ALL-TIME FAVORITE PARKING LOT PICKER’S GUITAR SOLOS—BY DIX BRUCE

ALL-TIME FAVORITE PARKING LOT PICKER’S GUITAR SOLOS—BY DIX BRUCE—Mel Bay 9780786685257. CD included, 95 pp., $24.99. (Mel Bay, #4 Industrial Dr., Pacific, MO 63069, www.melbay.com.)

It might be easy to confuse this book/CD set with another of the author Dix Bruce’s books called The Parking Lot Picker’s Songbook, also on Mel Bay Publications. The operative word here is the last one in the title: Solos. Dix has put together guitar breaks for standard jam songs such as “Wildwood Flower,” “Katy Cline,” “Precious Memories,” and 40 others, mostly songs taken from the Songbook.

It’s an ideal introduction for beginning and intermediate guitarists to the world of soloing. And the enclosed CD of solos played by Dix will give you the touch, tone, and timing implicit in the tablature. What makes this book unique is Dix’s use of a wide range of styles and techniques, such as cross-picking, Carter Family-style, backup, fiddle-tunes, double-stops, and more, and he introduces the songs with a brief introduction in which he discusses the major lesson points for that song.

If you are at the stage where you’re learning to take breaks in jams (or know someone who is), this is a perfect introduction, taught by not only a great guitarist, but a great teacher—Dix Bruce. Highly recommended for beginning to intermediate guitar players.CVS