Rock & Pop Classics Guitar Play-Along: Guitar TAB Edition Book & CD-ROM

Playing these arrangements captures the joy of recognizing beloved songs as soon as you nail the first phrase. The backing tracks anchor you in a full band context, erasing the loneliness of bedroom practice and letting you inhabit the groove rather than just learning fingerings.

Self-taught electric guitarists and classroom players who need arrangement-based repertoire that straddles the gap between hobby practice and actual performance. The TAB plus standard notation format welcomes readers at different fluency levels without demanding years of ear training or sight-reading skill.

• Experiment with the TNT 2 software's key transposition feature if the original tuning doesn't sit comfortably in your range or hand position; dropping a semitone or two can unlock passages that feel natural.
• Use the loop function to isolate and repeat the riff sections in tracks like Bad to the Bone and Tom Sawyer until the phrasing sits in your fingers without conscious thought.
• Load the play-along MP3s onto your phone and practice with them in different listening environments (car, coffee shop, home) to build confidence playing with backing tracks in varied acoustics.
• Dial back the vocal track in the TNT 2 software once you know the melody line, allowing the drums and bass to guide your time without the vocal line masking your mistakes.

Assign one arrangement per week as reinforcement material for intermediate students in a group or private setting, pairing the play-along tracks with structured ear training on changes. The digital toolset also makes this resource ideal for distance learning or asynchronous practice when direct feedback is limited.

• Reading guitar TAB and standard notation together
• Locking into a pre-recorded rhythm section without a live drummer
• Transposing arrangements using software tools
• Identifying riff-based vs. chord-based song structures
• Timing precision over extended phrases (4+ bars)