The Berklee Essential Guitar Songbook

The Berklee Essential Guitar Songbook 📚

20 Popular Guitar Hits  To Expand Your Repertoire

Learn some of Berklee’s favourite, most popular guitar music. This collection includes some of the most popular songs and repertoire taught by the Berklee Guitar Department faculty.

By learning this music, you will experience a diversity of styles: classic rock, blues, country, singer/songwriter, jazz, jam band, funk, progressive rock, funk, classical, and contemporary improvisation/microtonal music. Each piece is selected and introduced by some of Berklee’s most popular faculty members.

This collection will help you become a well-rounded player and prepare you to participate in Berklee’s guitar programs. Notation varies, depending on the style of the selection, and may include traditional notation, tablature, and chord diagrams. 80 pages. 

You Will Learn To:

• Expand your repertoire and stylistic diversity.
• Add new chord shapes and rhythm guitar approaches.
• Explore fingerstyle techniques.
• Discover new scales and modes for improvising.
• Gain a deeper understanding of how chord progressions work.

Selections include:

• “Hey Hey,” by Big Bill Broonzy
• “Freight Train,” by Elizabeth Cotten
• “Wildwood Flower,” by Maybelle Carter
• “We Gather Together,” 16th Century Dutch
• “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” by Lennon/McCartney
• “The Weight,” by Robbie Robertson
• “Apache” by Jerry Lorden
• “Two Bones and a Pick,” by T-Bone Walker
• “Contemplation,” by McCoy Tyner
• “Watermelon Man,” by Herbie Hancock
• “Vicki,” by Jimmy McGriff
• “Summertime,” by George Gershwin
• “I Think I’m Paranoid,” by Garbage
• “Fade to Black,” by Metallica
• “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” by Dickey Betts
• “Diamond Dust,” by Jeff Beck
• “Marchinha de Carnaval,” by Celso Machado
• “Dolor de Amor,” by Frank Wallace
• “Rockin’ in Rhythm,” by Duke Ellington
• “One Note Samba,” by Antonio Carlos Jobim

Reviews:

“The Berklee Guitar Department’s commitment to diversity in styles and approaches has been integral to its success over the years and has been a benefit to all of its students. The Berklee Essential Guitar Songbook continues in that approach and is sure to be an important publication in music education, demonstrating the tremendous value of stylistic diversity in developing foundational skills in pursuit of mastery. The Berklee Guitar Department has proven that it has been a leader in what has been deemed essential in ‘all things guitar,’ and this book is no exception!”

—Terri Lyne Carrington, Performer, Educator, GRAMMY-Winning Recording Artist; Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, and Aja Burrell Wood, Scholar, Educator; Managing Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice

“Learning popular compositions is a powerful vehicle to understanding harmony and how it can be used to make the most impact. This book has such a wonderful diverse range of material that I feel any player will benefit, no matter the style or level of skill.”

—Tosin Abasi, Performer and Recording Artist; Founder and Leader of Animals as Leaders; “Top 100 Guitarists of All Time” Guitar World Magazine

“Amazing! This outstanding book is a compilation of lessons and advice from many of the world’s best guitar teachers, presenting diverse styles of music, helpful background information, and essential elements of technique. If you are looking for a guitar songbook that offers you an in-depth learning experience, this is the one!”

—Tomo Fujita, Performer, Recording Artist, Educator; Professor of Guitar, Berklee College of Music

“A fascinating educational journey through repertoire into the world’s most expansive and diverse guitar program. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to study at Berklee, this new book will give you a rare opportunity to peek into the various universes of a broad section of the Guitar Department’s faculty. As someone who loves learning new repertoire, I look forward to diving into these pieces and seeing what new insights my colleagues have prepared for us!”

—Nir Felder, Touring and Recording Artist; “Rising Star Guitarist” 2021 Downbeat Critics Poll; Associate Professor of Guitar at Berklee College of Music