The Books

This 268 page A4 book contains transcriptions in both tablature and staff notation. It covers 60 solo guitar pieces by the world renowned fingerstyle guitar virtuoso, innovator and composer John Renbourn.
They have been created, collected and edited by Mike Walker a co-founder & long time tutor of Renbourn Guitar Workshops and member of the Bert Jansch Foundation's Bert Transcribed Group.
Renbourn Guitar Workshops was a project started by John Renbourn himself and many of the transcriptions in this book have been either directly created or personally approved by him.

There are 2 editions with the same content: A lay flat A4 spiral bound workbook and a collectors' hardback deluxe limited edition also A4 size.
The spiral bound edition will sit easily on desk or music stand and is ideal for the guitarist to work from and make notes in.
The hardback collector's edition is a classy limited edition bookshelf edition for the collector.

Please note that this site can only accommodate orders for a single book but if you require 2 or more books we can arrange this manually - please email admin@renbournfingerstyle.com telling us what you require and where it is to be shipped. We will establish cost and get back to you.

The Project

The collection drawn from 15 years of teaching and transcription work is the first fruit of a larger ongoing project which covers songs and multi-guitar pieces.

This first book includes many pieces which have either never been published before or are currently unavailable in print.
There are new transcriptions of old favourites which have not appeared in print before, revised transcriptions of some which have been published but are no longer in print, and some which have never been recorded or published before.
The collection spans Renbourn's 50 year career from 1965 to his death in 2015. The completion of this book in 2025 marks 60 years since the release of John's first solo album, 15 years since he started Renbourn Guitar Workshops with Mike & Irene Walker and Rémy Froissart and 10 years since his death. Finally, it is a recognition that he would be 80 years old now were he still with us.

We gratefully acknowledge the kind permission, support and blessing of John Renbourn's family which have made this project possible.

The Future

This is the first part of a larger project which grew out of a conversation at the very first Renbourn Guitar Workshops event in 2010.
Over a glass or two of wine John, Rémy and Mike - discussed the possibility of creating an archive of tabs with which John was happy, to back up his intention to focus on teaching.

After John's untimely death in 2015 Mike set about trying to complete the project as planned. Transcription work has been continuous since then in parallel with a series of guitar workshops.

This set of 60 transcriptions spans the 60 years since the release of John's first solo album but it also only reflects one aspect of the musical legacy John left us. Songs and multi-guitar collections are also planned and in progress.

In parallel with an initiative by Newcastle University to preserve all Renbourn's original manuscripts in a digital archive, this book is intended to provide present and future generations of guitarists with insights into John Renbourn's contribution to steel string fingerstyle guitar playing.

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