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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2013 11:31:29 GMT
I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread where members could recommend music-related books to others, be they tutorbooks, songbooks or, as in this instance, tunebooks.
I can certainly recommend this one as a source of material. Cantiga's Renaissance Festival Favorites is a compendium of antique tunes and songs with source notes and chords. Many of the tunes are familiar, some much less so, but all are very attractive and enjoyable to arrange and play. While it's fair to say that most, if not all, of the material is available on the web, it has to be sought out and is nowhere near as user-friendly as a spiral-bound and clearly printed book.
I suspect that folks into those space tunings I find so scary would find much to interest them here, while most of the tunes work very well on mandolin.
www.amazon.co.uk/Cantigas-Renaissance-Festival-Favorites-Instruments/dp/078664432X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360668365&sr=8-2
If you fancy a sneaky preview of what's on offer - or are buying the less friendly e-book version, MP3 downloads are freely available on the relevant Mel Bay page, and very pleasant they are too.
www.melbay.com/Products/99960BCDEB/cantigas-renaissance-festival-favorites.aspx
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Feb 12, 2013 14:13:30 GMT
Good idea, Pete!
That looks a very interesting book you have linked to indeed.
I have many, many books that I've accumulated over the years, but I have to say that I've only dipped in and out of them, and I really can't think of one that I've gleaned too much from. I get most of my material online and from youtube now anyway.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2013 16:48:56 GMT
Must be my age and background. I still like working through a good tunebook, rediscovering old favourites, or, as happened with the one above quite a bit as well, coming across something new to play. There's also the pleasure I get from leafing through fakebooks with my pianist friend and just having a go at stuff, derived from the days when we were in a pro band together and had to play human jukebox. It's brought back the joy of throwing together head arrangements and improvising on a number for as long as it feels good, and at the same time something of the courage that I once had to just get on and play has come back.
Regarding t'interweb, it's a fantastic resource but to me it feels like wading through a midden to get at the worthwhile material sometimes. Let's be honest, there's a lot of inaccurate and misleading stuff out there, such that I sometimes feel sorry for the beginner who may try to learn from it. While you could go on on Youtube and immediately garner inspiration from countless gifted musicians, it's much harder to find what they're doing accurately rendered, or to accrue the listening and observational tools to work it all out for yourself. I'd argue that there's nothing like sitting down with physical tutor and tunebooks written by professionals for that, and, of course finding flesh and blood musicians to learn form and play with.
I should probably admit that I've generally fallen out of like with the internet anyway. This forum, the Guardian, Indy and New Satesman pages and my favourite gaming sites are the only parts I visit regularly now. It's all corporate trapdoors and Twatterbooks these days, not like in my day...
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Feb 13, 2013 9:28:26 GMT
Out of the many books I have, the one's I find I'm making most use of are non-guitar books. Dagger Gordon's Scottish Mandolin book has seen a lot of use, as has Ken Perlman's Melodic Clawhammer Banjo. Apart from that, I have a guilty pleasure in going through the little black acoustic songbook types and picking out tunes I like and then trying to play them
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Akquarius
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Post by Akquarius on Feb 13, 2013 19:19:09 GMT
I had once mentioned that I usually put guitar-related books in two different sections: one is the tune-based, where it's mainly the tunes that are relevant (like the all-famous Traveller's Tales or the Butterfly Arrangements), the other one is the theory-based, where the main topic is the what and how, and tunes are used as an academic tool. One of my favourites belonging to the latter part is Doug Young's Understanding DADGAD for Fingerstyle Guitar You could walk this book through from beginning to end, and you can also flip through the pages (or the CD) to watch out for things that are of interest to you.
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007
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Post by 007 on Feb 13, 2013 21:10:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2013 15:01:43 GMT
Good find 007. And many thanks for the suggestions so far, folks. I know a few people here have an interest in jazz, and in particular that Paul's presently getting into the genre. Although this book isn't strictly guitar related, Mark Levine's Jazz Theory is one I wish I'd seen decades ago when I found myself in the deep end and going under for the third time. It's by no means as daunting as it looks, and really starts from the fundamentals of the jazz language. Something of a masterpiece, in my opinion. www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/1883217040/ref=pd_sim_b_6#_Another good one is Improvising Jazz by Jerry Coker. Again much basic information, with some really useful progressions in the appendices that have been helping me break some ingrained habits. www.amazon.co.uk/Improvising-Jazz-A-Fireside-book/dp/0671628291/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=31DV4TP9KGA&coliid=I1DPONREM1VQMGOnce you have some of the information in the above down, Ken Rattenbury's Duke Ellington: Jazz Composer is worth a look as it throws light on the roots and approach of the greatest of them all, and is simply inspiring.
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Post by markthomson on Feb 20, 2013 21:38:36 GMT
+1 on WD's recommendation for the Mark Levine Jazz Theory Book, very illuminating. I've found some of the stuff I've learned is useful for arranging regardless of style, esp. the chord substitution stuff. Great book!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2013 10:54:52 GMT
+1 on WD's recommendation for the Mark Levine Jazz Theory Book, very illuminating. I've found some of the stuff I've learned is useful for arranging regardless of style, esp. the chord substitution stuff. Great book! Yep, and all rendered in a straightforward way that makes you wonder why so few others manage to present the information with such clarity. I'll recommend the Old Time String Band Songbook by John Cohen and Mike Seeger now, to those with an old time country bent or anyone with an interest in Americana. I've had my copy since the '70s, when it was originally issued as The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book, and it's become so worn and yellowed that I'm on the edge of getting another copy. It contains many songs recorded in the first half of the twentieth century but whose roots in the British Isles are often very apparent. A few have tabs or transcribed solos, all come with enlightening notes, and it's both a useful repertoire builder and an inspiring primer for those wishing to explore the music. www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Time-String-Band-Songbook-Fiddle/dp/0825601797/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1361702298&sr=8-4#_
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Feb 25, 2013 13:56:57 GMT
I'll recommend the Old Time String Band Songbook by John Cohen and Mike Seeger now, to those with an old time country bent or anyone with an interest in Americana. I've had my copy since the '70s, when it was originally issued as The New Lost City Ramblers Song Book Slightly off-topic, but I just got my ticket to see Tom Paley in concert in May
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Post by Adrian on Aug 8, 2013 9:12:51 GMT
I can highly recommend The Guitar Handbook written by Ralph Denyer. (ISBN 0 330 32750 X)
Whether one plays acoustic or electric, it covers everything; Rock, Blues, Jazz and Folk. It is a 'gold mine'.
I've had my copy of this book for over 20 years and I still refer back to it to refresh my memory or to try out something new.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2013 10:30:58 GMT
Yep, Denyer's book is great. It's one of the few I actually re-bought after many of my music books were rendered useless by flooding. It's a bit short on practical examples, but long on hard information, covering everything from chord structure to synthetic scales.
There was an updated version in 1992, but oddly enough it doesn't seem to present the information as clearly as the original edition, so I'd always go for the first myself (recognisable by having an intro by Andy Summers rather than Robert Fripp). It should be said that both editions are a bit outdated, particularly their sections on guitar technology, but at the core is information that doesn't change.
Thanks for bringing this one up Adrian.
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Post by jonnymosco on Aug 8, 2013 16:26:22 GMT
I can highly recommend The Guitar Handbook written by Ralph Denyer. (ISBN 0 330 32750 X) Hi Adrian, total respect to you... I too have had that book for 20 years, unfortunately never got to grips with it, it seems to make everything so complicated; but, it is very comprehensive. I would love to suggest another that is similar, but not sure anything exists in one edition. Jonny
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2013 17:47:18 GMT
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Post by Phil Taylor on Aug 8, 2013 19:49:49 GMT
As a bit of reading rather than a music book I recently bought this Django Reinhardt biography to take with me on my last holiday - its a good read www.amazon.co.uk/dp/030680171XGot it second hand for about £7. Phil
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