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I took Pete's finger style guitar blues and slide class and was very pleased. He was well organized and presented the information in an easy to follow format. We started with the basics. Everything presented was fun to play and sounded good from the start. He also provides a book filled with songs in both standard notation and tab format along with a companion CD. All in all a very good value and I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting the learn to play the blues. Best of all you don't need to be "cool", just love music and have a desire to learn.

Offered in the San Francisco Bay Area. I currently teach in Berkeley at The 5th String -- 3051 Adeline Street, (510)548-8282. Styles include: Blues, Rock, Surf, Rockabilly, Funk, Acoustic Fingerstyle (American Roots). Contact Pete at buzzyfrets@yahoo.com or (510)234-2385 for more info.

I specialize in early acoustic blues and ragtime. For my students who wish to study in this realm I HIGHLY recommend purchasing my book "A Guide to Acoustic Blues Guitar." This book contains over 35 songs in varying degrees of difficulty - from beginning to advanced. I have included some beginning exercises, as well as a bit of history and biographical information ($35).

Here is a link to Jack Tuttle's website; I tend to agree with 99% of his method and philosphy: JackTuttle.com. If you are a parent thinking about guitar lessons for your youngster, please read through these pages; it is well thought out and informative. Jack teaches primarily bluegrass, but these principles can be applied to any kind of music.

1 - The first link is a video of me playing the first verse of a song based on Robert Johnson's "Kind Hearted Woman."

Train Stop Blues MP3

I have published numerous lessons with Acoustic Guitar magazine. Most of these lessons revolve around the subject of acoustic blues, ranging from beginning 12 bar fingerpicking to using chord inversions to make you playing more interesting, and a new lesson on the CAGED system.

Unfortunately, a publication I used to write for, Play Guitar, is no longer being published. Play Guitar was a magazine directed at beginning to intermediate guitarist. I have written several lessons for them on themes such as fingerpicking, surf, blues and soloing using a minor pentatonic scale. I use these lessons in my teaching all the time.

I have written two books for Backbeat Books.Fretmaster: Slide Guitar, is as it seems a book devoted entirely to the subject of slide guitar playing in various styles and genres. The book has a large section devoted to the history of slide and several player biographies -- and lots of very cool photos. Fretmaster: Funk Guitar and Bass is in the same format as the slide book and is devoted to the playing of, what else, FUNK! Both of these books are available through amazon.com, or may be found in bookstores such as Barnes and Noble and Borders.

I have also contributed a chapter on slide playing in Play Acoustic, published by Backbeat Books UK..

I occassionally hold guitar workshops at The 5th String. Topics include: Slide playing, The Guitar of Robert Johnson, Alternating Bass/Thumb technique. Feel free to contact me with any ideas you would like to see/hear represented in a workshop.

Guitar Lessons and Writings: