Blues You Can Use

This book is very good for people who want to play blues but are not sure how to approach it. It explains the minor pentatonic scale and all the notes that you can add to that scale in different situations. The chord progressions are well explained so that it is easy to understand them, even if you don't know any music theory. The practical parts are very well played and the accent is on melody and the "soul" of the song. My playing of blues got very better after I started to learn it from this book. John Ganapes published another book that is the continuation and the superstructure of this book. It's called More Blus You Can Use.

I think this is a great intro book on blues playing, and is especially well-suited for people studying on their own. I worked through all the material in the book, and liked it so much I've moved on to Ganapes follow-up, More Blues You Can Use.

I found this book/cd combination for the Blues to be one of the better items on the market. This book/cd combo covered rhythm and lead guitar development while touching on the many different styles of the Blues. Starting from a beginners view point, this combo progressed to a strong intermediate/intermediate- advanced level. Best part is that you go at your own rate. I've tried a handfull of other "how to" books, and this book/cd combo definitely rates superior.

This book cleared up alot of what was missing in my playing.I recomend it to anyone who whant's to learn guitar with blues and rock and roll interest.

This is a good book which places emphasis on being able to play in any key anywhere on the neck, and getting familiar with scale/chord roots. It helps you get out of the rut of just playing blues in one position, it also has some good solos that are well worth learning. I think this is the best book available on learning blues guitar(and i've seen plenty) so i went out and bought More Blues You Can Use, John Ganapes seems to know what parts will cause difficulty and explains things very thoroughly. I still think it's very important to keep listening to blues Greats(and stealing some of their licks!), also to jam with people is important, but this book will be very useful to students of the blues. Check it out.

I am about a third through this great book and am making very good progress. The book focuses on lead technics and makes the importance of scales and pattern boxes absolutely clear. Playing guitar for less than a year, I can now find my way around the fretboard pretty easily. Also moving scale patterns from key to key and finding the root notes is not hard after the first 8 lessons. My only complaint: A little more focus on rythm would be great.

Great book full of useful information. Has a unique layout that really enhances it's usefulness.

This is an instructional book that I feel has brought me a big step up in my playing ability. If you want to learn the blues, I recommend this book. Each chapter is divided into 3 sections: Scales, Chords and Progressions, and a Study. Each Scales section delineates an exercise with the minor and major pentatonic scales. The Chords and Progessions sections cover chord patterns in the blues framework as well as 6th, 9th, and #9th substitutions. The Study is a 2 to 4 minute composition which the student learns to play; each study is on the cd. Both lead and rhythm are addressed, but more emphasis is on lead