Customer Reviews
Playing for years and stuck - now unstuck - By: M. J. Miles, 02 Jun 2008 
In common with most of the other reviewers I really rate this book. Easy to read, few words, lots of good stuff presentedin a visual way which suits me. It was also not expensive (I think I paid a little over £5) it's good value.
I've been playing for years (decades!) but never really got to know my way around the fret board & my chord playing was always well, quite amateur which I found an embarrassment. There are simple thingsin this book which have really lifted my playing. I now use a wide variety of chords & different shapes to produce more interesting playing; now I can play each verse of a song with a different set of chords. My "ear" has also improved & I can pretty much payin any key, any where (after a quick look at the book). I did hope to have a bit more on the bluesin this book, but this is great for all the standard rock, folk, jazzy, funky stuff which I play most of the time.
A few small draw backs - 1) some of the examples used by the author I don't know & as my sight reading is poor I can't access all the examplesin the book even with tab - but why worry? - just make your own up - I did. 2) the two note lick section is not too well explained, but with some exploratory playing (and a lot of duff notes) I managed to get something tuneful. Should I ever go back to teaching (probably my children - whom I hope will blow me away musically one day) I'd use this book as a reference. I'm going to buy the blues road map next.
circle of fiths - By: blueandwhite050505, 26 Mar 2008 
I have several "learn to play" guitar books, most of which are rather dry reading. This one stands out a mile because it is simple & yet exciting. When you work your way through the roadmaps you begin to understand a lot more about the guitar as an instrument. I have the DVD & some other booksin the series, all worth buying despite some areas of overlap. Highly recommended.
A must-have guitar book - By: gowanouttadat, 01 Sep 2007 After years of wishing I could play the guitar, I finally took it up two years ago. Coming cold into the world of music theory was scary & somewhat frustrating,in that there were no books or websites that really explained the guitarin a way I could understand & apply.
After reading the positive Amazon reviews for Fretboard Roadmaps, I bought it, along with the now also-essential Rikky Rooksby books 'How to write songs on guitar' and'Little Book of Chords'. Together, these three books have given me an undertanding & appreciation I only previosly dreamed of. Without these,and a lot of practice, I would still be floundering-aroundin tabworld, & not have made such satisfying progress.
Fretboard Roadmaps is a workbook that clearly lays out how moveable chord shapes are inter-related with scales, which allow you to deduce your way around the fretboard. This is a far better way for me to learn, meaning no blindly tedious learning a bunch of scales. With Fretboard Roadmaps, once you learn the shapes & the relationships, you're good to go for transferring the soundsin your head to your guitar & further.
In short, with this book, I am gaining the ability to play the guitar 'by ear' , a lifelong ambition.
WOW - By: Mr. Adrian G. Clarke, 24 Aug 2007 Although i haven't even picked up my guitar yet this book seems like a very precise & comprehensive guide to the modes. I've been looking for a guide like this for a long time & now i finally have it!
Also, a plus is the fact that the licks arn't half bad!
I look forward to pick up my axe & apply my new found knowledge :)
A typical 'roadmap' book - first class. - By: A. J. Sturgess, 15 May 2007 There are several booksin the 'Roadmap' series & they all share the same attributes. This one is no exception & is slightly better than most.
They all cover pretty standard groundin terms of popular licks, phrases & 'boxes' within which to play & improvise.
Despite brief introductions, they all assume at least some familiarity with the guitar fretboard & the reading of either notation or tablature. It is fair to say that to get the best out of these books, you do need SOME experience. Raw beginners might find this particular book a bit heavy going at first because it moves fairly rapidly from one technique or style to another & doesn't set out to teach youin an especially linear way. If you're that new to the guitar, think of this book as one to grow into once you have some basic knowledge & experience.
All roadmap books cover a lot of groundin very little spacein both great detail &in a well-developed style that is very easy to follow.
In short - the 'Roadmap' series set out to provide you with a good repertoire of skills & licks & then show you how to develop themin your own playing.
Briefly, the content of this book covers the following topics:
the fretboad
the major scale & intervals
barre E & A chords, root notes & simple progressions
I -- IV -- V chord family, moveable chords & basic blues
D -- A -- F roadmap & inversions
chord fragments, families, licks, strums & arpeggios
circle-of-fifths progressions & how to use the whole fretboard
learning many differerent chord types
moveable major scales & playing melodies
moveable blues scales
major pentatonic scales
a moveable double-note lick for country, blues, rock & R&B (and that's the true 'Rhythm 'n' Blues' not the modern mish-mash of soul/hiphop & urbanised grumblings as chanted by groin-grabbing wailers).
Of all the booksin the 'Roadmap' series, this one sets out to do slightly morein that it lays down a foundation for all the other styles to be built upon. Thus many of the topics are looked at againin some of the specialised books (eg: bluegrass & folk). But this is not a weakness or an easy get-out.
Highly recommended for anyone who wants a good introduction to ideas that they can learn, develop & tghen make their own.
