SKU: MB.31008M

ISBN 9781513467016. 8.75x11.75 inches.

Blind Lemon Jefferson was a trail blazer, both as a singer and guitarist, but also as a commercial phenomenon, for he was the first blues musician to establish the tremendous appeal that blues, as played and sung by rural African American folk, had for the record-buying public. It is no exaggeration to say that the sales of Lemon’s records paved the way for a host of other solo rural blues musicians to record in his wake and made the record companies more willing to give other musicians a chance, in the hopes of achieving similar success. 

Lemon’s record sales weren’t what made him a great musician, though - that could only be attributed to his startlingly virtuosic guitar - playing and soulful singing, developed over years of busking, building on his natural gifts with a great deal of practice and work. In the Guitar of Blind Lemon Jefferson author John Miller presents transcriptions, in standard notation and tablature, of 22 of Lemon’s greatest performances, with an additional essay examining Lemon’s senses of time and phrasing and his picking techniques. Also included is a download link to all the original recordings. 

To present a picture of Lemon the man, noted blues researchers Alan Governar and Kip Lornell have contributed an essay focusing on Lemon’s early life, the origins of his music, and his time spent in a musical partnership with Lead Belly. Links are provided to downloadable performances of the songs in the book from which the transcriptions were made, so that you can have Lemon’s sound in your head as you learn to play his songs.

Blind Lemon Jefferson was remarkable, even in a style that abounded in great musicians, and some measure of his influence can be seen in the fact that musicians recorded in the 1960s, more than thirty years after his death, were still covering his songs and stealing guitar licks from him. The Guitar of Blind Lemon Jefferson gives you the resources needed to learn what was so special about Lemon’s music, and to experience his musical excellence from inside the music itself.

Titles include: One Dime Blues, Got The Blues, Dry Southern Blues, Big Night Blues, Rabbit Foot Blues, Shuckin' Sugar Blues, Where Shall I Be, Wartime Blues, Black Horse Blues, Prison Cell Blues, Piney Woods Money Mama, See That My Grave Is Kept Clean, He Arose From The Dead, Beggin' Back, Broke And Hungry, Bad Luck Blues, Matchbox Blues, Lemon's Worried Blues, That Crawlin' Baby Blues, Easy Rider Blues, Stocking Feet Blues and Right of Way Blues

Level 2/3 • 160 pages • Direct download link to audio files. 

SKU: HL.287559

ISBN 9781540043313. UPC: 888680904715. 9.0x12.0x0.299 inches.

This one-of-a-kind collection presents accessible, must-know songs from the Beatles and Bob Dylan to Dave Matthews Band and Tom Petty for those who have been learning 12-string guitar and are eager to put their new skills to work. You'll find a combination of tab, chords and lyrics for 50 great songs, including: California Dreamin' • Carry On • Closer to the Heart • Do You Believe in Magic • Free Fallin' • Give a Little Bit • A Hard Day's Night • Hotel California • Leaving on a Jet Plane • Life by the Drop • Like the Way I Do • Melissa • Mr. Tambourine Man • More Than a Feeling • The One I Love • Over the Hills and Far Away • Solsbury Hill • Space Oddity • Still the Same • Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) • The Waiting • Wish You Were Here • You Wear It Well • and more!

About First 50

You've been taking lessons, you've got a few chords under your belt, and you're ready to buy a songbook. Now what? Hal Leonard has the answers in its First 50 series. The First 50 series steers new players in the right direction. These books contain easy to intermediate arrangements for must-know songs. Each arrangement is simple and streamlined, yet still captures the essence of the tune.

SKU: OT.26114

ISBN 9789655051049. 8.27 x 11.69 inches.

Ariel Lazarus
Guitarra Liturgia
Two pieces based on music from the Spanish and Portuguese tradition.
Contents:
Jerusalem de Sefarad - Suite for Guitar
Contrapunto Sefardi
The composer writes:
For many years I wanted to compose a piece for guitar which would inspire interested students to expand their repertoire in the direction of Jewish music. The most natural thing for me was to write a suite based on themes from the synagogue in which I grew up – the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue of Gibraltar. My beloved grandfather served all his life as hazzan (cantor) of this synagogue, and I always felt as a composer and educator that I had a special obligation to continue his tradition and pass it on to a new generation. In this composition, I let the guitar echo the piyyutim (semi-liturgical poems) that were part of my childhood: Adon Olam, Sh'charchoret, Achot K'tana, Yigdal, Borei ad Ana, all of which are sung in the Spanish and Portuguese tradition from Gibraltar to London, and from New York to Jerusalem. I let myself dream the piyyutim, take them apart and reconstruct them as a short suite for guitar, the results of which you are invited to hear here. As a conceptual idea for the suite, I choose to suggest about the cultural continuation between the Diaspora and the land of Israel by way of referencing the well-known melody of Naomi Shemer, which is also popular among the hazzanim.
Dr. Ariel Lazarus is a unique voice among Israeli composer-performers today. Brought up in a family with Jewish musical roots both in Gibraltar and Westphalia, he began composing and playing the guitar in his teens, and has been committed to developing his own compositional language ever since, always maintaining an open dialogue with his traditions.
Lazarus received his BMus and MMus degrees from Oklahoma City University in classical guitar performance and composition where he studied with American composer Dr. Edward Knight. He earned his PhD from Bar Ilan University, studying composition with Prof. Betty Olivero and Prof. Gideon Lewensohn and conducting research under the supervision of Prof. Edwin Seroussi from the Hebrew University. His symphonic works have been premiered by the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, and his chamber works have been performed by various ensembles in the United States, Central Europe, Portugal, Gibraltar, Scandinavia and Israel. Lazarus performs regularly as Art Ambassador on behalf of the Israeli Ministry of Diaspora affairs Amiel BaKehila program.
His solo album A Hebrew Capriccio was released by the German boutique label SmoothFactor and was awarded critical acclaim, among others, in Haaretz, and Neue Westfalishe.
Dr. Lazarus is the musical director and co-founder of the Israeli Ladino Orchestra. His work with the orchestra has been recognized by the official Carta de España. He teaches at the Academic College for Education Givat Washington, and the Rimon School of Music. Lazarus’s work has been awarded by the Israeli Pais Art council and ACUM.

SKU: HL.156024

ISBN 9781495057670. UPC: 888680603267. 9.0x12.0x0.856 inches.

24 note-for-note transcriptions spanning Vai's career, including: The Attitude Song • The Audience Is Listening • Bad Horsie • Big Trouble • Building the Church • The Crying Machine • Die to Live • Eugene's Trick Bag • For the Love of God • Gravity Storm • Hand on Heart • Head Cuttin' Duel • I Would Love To • Jibboom • Juice • K'm-Pee-Du-Wee • Lotus Feet • Now We Run • The Story of Light • Tender Surrender • Touching Tongues • Viv Woman • Whispering a Prayer • Yankee Rose.

About Hal Leonard Guitar Recorded Versions

Guitar Recorded Versions are note-for-note transcriptions of guitar music taken directly off recordings. This series, one of the most popular in print today, features some of the greatest guitar players and groups from blues, rock, and heavy metal. Guitar Recorded Versions are transcribed by the best transcribers in the business. Every book contains notes and tablature.