Blues Soloing For Guitar, Volume 2: Levelling Up: Take your Blues Soloing to a New Level

Before reviewing this book (actually this book and Book 2) I want to mention something. After purchasing both books, James emailed me multiple times asking me to review them. What he couldn't know was that I had already reviewed the books. The emails seemed a bit pushy, in my opinion, so finally informed James that I had already reviewed the books and mentioned that I didn't think the books - especially Book 1 - were for beginners as he had described them and I told him that I mentioned that in my review. His response? He basically told me that I was wrong! His response was defensive. He clearly doesn't like any criticism of his books. That didn't leave me with a positive feeling. The whole thing seemed a bit weird. If you buy the books, you'll probably get emails asking you to review them. If you don't respond, you'll probably get more emails. Then if you criticize anything about the books, you will probably be told that you're simply wrong. At least that was my experience. As for being for beginning guitarists, I showed the books to several experienced guitarist and every one said they would not recommend them to beginners. There are far better books and other instructional materials for beginners.I ran across the two books in this series and, based on the positive reviews here, I thought this might be what I'm looking for. I'm disappointed because, IMO, this is advanced stuff. Between both books, there's about 11 songs. They are each nicely broken down into licks but there is no basic stuff here. These books are definitely NOT for beginners. For example, even in the very first song, you're playing at pro level if you learn them well. They are filled with advanced techniques right from the start. I have a pretty good feel for the blues and I'm not a beginner. I actually started playing guitar in the late 60s but I went several decades hardly playing at all. When I got back into playing about ten years ago, I played only acoustic 6 and 12-string guitars. However, I recently bought an electric guitar so I wanted to learn blues lead which I had very little experience with in the past. Until then, I played various styles but I guess you could say they sort of centered around a style similar to Neil Young. I'm more of a rhythm player and also a fingerpicker. I had very little experience with lead guitar and that's why I purchased these books.Again, these books DO NOT start out with the basics as the author says. They jump immediately to professional level playing. I expected the books to gradually introduce more advanced techniques but the very first pages of Book 1 call on the student to use advanced and bending and vibrato techniques. If you can't do that, it won't sound good. The author even stresses that very point. I should mention that I have large hands and fingers making it difficult to play lead on my electric guitar but even if I had long, slender fingers like so many excellent lead players, I doubt if I could even make it through the very first lesson of the first book and get even decent results. So, if you're just beginning, just know that all the songs in both books are at a professional lead guitar level. I'm also surprised they weren't just combined into one book. Actually, I'm not surprised. It's about money. These are two slim books that easily could have been combined into one (still) small book. By small, I don't mean the physical size of the books; I mean the amount of content.One more thing: The videos are well done but short and there's not many of them but the strange thing is that it looks like they were recorded in his bedroom or similar setting. (You can see this in some of his YouTube videos.) They were obviously done on a very small budget. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and James is a fine player but it just seems a bit odd. On the other hand, I salute James for producing the books. He's very talented and I like to see the "little guy" succeed. But his description of the books is misleading in that these are NOT for beginners. Even intermediate guitar players may have difficulty with the material. I've always noticed that very talented people are often very poor teachers. In my opinion, Jim is not the best teacher for beginners. It's as simple as that.That said, I also have his No Bull Guitar Theory book and it's the best book on the subject I have seen. Other books on the subject that I've purchased gave me a headache but James's book explains things clearly and in a logical order. I still am not an expert when it comes to theory but at least I'm no longer frustrated by the subject. It's not a mystery to me now but I'm not worried about mastering theory because, frankly, I don't think it will make much difference to my playing. We all learn differently and some of the greatest guitarist alive not only don't know theory but many, if not most, don't know how to read music. Take the great Tommy Emmanuel, for example. He can't read music.

I'm using this book as a basis for learning to solo and finding it extremely helpful. It's written in very clear, concise language - yes, no "bull" - and each lick is shown in notation as well as tablature. There are many spot-on tips for each phrase, as well as video demonstrations. I'm only on the first solo (there are 5) and already finding some "aha"moments. Thank you James:)

James Shipway again scores a homerun with his Blues Soloing Vol 1 & 2 books. As a teacher, James is amazing - check out totalguitarlab.com and his YouTube channel to see for yourself. As a writer, James is equally amazing - his books are written in such a style that you immediately understand complex guitar topics. I highly recommend all of his guitar books, but if you're really interested in how to expand your blues guitar soloing chops, the two new books are a must!

I have learnt several things from James, over the last couple of years. I have only went over volume 1 and 2 a little. He’s very simplistic with his teaching in his videos. These books are no different, at least what I’ve seen so far. I have followed him enough to know he’s consistent! You will get a lot out of his books on blues, theory, chords, ect.

As a person that picked up a guitar late in life and has looked at a lot of "material" to aid in my journey, James Shipway's books and on line support plainly stated "works".Blues Soloing holds form, As James once again explains things in easy to understand terms.

A must have it goes with the Blues soloing for guitar vol 1Again James is a great teacher.

Knowledgeable...

This book is well written and easy to understand. The material gets progressively more difficult as you progress through the book. A good book for intermediate players.

The content of the book is fine and the playthrough and backing tracks can be dowloaded, but the format doesn't work on kindle - the full page tabs are tiny and unreadable and can't be enlarged enough. The individual licks are readable though with good explanations. It's a shame really and no fault of the author, but I don't think I would pay 3 X as much for the paper version.

Just started using it so far I’m loving it I would prefer it if it had a follow along CD rather than the down load of the internet but that’s more me because I’m not a computer person but once got me head round down loading on the computer it is brilliant great solos to practice with backing tracks i went straight for volume 2 and missed volume 1 as I just want to improve on my blues playing I would recommend this book

Only had a brief look at the book but it seems to be another great book that complements volume 1. Added it to my music book library.

An excellent course book. Had a quick look through Vol 2 as soon as it arrived. Learnt a couple of new things immediately! Enjoyably instructional, the sound and video files make it easy to follow. Great book. Also bought James' other books too!

I have already reviewed volume 1 and am currently working my way through that but just reading through volume 2 gives me more encouragement to get through 1 and on to vol 2 as it really does seem to add more to the armoury of blues styles and techniques and I can’t wait to get started.