Red Hot Country Guitar (Guitar Signature Licks)
This book is great! Michael Hawley really does a great job teaching you the basic and advance techniques of country guitar. I am a guitar teacher and I use it for students who express interest in starting country guitar. Hawley starts off with a basic intro to chickin pickin. He then explains the scales used in country music from minor and major pentatonic to a country composite scale (which is a major pentatonic with a b3). Then he proceeds into open chord licks (uses the CAGED method)and focuses on different licks involving the open chord forms. The chapter concludes with 2 solos that are great in that they incorporate the licks previously presented in the chapter into a cohesive solo(I still use the Doc Watson solo to impress people). He moves on to movable barre chord licks (nice solo). He shows you the open chord licks applied to movable barre chord forms. They are similar yet distinct from the open chord licks. I would have preferred a little more explanation on the note choices when moving between forms (explaining the use of the b5 when moving between the 4th and 5th scale degree) but the point gets across. The chapter on double stops has a lot of information and ideas to get you playing and creating. He does the typical major 6th double stops but also a harmonizing of a hexatonic major scale (major scale with no 7th scale degree)and harmonizing using parallel major and minor pentatonics (really cool!)with well composed licks to get the sound and point across. Bending and Open string licks are the next two chapters. The bending chapter has some of the best examples to illustrate how bending in country is different from rock and blues guitar. Hawley does a great job explaining oblique bends, scale bends, chord bends, and behind the nut bends. The examples he presents I like and I always find myself playing. The bending chapter concludes with possibly my favorite solo called faux steel (which is a bunch of pedal steel licks put together). The open string chapter is another great chapter that really starts to bring the advanced technique in. He goes over some scales for open strings and gives another round of nuts and bolts examples of how these can fit into country music. This chapter doesn’t really have a solo though. The final chapter is a look at all the master licks from many country guitarist. It includes two licks each in the style of Danny Gatton, Pete Anderson, Albert Lee, Reggie Young, Ray Flacke, Brent Mason, and Johnny Hiland. The appendix is not to be overlook! There is a wealth of information there from theory, how to practice, how to get a country sound through your rig, and a selected listening which I still use. Overall, this book is solid and one you will not blow through in a week. The examples are well composed and illustrate the point that Hawley wants to get across. There are a descent amount of licks in the book that can be used in practical playing situations (most are in the bending and open string lick chapters). I have had mine for a couple of years and still like to look through it for some new ideas. Granted I have not checked out any other book on the market in this genre but with this one you will be set. Get it and have fun!
