Blues Soloing For Guitar, Volume 1: Blues Basics: Learn and Master the Basics of Blues Guitar

As with other James Shipway instructional books and videos what you get is no nonsense instructions, plenty of actual riffs and licks to learn. The work is so organised that it tests the guitarist whatever their current playing level. If like me, your soloing ambitions are relatively new, you will learn a lot about techniques to practice, some easy but becoming progressively more difficult to achieve at a polished result.All the way through the student is picking up practical knowledge which enhances their understanding of music theory, but most importantly throughout the practical exercises James encourages students to use the techniques learned in their own material. I found this to be an excellent book and cannot wait for volume 2. The only thing stopping me buying this so far is I need to give time to rehearse all the vol 1 exercises. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to any aspiring blues guitarist.

This book is really good. Packed with information. Clearly explained and well set out.Couple this with the video lessons that are included and you have a complete and enjoyable learning tool.James communicates the information clearly and to the point both in the book and the videos.I can highly recommend this work and say it is good value for money.

I am a novice player having bought my guitar a month ago, but I have already worked my way through James Shipway's "No Bull" Music Theory for Guitarists with its easily understandable guide to theory, and Barre Chords for Guitar - a fast route to learning chords. I would recommend both without hesitation.I have recently bought Blues Soloing for Guitar (Vol.1) to help with my aspiration to become a competent blues soloist. The book is excellent - full of clearly-explained information and it is well laid out too. It is complemented by video lessons and thus provides a helpful blend of theory and practice. Despite being a novice I have already learnt useful techniques such as string-bending and vibrato. James communicates well and concisely in both the book and videos and I would recommend the package unreservedly to any aspiring player.

I have been playing guitar for around right months and this book was picked perfectly for me. James' videos are a slot on and complement the book really well. I have had the book around a month and can now play two of the blues exercises quite (!) well and am working on the third. My string bending is much improved as is my vibrato technique. I fully intend to buy Volume 2 when I have completed Volume 1. Thank you James for one of the best guitar tuition books I have seen.

I found this book extremely helpful. The combination of tab and videos accessed online works really well and James Shipway's instruction is extremely helpful. I worked my way through book 1 in about 8 weeks, I play every piece every day, so it has really added to my practice regime. The licks and techniques are all very transferable and whilst i'm still improving, I really feel I've improved a lot faster than I otherwise would have without this book. I also bought the No Bull Guitary Theory book by the same author which I highly recommend as a very straightforward and easily digestible theory book. I've been playing guitar for around 2 and a half years now, and this has really brought my playing along.

I've never played Blues before but I couldn't have asked for a better course to begin with. There's a great balance between theory and practise. Enough theory to gain an overall understanding of the concepts and presented in a clear, no nonsense but entertaining style. The 5 solos are broken down into individual lick segments with clear explanations of the various techniques employed in each lick. The accompanying video lessons and jam tracks are an important part of the course. Each solo is played at normal speed, and also at a slower tempo with explanations and further demonstrations from the tutor. I find this approach really helpful, everything you need to know but not swamped by unnecessary information. The bottom line is - I'm making progress !!

This book is very well written and easy to understand and the whole style is friendly and thus a pleasure to use. Each of the solos is sufficiently challenging so that it is rewarding to complete each task and move on to the next. Every chapter is also full of technical and technique advice which helps to improve playing generally.The online video lessons and audio downloads are a valuable bonus and make for an excellent overall package.I also bought the “No Bull Music Theory for Guitarists” and I would thoroughly recommend this book as it filled in gaps in my musical theory knowledge ( of which there were many ) and has already proved to be a valuable reference book.

Star rating may be temporary, I have both of the other books James has produced barre chords and music theory and both start of with the basics and slowly build up in difficulty so was a bit disappointed when this one starts with your first solo with full step bends etc, especially when it’s for basics of blues soloing a few boring bend free solos would have been nice to break us in gently build confidence in putting the scale into practice. But I will not condemn it just yet as I haven’t had much time to really do it justice, if it’s as good as the other two books I’ll be happy.