Rick Payne's Fingerstyle Blues - Out Now
"Rick Payne's Fingerstyle Blues" (BOOK + CD) is a concise introduction to the art of Fingerstyle Blues. Graduated exercises, in order of difficulty, give you a thorough grounding in the vital skill of thumb and finger independence. You'll develop your ability to improvise by looking at blues scales. You'll pick up specific playing techniques such as dampened bass, walking bass, pick and strum and alternating bass. And, of course, you'll apply this knowledge by playing real blues tunes, including some challenging and fun to play Ragtime. If you want enlightenment on the subject, this book puts Fingerstyle Blues firmly in the spotlight and reveals the power and charm of this beguiling style.

Rick Payne "Fingerstyle Blues" is now available from AGW in the UK. Click here for further details.

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FREE POWERTAB
All you need is Winzip to unzip the files and Powertab to read 'em. Both these bits of software are free and you can download them here:

Winzip at www.winzip.com
Powertab at www.power-tab.net/downloads.php

"Blackbird" Genre: Beatles
"Steamboat Whistle Blues" Genre: Fingerstyle Blues (Open Tuning)
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FREE MP3
"Slow Move Thru The Fayre"
Very ambient fingerstyle version of a classic old Irish folk song, "She Moved Through The Fair"
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ACOUSTIC NEWS
AGW's founder Steve Elliott is writing a 6 Part series called "BEGINNING ACOUSTIC GUITAR" for ACOUSTIC MAGAZINE, the UK's only magazine devoted entirely to the acoustic guitar. If you live in the UK and you love acoustic guitars, this is one publication you can't overlook. Columnists include Martin Barre, Eric Roche, Doyle Dykes, Simon Dinnigan and Mark Tucker. Check out Acoustic Magazine here

Ragtime Showcase: "Cininnatti Flow Rag", "The Glory of Love", "Deptford Cakewalk" and "St Louis Blues" are all covered in minute detail in AGW's Ragtime Showcase (produced in association with truefire.com), which will release late April/early May 2005. You can download a sneak video preview here.

Is this heresey for AGW? We don't really think so. Techniques can be interchangeable and adaptable from the acoustic to the electric instrument, and vice versa! Many acoustic players also play electric. Furthermore many acoustic guitar players would like to know more about the electric side of the instrument. Which is why we're happy to announce the UK launch of Truefire's BLUES U, a staggeringly comprehensive and revealing spotlight on electric blues guitar technique. More details...

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CD REVIEWS

ALEXANDER KILIAN- "Reflections"
(ACOUSTIC MUSIC RECORDS)
An extraordinary debut album from a 17 year old guitarist. Listening to "Reflections" you'd think that Alexander Kilian was at least twice the age he is! Weaving in influences from Classical music (Debussy and Bach) and Jazz (Chick Corea and John McLaughlin), "Reflections" is a musical adventure full of fantasy and creativity, played by a young guitarist with enormous potential and one who has already found a unique and individual guitaristic voice.

HELM & HEIK- "2Glorreiche7"
(ACOUSTIC MUSIC RECORDS)
The title translates as 2Magnificent7. Still confused? Well, Helm & Heik are a guitar duo who on this CD have deftly and humourously arranged for two guitars 14 famous film and TV themes, including, "James Bond", "Miss Marple", "Mission Impossible" and "Paris, Texas". This is no mean feat since the tunes in question were originally arranged for large ensembles. It is a testament to the duo's ingenuity that their arrangements remain faithful to the essence of the originals.

Mp3 previews available on Acoustic Music Records

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Big Bill's Ragtime Shuffle Part 2
In this lesson, we’re going to look at ways you can improvise round the tune, using the C Blues scale and some classic Ragtime guitar licks. Remember Blues and Ragtime guitar playing is very much an improvisational art. A great player will play the same tune a little differently every night. If you didn’t get Part 1, don’t worry, the tab and notation is included. We have also included Powertab files in the PDF.