The Serious Guitarist: Left-Hand Techniques

Until now, serious rock, blues, and jazz guitarists have not had a book devoted entirely to the left hand. The Serious Guitarist: Left-Hand Techniques fills this gap with a unique, dedicated approach to proper left-hand position and dexterity that you've always been looking for. Learn the most effective approach to left-hand technique, and discover ways to increase efficiency when you move up and down the guitar neck. Lessons are organized progressively---one technique lays a foundation for the next---and featured are exercises that have been thoughtfully developed into musical ideas and licks to give a clear example of how you can incorporate the techniques into your own playing. This way, you will be playing music, not just exercises. The included companion CD features demonstrations of the examples in the book. / Guitare

The Physiology Of Guitar Playing: Functional Anatomy And Physiomechanics-This comprehensive guide to the physiology of Guitar playing is the culmination of three decades of deep exploration of the guitarist's playing mechanism and is the most detailed presentation of Ricardo Iznaola'sthinking about these matters to date. Structured in three chapters Chapter 1 surveys basic anatomy and physiology of the upper limb with additional sections discussing general pedagogical considerations. Chapter 2 devoted to the right hand presents detailed information regarding digital joint behavior in general and as applied in actual activity on the guitar as well as introducing an analytical system to study and describe positionalattitudes or `frames' adopted by the hand in the course of playing. Chapter 3 discusses at length left-hand physiomechanics taking the concepts of shifting and mobility as fundamental categories encompassing all aspects ofleft-hand technique. Twenty-six anatomical figures over fifty photos and more than sixty musical examples with access to online video amply illustrate the text. 'In the spirit of ground-breaking scientific pioneers celebrated performer and pedagogue Ricardo Iznaola offers the guitar world the first volume of Summa Kitharologica a comprehensive and highly insightful examination of guitar technique in a remarkable mixture of soaring eruditionand down-to-earth practical and applicable approaches to the instrument. Like a modern-day Charles Darwin of the guitar his insatiable passion for discovery keen eye of the `naturalist' and relentless analytical mind havecarefully and methodically recorded previously little-known or little-recognized observations relationships and nuances about the natural principles at work in artful guitar playing. For guitar instructors serious students andeven advanced performers who desire to go beyond the `what' of guitar technique and delve into its `whys' and `hows' this may well be the definitive text.' - Henry Adams former editor Guitar and Lute

of Guitar Solos-Laurindo Almeida (1917-1995) belongs to an elite group of Brazilian/American guitarists who by composing important works for the guitar reinstated the instrument in his native country as worthy of serious musical study.Stylistically his compositions synthesize his classical background Afro-Brazilian rhythms traditional Brazilian music and American jazz. This collection presents Almeida's solos preserving the original left and right handfingerings. The fingering is unique and tells us something about his skills as a professional guitarist. It also reflects the Brazilian school of guitar technique in the 1930's. Written in standard notation only.