2012 ➤ How guitar wizard Bert taught two million young Brits to “play in a day”

ERIC CLAPTON, the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once said: “I wouldn’t have felt the urge to press on without the tips and encouragement that Bert’s book gives you. I’ve never met a player of any consequence that doesn’t say the same thing”

➢ The Guardian pays tribute to Bert “Mr Guitar” Weedon, author of the novice guitar players’ bible which has sold over two million copies since it was published in 1957 …

“ The manual Play in a Day was the bible for generations of budding guitarists in the 1950s and 1960s. Its author was Bert Weedon, an unassuming dance-band musician whose unpatronising approach made him Britain’s earliest expert on the instrumental niceties of rock’n’roll. Weedon, who has died aged 91, was among the first British musicians to incorporate into his style the innovations of American country and western, boogie and rock’n’roll guitarists.

Hank Marvin, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Brian May and Eric Clapton were among those whose introduction to the guitar was strumming through the exercises in Weedon’s tutor books. McCartney’s testimony was typical: “George and I went through the Bert Weedon books and learned D and A together … ” / continued online

➢ Play in a Day is still in print — details at Bert Weedon’s own website where he offers plenty of tips and hints

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