[Harp-L] Big Book of Backing Tracks - 200 tracks - Hal Leonard

[philharpn@xxxxxxx]

Just when you thought it was safe to come out of the woodshed, Hal 
Leonard  has offered Big Book of Backing Tracks. Which features  200 
examples of tracks in a variety of styles: blues, jazz, rock, country, 
gospel and praise. I found my copy at Marshall's Music in Troy, Mich., 
(city is home of the mailbox for SPAH) on the way out of the store from 
my guitar lesson yesterday.

All of these 200 tracks by a pro full band are on a flash drive-- or 
jump drive or thumb drive -- (whatever you call it). Which means, you 
plug it into your computer with instant access. You don't have to worry 
about CD drives that don't work or computers without CD drives. The 
tracks are also available for download from the net.

It works out to about 10 hours of tracks. The tracks are about three 
minutes long and feature a variety of instrumentation. It sounds good 
enough that you might listen to the entire collection just as a sound 
recording without lyrics.

And these tracks sound really good to my ears (listening since Elvis). 
These tracks have a good beat, catchy riffs and you can dance to them.

The 112 page book charts each track with the chords played and 
suggestions about what scales or notes to use with each track. If you 
can't read music; no problem. There is none. (No guitar tab  or chord 
boxes either.) The charts only show the chord name and how many bars 
the chord is played. If you don't know the notes in the modes or 
scales, perhaps it is time to learn them. If you don't know where the 
notes are on your harp, download a layout chart from the internet that 
will show you the notes on Hole 2 (blow, draw, bent or overdraw). There 
are also a couple of pages of music theory in the back of the book if 
you need a refresher course.

While the book is designed for guitar players -- there is a guitar neck 
in the back that shows the notes on the fretboard -- it works with any 
instrument.

At a list price of $24.95, it is reasonably priced.

Gotta go and download the tracks so I can play them in my car.
Later,
Phil