Tools to Record Yourself

The perfect practice tool!

Also! 2 add ons for creating loops, and slowing them down to half speed!

Paths Of Progress

BOOK REVIEWS AT GUITARPRINCIPLES!

The best books out there to use for your continued growth as a guitarist and musician. Read Jamie's reviews and find out WHY you should use them, and HOW to use them, and also, WHO should use WHAT!

Click the title to read review...

Beatles Made Easy For Guitar: Many of the greatest songs by THE greatest pop/rock (and beyond) songwriters of my lifetime! The great thing about this book is that all the songs are in easy guitar keys, so it is perfect for those just getting the hang of chord changes and strumming.

Speed Mechanics For Lead Guitar: This is an excellent book for the serious rock/metal guitarist. Troy Stetina has put together a series of exercises designed to develop all the essential techniques used by the virtuoso electric guitarist. If you want to be blazing like Kirk, Eddie, Steve & Joe, this is the book for you!

Library of Classics: A great collection of classical guitar pieces for the intermediate classical student who is looking for a lot of the greatest, most popular, and most played music in the standard classical repertoire. Clear and easy to read, a lifetime of great music to study and play, all in one convenient place!

The Voice Book: The best book I have found on singing. I will give this book the highest compliment I can, it is for the voice what my book "The Principles of Correct Practice For Guitar" is for the guitar. With great analytical detail, the author gives you ALL the right information, in the right order, along with "Foundation Exercises" to remove the obstacles to improving your ability to develop your voice.

Ultimate Folk Book: After you have begun the process of learning how to practice by using The Principles, and you have learned the first position chords in the key of G with "The Path Level One: Chords & Rhythm", it is time for some Horizontal Growth by learning a good number of songs, and some Vertical Growth, learning new first position chords, as well as more sophisticated strums, and accompaniment techniques such as BASS RUNS, and ARPEGGIOS.

There are a number of lessons on songs from this book at GuitarPrinciples, as part of the Mel Bay Study Group (FREE!)

Metal Lead Guitar (Troy Stetina): find out why this is one of the best books for acquiring the basics of this style.

Bob Dylan Made Easy For Guitar: some of the greatest songs by one of the greatest American songwriters. Great for horizontal growth in players at the "strumming/singing" stage, or those learning how to apply more sophisticated accompaniment techniques.

Position Studies For Guitar: there is no entrance to the higher mysteries of the guitar without a knowledge of the fingerboard. For those who have gotten a handle on notes in the first position, guess what, it's time to get to work! This book is a great introduction to the neck, moving fret by fret, teaching you the relevant scales and keys for each position on the neck. It will go a long way toward making you a literate and educated musician.

100 Graded Classical Pieces (Fred Noad): an excellent collection of classical material suited to the intermediate player, or those approaching the intermediate stage.

Metal Rhythm Guitar (Troy Stetina): Troy takes you step by step through all the basic rhythms and techniques used in your favorite metal music.

Voice Technology - A State of the Art Studio: an incredible study of the mechanics of singing, including much work on vowel and consonant production, and insight into the science of phonetics, which underlies the study of speech and singing. Best of all, the book comes with a COMPUTER PROGRAM you can use to SEE your voice, how it is producing sound, and how to change it for the better. A must for those wishing to improve their singing!

Kitharlogos - The Path To Virtuosity: This book is for classical guitarists what Troy Stetina's "Speed Mechanics" is for metal heads! Lots of well thought out exercises that help you progressively develop classical technique. If you know how to do Principled Practice, you will go far with this book.

Fundamental aspects of technique, illustrated using classic songs you know and love (according to The Principles, of course!)

Powerful Secrets! to improve your playing!

Important info on reaching with the index or pinky, and its relation to arm position.

These are essential, and basic, techniques for the rock guitarist. Many people do them wrong, find out if you are one of them!

The classical and casual positions with electric, acoustic, and classical guitars.

There are always lots of questions about how to apply The Principles to a standing position. Here are pictures of me standing with an electric, and using different strap lengths.

Pictures of good left hand positions for various playing situations.

Video clips of the Walking Exercises from "The Principles".

Video clip of Foundation Exercise # 10, The 6 note Arpeggio".

See the proper form of this difficult chord.

There is much confusion as to the "correct" left hand position for guitar. That is because there is no such thing as THE correct left hand position for guitar!

Find out why you need to have those distal joints in shape for this chord, and also why you don't!

In 30 years of teaching, I have rarely (perhaps never) seen a left hand that wasn't crippled with bad form in one way or another, especially when it comes to doing major scales. This workshop student was no exception......

A common error in technique for students, and contributing factor to a lot of playing problems.

What does good tone and bad tone on an acoustic guitar sound like anyway?

Often, we must squeeze our fingers into some rather unaccommodating positions on the guitar. We know we are supposed to strive to get our fingers "right behind the fret" as we play, but, like so many things in life, we have to bend the rules sometimes (it ain't a perfect world!).


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