PHILIPPE BARNES - Modern Chord Progressions For DADGAD Guitar
Private Label
In the introduction to this great little book the author says that he “...always found chord books to be pointlessly comprehensive...” and that he finds it better to “...have a few usable voicing and progressions you can add to rather than a sea of options with no map.” I agree.
Philippe has achieved exactly what he set out to do. Over many years I have dabbled with DADGAD tuning; I’ve made some nice sounds; I’ve even written some songs using the tuning. But I never really got to make full use of it. Maybe you have had the experience of playing in a session where you have encountered other musicians playing a key or progression you can’t handle in DADGAD. This book is definitely for you. It comprises a full range of progressions and strumming patterns you can use in most situations. That’s it. Nothing more or less. It’s not particularly a book for beginners. Some music theory will help you along here and there, but with patience and application even a relative novice can get a huge amount from this book. Surprisingly, the author has a deserved reputation as a flautist and piper but that doesn’t matter here. This isn’t a book for the fireside and a drink. It’s a tool to be used in the real world. I wish I had it years ago. Very highly recommended indeed.
www.philippebarnes.com
Philip Thomas
This review appeared in Issue 136 of The Living Tradition magazine