Ragtime Guitar Essentials

Acoustic Guitar magazine presents a step-by-step approach to ragtime guitar from their master teachers, including 14 complete songs to play. In the early 1900s, ragtime, with its ragged, syncopated rhythms and dazzling speed, was one of the most popular styles of music, leading to spikes in sales of pianos and sheet music. More than a century later, at the mere mention of the genre, you can probably hear the first few bars of Scott Joplin's The Entertainer in your mind's ear. While ragtime is traditionally piano-based, many great blues guitarists put their own stamp on the music. Blind Blake, Reverend Gary Davis, and Blind Boy Fuller were among the first, and Dave Van Ronk, Eric Schoenberg, Mary Flower, and others followed with their interpretations. Playing ragtime on the guitar is not just musically complex, it can be a bit of a fingerpicking challenge. With this guide, the master teachers at Acoustic Guitar magazine will ease you into the style. You'll start with alternating-thumb