David Schiller has written a book that should be in the library of every guitar player.

Order GUITARS from Amazon.com

This is not the type of book you will read in one sitting nor is it the type of book you will read in sequential order from front to back.

After turning the first few pages you soon realize that “Guitars, A Celebration of Pure Mojo” is a virtual guitar encyclopedia that has been compressed into a 4″x6″ treasure chest.

There are over 500 guitar photographs included in amazing detail. The book includes guitars that made history, changed the course of music and inspired new generations of players.

Just a few of the famous guitars included: The amazing Gibson L-5, Rickenbacker’s “Frying Pan”, Les Paul’s “Log.”, B. B. King’s Lucille, Willie Nelson’s Trigger, Eric Clapton’s Brownie, The J-160E that John Lennon played during his 1968 “bed-in” with Yoko, Jimi Hendrix’s hand-painted Flying V in full psychedelic regalia… Are you ready to order your copy yet?

Also included are profiles of famous builders including C. F. Martin, Orville Gibson, Leo Fender and the mad genius Lloyd Loar. Individual luthiers like Linda Manzer (her Pikasso II has 42 tunable strings), the maverick Ken Parker and old-world artisan John D’Angelico are also profiled.

Marrying visual pleasure with layers of information, “Guitars” captures the soul, the magic and the raw mojo of the instrument we all love and adore.

The world is full of guitar instruction books.

Don’t believe me?

• A search on Amazon.com for “Guitar Instruction Book” returns 5,442 titles.
• “Guitar Chords” returns 3,771.
• “Guitar Scales” finds another 779!

So why do we need more study books? We don’t. What we need are new perspectives and creative ideas to learn from. Guy’s Publishing Group has delivered on both counts.

Last summer, I posted a review of a breakthrough guitar chord reference book titled: “Guys Grids”. If you missed that post, check it out: Guy’s Grids: A Master Class in Guitar Chords.

The much anticipated follow up to Guys Grids is now available!

Guy’s Scales, Modes, and Arpeggios is a comprehensive and integrated presentation of all of the most commonly used guitar scales, modes, and arpeggios in all regions of the fretboard.

Every guitarist knows that playing a solo is a skill that requires a strong working knowledge of scales and arpeggios. This book delivers that information in a very user-friendly format that guitarists of all levels will be able to follow with ease.

The book begins with a simple but well executed 5-page study on music theory and is followed by two-page spreads that show the fingering patterns and the corresponding standard notation. The fingering patterns are presented in a grid format, with each horizontal row showing scale patterns, arpeggios and chords all being played in one region of the fretboard. Then, each vertical column displays the same set of information in seven different regions of the fretboard. In the appendix, Guy presents a comprehensive set of triad studies which follow a similar grid format.

“I wrote this book because I needed a comprehensive resource on scales, modes, and arpeggios and I could not find one that I really liked… What really sets the book apart is its thoroughness and clarity. I believe that it will soon be recognized as the definitive resource book on scales, modes, and arpeggios.”
- Author Guy McRoskey (a guitarist)

Make no mistake, I am very impressed with this book. The print quality is superb.  The paper quality is thick and sturdy and yet the book is thin enough to fit inside your gig bag. One thing I really love is that Guy addressed a pet-peeve of mine with most other guitar instruction books by using a spiral binding so the book would lay flat while you are using it. Thank’s Guy!

The book is available directly from the company website for $14.95 and through select retailers. I’d suggest you order one before he realizes he under-priced this encyclopedic reference tool!

To learn more, visit www.GuysGrids.com.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the growing trend of guitar magazines that are converting to rich-format digital publications. If you missed that post, you can read it by CLICKING HERE.

Another publication has joined the ranks of the multimedia age… Guitar Player Magazine, which is known online as GP2.

The September issue features a great review of “10 Budget Solid Body Guitars”. You can read the entire issue by CLICKING HERE.

The August Issue is also online and you can read that one by CLICKING HERE.

While I love the use of technology and the benefits interactive media brings to the guitar reading public, there is something I enjoy about sitting back in my easy chair with my favorite beverage and a guitar magazine.  It’s similar I suppose to our nations love affair with the printed newspaper… even though the days of news print are clearly numbered.  I mean, where do you look for headlines?

So tell me which you prefer… Guitar Magazines or Online Guitar Magazines?

If you are like me, you just can’t get enough guitar.

(To be honest, my problem is not that I can’t get enough guitar… it’s that I can’t get enough time to read all of the guitar stuff I find.)

There seems to be a trend toward the release of “online guitar magazines”. Not guitar web sites (like this one)… but actual 200+ page guitar magazines that used to be available on the news stand and are now available as FREE interactive PDF publications complete with page turning animations, links to related web sites and embedded audio sounds. Pretty cool stuff if you ask me.

The two publications that I am aware of at this time are:

• PREMIER GUITAR
• GUITAR EDGE

Click on the name of the magazine to see the current issue. Be patient… some of the files are big, and they take a minute or two to download, depending on the speed of your computer.

You can sign up for a FREE subscription to each and you will receive an email when the next issue is available.

There is a new guitar magazine on the newsstand called Guitar Aficionado.

It is VERY different from all of the other guitar magazines. There is no tab or song translations.

There is no CD or DVD in a plastic bag.

This magazine is more like a “Robb Report” for guitar lovers. It’s all about the high life. The articles are about guitar collections worth millions and lifestyles that are typically only enjoyed by rock stars, CEO’s and celebrities.

Hey… there is nothing wrong with dreaming!

The publisher claims that every issue will include an inside look at the exotic instruments and wondrous collections of people who are passionate about guitars and life’s finer things — including expensive watches, delectable spirits, exotic cars and high fashion.

Like I said… there’s nothing wrong with dreaming!

The Premier issue featured:

• Tom Colicchio: The Top Chef rocks
• Five Blue-Chip Guitars
• At home with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry
• Superstar vintner Robert Foley
• Billy Gibbons’ new Fender Custom Shop Esquire

It also included articles on fine aged bourbons, The Harley V-Rod Muscle, The 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo and touring England like 007 .

Like I said… This is NOT your typical guitar mag!

So lest you think this is a bashing post on the new publication, let me say that I went to my local Barnes & Noble and bought one.  And I love it!

I found myself glued to the magazine for weeks — reading EVERY article. And I can’t wait for the next issue.

Here is a sneak peak at the cover of the 2nd issue… with articles about Jimmy Page, The first electric guitar, Eric Johnson and more…

Guitar Aficionado is not a clone of any other guitar magazine — it is a breath of fresh air. The cover price is $7.99 USD (remember… no cd included) and I recommend you skip the morning Starbucks and go get one.  Better yet, order a 1-year subscription (4 issues) for $24.95 or… put it on your Christmas wish list like I did!

I used to think that buying another new chord book was like buying the 2009 edition of Webster’s Dictionary (is it really that different from last year’s?). That may be true for “most” chord books, but certainly not for Guy’s Grids. This book is very different from the others and is well worth the $64.95 price (CD included).

To start, this book is massive. I’m talking about 228 spiral bound 11×17 pages! When you open the book and lay it flat on a table it is nearly 3 feet wide! Printed on high quality and heavy paper stock, Guy’s Grids is in itself a stunning work of art. Even my non-guitar-player friends are amazed at the detail when they flip through the pages.

Make no mistake, this is not a large print version of a “pocket-sized” guitar chord book. This is a comprehensive encyclopedia that will guide you along the path of understanding music theory and the relationship between chord families. On his website, Guy says: “I searched for a great chord reference book that would present the most useful chord forms in a manner that would reinforce the chord theory I had just learned… I wanted a book that would help me to recognize the relationship between related chords… I could not find such a book… So, I created my own.”

The book is very thorough and includes over 2,000 open chord forms and over 700 moveable chord forms. The book is divided into four major sections with sturdy tabbed dividers for 1) Open Chord Grids, 2) Moveable Chord Grids, 3) Index of Open Chords and 4) Index of Moveable Chords. Each page is extremely detailed with chord forms illustrating the recommended fingering and the chord tones and scale degrees for each string. Each page is a “grid” (obviously!) with identical column and row formats. The columns are divided into chord families (major, dominant, minor, and diminished). The rows are divided into triads and the variations of the triads that are created by the inclusion of a 7th, 6th, 9th, 11th, or 13th scale degree.

While the magnitude of reference information included in this book may seem intimidating to the new player, it is important to note that the book also contains a section for the beginning student called “Anchor Chords” with grids for the most commonly played chords that every guitarist should focus on first. The book also includes a “Bonus CD” for play-along practicing of the progressions found on every grid.

I ordered my book direct from Guy’s website which arrived quickly, wrapped in bubble-wrap inside a sturdy box. I have averaged spending about 30 minutes a day with the book since it arrived and in less than a week, my eyes have been opened to a fascinating new way of looking at the fretboard. I highly recommend Guy’s Grids to every guitar player who is serious about becoming a better player!

For more information or to order your copy, visit http://www.guysgrids.com/.

I have read my copy through two times… and I am sure one day there will be a third.

Editorial Review: With striking intimacy and candor, Eric Clapton tells the story of his eventful and inspiring life in this poignant and honest autobiography. More than a rock star, he is an icon, a living embodiment of the history of rock music. Well known for his reserve in a profession marked by self-promotion, flamboyance, and spin, he now chronicles, for the first time, his remarkable personal and professional journeys.

Born illegitimate in 1945 and raised by his grandparents, Eric never knew his father and, until the age of nine, believed his actual mother to be his sister. In his early teens his solace was the guitar, and his incredible talent would make him a cult hero in the clubs of Britain and inspire devoted fans to scrawl Clapton is God on the walls of London s Underground. With the formation of Cream, the world’s first supergroup, he became a worldwide superstar, but conflicting personalities tore the band apart within two years. His stints in Blind Faith, in Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, and in Derek and the Dominos were also short-lived but yielded some of the most enduring songs in history, including the classic Layla.

During the late sixties he played as a guest with Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, as well as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and longtime friend George Harrison. It was while working with the latter that he fell for George s wife, Pattie Boyd, a seemingly unrequited love that led him to the depths of despair, self-imposed seclusion, and drug addiction. By the early seventies he had overcome his addiction and released the bestselling album 461 Ocean Boulevard, with its massive hit I Shot the Sheriff. He followed that with the platinum album Slowhand, which included Wonderful Tonight, the touching love song to Pattie, whom he finally married at the end of 1979. A short time later, however, Eric had replaced heroin with alcohol as his preferred vice, following a pattern of behavior that not only was detrimental to his music but contributed to the eventual breakup of his marriage.

In the eighties he would battle and begin his recovery from alcoholism and become a father. But just as his life was coming together, he was struck by a terrible blow: His beloved four-year-old son, Conor, died in a freak accident. At an earlier time Eric might have coped with this tragedy by fleeing into a world of addiction. But now a much stronger man, he took refuge in music, responding with the achingly beautiful Tears in Heaven.

Clapton is the powerfully written story of a survivor, a man who has achieved the pinnacle of success despite extraordinary demons. It is one of the most compelling memoirs of our time.