This volume examines the playing style of Duane Allman. Duane Allman is one of the most interesting blues/rock guitarists ever. Born in 1946, Duane had many of the same blues guitar influences as his contemporaries Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck, and was greatly influenced by them as well. A large part of Duane’s uniqueness comes down to the incredible freedom with which he played. With his groundbreaking band, The Allman Brothers, Duane explored uncharted musical paths with such classic songs as ‘Whipping Post,” “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Mountain Jam,” weaving jazz-like lines through his blues/soul/country leanings.

But the area that Duane stands out the most is his slide guitar playing: simply stated, no one before Duane played slide guitar with the level of controlled virtuosity that he displays on tracks like “Statesboro Blues,” “One Way Out,” “Don’t Leave Me Wonderin’” and many others. With his signature glass Coricidin bottle used as a slide and worn on his ring finger, and using his fingers to pick, Duane established a very high standard for the art of slide guitar, and his work has been emulated by countless guitarists since his untimely death, at the age of 24, in 1971.

Kings of Blues & Rock will impact your playing in two distinctly different but equally important ways: first, you will learn all of the essential elements for soloing in the style of each of these great players; more importantly, you will be able to take this information and use it to create your own style and sound in rock and blues guitar.

The playing styles of each artist is examined in a variety of musical settings designed around the artists' signature style and performances. All of the solo segments are played first at tempo, over practice rhythm tracks, and then presented slowly with thorough explanations. Practice rhythm tracks are provided so that you can practice the solo examples as presented and work on creating your own solo variations and ideas. Also discussed is the type of guitar and amp each artist favors, and the means by which they achieve their distinct, signature sound.

Your Kings of Blues & Rock instructor, Andy Aledort is himself a "King" amongst players, editors and educators. Aledort has served as senior editor for several top guitar magazines, has authored over 200 guitar instruction books and DVDs and tours with high-profile artists such as Buddy Guy, Dickey Betts, and the Allman Brothers band.

Kings of Blues & Rock is optimized for intermediate to advanced players and is presented as interactive video software on CD-ROM (Windows and Mac compatible). The entire course features 160 full-length video lessons (20 per artist) and includes text overviews, practice rhythm tracks, standard notation and interactive Power Tab so that you can "hear" and "see" the tab/notation played out at any speed, without effecting pitch. TrueFire's video player features zoom, frame advance, looping and other handy controls.