The Big Acoustic Guitar Chord Songbook Songbook Review
If you’re looking for songs that are easy to play on acoustic guitar, it can be hard to know where to start. While the internet is full of guitar charts, they are often inaccurate and can be beyond the skills of new guitarists. Many of them are also songs you’ve probably never heard of and don’t care to play.
Yet another option is available 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 fit for those looking for easy acoustic guitar songs.
What is The Big Acoustic Guitar Chord Songbook?
As the name suggests, this book contains a series 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 pocket cover and is in easy to read A4 format.
Do you have something good?
Overall, I think it’s a good book, although it’s not without its flaws.
musical styles – the book contains songs from a wide range of musical genres. It was released in 2001, and the songs range from that time to 40 years earlier, so there’s a lot of classic rock and pop here, as well as more modern songs. 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 recognize, chances are you’ll find some of them here. However, if you are more interested in specialized genres or more extreme forms of music, this is probably not the book for you.
Easy to use – The book is presented 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 that show you how to play all the chords that are required for that song, which is helpful if any of the chords are unfamiliar.
However, the book contains no tabs or written notation, and if you don’t know the melodies of the original songs, that will be a problem, as they are not included here. And while there is a game guide that provides some helpful tips, it’s not like every little step is explained to you, which may or may not be a problem.
Precision – According to the advertising on the back cover, each song has been arranged in the original key of the original recordings. However, like most books of this type, some of the chords have been simplified, as you will discover for yourself if you listen carefully to the original songs and compare them to the chords given in this book. This is not a problem, as they still sound ‘good’, but if you want to play a perfect rendition of the original, you will probably need to rely more on your own ears.
game level – Some of the songs in this book contain very easy chords, while others are more difficult. Beginners will find the book valuable, but those with a bit more experience will probably get the most out of it, as many of the songs will be too difficult for beginners to play initially. Also, the lack of step-by-step game guides can be a problem for those just starting out.
Verdict
If you’re a guitarist who is interested in playing a wide range of well-known hits on your acoustic guitar, this is a great book to have. Just keep in mind that it’s kind of a basic guide, as the title says, it’s a chord book, so don’t expect to find tab stops or notation here.