B.B. King - Guitar Play-Along Volume 35

I've got 3 of these DVD's from Hal Leonard, and the format they use are excellent and make it as easy as possible to learn the songs provided. This is a great intro to the living legend BB's style and contains some of his most loved tunes. I got it primarily for "The Thrill Is Gone", but the other songs are excellent workouts, and much easier to learn than SRV so you'll be playing along with your BB CD's a lot faster .... The Greatest Ambassador for the blues still living .... great showman, great human being, and excellent, excellent licks .... fewer notes done right, can be more.

Not bad, they show you a couple different views of the fretboard and allow you to mute the guitar track and leave the backing tracks playing. As others have mentioned, it would have been much more useful if they had included a separate PDF of the tabs so that you can study the sections of the song. As it is, you have to be able to read and play the tab at tempo since only a few bars are displayed at any one time. Still, it's a useful tool for learning these tunes.

Doug Buduch is an excellent guitar teacher and he nails the phrasing of B.B. King as he did in his Michael Bloomfield book. Each section contains an intro which gives a little background and tips on the song. All songs are played in their entirety even if the sections over the rhythm may not be that exciting as B.B. was famous for not playing rhythm guitar. The songs covered, Gambler's Blues * Just like a Woman * Paying the Cost to Be the Boss * Rock Me Baby * Sweet Little Angel * Sweet Sixteen * The Thrill Is Gone * You Upset Me Baby represent a deep cross sections of musical styles and are excellent for attempting to get the depth of B.B.'s musical influence under your fingers. This is an excellent companion to B.B.'s interview and teaching session, 'B.B. King, Blues Master'. I would buy any book or DVD done by Doug Boduch. They are always thorough and very accurate.

You cannot beat the play along series. Great tabs and sheet music and add the DVD it is a great teacher. Some of the Hal Leonard books come with a DVD with tutorial of the songs. Whichever product you choose, you cannot go wrong with Hal Leonard.

Content could be better.

I love BB King's guitar playing. The emotion he puts into every lick and the jazz influenced choices he makes in the notes he uses always blows me away. His playing is full of subtle nuances because he puts so much feeling into his lines. Doug Boduch has captured these nuances in this DVD, and the way they are presented (good clear camera angles and great sound) makes it much easier to see and hear exactly what he is doing. I have quite a few dvds that try to teach the BB style, but this one is by far the best. You get a lot of songs to work with and a great backing track for each one as well. Doug manages to sound just like BB in every song, and his choice of guitar and amp is pretty dead on too. Other reviews have mentioned a lack of a printed tab to practice with. I think in the case of learning to play like BB, this is not really an issue. His style is not just about what notes are played, but exactly how they are played. You have to really listen over and over and work on those nuances. Only working with the dvd and developing your ears for how the notes are being played is going to get you there. Doug is to be congratulated for a masterful presentation of perhaps the greatest master of the blues.

I got this as sort of supplement to my Learn & Master Guitar dvds I own. I was looking for a way to practice actual songs and have some fun playing guitar rather than just drills and chords. The song selection on this dvd is pretty good. There are a few I haven't even heard before. I would say this dvd is "aimed" at a more advanced player, as there is NO slow speed or hand holding. There are however introductions to each of the songs explaining the music theory part of it and which scale boxes the notes are in. The song you pick out has 3 ways to view, pick hand close up, players view with TAB, and front view with TAB. The first song I started out with was "Thrill is Gone." It took me about an hour at JUST the intro part rewinding and rewinding and rewinding several dozen times to get it, but it was fun as I was actually playing something recognizable. The other song I am working on is "Gamblers Blues." I broke out a pencil and paper and actually wrote out the TAB as watching on the tv it goes by way faster then I can coordinate and play and decide which notes to pick. Very well produced program and the camera angles are clear and the sound quality is fantastic. Basically, if you REALLY want to learn, you can. One of my favorite features is you can turn the guitar part "off" during playback and then YOU are the guitar lead! Its GREAT for improvising and plugging in notes you figure out sound good by yourself. That was an added bonus for me, the "discovering" how certain notes sound really well together and jamming with the backbeat. This was also a great way for me to work on my skills on the entire neck of the guitar, not just open position. The backing tracks are studio good, NOT karaoke bad. All in all, being a intermediate guitar player, this can be a fun supplement to your progression. The teacher even plays a Gibson BB King guitar, adding to the authentic sound. I'll most likely order more of these dvds. The only one thing I think could wish for, would be for the notes to light up like lyrics do in karaoke so you could see and hear exactly what and when to play it if you're stuck on something. Other than that, a great tool! Pretty much like with any new skill, you get out what you put in. I'd say give it a shot if you're wanting to branch out and learn some very recognizable songs!

Great camera work and good production values. Excellent teaching style. I bought it largely because of the song selection which I believed to be wonderful. My only reason for not giving it a 5 star rating is because I believe it should have a pamphlet with the music and/or tab included along with the video.!

very pleased with dvd would of liked a book with the tab also someone singing the words but that's just me being picky.still think it is worth the money. thanks luke

Gute Lern-DVD.

Good play along

The DVD is lessons are good, however there is no print material You would think that they would have at least included a PDF file of the tabs, that you could print out for reference.