Six Tapes

In addition to book, six one-hour Be Dangerous On Rock Guitar course tapes are also available. These tapes are for use directly and exclusively with the title book. The cassettes follow the same 24 chapters found in the book, allowing the varied subject matter of the course to come alive with sound. The tapes comprise and "audio version" of the book, passing through the chapters one at a time, sounding out the numbered transcriptions found in the book. Experience first hand through sound example all of the finer points of the delicate art of playing rock guitar: hard, fast playing, harmonics, string bending, pulling, hammering, sliding, muting, flash lead techniques- everything you read about in the book you will hear on the tapes. In addition to all of this, you will also get an concentrated verbal narrative directly from the author of the book that will encourage you to explore new musical boundaries with your new found knowledge.

In addition to all of this, you will also find a life-size nut to bridge Harmonic Overtone Diagram which shows all positions of the first seven overtones over the full length of the string. This GIANT poster is designed so the student can stand right next to it wearing the guitar for life size comparison. Sweeping in its scope, you will never stop learning from this one of a kind monster of critical guitar information.

The Complete Course Book, Six hours of tape, Wallposter

Never before has the music world known a rock guitar instruction course with the depth and comprehensive scope of Be Dangerous On Rock Guitar. Although the book and wallposter can be used independently for study, all three components of this dynamic course were originally designed by Richard Daniels for sale as a single packaged unit. Yes, the book, 6 tapes, and oversize wallposter were produced to work together as an effective unit. Mutually effective, the component elements of this extensive course will take you deep into the style of the great rock guitarists, step by step, using printed and recorded examples.

The Heavy Guitar Company offers this complete course package because we know that the greatest benefit to the student comes from using all parts of the course independently, and in a cross-referenced study. Each course component works its own magic to expose the inner fiber of modern rock guitar- how it works, and how it all comes together with extensive study of the subject from a variety of approaches and media.

Richard Daniels speaks on the making of Be Dangerous On Rock Guitar

I distinctly remember the two years that it took for the making Be Dangerous. There was a certain sense of Gonzo in the air. The whole idea was to just go further and further into it. Today when I hold the book, and look at the whole project I have to admit that it was one hell of an undertaking for just one lone guy, working alone in a single studio endlessly with a myopic vision. I had already written The Heavy Guitar Bible, and my blues book, but at the time I wanted to go beyond just a single book. I wanted, for whatever reason, to go for something that was hyper-extensive. I really wanted to publish something that would leave no doubt. I wanted to shoot for the moon. I was full of it. I wanted my friends, and everybody in the music world to just see the whole course and just say "Richard, this is unbelievable. Now let me get this right… you made this???"

I talked the president of my New York publisher into the idea during a single lunch. He just said go for it. So I went for it. I turned my living room into the perfect rock stage with freestanding walls, amps bolted to the studs, drums fixed to the floor, every inch of wall space graphed out with weird, oversized guitar stuff. Those were great days. I had a Strat AND a Les Paul mounted on the stage wall for decoration. This guy came over with his camera and took ridiculous amounts of film at a photo party. Way too much. I had a ring binder just packed with negatives.

I had a specialized tape made up of just parts of lead guitar breaks from dozens of classic songs that we called "Mr. Big." The more I copied the tape, the more I learned and categorized. Eventually the project evolved past what I knew before, and a new order of information arose. The book was completely finished before I took on the recordings. I made the tapes alone in one room. In order to kill the hum of the miked guitar amp while I was speaking, I rigged up a foot switch to cut off the speaker wire: no speaker, no hum. It was all a tremendous labor of love. When it came time to make the poster I laid the Stratocaster fretboard directly on the glass of the copy machine, shot it, taped it all together, and traced it with black ink. That is how I got the stencil for the wallposter. Now I realize that I taught myself guitar in the process of teaching others.

I am very proud of the Be Dangerous course. It represents a time when I lived for the feeling of going further and further into things, knowing all along that the student would, at some future point, cheer me on for going to such extreme lengths to create an alternate world in which nothing mattered except learning rock guitar.