Overall Comments

Right out of the box this is an impressive and well thought out tool. The thickly laminated front and back covers are sure to stand up to the rigors of pass-it-around jam sessions and the interior pages are printed on a nice card stock so they aren't going be easily bent or dog-eared. This tool is built to use and it's built to last.

The 1-1/2" jumbo spiral comb binding is a really cool idea, it allows any of the nearly 300 pages to stay put and lay nice n' flat. This is neat: because of it's unique comb binding you can also set it up like a mini easel, so it can also be viewed standing upright not just laying down – now that is very handy.

The large print chord diagrams are easily to read from 6+ feet away, this allows several players to use the tune diagrams at the same time – no problem with sharing.

I like this: when you want to find a tune, you don't need to refer to an index and then waste a bunch of time looking up a page number – all the tune chord charts are arranged alphabetically by song title, so you can find the tune you want fast. Of course there is a handy tune index, but you don't need it to find the tune your looking for.

In addition to the well over 200+ tune chord diagrams contained in this hefty 1-1/4 inch thick volume, there are numerous other helpful features, like: a key/chord transposition chart, a how to use it guide, web links for other music resources, a glossary of tune style definitions and even plenty of blank chord charts to pencil in your own favorite tunes.

As a new player who needs all the help I can get, I've found this chord book to be well-designed, easy-to-read and understand and a genuine pleasure to use. It's a resource that musicians at every skill level will find very useful.

On my "I wish" list the only other thing that would be useful to a beginner like me, would be some chord diagram pages showing the actual chord fingerings for several instruments in various keys, guitar, 5-string and tenor banjo and mandolin. That wish may be beyond the scope of this book and anyway, I have those chord references handy when I need them. So it's no a big deal.

Sarah is a Banjo Hangout Member, she goes by the name of: anniemcu. You can contact her via the Banjo Hangout.

Overall Rating

10