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Post by willy25 on Jun 16, 2019 22:47:06 GMT -6
Hello I’m new to playing blues and I’m about to the purchase blues you can use ( the first book) and I was wondering when Im done with that book which other should I buy next? Does anyone know the order of the series? Don’t want to Jump to an advance book. Thanks
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Post by joachim on Jun 17, 2019 2:51:48 GMT -6
Welcome to the forum!
Don't worry about that just yet. Work out the first book and see where your interests lie. "Blues You Can Use" should be studied first. Then you can move to either of the other books, but there is no need to rush through BYCU to get to the other books.
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Post by Phil on Jun 17, 2019 8:30:55 GMT -6
Welcome to the forum.
I'll just emphasize what Joachim said. Don't buy any other books yet. Don't make the mistake I made and rush through the studies just so you can get to the next book.
Read and do the stuff in between the studies. Depending on your present skill level it'll take 6-12 months to work through BYCU. Don't start thinking about what to do next until you're close to the end.
The next book you choose will depend on what your interests are. I personally liked More Blues You Can Use a lot. It's like 2 books in one. It thoroughly covers both lead and rhythm.
However, it is a very difficult book. That's not just my opinion. Many others here will agree. The jump from BYCU to MBYCU is extreme. It's like there's a book missing in between.
Anyway, when you have about 2 lessons left in BYCU ask this question again. Between all the regular forum contributors here we have collectively been though all the books.
Again, welcome to the forum. I hope you become a regular around here. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. Upload a videos of you playing the studies if you want some constructive feedback.
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Post by willy25 on Jun 17, 2019 19:19:51 GMT -6
Thank you for the response guys. One thing I forgot to mention is that I don’t know any theory, I only know basic open chords, bar chords, powerchords and my picking technique it’s ok lol.
Is that book ok for a beginner like me? I really like all genres of music and I don’t know how to make a routine. I tried Jamplay and GuitarTricks but the beginner section to me looked boring. Books with cd look more interesting because they contain more info. like it teaches technique and theory at the same time and how to apply everything.
So I’m already looking at a hard rock metal book series by Troy Stetina plus Blues you can use. And will like to add a jazz or country book to the table.
You guys think that will be to much jumping book from book? I just like all styles of music.
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Post by Phil on Jun 17, 2019 20:49:37 GMT -6
Willy,
Obviously, you're totally free to do whatever you want. I don't want you to think I'm telling you what to do like I'm some all knowing sage. I'm just a student like you. All I can do is point out the mistakes I made that I think slowed my progress down. Mistake #1 for me was trying to work on too many things at once. I still have that problem. It's a hard habit to break.  Personally I would not work on more than 2 comprehensive books at once. I don't have the Stetina book (others here do) so I can't comment on it. But I can tell you that BYCU can take a lot of time if you do everything John Ganapes presents. I didn't, and I think that was a mistake. You don't need to know any theory before starting the book. John introduces you to the theory that's useful little by little through out the book. I don't want to toot my own horn here, but I wrote a pretty decent blog post about learning music theory. You can check it out here. I recommend a good book to learn basic music theory in the post. You don't need a guitar in your hands to learn theory - just a good, clearly written, easy to understand book. IMHO, learning some basic music theory really helps.
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Post by joachim on Jun 18, 2019 0:42:09 GMT -6
A really important advice for practicing with these books is to practice regularly by just playing on your own and use the tricks you've learned from the studies. Otherwise you will not internalize the material and after a few months you will have forgotten it. Like most of us here, you probably have a dream or ambition to be able to pick up the guitar and play a cool blues solo, without having it memorized in advance. That's a musical skill you have to practice, and you can't learn it from tabs.
If I sound like I have it all figured out, then I haven't. I have just practiced guitar a little longer. And if you're really into guitar playing, you should consider taking lessons.
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Post by jack1982 on Jun 19, 2019 5:27:35 GMT -6
I think Blues You Can Use is a very nice introduction to the basics of theory - it teaches you the pentatonic minor scale, box-by-box, and then moves on to using all the boxes together and becoming fluent in soloing over the entire length of the fretboard. It also teaches you blues chords and the structure of blues songs, starting very simply and getting increasingly complex as you go. There's of course a ton of music theory that it doesn't get into, but in my opinion it's a nice book to "get your feet wet". As far as the Stetina books, I really like them and at one time was working on them at the same time as Blues You Can Use. My problem was I'd get interested in a song in BYCU, and focus on that exclusively. Then I'd get interested in a song from the Troy Stetina book and focus on that exclusively. And so on and so forth  So I made very halting progress with both books. But experiment around and see what works best for you. |
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Post by cunningr on Jun 19, 2019 8:37:04 GMT -6
Welcome, my view is like Jacks BYCU good place to start, and as Joachim and Phil mention take your time and take small bites to build on. I just started lessons this year and wish had done that years ago. The regulars on here have alot of knowledge, and if you dont want to video your playing for help just record yourself and link or post mp3 for feedback. Stick around and participate in the forum we always welcome new members.
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Personally I would not work on more than 2 comprehensive books at once. I don't have the Stetina book (others here do) so I can't comment on it. But I can tell you that BYCU can take a lot of time if you do everything John Ganapes presents. I didn't, and I think that was a mistake. 
So I made very halting progress with both books.