above can't lead me to deduct a star. It's certainly THE greatest book on DADGAD, although Pierre Bensusan presents DADGAD Guitar comes close.
But it's not for beginners, nor for flatpickers. Also, if you can't read you may have trouble, especially if you don't have the author's first four CDs. In that case, or if you learn better visually, I would recommend the DVD mentioned above, along with Vol. 2. Both come with tab booklets.
A great find -
This book is a great find for acoustic guitarists looking to stretch their fingerstyle playing as well as learn about alternate tunings. Pierre Bensusan's playing is phenomenal, and if you can keep up with any of the tunes transcribed (I wish I could!) in this book, then you're really doing something. This book has all the songs from his early records, plus poems, pictures, even recipes. It's excellent.
Unique Work of Art! -
Pierre Bensusan's "Guitar Book" is simply one of the best guitar books ever published. Virtually all of the pieces from his first 4 recordings are transcribed in very accessible format. All in tablature, mostly his preferred DADGAD tuning. In general, the pieces are arranged from easiest to most difficult, and most are accessible for an intermediate player. If it were just about the transcriptions, this would certainly be an extraordinary work. However, the "extras" take it to another level. Poetry, art, cooking recipes fill in along with some of his thoughts about playing the guitar. This work is truly distinguished from other guitar publications. Obviously, this book is not for a mass audience, but if you like Pierre Bensusan and play the guitar, you simply MUST have this.
Guitar Alliance Online Guitar Lessons
The fastest way to increase your guitar playing abilites. With guitar tab, audio, video, and more. A complete guitar instruction course.
The Guitar Player's Dream Come True!
An effective way to boost your guitar playing ability 266% while learning techniques, tricks, licks, riffs of guitar greats past and present.
Not your ordinary guitar book...this is THE Guitar Book!! -
Pierre is not only one of the most extraordinary acoustic guitar players in the world, but a lot more. The Guitar Book is the living proof that Pierre is also an skilled writer, capable of sharing his own "little world", as he calls it, so that the reader is able to immerse himself in Pierre's playing style, musical visions, and even venture into some more, uh, sensorial stuff. The book provides not only insights on his playing techniques, immaculate transcriptions of tunes from his first 4 albums and the Mechanics of Guitar according to Bensusan, but also some poems, evocative photographs, paintings and even recipes!! This is as deep as you can get into an artists personal world, done in the irreprehensible Bensusan style. A MUST-BUY!!
NOTE: All online transactions are processed at Amazon.com's secure server, using the latest technology on internet's secure transactions.
These Acoustic Guitars are brought to you by