Capo Inventions: Solo Guitar Music for the 3-String Partial Capo - Paperback

by Harvey Reid (Author)

Note-for-note, exact transcriptions of 14 of Harvey Reid's landmark partial capo compositions & arrangements. Varying difficulty, from easy to hard, in TAB and standard notation, with numerous explanations, fingerings, tips and special instructions. This book focuses only on music Reid has played with the most widely-used partial capo, the 3-string "Esus" capo, that clamps 3 inner strings. These pieces have all appeared on his recordings; all but one are played in standard tuning, and all but one are arranged for fingerstyle guitar.The partial capo opens up an exciting new dimension of the guitar, allowing sounds, fingerings and voicings that are not available any other way. Harvey Reid was the first guitarist to write and record music using one, and has been exploring its use since 1976. Capo Inventions is his second book of partial capo arrangements, that appeared 23 years after his original 1983 book Sleight of Hand.

Author Biography

Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Harvey Reid has honed his craft over the last 45 years in countless clubs, festivals, streetcorners, cafes, schools and concert halls across the nation. He has been called a "giant of the steel strings" and "one of the true treaures of American acoustic music." He has absorbed a vast repertoire of American contemporary and roots music and woven it into his own colorful, personal and distinctive style. His 28 recordings on Woodpecker Records showcase his mastery of many instruments and styles of acoustic music, from hip folk to slashing slide guitar blues to bluegrass, old-time, Celtic, ragtime, and even classical. Reid's skills and versatility on the guitar alone mark him as an important new voice in acoustic music. He won the 1981 National Fingerpicking Guitar Competition and the 1982 International Autoharp competition. Yet he's also a veteran musician with a long list of studio and band credits, a strong flatpicker who has won the Beanblossom bluegrass guitar contest, a versatile and engaging singer, a powerful lyricist, prolific composer, arranger and songwriter, a solid mandolin and bouzouki player, and a seasoned performer and captivating entertainer. And he plays the 6-string banjo and the autoharp like you've never heard. His Steel Drivin' Man CD was voted in 1996 by Acoustic Guitar Magazine as one of the 10 Essential Folk CD's of all time, in company with Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and other hallowed names. He has become a featured act at many of America's premier concert clubs and festivals, including Merlefest, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and the Walnut Valley Festival. Reid has also made his mark on the acoustic music world in other ways. He is responsible for most of what is known about the partial capo, developed all of the popular partial-capo configurations in use today, (including the Esus) was the first to record and publish music for partial capo. In 1980 he wrote the first college textbook for folk guitar.