Beyond Pentatonic Blues Guitar book review

[Michael Krailo]

I just got this book today and have read the first four chapters and I am blown away how well Ross communicates the concepts he is trying to get across. This book is written by a somewhat controversial guitar teacher (Ross Campbell) that has a higher priced online teaching system that he pushes. I didn’t like the reviews for his online courses, but he had really good reviews on this particular book so I bought the book. I am at the right stage to absorb this material in full, so it depends where you are at on your musical journey, but for myself, this book is gold. Even the very first day of reading has me discovering some really amazing things about the mechanics behind targeting chord tones. Some of the first exercises or examples simply descend down the Am pentatonic blues scale and end on various different chord tones right at the chord change so you can decide for yourself which ones sound good to you. This was crystal clear and I immediately understood how he was constructing the phrases to target the tones.

I even skipped ahead to test some of the material further into the book, and lo and behold, the examples were again very clear and focused on the point he is trying to get across. The tablature notates finger positioning shows accurate staff key notation which is something I really like to see in tab. I had to laugh though, because some of the phrases are one’s that we have all learned from Brian on AM. Others, I have never seen before, so I was testing them out and was very pleased with the material content.

I’m trying to fill gaps in my understanding and have a better handle on how to navigate and improvise basic blues chord changes. I have a bit of a lack of skill in the area of turnarounds, and always get confused with them and already, I’m getting a handle that with just a cursory look at that part of the book in chapter 8. I’m very excited about the journey I’m about to embark on. This is no quick fix to the promised land, it is a journey that keeps going and developing as you go.

Table Of Contents

1. Blues & Theory Primer
2. The Blues is NOT Diatonic Harmony!
3. Mastering the Rhythm of Blues
4. Fixing the Blues Scale
5. The Mixolydian-Pentatonic Relationship
6. Mastering the I to IV Chord change part 1
7. Mastering the I to IV Chord change part 2
8. Mastering the Turnaround
9. Arpeggios and Chromatic Enclosures
10. Discovering Outside Sounds
11. A Robbin Ford Approach to Playing Outside
12. Putting it All Together
13. The Art of Phrasing with Space
14. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Signature Chromaticism
15. Complete the Solos
16. The Final Challenge

I will report back after a period of time to absorb more of the book, but so far I’m very impressed with it. BTW, I’m also working on Ross’s exercises to memorize the fretboard by hitting very note of the circle of 4ths in order, one string at a time. It’s a very engaging approach that is very attractive to me for some reason.

Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.

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