A little-known but revolutionary approach to beginning guitar, the "Duck Soup" Guitar Method has been in print since 1982. It shows six ways to use partial capos to allow greatly simplified but full-sounding guitar chords. It was "replaced" in March 2015 by the "Liberty Guitar Beginner's Book," which shows a new and better way to play these same 30 songs with a different partial capo set-up. It remains available for mostly historical reasons. Most of the songs in Duck Soup Guitar are in the key of E, and in the new book 25 of them have been transposed to better keys (C, G and A) for most to sing in.Total beginners and very young children can strum 3-chord songs with only one and 2-finger chords, in standard tuning. Play 3-chord songs immediately, with no practicing. This book presents a "pre-guitar" experience, and avoids the chronic problems of beginner folk guitar methods. (Standard chords are not that easy, and playing only 3 or 4 of the 6 strings is not very satisfying.) Most chord shapes you learn in Duck Soup Guitar are applicable later once you begin to play "normal" guitar chords. Endorsed and used for years by Music Education and Music Therapy professionals. (This is NOT the Liberty Guitar Method.)
About the Author: Songwriter, guitar educator & 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.