Instructional Material
All Fred's books have tablature unless otherwise noted. Most have music notation too.
Rock Methods
Electric Blues Rock Guitar, The 1930s, 40s and 50s
LESSON ONE: BEGINNINGS - THE ROOTS OF ELECTRIC BLUES - Electric blues stylists grew out of the guitar picking of versatile single-string soloists like Lonnie Johnson and Scrapper Blackwell and the country bluesmen, turned electric, like Lightnin’ Hopkins and John Lee Hooker. Fred slows down and analyzes the licks, scales and techniques of these players.
LESSON TWO: ELECTRIC SLIDE GUITAR - Using several sample tunes, Fred teaches how to play electric slide guitar in the styles of the blues masters, the players who inspired Johnny Winter, The Allman Brothers, Ron Wood and the rest of today’s rock slide guitarists. Learn the techniques of Tampa Red (open D), Muddy Waters (open G), Elmore James (open E) and Robert Nighthawk (standard tuning) and how to apply these techniques to rock progressions.
LESSON THREE: EARLY BLUES/ROCK: CHUCK BERRY and BO DIDDLEY - These two guitarists defined rock guitar in their day. The licks and styles they used, derived from blues players, are still an important part of every rock guitarist’s repertoire.
- 3 one-hour CD "audio lessons" w/Book$24.95
Electric Blues Rock Guitar, The 1960s and 70s
LESSON ONE: KING OF MODERN BLUES: B.B.KING, ALBERT KING, FREDDIE KING and T.BONE WALKER - By analyzing sample tunes, Fred teaches how to play electric single-string blues licks. You will learn several scale positions and how to improvise with them, how to do the “blues vibrato”, how to do fill-in licks, chords and turn arounds.
LESSON TWO: MODERN ROCK: ENGLISH BLUES and HEAVY METAL - This lesson concentrates on the licks, scales and playing styles of Eric Clapton, Van Halen, Ted Nugent and Jimmy Page – guitarists whose playing directly derives from the blues masters. It includes instruction in effects (distortion, vibrato bar, etc.), blues and sliding scales.
LESSON THREE: JAZZY ELECTRIC BLUES - How to jazz up the 12-bar blues progression, how to vary the blues scales with diminished scales á la Charlie Christian, how to apply blues scales to jazz tunes, how to “substitute scales” and the special techniques used by Wes Montgomery and George Benson
- 3 one-hour CD "audio lessons" w/Book$24.95
Slide Guitar for the Rock Guitarist
Tunes, scales, licks & exercises to get you improvising hot electric slide solos.
- Book & CD$9.95
Fretboard Roadmaps For Rock Guitar
Learn to adlib riffs and solos based on chord fragments, blues scales, major perntatonic scales and lots more. This book is full of ideas
- book & CD with tab$14.95
Rockabilly Guitar
CD #1: FIRST POSITION LICKS-learn the key of E and A bluesy licks, boogie bass lines, backup figures, turnarounds & fingerpicking patterns that are the foundation of rockabilly guitar
CD #2: PLAYING UP THE NECK-chords & chord families that allow you to solo all over the fretboard, moveable fingerpicking licks, moveable boogie bass, chord-fragment licks. Soloing & backup in any key.
CD #3: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER-moveable blues/rock scales (single & double note)...combining fingerpicking, scales & boogie bass.
- 3 one-hour CDs, $24.95 a set with a complete tab/music book$24.95
Rockabilly Guitar
An hour+ session on solos & backup with classic tunes like Blue Suede Shoes, Little Sister & That'll Be The Day. Single-note & Chuck Berry-style soloing, fingerpicking & boogie backup. The foundations of rock!
- DVD & book$29.95
Beginners Rock Guitar DVD
70+ minutes...using garage band favorites like Louie Louie, Roll Over Beethoven, Stand By Me, Midnight Hour, My Girl & Proud Mary, Fred teaches power chords, moveable scales, lots of backup & lead licks.
- DVD & book$29.95
Rock Transcriptions
Elliott Smith Songbook
18 songs by this great indie singer/songwriter. Lots of tab/music for his guitar backup & solos. Miss Misery, Say Yes, Son of Sam, Waltz #2, Between the Bars, Distorted Reality, Memory Lane, I Didn’t Understand, Ballad of Big Nothing, Angeles, Clementine & more.
- Book$17.99
Robbie Robertson
14 tunes, from high energy rock to acoustic fingerpicking: King Harvest, Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, Up On Cripple Creek, American Roulette.
- $19.95
Classic Rock Guitar Instrumentals
28 classic by Duane Eddy, The Ventures, Dick Dale, Lonnie Mack, like Raunchy, Rebel Rouser, Pipeline, Walk Don't Run, Miserlou, Apache, Wipeout, Tequila, Rumble.
- $18.95
Elvis Presley
21 hits, solos by Scotty Moore, James Burton & Hank Garland: Hound Dog, My Baby Left Me, That's All Right Mama, Too Much, Mystery Train,Little Sister, Ready Teddy, Jailhouse Rock, Heartbreak Hotel & more. The solos that charted the course for rock!
- $19.95
Buddy Holly
15 hits: That'll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, It's So Easy, Words Of Love, Maybe Baby, etc.
- $19.95
Chuck Berry
17 hits: Johnny B. Goode, Memphis, Mabellene, Carol, No Particular Place To Go.
- $19.95
Rolling Stones Singles Collection
58 songs match the box set: the early years. All guitars included, open & standard tunings, capo instructions: Satisfaction, Honky Tonk Women, Brown Sugar, Wild Horses, Street Fighting Man, Paint It Black, It's All Over Now, Last Time, Play With Fire.
- Book$29.95
Roots of Rock Guitar
6 pivotal early rock tunes and the licks, styles, and techniques behind them. Includes history and bios of rock's pioneers. Walk Don't Run, Susie Q, Blue Suede Shoes, etc.
- Book & CD$16.95
Rock Arrangements
John Sebastian Songbook
29 of his hits, including Do You Believe in Magic, Welcome Back, Summer in the City, etc. Music "lead sheets" with chord grids and strumming or picking patterns for backup.
- $14.95
Fingerpicking The Dead
This is a book-plus-audio version of the Fingerpicking Grateful Dead video described above.
- book & 2 CDs$24.95
Fingerpicking Greatful Dead
Backup & solos: Friend of the Devil, Uncle John's Band, Ripple, Sugar Magnolia, Truckin', Deal, Touch of Grey, Alabama Getaway, Dire Wolf. Normal speed & slow with split screen. 90 minutes! With Tab book.
- Book w/tab & DVD $29.95
Fingerpicking Paul Simon Songs
9 great Simon hits, backup & solos: Scarborough Fair, The Boxer, Me & Julio, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mrs. Robinson, etc. Normal speed and slowed down on a split screen.
- Book W/tab & DVD $29.95
Fingerpicking Bob Dylan Songs
9 classic Dylan tunes from start to finish, backup & solos: Don't Think Twice, Mr. Tambourine Man, I Shall Be Released, etc. Normal speed and slowed down on a split screen.
- Book w/tab & DVD$29.95
Fingerpicking Beatles
Easy-to-intermediate arrangements of 20 tunes for acoustic guitar: Yesterday, In My Life, Eleanor Rigby, When I'm 64, And I Love Her, Something, Come Together, etc.
- Book$14.95