We all grew up with the sounds of Motown. In this double DVD lesson, Alberto Lombardi uses his fingerstyle talents to arrange four of Motown's greatest hits.

You Can’t Hurry Love: What a happy uplifting song! The key is to get a good groove! An alternating bass reminiscent of Chet Atkins was perfect for most of the song. Alberto uses a tiny bit of percussion on the guitar to capture the original bass groove. Being an up-tempo tune, a few blues licks are added to give an electric guitar feel. Harmonics are introduced in the chorus to replicate the background vocals of the Supremes.

How Sweet it is (To Be Loved By You): This arrangement is based primarily on James Taylor’s cover of Marvin Gaye’s original version. Alberto replicates Taylor’s tenderness and subtleties of his voice with embellishments, slides and legatos.

My Girl: This song has a killer guitar riff! You can’t loose it in the arrangement. Alberto starts only with the riff and bass and then blends the riff with the bass part leaving room for the melodic vocals. As for all Motown vocal parts it’s full of subtleties and the arrangement preserves these.

I Heard it Through the Grapevine: Marvin Gaye sang like an angel! Alberto captures this expressiveness, both using the same refined lines and also the rough sweetness of his attitude. Very close attention was focused on building a bass line that works, very close to the original but appropriate for the “fingerstyle transformation” of the song. You got to keep it snappy and grooving. Harmonics impersonate the breathy vocals of the female background singers while the bass keeps the groove riff going.

3 hours 20 minutes - Level 3/4 - Detailed tab/music PDF file on the DVD

Review: Italian guitarist Alberto Lombardi plays steel-string fingerstyle in an extroverted style often rooted in bouncy Travis picking, punctuated by rapid-fire single string runs and bends on the treble strings - think of a caffeinated Tommy Emmanuel. His playing is harmonically sophisticated, as he incorporates chord voicings and motifs from ensemble recordings of hit songs. The instrumental arrangements of four Motown classics in this instructional package are loaded with inventiveness and verve. He teaches full performance solo arrangements of "You Can't Hurry Love," "My Girl," "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," and "How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You," which are transcribed in a pdf file included with the video. It's clear from Lombardi's commentary that he's carefully considered each element of these arrangements, yet the music never seems labored or pedantic. I especially like his great rhythms and chord voicings, and in these he never disappoints. He'll often say, "Here's the snare," or "Here are the background singers" when demonstrating a passage, referring to the iconic recordings of these songs. As a minor downside, I find some of his single string runs distracting, since he often breaks rhythm and inserts phrases that seem more appropriate in other genres. But this sort of license is the prerogative of the solo musician and, more importantly, Lombardi offers a wealth of great ideas from which players can pick and choose. The arrangements are for guitarists who are well grounded in fingerstyle and can play chords and melodic lines up the neck. A good approach would be to study one piece at a time and use Lombardi's ideas in order to create your own arrangement. So, get your guitar, sit down in front of the video and follow Lombardi as he teaches one of these pieces - full performance, followed by section-by-section analysis and split screen views showing both of the guitarist's hands. Take a break, then do it again and again, until you've absorbed his approach and can start making the tune your own. The standout for me is "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," from which he milks every ounce of drama. Alberto Lombardi is a stellar guitarist and teacher. Here's to a long and successful solo career for him. - Patrick Ragains/Minor 7th