Has anyone bought this book? via: https://www.swybryd-nation.com/product/school-of-legato/
It seems interesting but would like to know more, there’s not much of a description about it.
is there a table of contents? how many pages of material? is it fully tabbed + notated, including pick strokes? Is it transcribed or edited by K Pádraig O’Kane or Marshall?
I’ve been poking around his stuff and haven’t been able to find an answer, either. FWIW I have Troy’s interview with Marshall and he did a painstaking job of having all the pickstrokes accurately notated. It’s also comprehensive in that there is something for everyone - sweeping, alternate picking, economy picking, insane diminished things, Holdsworth stuff.
I’d be hesitant about buying any of Marshall’s stuff if it didn’t explicitly talk about the proper pickstrokes. He plays at such extreme speeds (240 BPM 16th notes) that if you screw one thing up you’ll never be able to cover it.
another way to look at it is: what kind of $$$ are we talking about? I see most of his stuff is $40 or less.
I have bought many different products thru the years and I get at least something out of most of them
$40 wont ruin you. Maybe start with the $27 “livestream licks” book? then report back to us lol
I’ve got a response from the Swybryd FB group:
Most of the book contains over 30 “Hanon” scale sequence groups. These move vertically through modes. The Commitment (big) required, gives opportunity to develop a smoother economy/swybryd picking.
Includes a unique “Marshall” Hot Lick along with other scale/arpeggio bursts (even a couple for 7 String).
80 bars of Clementi Etude material notated for electric guitar.
Several Exotic Scales defined with execution recommendations.
54 pages
if u REALLY dig his style that much than maybe its worth it
are u anywhere close to his level of technique? (yeah I know, not many are lol)
I do have Livestream Licks 1, and Guitar Book 1. My reviews below:
Livestream Vol. 1: The transcription is by K. Pádraig O’Kane, not Harrison himself. I’d say it’s very accurate and has complete picking and right hand fingering notated. There’s a nice variety of phrases in Sweep and Hybrid patterns. 6 Pages on Eric Johnson phrases, some classical phrases, Jason Becker stuff, diminished and pentatonic lines. Obviously, it’s very difficult. It is only 14 pages, and kinda pricey for what you get. The production quality of the ebook pdf and notation is excellent.
Guitar Book 1: 80+ pages and it’s more focused on Classical pieces. This book is transcribed by Marshall, but is TAB only (no music notation) and does NOT include and picking or fingering guidance. If you’re familiar with the Swybryd approach, you can figure these things out, but it’s annoying to pay for a lesson product and not get the Keys to the Lambo. I’m also critical of the quality of presentation here, it’s basically scans from printed copies of old TABLedit files. I think this is badly in need of editing and polish to justify a $40 ebook. That being said- the transcriptions are amazing, and very challenging!
Contents:
M.H. YouTube Lesson: Legato + Hybrid Combination
M.H. YouTube Lesson: 5 Notes Per String
M.H. YouTube Lesson: Advanced Hybrid Picking I + II
M.H. Sliding Fourths Etude
Henri Herz: Variation from Hexameron
C.V. Alkan: Scherzo from Sonatine
F. Chopin: Etude Op. 10 No. 2 “Chromatic”
H. Wieniawski: Caprice No. 3
K. Czerny: Etude No.2, “School of Velocity”
F. Chopin: Etude Op. 25 No. 11 “Winter Wind”
J.S. Bach: Prelude No. 5 in D, “Well Tempered Clavier I”
N. Paganini: Moto Perpetuo
D. Schostakovich: Prelude No. 5
C.P.E. Bach: Solfeggietto
K. Czerny: Etude No.3, “School of Dexterity”
C.V. Alkan: Etude Op. 76 No. 3 “Pour les mains réunies”
N. Paganini: Caprice No. 1, Op. 1
J.S. Bach: Prelude, Partita for Violin in E
The Harrison interview clips on CTC are nice with the Soundslice Transcription. I kinda wish these books were published as slices instead of pdf.
In general, I think Marshall could do a better job of communicating the content of his books if his desire is to actually sell them, and not keep this stuff a big secret. I also think his older material needs to be updated - scanned documents are pretty amateur - even if the content is top level.
are u anywhere close to his level of technique? (yeah I know, not many are lol)
No, I am not, yet. lol. I can play fragments of this stuff and build it into exercises - but the control and stamina to play an entire Alkan etude at tempo is beyond me for the moment.
yeah, in a way it sounds like the best idea would be to have Padraig redo the 80pg book
I dunno, in a way its hard to pay decent$$$ for tab stuff since there is TONS of it online already
I mean, everyone of us with the little yellow dot already SHOULD have way more than enough material to work on already!
u ever check this guys stuff?? maybe the same thing applies, dunno…
I’m waiting for Marshall’s swybryd book to come out… If it ever does.
Nope, working on Gambale’s Sweep Video - I don’t think there’s a better guide to Economy!
I don’t have the Legato book but I do have Mr. Harrison’s Live Stream books volume 1&2, both are very good. As for Legato study I recently picked up Rick Graham’s Legato Workout, and highly recommend it!
Rick is a super player and a good teacher. He’s currently having a 20% off sale so you can pick it up for about $20! Hard to beat that!
Bobby out!
yeah I have a lot of Ricks stuff…top notch all the way
When Rick plays it looks like there is absolutely zero tension in his hands, his technique is incredible.
Amen! It’s a pleasure to watch him work…
Hi Bob, I sent a private message to you, please read it. Thanks.
Yeah, that pretty much sums up the contents of the book. Sadly, there’s a lot to be desired regarding the quality of presentation. The whole book made of scanned pages of the exercises done by hand. Some of them are hard to read, and for the price, it would’ve been nice to see them done on a tab software at least.