Play in a day

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Bert Weedon could only claim one Top 10 hit in his career but his influence could be heard on countless No 1s, not least through his best-selling guitar manuals. Bert was the master who started many artists on the road to success, my only criticism is that the DVD needs to be remastered as the sound and vision is of poor quality.

As a Water Rat, Weedon was highly active in charity work and fundraising, especially for children and disabled people, and was elected King Rat in 1992. Good-humoured, unpretentious and a bit eccentric, it's more like having a well-read friend than a subscription to a literary review. You can unsubscribe from our list at any point by changing your preferences, or contacting us directly. Well, in response to Nick's B B King vibrato challenge, I haven't played that particular style since about 1969 when, armed with a Hofner Club 60 (yes, the very same make that Weedon endorsed) complete with a "BLUESKING" logo that I stuck on the raised pickguard after seeing something similar in a photo of B B (I was just a young kid after all), a couple of friends and I would jam on B B King favourites such as "Rock Me Baby" on a Saturday afternoon before heading off to the school disco.The introduction to Play in a Day claims that "this book will enable the reader to play the guitar up to a standard suitable for playing in a jazz, skiffle, or dance combination". Where I found it invaluable, and I could find this nowhere else in a simple form, was in getting to grips with Sharps and Flats for 'open' notes. Weedon placed a lot of emphasis on control of tone, and wanted to make the guitar the star of his music. Each selection ends with you playing one of fifteen tunes of varying styles and rhythms, with Bert and his group. Bob Shipway… My first guitar tutor book and it felt old fashioned even then… but, as the saying goes, I didn’t judge the book by its cover!

We are approaching the anniversary of his death (April 20, 2012) and I have a horrible feeling that we didn’t make enough of Weedon while we still had him. For years, Weedon was the perfect session man, especially for early British rock and roll acts like Billy Fury and Tommy Steele. Its purpose is to provide a taster, which will enable the learner to progress to a basic standard and then move on. Perhaps the first simple intelligent 'pop' guitar tutor - without which Jimmy Page, Hank Marvin and many others may have stumbled.

Although this of course proves nothing, it does seem to suggest that the vast majority of those players who have been innovators and major influences in that vast field of music where blues, rock and jazz intermingle did or do, at one time or another, employ the thumb over LH technique. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. He became the first British guitarist to have a solo record in the Hit Parade with "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" in 1959. In 1950 guitars were rare in the UK and sales barely touched 5,000, but Elvis, Cliff and British rock ’n’ roll changed all that.