If you're looking for easy songs play on acoustic guitar, it can be hard to know where to start. While the internet is full of guitar tabs, these are often inaccurate, and may be beyond the abilities of new guitarists. A lot of them are also songs that you've probably never heard of, and have no interest in playing.
However, another option is at hand in the form of The Big Acoustic Guitar Chord Songbook series from Wise Publications. Let's take a look at what this book has to offer, and see if it really is a good choice for those looking for easy acoustic guitar songs.
What Is The Big Acoustic Guitar Chord Songbook?
As the name suggests, this book contains a number of songs complete with chords, which can be played on the acoustic guitar. More precisely, it consists of 191 pages and 78 songs. The book has a paperback cover and is in easy to read A4 format.
Is It Any Good?
Overall, I think this is a good book, although it is not without its flaws.
Musical styles - the book contains songs across a wide range of musical genres. It was published in 2001, and the songs range from that time back to 40 years previously, so there's a lot of classic rock and pop in here, as well as more modern songs. The artists covered include The Beatles, Pulp, The Corrs, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Oasis, Blur, Eric Clapton, The Jam and many more.
So if you're looking for classic hits that most people recognise, chances are you'll find a good few of them in here. However, if you're more interested in specialist genres or more extreme musical forms, this is probably not the book for you.
Ease of use - the book is laid out in a very clear and simple way. For each song you get the full lyrics with chord symbols added in the appropriate places. Each song also includes chord box diagrams which show you how to play all the chords that are required for that song, which is useful if any of the chords are unfamiliar.
However, the book does not contain tabs or written notation, and if you don't know the melodies of the original songs, this will be an issue, as they're not included here. And while there's a playing guide which gives some useful hints, it's not as if every little step is spelled out for you, which may or may not be a problem.
Accuracy - according to the blurb on the back cover, each song has been arranged in the original key from the original recordings. However, like most books of this type, some of the chords have been simplified, as you'll discover for yourself if you listen very carefully to the original songs and compare them to the chords that are given in this book. This isn't a problem, as they still sound 'right', but if you want to play a note-perfect rendition of the original, you'll probably need to rely more on your own ears.
Playing level - some of the songs in this book contain very easy chords, whereas others are more difficult. Beginners will find the book of value, but those who have a bit more experience will probably get the most from it, as many of the songs will be too difficult for complete beginners to play initially. Also, the lack of step-by-step playing guides may be a problem for those who are just starting off.
Verdict
If you're a guitarist who is interested in playing a wide range of well-known hit songs on your acoustic guitar, this is a great book to have. Just be aware that it is something of a barebones guide - as the title says it's a chord book, so don't expect to find tabs or notation in here.
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