I first found out about Wayne Riker from his blues guitar books. Later on, I found out about this intriguing chord book that had a unique premise. This book promised to provide a practical way to study chords within the context of musical styles & real world applications.
As I read more about Wayne, I grew more curious and eventually ordered this book. Wayne was very kind & encouraging in our e-mails. When I finally received the book, it was above and beyond my expectations.
It was a self published book in professional comb binding, with an accompanying CD. In terms of pure knowledge, at 116 pages, it was densely packed with Wayne’s experience and insights.
Most chord books tend to simply list hundreds, sometimes thousands of chords out of context. Wayne’s book however catalogued each voicing for specific styles like Rhythm and Blues, Rock Ballad, Swing, Jazz and Latin. These were the typical labels a working session musician would often see on guitar charts. In short, Wayne had summarised his experiences as a working guitarist into a powerful volume for aspiring young guitarists.
This was the book I wish I had when I started out. For most of what Wayne wrote, I found myself nodding in agreement with his commentary on how certain chord voicings worked best. Having the voicing, fingering, tab, chord formula, style and tidbits (a section with his comments on how the voicing was most often used) – made checking out each chord voicing exciting. Each chord also came with a musical example putting it in its place (as the title mentions).
All in all, this is an amazing book that I can wholeheartedly recommend to any serious student of the guitar. If you’re embarking on the journey to be a working guitarist especially as a sessionist, this book will prove to be a useful resource over the years.
Strongly recommended!
Pros: Extremely well organised and very practical
Cons: None.
TLDR: If you want to learn chords in context of music & styles, this is the book you’re looking for. Get it now!
You can get the book directly from Wayne here:
http://waynerikerguitar.com/books.htm
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