With the advent of the internet and the ability for guitarists to write, publish, and promote their own material without the aid of a big publishing company, many guitarists have chosen to go the self publishing route when it comes to getting their ideas out to students and the guitar playing public.

One of the guitarists that has chosen this route successfully, is UK based guitar tutor James Martin.

James has written three guitar books, published them on his own, and done all the marketing through his website and social networking pages. In this review article, we break down the three guitar books that James has published in recent years.

If you are interested in reading more about James and his books, please visit James’ series of articles on how to self publish guitar books.

Zero Point Guitar

The longest book of the three, Zero Point Guitar is a detailed guide that takes the reader from walking out of the music shop with a new guitar, all the way to exploring lead and rhythm guitar exercises and more.

Probably the most important aspect of the book, and what makes it worthwhile for beginning guitarists, is the section that lays out the parts of the guitar, how to hold the guitar, basically the first steps that many of us aren’t sure of when first picking up the instrument.

This solid foundation of information lays the groundwork for the rest of the book, which explores chords, scales, lead, right and left-hand technique, rhythm, blues guitar, and much more.

With a wealth of information in this volume it is designed to take the beginning guitarist from day one to the end of their first year or two of studying and beyond.

Progressive Guitar Training Part 1 – Pentatonics

The goal of this eBook is to present as many angles into the world of pentatonic scales on the guitar as possible, and James succeeds in this goal throughout the volume.

By laying out the five classic box patterns, and then moving beyond those shapes to expand the reader’s knowledge of pentatonic scales on the fretboard with more unconventional ways of visualizing pentatonic on the guitar, the book is more than a simple collection of fingerings.

For the price, this eBook would make a good addition to any guitarist’s library, especially those that are just beginning to explore pentatonic scales, or are looking for ways to take their pentatonic scales in a new direction in the practice room.

Progressive Guitar Training Part 2 – Major Scales and Modes

Written in a similar vein to the pentatonic eBook, this volume lays out both traditional and non-traditional ways to learn and play major scales and modes on guitar.

One of the items that stands out in both of these scale eBooks, is the usage of various rhythms throughout the books, which expose the reader to new ways of practicing scales, but at the same time develops their sense of time and rhythm, and provides material for improvising over songs.

All three of the eBooks are written with the reader in mind, and provide numerous hours of practice material for the beginner and intermediate guitarist.

If you would like more information on these three books, please visit the JM Guitar Tuition Shop.