Customer Reviews

Berklee Basic Guitar - Phase 1: Guitar Technique (Guitar Method)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i'm using this for a few of my students who are complete beginners. it emphasizes reading quite a bit and typically has them reading in the first position (mostly in the key of C)within a few weeks. this is a book about the notes and reading. there is not much emphasis on chords. so, if you or your students are looking for an emphasis on chords, you should look elsewhere. if you find that the MODERN METHOD FOR GUITAR by leavitt is too complicated or accelerated, try learning/teaching from this book.

This is a good basic book to use in a class, as long as an instructor is present to guide one through it. If you're an absolute beginner with no prior knowledge of music theory or guitar studies, this book will be hard to follow and I wouldn't recommend self teaching with this. There are no exercises for music theory such as scale reading, sight reading, explantations of music notations, etc... Also, there are barely any diagrams (with the exception of the first two pages). This book is a good book for an instructor because its a concise book to use along with lecture. I'm an absolute beginner in guitar, but I have some prior knowledge in music theory. I know that if my professor wasn't present to guide me through this book, I wouldn't be able to comprehend it as well.

I ordered this thinking it was the old Leavitt Method Book with a different cover. It is not that book. It's about a step below the regular method books; great for beginning students of all ages. There are some nice duets and good exercises for the beginning reader.

This is an excellent beginner guitar book. William Leavitt provides a very methodical method of teaching guitar that has a different appoach than the older style guitar methods. Note and chord recognition effectively aid the student in beginning phases of sight reading. The duets and arrangements are great for multiple students and useful for sight reading with advanced students who do not read well. The chord bonus in the back of the book is a good source of chord blocks for a basic beginner without overwhelming them with hundreds of unnecessary voicings. Over all this is a fantastic value.

There's much better material for beginners out there now. This is a dated approach and less than stimulating. The best method I've seen is "Learn and Master Guitar" by Steve Krenz. Expensive, but excellent.

The techniques in this book are effective in teaching accurately and easy to grasp strumming the electric guitar efficiently.

This book came highly recommended from my sons Guitar teacher.
He requires all of his students to buy it. Good beginner book.