Description
For about the last 5 years, I've been wanting to move from the music that I *can* play to the music that I *want* to play and sing - bossa nova and samba. I had several books on the subject but, after watching performances, I realized that the books - and I -were missing something. This Christmas I thought I'd try again with some different books, one of which was Mike Christiansen's.
With his, I got lucky!
This is the only book I've seen to explain the different system of chords used, essential to playing bossa nova. With the system, your accompaniment falls into place. Already I am able to play some easier songs such as "Agua de Beber" and "O Morro Nao Tem Vez." My portuguese teacher, who lived in Brazil for 30 years, was amazed how I now had "the brazilian sound."
If you want to play bossa nova and you are on your own or without a teacher who understands this system, you will need this book.
The instruction is well-paced - challenging but not impossible.

Pages: 48
Year: 2005
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Description
This is really a great book.
Go to the roots of the chords and build form there with your pinky finger. try different strums and plucks. You'll get it. After forty years I can finally play a really COOL tune, instead of only channeling Jimi Hendrix. Trying to do the opposite, with a REALLY laid back, melancholy (well, that's the same), almost shy virtuoso approach is opening up many doors. This music is everything American def medal is not. Brilliant. Get this book as a portal. It includes at least three ways to approach each song. And so you see that each time you play them, you must play it differently (or are free to improvise as you wish) LEarn tunes with more than one two or even three chords. YOu will not regret it. Great place to continue and expand and to breathe.

Pages: 136
Year: 2004
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Description
Finally! A rhythm guitar book/CD that does exactly what it's supposed to do, and it's in Latin styles to boot. Unlike a lot of tutorial books, the tracks on the accompanying CD are bare-bones - consisting of just a drum machine and guitar - and the exercises are directly applicable to improving your musical skills within the Latin idiom. I'm a fan of both approaches, as sometimes these books disguise their simplemindedness with elaborately produced backing tracks and meaningless exercises that distract rather than build real chops.

This book contains both traditional notation and TAB for multiple Latin styles. Half the book is Brazilian-based and half is Afro-Cuban/Merengue. This is not a complete compendium of Latin-related styles (there's no Tex-Mex, Merengue, or folk-style stuff here) but what it does cover, it covers in admirable detail.

Buckingham assumes you are at least an intermediate player. You don't have to be an intermediate player to start playing Latin rhythm guitar, however, and if you are a beginner I suggest substituting simpler chords for the more complex harmonies while keeping the rhythm notation intact. This book has definitely helped me add more complex chords to my vocabulary and repetoire and while some might quibble that all these 'jazz chords' aren't necessary I am glad that Buckingham provided me with reasonable challenges that help me to improve my ability on guitar.

Lastly, this is a rhythm guitar book. I can't stress this enough. You will not learn any lead licks. But if you'd like to be able to accompany yourself on arrangements of authentic modern Latin music (such as any Jose Feliciano ballad) you've come to the right place. I believe the skills you learn here can be transferred back into other styles as well.

I strongly recommend this book for any guitarist interested in learning more about playing Latin rhythm guitar.

Pages: 48
Year: 2000
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