This video by guitarist-educator Jamie Findlay was released back in 2000 (as far as I can tell). It’s a classic video/DVD instructional video release focused on the topic of improvisation specifically for acoustic steel string acoustic guitar.
Basically, the video goes through important topics that give a good introduction on what to practice in this context. Jamie begins with the major scale, then going into the CAGED system (although he doesn’t specifically call it that) and then into diatonic arpeggios, the pentatonic scale and blues scale ideas. Jamie shows his approach to playing through changes as well and further in the video, his tips on using the harmonic minor scale for lead playing. Jamie also demonstrates both blues and country type of ideas.
For more advanced guitarists, the later soloing demonstrations that Jamie does is full of great lines and ideas including some nice double time lines. These however are not transcribed in the booklet, though the chord changes are included in the booklet.
Back when this DVD was released, YouTube was just in its infancy and there wasn’t the abundance of online video courses as well as the whole online school subscription services. You can now get videos that are more detailed than this, but I gotta say that if you’ve ever heard Jamie play (regardless whether it’s live or via the videos of him playing online), this DVD is still worth checking out. Jamie is a great soloist and there’s a lot of cool ideas in the second half of the video. I particularly love his solos on the Brazilian-style chord progression and his pop solo (think of the whole smooth jazz GRP-era jazz sound) – both these are awesome examples of his playing.
In conclusion, if you’re a steel string acoustic guitar player and want some ideas to approach improvisation from a master guitarist, this video might be worth a watch – and for more advanced players you might find some really nice ideas to transcribe and dissect too. The solo during the video credits is particularly cool too.
Pros: High quality playing and instruction.
Cons: The video is more of an introduction into this topic, if you’re looking for soloing ideas in specific styles (country, jazz, blues) – it might be worth getting specific videos in those styles.
TLDR: An older video that still has plenty of cool ideas for the curious guitarist who wants to learn to solo on steel string acoustic in a more confident way.
Get your copy of the DVD or VHS here: https://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-Guitar-Soloing-Jamie-Findlay/dp/B0000AQS6S
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