Instructional Material

All Fred's books have tablature unless otherwise noted. Most have music notation too.

General Methods

Fretboard Roadmaps for Guitar: Alternate Tunings

Fretboard Roadmaps for Guitar: Alternate Tunings

In the "Roadmaps" format, this book/CD shows you how to solo & play backup in several different tunings, whether you play blues, rock, indie, folk...any style. Get comfortable in drop D, open D, E, G, A and DADGAD tunings...play up and down the neck, chords, scales,
licks, everything you need. Lots of sample tunes in tab/music and on the CD.

  • CD and Book$14.95
Improvising Lead Guitar

Improvising Lead Guitar

Learn how to jam with other players! Fred shows you how to build linear, scale-based solos, chord-based solos, how to embellish a melody and how to leave the melody behind & improvise freely. Packed with ideas, licks, scales, tunes & solos, this book gets into the nuts & bolts of jamming.

  • CD & Book$14.95
Understanding Chord Progressions

Understanding Chord Progressions

Using tunes of all genres (folk, rock, blues, jazz, country) Fred teaches you how to think like a musician & understand all kinds of progressions: the 12-bar blues, standard circle-of-fifths changes, "the rhythm changes," diatonic progressions & more. It's easy to learn new tunes when you understand the theory behind chord movement.

  • DVD & Book$29.95
Basic Fingerpicking

Basic Fingerpicking

57-tunes, scales, and excercises teach you to fingerpick back ups and solos in the styles of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Indigo Girls, Ani Di Franco, James Taylor and etc.

  • CD & Book$14.95
Fingerpicking Guitar Solos DVD

Fingerpicking Guitar Solos DVD

This 55-minute video teaches 6 tunes (Hesitation Blues, Hey Hey Hey, Sitting On Top Of The World, etc.). Play up the neck in several keys, Standard & D tuning. W/Tab Book.

  • DVD & Book$29.95
Beginner's Fingerpicking Guitar: Ragtime, Pop, Blues & Jazz

Beginner's Fingerpicking Guitar: Ragtime, Pop, Blues & Jazz

These "ear lessons" teach tunes & techniques in the styles of famous fingerpickers.

  • LESSON 1: FOLK/POP FINGERPICKING -backup & soloing in the style of Beatles, James Taylor, Clapton, other rock & pop players who fingerpick.
  • LESSON 2: RAGTIME & RAGGY BLUES & JAZZ - classic rags & blues & jazz tunes, fancy chord progressions & turnarounds.
  • LESSON 3: FINGERPICKING UP THE NECK, TRAVIS & ROCKABILLY STYLES -learn to fingerpick all over the fretboard with moveable chords.
  • Book & 3 CDs$24.95
Beginners Fingerpicking Guitar - Folk, Blues & Country

Beginners Fingerpicking Guitar - Folk, Blues & Country

These "ear lessons" teach tunes & techniques in the styles of famous fingerpickers.

  • LESSON 1: ACCOMPANIMENT - learn backup patterns to sing with, using easy first position chords...lots of sample tunes.
  • LESSON 2: FINGERPICKING BLUES - backup & solo licks of blues pickers like Elizabeth Cotton, Mississippi John Hurt, Brownie McGhee...sample tunes.
  • LESSON 3: COUNTRY FINGERPICKING - backup & lead a la Doc Watson, Chet Atkins, etc...using easy first position chords.
  • Book & 3 CDs$24.95
Beginner's Fingerpicking DVD

Beginner's Fingerpicking DVD

An hour+ of backup picking patterns for blues, country, folk & rock, sample tunes like Nine Pound Hammer, House of the Rising Sun, Jamaica Farewell, Scarborough Fair, Tumbling Tumbleweeds.

  • DVD & Book$29.95
Dictionary of Strum & Picking Patterns

Dictionary of Strum & Picking Patterns

Over 159 picking patterns & strums, in tab & standard notation. All the grooves you need in rock, country, funk, blues, folk, bluegrass, heavy metal.

  • CD & Book$14.95
One More River To Cross

One More River To Cross

16 bluegrass/old-timey songs played & sung by Fred and his son Zac Sokolow, with the great fiddler/singer Brantley Kearns and bassist David Jackson. Guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, Dobro, autoharp & bass. Includes Golden Rocket, Hard Hearted, I'm Blue I'm Lonesome, Six White Horses & more. A very friendly album!

Fretboard Roadmaps Video

Fretboard Roadmaps Video

Video version of the Roadmaps book, packed with licks, solos, scales & ideas to broaden your guitar horizons.

  • DVD w/Tab Book$16.95
  • VHS w/Tab Book$14.95
Fretboard Roadmaps, 2nd Edition

Fretboard Roadmaps, 2nd Edition

Relates music theory to the guitar fretboard, reveals "secrets of the pros" like how to play rhythm & lead in all keys, expanding chord vocabulary. Visual fretboard relationships help you play lead & rhythm all over the fretboard.

  • Book$9.95
  • Book and CD$14.95
Open Tunings for Beginners

Open Tunings for Beginners

In this 92 minute lesson, Fred covers G and D tunings, plus DADGAD, and features blues tunes (Statesboro Blues, K.C. Jones), a Dylan tune (Buckets of Rain), an old-timey tune (Little Sadie), some Keith Richards-style rock licks and more, including tips on how to improvise in open tunings.

  • DVD & Tab Book$29.95
Fretboard Roadmaps for Acoustic Guitar

Fretboard Roadmaps for Acoustic Guitar

This is similar to the Bluegrass roadmaps book, but the musical examples (in print & on the CD) demonstrate many different acoustic styles, and it's longer (80 pages instead of 48) so there are more tunes, more instruction. It's $14.95.

  • CD & Book$14.95
Better Lead Guitar Through Chords

Better Lead Guitar Through Chords

Chord-based licks are just as useful for the single-note soloist as scales; and, they’ll add color to your playing. Fred shows you how, using songs from many genres (R&B, rock, bluegrass, country, swing) like Dock of the Bay, People Get Ready, Wreck of Old 97, Avalon, Jambalaya, etc.

  • DVD & Tab Book$29.95