･"Ragtime" is by nature melodious and nostalgic black piano music which was very popular from the end of 19th century to the early of 20th century. Ragtime music is famous for piano tunes of Scott Joplin, but in acoustic guitar scene, it also has uniquely developed as "ragtime guitar" which is based on its sounds and approaches. And today it has been established as fingerpicking solo music which we can play with one guitar.

･The long-selling instructional book "Ragtime Guitar (w/CD)” and the instructional DVD "Ragtime Guitar" have been combined and renewed as "Tokio Uchida Ragtime Guitar Bible"! A CD and DVD are included, and it has been upgraded to 168 page gorgeous version full of information by additions of commentaries, columns and the practice song!

<< PAGES linked with CD >>
•“Ashy Africa” was added to the titles included.
• The CD contains 21 tunes (about 1 hour) which were remastered and have high sound quality.
• Also included the easier version of the difficult D section of "The Entertainer”.
( On YouTube, Tokio put the demo performance and the explanation for the easier D section, as well as the performance through all sections using it. )

<< PAGES linked with DVD >>
•Posted easy-to-read scores with performance advices.
•The recording time of the DVD is a large capacity of 96 minutes.

= MAIN CONTENTS =

<< PAGES linked with CD >>
< BASICS >
* History Of Ragtime Music
* Forms Of Right Hand & Left Hand To Play Ragtime Guitar
* Basics Of Ragtime Guitar
01) Skip To My Lou (sound sample)

< FOLK RAGS >
02) Jesse James (sound sample)
03) Red River Valley (sound sample)
04) I've Been Working On The Railroad (sound sample)
05) Victory Rag (sound sample)
06) Blue Bell (sound sample)
07) When The Saints Go Marching In (sound sample)

< RAGTIME BLUES >
08) Gary Davis' Pastime (sound sample)
09) Rag In C (sound sample)
10) Great Bs' Stomp (sound sample)
11) Blake's Rag Continuation (sound sample)
12) G Rag Journey (sound sample)
13) Raggy Blues In E (sound sample)

< CLASSIC RAGS >
14) At A Georgia Campmeeting (sound sample)
15) Silver Swan Rag (sound sample)
16) Ashy Africa (sound sample)
17) Grace And Beauty (sound sample)
18) Maple Leaf Rag (sound sample)
19) The Entertainer (sound sample)
20) Solace -A Mexican Serenade- (sound sample）
21) Ragtime Nightingale (sound sample)

<< DVD CONTENTS >>
< Opening Performance >
* Blake's Stumbling Rag Special

< BASICS >
* Ex.1 - 9

< FOLK RAGS >
* Jesse James
* Victory Rag
* Will The Circle Be Unbroken?

< RAGTIME BLUES >
* Rag In C
* Raggin' Slow Blues In C
* G Rag Paradise

< CLASSIC RAGS >
* At A Georgia Campmeeting
* The Entertainer

< Ending Performance >
* Georgia On My Mind

The tunes included are full of various types of tunes and ideas, such as blues and rags, as well as celtic tunes, old time music, emotionally beautiful tunes, eccentric numbers and tunes that were made for the first time at his young age. This is the 136-page gorgeous book which includes a complete transcription of all the tunes with diagrams. In addition to the tab/music, there are also interesting reading materials such as "Tokio's History".

< Blues & Ragtime Solos >
* Blake's Stumbling Rag Special (sound sample)
* Lonnie's Mystique (sound sample)
* Texas Connections (sound sample)
* Slow Blues in E 2020 (unreleased before) (sound sample)

< Bottleneck Slide Blues >
* Black Eye Blues (sound sample)
* One Kind Favor (sound sample)
* Beyond the Old Memories (sound sample)

< Celtic & American Traditional Numbers >
* Pretty Polly/Shady Grove/East Virginia (sound sample)
* The Beau Stratagem (sound sample)
* The King of the Faeries (sound sample)

< Japanese Traditional Music with Innovative Ideas >
* Sakura (sound sample)
* Spring Has Come (sound sample)
* Where Are You From (sound sample)

< Fantastic And Eccentric Originals >
* Requiem for Uncle Brody (sound sample)
* Chalk Stream (sound sample)
* Kawazu (sound sample)
* Cat and Dragon (sound sample)
* Salamander Walk (unreleased before) (sound sample)

< Emotional And Melodious Originals >
* See You Soon (sound sample)
* Memories Of Trout Fishing (sound sample)
* Retrosect (sound sample)
* Lonely One (sound sample)
* Acoustic Delights (w/ Daisuke Minamizawa) (sound sample)
* Matatabi (sound sample)

Tips for "The Best of Fingerstyle Guitar by Tokio Uchida (w/CD)" are on Tokio's YouTube Channel. --- >>> here

･This book is a DVD-attached instructional book based on the instructional DVD "Bottleneck Slide Guitar" released in 2009. By adding the detailed explanations and interesting columns, it became a perfect compilation of bottleneck/slide guitar techniques. A complete copy of the opening and ending demo performances is also posted.

<< Part 1 >> Basic Knowleges
* Various Slide Bar
The Conditions Of Ideal Slide Bar
* Which Finger For Slide Bar? And Right Hand Picking
The Finger On Which You Put Slide Bar
Fingerpicking Recommendation
* String Actions And Gauges For Slide Playing
(Column) Trick To Raises The String Action Instantly For Slide Playing
* What Guitar Is Suitable For Slide Playing?
(Column) Resonator Guitar And Dobro Guitar
(Column) Exploring The Roots Of Slide Playing

<< Part 2 >> Basic Techniques You Have To Master <
* Open D Tuning And The Basic Chords
(Column) Open D and his brothers
* Pitch Control & Vibrato And Left Hand Mute Technique
EX-1 : First, Slide On Only 1st String
EX-2 : Let's Slide More Widely
* Staccato And Pulling-Off & Hammering-On
EX-3 : Staccato Practices
EX-4 : Practices Of Pull-off & Hammering-on
* How To Apply The Slide Bar
EX-5 : Sliding On Only 1st string
EX-6 : Slides That Cover All Strings
EX-7 : Slides On Several Treble Strings
EX-8 : Slides On Bass String with Treble Open Strings
* Right Hand Mute Techniques
EX-9 : Mute With Middle Finger
EX-10 : Mute While Moving Strings
EX-11 : Mute With Ring Finger
EX-12 : Phrases That Require Thumb Mute
EX-13 : Phrasing With Approach Notes
EX-14 : Mute With Alternating Thumb And Middle Finger
(Column) No Need To Mute?

<< Part 3 >> Lets Try! Bottleneck Slide Solos
* Slow Blues Where Vibrato Is Important
practice tune : Bottleneck Slow Blues In D
* Melodic Slide Playing
practice tune : Amazing Grace
* Slide solo That Makes You Feel The Chord Changes By Fretting With Fingers
practice tune : Sittin' On Top Of The World
(Column) Bottleneck Slide Approach Is For Guitarists Who Can't Play The Guitar?
* Open G Tuning And The Basic Chords
Relationship Of Open D And Open G
* Slides Keeping The Alternating Bass
practice tune : Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
* Slide Blues With Improvisations Using Chord Positions
practice tune : Bottleneck Slow Blues In G

<< Part 4 >> Try Slides With Other Tunings!
* Slide Playing With Regular Tuning
Useful 6th Chord Position And The Available Notes Around
Relationship Of Regular Tuning And Open D/Open G
* Slide Blues With Regular Tuning
practice tune : Bottleneck Blues In Regular
(Column) The Slide With Regular Tuning Is The Worst?
* Create New World With Other Open Tunings!
Open Dmaj7 Tuning, Open D7 Tuning, Open Dm Tuning
* Mellow And Jazzy Sound With Maj7th Chord Tuning
practice tune : Aqua In Dmaj7
* Bluesy Sound Produced With 7th Chord Tuning
practice tune : D7 Train
* Minor Tuning For Nostalgic Sound
practice tune : Dm Nostalgia

<< Bonus >> full copies of demo performances
* Opening Performance : Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground
* Ending Performance : Tight Match

renewal version!!!
Tokio Uchida / Country Blues Guitar Bible (w/ CD & DVD)

･"Real Acoustic Guitar / Country Blues" released in 1993, which conveys the typical performance styles and charms of legendary prewar bluesmen with many practice tunes and model performance CDs, received high praise from a lot of fingerpickers and has become a long-selling book.

It has been reborn as a country blues "bible" with a large number of new manuscripts and the DVD. There are two additional corners, Special Program Vol.1-2. For Vol.1 "Consideration of Variations of Each TUNE”, Variations of the performances on the CD are explained and described. You will learn the advanced playing for each tune. Vol.2 "Basics of Country Blues Guitar Learned on DVD" is the DVD-linked project that focuses on basic training (the DVD is the instructional DVD which was released in 1993).

This makes it possible to learn the typical playing styles of prewar bluesmen, know-how of their advanced playing and historical aspects and to check forms and fingerings in the video. Tokio Uchida, who has been active in the fields of country blues and finger picking for many years, has the content that deserves to be called the Bible. Whether you are a beginner or an intermediate / advanced player, this is a work that we would like you to keep in the hands of discerning players.

Chapter 1 <<Introduction of fingerpicking blues>> Country blues and fingerpicking / Basic knowledge of fingerpicking / Warm-up exercises
(COLUMN 1) Advises For Beginners

Chapter 2 <<Basis of fingerpicking blues>>
Monotonic bass playing / Alternating bass playing / Mute of bass note / syncopation - Examples: "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?", "I Want To Do Something For You", "Boogie Of Mance Lipscomb", "Hey, Hey", "Shuffle Of Lightnin' Hopkins","Blues In G Of John Hurt" and "Nostalgia For Avalon"
(COLUMN 2) Recommended DVDs

Chapter 3 <<Application of fingerpicking blues>>
Delta blues / Ragtime blues / Sophisticated blues - Examples: "Blues In E Of Robert Johnson", "Blues In A Of Robert Johnson", "Pounding Blues Of Charley Patton", "Haunting Blues Of Skip James", "Rag For Blind Boy Fuller", "Slow Blues Of Blind Blake", "Blake's Stumbling Rag", "Tribute To Rev. Gary Davis", "The Blues In My Fingers", "Blues In G Of Lonnie Johnson" and "Lonnie's Dazzling Blues"

Chapter 4 <<Bottlenec/slide guitar>>
Basic knowledge of slide guitar / Slide control / Use of open tuning / Styles using chord positions mainly / Modal approach / Styles using fretting - Examples: "Bottleneck Rag Of Sylvester Weaver", "Tribute To Muddy Waters", "Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground", "Evocative Slide Of Blind Willie Johnson","Things 'Bout Coming My Way", "Boogie Of Tampa Red" and "Crossroad Blues"
(COLUMN 3) Other Recommended CDs

<< SPECIAL PROGRAM VOL.1 >>
Consideration of Variations of Each TUNE
* 8 Bar Blues In E
* Will The Circle Be Unbroken?
* Boogie Of Mance Lipscomb
* Shuffle Of Lightnin' Hopkins
* Blues In G Of Mississippi John Hurt
* Nostalgia For Avalon
* Blues In E Of Robert Johnson
* Blues In A Of Robert Johnson
* Pounding Blues Of Charley Patton
* Rag For Blind Boy Fuller
* Slow Blues Of Blind Blake
* Blake's Stumbling Rag
* Tribute To Rev. Gary Davis
* Woke Up With The The Blues In My Fingers
* Blues In G Of Lonnie Johnson
* Lonnie's Dazzling Blues
* Tribute To Muddy Waters
* Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground
* Sittin' On Top Of The World
* Boogie Of Tampa Red
* Crossroad Blues

<< SPECIAL PROGRAM VOL.2 >>
Learn the Basics of Country Blues Guitar on DVD
< Basic Exercises > Ex1 Ex.2 Ex.3
< Basic Style >
* Playing Only Melody
* Monotonic Bass Style (8 Bar Blues In E)
* Alternating Bass Exercises Using Only Your Thumb
* Alternating Bass Style (8 Bar Blues In E)
* Tune Of Mance Lipscomb Style
* Tune Of Mississippi John Hurt Style
< Shuffle Walking Bass >
* Picking Practice with Only the Right Thumb
* Robert Johnson Style Etude
< Ragtime Blues >
* Blind Boy Fuller Style Etude

renewal version!!!
Tokio Uchida / The Guitar Style Of Robert Johnson (w/ DVD)

･This book consists of two parts, PART 1 and PART 2. On PART 1 you will learn how to play Robert Johnson’s tunes along with the instructional DVD. PART 2 introduces the complete copy scores of all 29 songs left by Robert Johnson (intro and 1st verse only). The commentaries touch on stories and techniques related to each song.

<< PART 1 >> (with DVD)
complete analysis of Robert Johnson playing style
- Johnson's performance styles learned from DVD and score -

* title 1 : Love In Vain
* title 2 : Robert Johnson's Blues In A
* title 3 : Robert Johnson's Blues In E
* title 4 : Robert Johnson's Blues In D
* title 5 : Bottleneck/Slide Blues In Open D
* title 6 : Cross Road Blues

<< PART 2 >>
complete analysis of all 29 original songs of Robert Johnson
- complete score of Intro & 1st verse of each song-

* Robert Johnso’s Guitar Approach
* Tunings & Play Keys & Pitch List
No.1 : Kindhearted Woman Blues
No.2 : I Believe I'll Dust My Broom
No.3 : Sweet Home Chicago
No.4 : Ramblin' On My Mind
No.5 : When You Got A Good Friend
No.6 : Come On In My Kitchen
No.7 : Terraplane Blues
No.8 : Phonograph Blues
No.9 : 32-20 Blues
No.10 : They're Red Hot
No.11 : Dead Shrimp Blues
No.12 : Cross Road Blues
No.13 : Walking Blues
No.14 : Last Fair Deal Gone Down
No.15 : Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped The Devil)
No.16 : If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day
No.17 : Stones In My Passway
No.18 : I'm A Steady Rollin' Man
No.19 : From Four Until Late
No.20 : Hellhound On My Trail
No.21 : Little Queen Of Spades
No.22 : Malted Milk
No.23 : Drunken Hearted Man
No.24 : Me And The Devil Blues
No.25 : Stop Breakin' Down Blues
No.26 : Traveling Riverside Blues
No.27 : Honeymoon Blues
No.28 : Love In Vain
No.29 : Milkcow's Calf Blues

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renewal version!!!
The Essences of Acoustic Fingerstyle Blues Guitar! (w/ DVD)

“I want to acquire persuasive performances rather than superficial techniques.” This book is recommended for serious players who are looking for such a textbook. With a lot of short exercises and etudes, you will be able to refine any performance expression. Big volume of 144 pages and 98 CD tracks! Blues, ragtime, country, jazz, celtic, new age, oldtime, folk, Japanese traditional songs ... full of various sounds. The columns inserted are all interesting.

The title is "From 39 years old", but of course I would like the younger generation to get it. Almost all techniques and ideas for fingerstyle guitar are introduced. Learning essential approaches that works for all periods will be useful in any guitar style. I am convinced that great music will be passed down from generation to generation.

= CONTENTS =

* Guitar Collection　
* LP Collection
* Favorite Collection
* Introduction
* About the Tablature Used For This Book

Chapter 1 << Pursuing A Commitment To The Basics >>
* Exercises Using Pattern Picking No.1, No.2, No.3
* Mute The Bass Strings For Flavors
* Groove Feeling Created By Thumb Brushing
* Syncopation Concepts
< Tune 1 > Starting Out Blues
< Tune 2 > Professed 39 Blues
< Column 1 > Which is better to hold the guitar?

Chapter 2 << Exercises To Upgrade One Step >>
* Alternate Picking Of The Index And Middle Fingers Of The Right Hand No.1, No.2
* Finger Picking Exercises Using Scales
* Exercise To Strengthen Cooperation Between Both Hands No.1, No.2
< Tune 3 > art point Rag
< Tune 4 > Rocking Chair
< Column 2 > Ideal Rght Hand Form
< Column 3 > Left Hand Fingers Independent Exercise That Can Be Done Even At Midnight
< Column 4 > Things To Keep In Mind When Practicing

Chapter 3 << Techniques To Improve Expressiveness >>
* Mute Technique To Mute Unnecessary Sounds
* Let's Use Vibratos Properly
* Tone Control By Changing The Picking Position
* Casual Left-Hand Tapping Technique
* Quick Arpeggio To Color The Chords
* Produce Dynamism By Applying Rasgueado
* Various Harmonics : Natural Harmonics, Artificial Harmonics, Tapping Harmonics, Picking Harmonics, Application of “Harmonics + Actual Sound"
< Column 5 > There Are Also Such Harmonics.

Chapter 4 << Approaches That Takes Advantage Of Acoustic Sound >>
* Beautiful Sound Of Open High ChordS
* Smooth Sound Of Chromatic Playing
< Tune 5 > Acoustic Fantacy
< Tune 6 > Haunting City
< Tune 7 > Planxty Irwin
* Altered Tunings : Semi-Regular Tunings, Open Chord Tunings, Modal Tunings, Nashville Tunings, etc.
< Tune 8 > Annie Laurie
< Tune 9 > Cat and Dragon #2
< Tune 10 > High Strung Blues in E
< Column 6 > Should The Strings Be Loosened When Not Playing?
< Column 7 > Utilization Of Capotasto
< Column 8 > Thumb Picks, Finger Picks, Nails, etc.

Chapter 5 << Experts’ Favorite American Roots Approaches >>
* Lightly With 3-Finger Rolls
< Tune 11 > Camptown Races
< Tune 12 > "Freight Train" Jones
* Carter Family Picking
< Tune 13 > Wildwood Flower
< Tune 14 > Shady Grove
* Rough Sound Unique To Blues
< Tune 15 > Corrina Corrina
< Tune 16 > Blues from Dockery Farm
* Bottleneck Slide Styles No.1, No.2
< Tune 17 > Innocent Slide
< Tune 18 > Good Old Memories
< Column 9 > Ideal Slide Bars

Chapter 6 << Ideas To Stay One Step Ahead >>
* Position Changes Using Open Strings
* Play With The Chromatic Flows Of Voicings In mind
< Tune 19 > Treasure Flower
* Fashionable Rendering With Walking Chords
< Tune 20 > Rag in G
* "Double Role" Counterpoint Lines
< Tune 21 > Tocky Blues
< Tune 22 > Toryanse -Pass Through The Lane-
< Column 10 > Tokio’s Setting For Live Performances

* Afterword ... Trip To Find Your Own Style
* Profile Of Tokio And Introduce Of His Works

This book is composed in order for beginners to learn surely and accompanied with the CD (99 tracks/60-min), which compensates some obscure points that you might have if you learn only with a book. "Tuning" which is a hurdle for beginners is explained with a CD so that everyone can make it.

The examples in the end are the challenging guitar instrumentals in which various techniques are incorporated. The open high chords and chromatic playing are utilized for "Acoustic Delights". And the arrangement of "The Camptown Races" is used an alternating bass technique and the Carter family's picking featuring the melody.

Part 1 <<Basic knowledge>> How to hold the guitar / How to string the guitar / Tuning / Diagram and tablature

Part 2 <<Basic playing>> How to fretting / Let's learn chords / Exercises for basic chords and chord changes / Structure of barred chords / Arpeggio / Three finger picking / Chord stroke / Carter Family's picking / Finger rhythm backing

Part 3 <<Practical techniques>> Variations of chords / Hammering on and pulling off / Bass run / Chord cutting / Mute / Combining several playing styles / Slide

Part 4 <<Applied playing>> Chord appointing bass / Open high chords / Let add melody / Chromatic playing - Examples: "Acoustic Delights" and "The Camptown Races"

---

Play Open Tuning Guitar (w/ CD)
- From Acoustic Blues To New Age Sound -

Featuring a variety of alternate tunings: semi-regular tunings, open "chord" tunings, modal tunings, unison tunings, Nashville tuning and so on, you can learn various sounds of fingerpicking blues, country guitar, bottleneck/slide playing, Irish music, New age, etc. with tab/music and examples.

Part 1 <<What is open tuning?>> What is "Open Tuning"? / History of "Open Tuning" / Function of "Open Tuning"

Part 2 <<Semi-regular tunings>> Drop D / Drop G / Other semiregular tunings / Examples: "There Will Be A Happy Meeting In Glory" and "Blues For Lonnie Johnson"

Part 3 <<Basic open tunings>> Open D / Open G / Examples: "Vestapol", "Amazing Grace", "Spanish Fandango" and "Jambalaya"

Part 4 <<Open "chord" tunings>> Open Dm / Open Gm / Open Dmaj7 / Other "open" chord tunings / Examples: "Crossnote Skippy Blues", "Sea Gull"

Part 5 <<Modal tunings>> D modal / G modal / CGDGAD / Other modal tunings / Examples: "Pretty Polly" and "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?"

Part 6 <<Bottleneck/slice playing>> Basis of bottleneck/slide playing / Examples: "Blues For Tampa Red", "Tennessee Waltz" and "Tribute To John Fahey"

Part 7 <<Other alternate tunings>> Unison tunings / Other unison tunings / Example: "Four And Twenty" / Nashville tuning / Example: "Thanks To Stefan"

Part 8 <<References>> List of cords in each tuning / Recommended CDs, videos and books