Harvey Reid's Books

Harvey Reid has written a large number of unique and useful books, mostly about stringed-instrument fingerboards. Here are the descriptions & where to get them. They are generally available from Harvey's web store, at his performances, from Amazon, and many are in digital form on the iTunes bookstore.

TITLE
BOOK
DESCRIPTION STATUS
YEAR
 BOOKS TO READ

The Troubadour Chronicles

A History, A Celebration and a Manifesto

Troubadour Chronicles
A 530 page non-fiction paperback book; it is in-depth, fascinating, personal and hard-hitting. A must-read for songwriters and music fans alike. Harvey worked for 3 1/2 years researching, writing and editing this landmark book that will forever change how you look at American music. READ MORE

Available only on this web site and Amazon.com

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Now available as a Kindle digital book.

2020

The Wreck of the Isidore

A Glimpse Into Maine's Hidden History

Wreck o the Isidore Book & CD
102 page premium quality hardback color book, with a 13-song CD included. Tells the story of this once-famous local shipwreck and how it illuminates the rich local history of Southern Maine. (Harvey wrote 4 songs relating to it that appear on this CD along with 9 other nautical themed instrumentals. READ MORE

available only on this web site and a few local stores

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2009
 TAB OF HARVEY'S MUSIC

Sleight of Hand

Solo Guitar Arrangements for the Partial Capo

Instrumental guitar arrangements for the universal (Third Hand or Spider Capo) partial capo, mostly fingerstyle but a little flatpicking. TAB & standard notation. 14 of the arrangements can be done with an Esus 3-string capo.

Revised and upgraded in 2011.

Suite: For the Duchess, Für Elise, Scarborough Fair, Minuet in Dm, Flowers of Edinburgh, Simple Gifts, Sally Goodin‘, Irish Washerwoman, Pavanne, Minuet in Dm, Red-Haired Boy, June Apple, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Devil's Dream, Sally Goodin', Scherzo, Shenandoah, Greensleeves, Sailor's Hornpipe, Fisher's Hornpipe

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

1983

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digital version for the iPad available on the iTunes bookstore

NOW AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

Capo Inventions

Solo Guitar Music for the "Esus" 3-string Partial Capo

 

Instrumental guitar arrangements for the Esus partial capo/ with CD included / TAB and standard notation, with lots of explanations and tips. Intermediate to expert level.

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

Skye Boat Song, Highwire Hornpipe, Windy Grave , Hard Times, The Unknown Soldier, Suite: For the Duchess, The Arkansas Traveler, The Minstrel Boy, Red in the Sky, Prelude to the Minstrel’s Dream, Norway Suite: Parts 1 & 2, Star Island Jig, Macallan’s Jig.

 

2006

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digital version for the iPad available on the iTunes bookstore

CHORD BOOKS FOR GUITAR

The Troubadour Guitar Chord Book

A Complete Library of Chords in Standard Tuning

The Troubadour Guitar Chord Book
The best, most complete and readable standard-tuning chord encyclopedia, it's an essential new reference tool and important book. Over 2900 open & closed-string voicings, optimized and selected for solo acoustic and troubadour-style guitarists. Other encyclopedias of chords are for jazz only.

 

 

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or if it's easier

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2013

digital version for the iPad available on the iTunes bookstore

 

The Big DADGAD Chord Book

An In-Depth Exploration of DADGAD Guitar Tuning

The Big DADGAD Chord Book
Another Harvey Reid thorough, complete and detailed chord reference book. 2500 chords in DADGAD tuning, carefully mapped out in a clear & readable form, with the full fingerboard and every note of every chord shown. 137 pages packed with chords and helpful information & music theory.

 

 

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2014

The Liberty Tuning Chord Book

Exploring An Extraordinary New Guitar Tuning

The Troubadour Guitar Chord Book
A simple new guitar environment that you can do with any guitar in as little as 5 seconds, that completely changes the whole game of fingering chords. Play almost any song with simple, geometric, 2-finger shapes. You need to combine a tiny change of your tuning with a special partial capo

 

 

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or if it's easier

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2014

digital version for the iPad available on the iTunes bookstore

 

The Big Book of Orkney TuningChords

An In-Depth Exploration of CGDGCD Tuning

The Big Book of Octave Mandolin Chords

Orkney Tuning (CGDGCD) has become an exciting and popular new tuning, and this book is the most thorough, accurate and readable map of its chordal possibilities. Packed with clear explanations, and a ground-breaking section of ways to use partial capos.

 

 

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AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2015
CHORD BOOKS FOR BANJO, MANDOLINS & UKULELE

The Big Book of Octave Mandolin Chords

An In-Depth Exploration of G-D-A-E Tuning

The Big Book of Octave Mandolin Chords

The G-D-A-E tuning mandolin fingerboard mapped and organized like never before, with clear explanations of theory and lots of tips from the master musician. Also includes 11 ingenious, never-published new ideas of how to use partial capos

 

 

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AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2015

The Big Book of Banjo Chords

An In-Depth Exploration of 5-String Banjo G Tuning

The Big Book of Banjo Chords
Reid applies his fingerboard scrutiny to the 5-string banjo, and shows like never before how its fingerboard works. A wealth of information and fingerings and a must for any serious banjo player who plays in G tuning.

 

 

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or if it's easier

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2015

The Big Book of Baritone Ukulele Chords

An In-Depth Exploration of DGBE Tuning

The Big Book of Baritone Ukulele Chords
The most thorough chord book for the baritone uke. Includes some revolutionary new ideas on using partial capos.

 

 

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2015

The Big Book of Mandocello Chords

An In-Depth Exploration of C-G-D-A Tuning

The Big Book of Mandocello Chords

The C-G-D-A tuning fingerboard mapped like never before, with Reid's typical clarity and completeness. Also includes 11 ingenious, never-published new ideas of how to use partial capos

 

 

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or if it's easier

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2015
BOOKS FOR BEGINNERS

The Liberty Guitar Beginner's Book

Play & Sing 30 Classic Folk Songs Instantly With Liberty FLIP Capos

Liberty Guitar Beginner's Book
Harvey Reid's discovery of Liberty Tuning completely changes the game for guitar beginners. This book shows kids or adults how you can play songs in 6 keys with just 2-finger chords. You need a full & partial capo with this book. Aunt Rhody, Hush Little Baby, Down In The Valley, London Bridge, Clementine, Rock My Soul, Skip To My Lou, Tom Dooley, She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain, Old Macdonald, Joshua Fit De Battle, Sinner Man, House of the Rising Sun, Happy Birthday, This Old Man, Streets Of Laredo, Red River Valley, Sloop John B, Amazing Grace, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Angels We Have Heard On High, Deck the Halls, Auld Lang Syne, Shenandoah, Oh Susannah, Michael Row the Boat Ashore, Worried Man, Silent Night, Little Liza Jane, Billy Boy, Camptown Races

 

 

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AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2015

The Liberty Guitar Method

An Exciting Breakthrough In Beginning Guitar

Liberty Guitar Beginner's Book
Using the partial capo for beginning guitar. Ground-breaking ways to greatly simplify guitar chord fingerings to allow children, adult bginners and people with special needs to play full-sounding chords and 3-chord songs right away. Beginners can now play 16 iconic songs from Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Beatles, Woody Guthrie, Hank WIlliams, John Prine, Johnny Cash, Adele and others. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (Dylan), Hush Little Baby (Trad.), The Cuckoo (Trad.), This Land Is Your Land (Guthrie), Amazing Grace (Trad.), Folsom Prison Blues (Cash), Your Cheating Heart (Williams), Let It Be (Lennon/McCartney), Angel from Montgomery (Prine), Maybellene (Berry), Imagine (Lennon), The Wedding Song (Stookey), Someone Like You (Atkins/Wilson), House of the Rising Sun (Trad.)

 

 

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or if it's easier

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

digital version available for the iPad on the iTunes bookstore

2013

digital version for the iPad available on the iTunes bookstore

The Song Train

56 Great 2-Chord Songs Anyone Can Play

Song Train- Beginning Guitar Songbook Technically, it is a 4-CD boxed set recording, but it has a beautiful, 80-page hardback book and is a must for any beginning guitar player - filled with valuable information for anyone starting out in music. For adults or older children. Roving Gambler (Trad.), Handsome Molly (Trad.), Oh Death (Trad.), Kentucky (Kurt Davis), Rock Island Line (Huddie Ledbetter/John Lomax), You Never CanTell (Chuck Berry), Tijuana (J. J. Cale), My Old Home on the Green Mountain Side (Norman Blake), Defying Gravity (Jesse Winchester), Clyde (J. J. Cale), John Henry (Trad.), Old Blue (Trad.), When Your Troubles Are Like Mine (Trad.), Jambalaya (Hank Williams), Feelin’ Alright (Dave Mason), Jack O’ Diamonds Blues (Trad.), Pistol Packing Mama (Al Dexter), Waltz Across Texas (Q.Tubb), Little Maggie (Trad.), Bound for the Promised Land (Trad.), Ode to the E Chord (Harvey Reid), Tulsa Time (Danny Flowers), Honky Tonkin’ (Hank Williams), My Horses Ain’t Hungry (Trad.), Memphis (Chuck Berry), Changed the Locks (Lucinda Williams), Sinner Man (Trad.), I Love You A Thousand Ways (Lefty Frizzell), Moonshiner’s Blues (Harvey Reid), Tombstone Blues (Bob Dylan), Baby Please Don’t Go (Big Joe Williams), Miner’s Refrain (Gillian Welch/David Rawlings), Buffalo Skinners (Trad.), Simple Gifts (Trad.), ShakeYour Hips (Slim Harpo), Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down (Merle Haggard), The Cuckoo (Trad.), Rye Whiskey (Trad.), I’ll Go Stepping Too (Jerry Organ/Tom James), Willie Seton (Tom Paxton), Joshua Fit the Battle (Trad.), Tom Dooley (Trad./ arr Proffitt/Lomax/Warner), Black Jack Davy (Trad.), Far End of Summer (David Francey), Bright Morning Stars (Trad.), Willie Moore (Trad.), Well Well Well (Bob Dylan/Danny O’Keefe), Ramblin’ Man (Hank Williams), Pastures of Plenty (Woody Guthrie), Wild Bill Jones (Trad.), Single Girl, Married Girl (Trad.) 108, A-11 (Hank Cochran), Old Man at the Mill (Trad.), The Hills of Roane County (Trad.), Little Birdie (Trad.), Where the Soul Never Dies (Trad.)

still in print / available on this web site or at www.songtrain.net

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AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

2007

The "Liberty" Song Train

How to Play All 56 Song Train Songs With 2-Finger Chords

 

Song Train- Beginning Guitar Songbook
Play all 56 songs in the same key it was done in the Song Train (and sometimes it shows you how to play it in other keys) using just the amazing 2-finger Liberty Tuning chords. Beginner guitar paradise... Roving Gambler (Trad.), Handsome Molly (Trad.), Oh Death (Trad.), Kentucky (Kurt Davis), Rock Island Line (Huddie Ledbetter/John Lomax), You Never CanTell (Chuck Berry), Tijuana (J. J. Cale), My Old Home on the Green Mountain Side (Norman Blake), Defying Gravity (Jesse Winchester), Clyde (J. J. Cale), John Henry (Trad.), Old Blue (Trad.), When Your Troubles Are Like Mine (Trad.), Jambalaya (Hank Williams), Feelin’ Alright (Dave Mason), Jack O’ Diamonds Blues (Trad.), Pistol Packing Mama (Al Dexter), Waltz Across Texas (Q.Tubb), Little Maggie (Trad.), Bound for the Promised Land (Trad.), Ode to the E Chord (Harvey Reid), Tulsa Time (Danny Flowers), Honky Tonkin’ (Hank Williams), My Horses Ain’t Hungry (Trad.), Memphis (Chuck Berry), Changed the Locks (Lucinda Williams), Sinner Man (Trad.), I Love You A Thousand Ways (Lefty Frizzell), Moonshiner’s Blues (Harvey Reid), Tombstone Blues (Bob Dylan), Baby Please Don’t Go (Big Joe Williams), Miner’s Refrain (Gillian Welch/David Rawlings), Buffalo Skinners (Trad.), Simple Gifts (Trad.), ShakeYour Hips (Slim Harpo), Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down (Merle Haggard), The Cuckoo (Trad.), Rye Whiskey (Trad.), I’ll Go Stepping Too (Jerry Organ/Tom James), Willie Seton (Tom Paxton), Joshua Fit the Battle (Trad.), Tom Dooley (Trad./ arr Proffitt/Lomax/Warner), Black Jack Davy (Trad.), Far End of Summer (David Francey), Bright Morning Stars (Trad.), Willie Moore (Trad.), Well Well Well (Bob Dylan/Danny O’Keefe), Ramblin’ Man (Hank Williams), Pastures of Plenty (Woody Guthrie), Wild Bill Jones (Trad.), Single Girl, Married Girl (Trad.) 108, A-11 (Hank Cochran), Old Man at the Mill (Trad.), The Hills of Roane County (Trad.), Little Birdie (Trad.), Where the Soul Never Dies (Trad.)

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

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2013

Liberty Guitar For Kids- BOOK 1

Now Even Young Children Can Strum Chords & Sing Songs

 

Song Train- Beginning Guitar Songbook
Children under 12 have never been invited to the guitar party, since generally their hands can't play chords. You just don't see really young kids strumming chords and being "little troubadours." This revolutionary book is going to change all that.

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

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2013

Baritone Ukulele Simplified

Play Great Music Instantly With Tunings & Partial Capos

Baritone Ukulele Simplified

A Beginner's Guide for Children, Adults and Music Teachers... Harvey Reid's ground-breaking guitar ideas now applied to its smaller cousin. Reveals for the first time the closest thing ever to instant music. Clever and easy ways to make great-sounding chords in 8 simple new tunings.

 

 

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2015

The 2-Finger Guitar Guide

Simplified Chords With Tunings & Partial Capos

2-FInger Guitar Guide
A careful study of over 30 tunings, partial capo configurations and "hybrid tunings" (these combine a partial capo with a change in tuning) to compare their value in the context of simplified guitar. If you have fewer than 4 working fingers or if you work with people who do, this is the only reference book of its kind.

 

 

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or if it's easier

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2012

digital version for the iPad available on the iTunes bookstore

Duck Soup Guitar

Beginning Guitar With Super-Easy Chords

The original book on using the partial capo for beginning guitar. Several clever ways to greatly simplify guitar chord fingerings to allow children, adult bginners and people with special needs to play full-sounding chords and 3-chord songs with easier fingerings. Now superseded by the Liberty Guitar Method and the much more versatile Liberty Tuning.

still in print available from Woodpecker Multimedia. Recently upgraded and expanded. NOW AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

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1983

digital version for the iPad available on the iTunes bookstore

Modern Folk Guitar
320 pages- the first college textbook for folk guitar / originally published by Alfred Knopf, re-printed by McGraw-Hill, now belongs to Woodpecker Multimedia. In print from 1984 to 2014, but now unavailable new.

out of print/ may be republished in 2017 or 2018

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1984
BOOKS ABOUT PARTIAL CAPOS

The Top 20 Partial Capo Guitar Ideas

The Essential, the Best & the Most Intriguing

Liberty FLIP Capo Idea Book Vol 2
Collected from Harvey's voluminous research into partial capos. These are the ones he thinks are the most important or interesting.

 

 

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AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2020

The Liberty FLIP Capo IDEA BOOK Vol. 1

The Guitarists' Guide to the Ultimate Partial Capos

Liberty FLIP Capo Idea Book Vol 1
Harvey's new partial capo is much much more than just something for beginners. It's the ultimate partial capo, and it does a multitude of useful things for players of all ages, styles and levels. Here are 73 ways to use Liberty FLIP capos to find new music. Mostly in standard tuning. A feast of 288 pages crammed with amazing ideas!

 

 

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or if it's easier

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2015

The Liberty FLIP Capo IDEA BOOK Vol. 1

More Ingenious Ways to Use Liberty FLIP Partial Capos

Liberty FLIP Capo Idea Book Vol 2
Volume 2 of the IDEA BOOK goes deep into the mysterious world where you combine one or more partial capods with altered tunings. Your head will be spinning as you dig into this fascinating "hidden world" in your fingerboard.

 

 

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AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

 

2015

Capo Voodoo- BOOK 8

The BIG BOOK of Partial Capos

An In-Depth Look at a Hidden Musical World

The Big Book of Partial Capos
Like the title says- it's big. Over 600 pages, with the contents of all 7 of the Capo Voodoo books, plus even more. 172 ways to use all types of partial capos, in 30 different tunings, with 71 ideas in standard tuning alone. A landmark book that shows the breadth of new musical ideas that partial capos generate.

 

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AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

2013

Capo Voodoo- BOOK 7

Secrets of Partial Capos in Drop D Tuning

Capo Voodoo Book 7 COver
Drop D tuning is the most common altered tuning, and few players realize that it is also a fruitful environment for adding partial capos. Take your guitar to another level, and use what you know about this tuning to access even more new music. 24 ways to use a variety of kinds of partial capos in this tuning.

 

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or if it's easier

AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

2013

Capo Voodoo- BOOK 6

More Secrets of the 3-String Partial Capo

Capo Voodoo Book 6 Cover
Capo Voodoo Book 1 showed 24 ways to use the popular 3-string, E-sus type capo. This goes another level deeper, with 28 more exciting ideas using one or more of these capos. Features many previously unpublished combinations of partial capos with altered tunings.

 

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2013

Capo Voodoo- BOOK 5

Secrets of the Universal Partial Capo

Capo Voodoo- Book 5 Cover
Here are 41 useful partial capo configurations that yield some amazing music, and that cannot currently be done with the more-popular single-purpose capos, and require a universal capo that can clamp any combination of strings.

 

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AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON

2012

Capo Voodoo- BOOK 4

Secrets of Partial Capos in DADGAD Tuning

Capo Voodoo- The Cut Capo Partial Capo Chord Book
Most people think partial capos are for imitating open tunings, and don't realize that they can be combined with any tuning. This book shows 27 ways to explore this hidden dimension in your guitar. If you play in DADGAD tuning, youy need this book

 

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2012

Capo Voodoo- BOOK 3

Secrets of 1 & 2-String Partial Capos

Capo Voodoo- The Cut Capo Partial Capo Chord Book
How to use the mysterious Woodie's G-Band 1 and 2-string partial capos. 33 clever ways to get new music with these capos, in standard tuning as well as in DADGAD and some other common tunings.

 

 

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2012

Capo Voodoo- BOOK 2

Secrets of 4 & 5-String Partial Capos

Capo Voodoo- The Cut Capo Partial Capo Chord Book
Dozens of ingenious ways to use a shortened 4 or 5-string partial capo to play new music. RECENTLY EXPANDED, with 47 ideas now.

 

 

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2011

Capo Voodoo- BOOK 1

Secrets of the 3-String Partial Capo

The "Cut Capo" Chord Book

Capo Voodoo- The Cut Capo Partial Capo Chord Book
24 ways to use the 3-string "E-sus" partial capo on guitar. The "Missing Manual" for this now-popular partial capo, with over 1200 chords showing beginners, songwriters & professionals where to put the capo and where to find the amazing new chords. 98 pages packed with photos, diagrams, tips, tricks, advice and lots of great chords.

 

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2010
A New Frontier in Guitar
book cover

the first book about the partial capo

free PDF download

Out of print / collector's item. Probably the first book ever published using desktop publishing technology. (Xerox Alto computer/ Diablo laser printer/ Scribe software )
May 1980
OTHER BOOKS

WOODPECKER MULTIMEDIA
PO Box 815 York Maine 03909  USA
phone (207) 363-1886


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