Customer Reviews

Guitar Reading Workbook

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The ability to write and read music notation is essential for any "serious" musician, particularly the guitarist. Virtually every instrument other than guitar requires fluency in the language of music, to include music reading and the concepts of rhythm, intervals and other facets of music theory. Acquiring this fluency can be a daunting task for guitarists because, unlike other instruments, one can 'get by' for a long time playing the guitar using just a few chord forms, one or two scales and little or no formal training.

However, entering music school or executing well in a studio environment without the ability to sight-read music is virtually impossible. Most music colleges -- like it or not -- require sight-reading ability, along with knowledge of music theory, as prerequisites to the entrance audition. So where does a guitarist who wants to get "serious" go for these important skills?

Barrett's material, studied in conjunction with a competent teacher, will help prepare a guitarist to enter music college or become a music reader skilled enough to function in a professional/studio setting, goals well worth pursuing for the professional guitarist. These clear, concise, well-presented and often humorous(!) workbooks fill a big gap in a guitarist's essential musical education and I recommend --and use--Barrett's workbooks on a daily basis in my teaching practice. They work well for my students and have more than prepared a number of them.

The guitar reading workbook is a great tool for any guitar player interested in learning to read and notate music. The book starts from the very beginning with the basics and progresses through to advanced topics. I like the fact that it includes various excersises in both music notation and reading. I think the book is great and very well organized, I plan on using it for all of my students and guitar classes.
The guitar reading workbook will be a great teaching tool for any guitar instructor as well as a great learning tool for students.

As a young musician playing trumpet, I learned to read,but not to write it down. In fact all through band in school we only read music. We did not study theory,and we did not write music. This book will teach the guitarist both. It is paced well,and can benefit any guitarist. We will be using this book at our school (Mel Booker Music) and we are excited about it. There has been a need for this for a long time. Get this book.

First, let me say that Barrett Tagliarino is a very gifted teacher. Anyone who has studied using one of his other workbooks knows what I am talking about. My musicianship has improved noticeably as I progress through his Guitar Fretboard Workbook. I was naturally drawn to Barrett's Guitar Reading Workbook when I decided to learn to read. In it, small bites of material are presented in a very clear manner. Barrett's presentation of this material is what sets him apart. I practice the material until I know it by heart and then move on. One chapter builds upon another in a logical sequence that eventually leads to radically improved musicianship. If you truly want to learn to read, buy Guitar Reading Workbook. You won't be disappointed.

I just finished Barrett Tagliarino's "Guitar Reading Workbook" after completing his "Guitar Fretboard Workbook". The "Guitar Reading Workbook" works as a nice sequel to "Guitar Fretboard Workbook". My favorite part about these books is that they teach by doing. One step leads to another and before you know it you know what a Gmaj7(b5) and what it looks like on the staff. I commute by bus and found both books to be a perfect way to compliment my guitar lessons when I didn't have my guitar next to me.

all i have to say is that this book is amazing i called it my self the map for biginners or for any guitar players in the world, i remember the first time i open this book it was like around 8:30 at night and i was so tired well let me tell you this book was like a coffee in the morning woke me up right away i could not put it down it was so simple and easy to read and understand everything , i've been reading a lots of guitar books in my life and for some reason i never get the clear picture for example how to find each note on the guitar it has been always hard for me, well now with this book i can find it with my eyes close honest to god just amazing and iamGuitar Reading Workbook so greatful to have it with me it is totally my secret map yeah

I have several of Barrett's books and find them easy to understand and easy to apply all the knowledge. I like that he has you writing down your scales and naming things as you play them. It really helps the information stick in your mind. There are simple exercises that help in making the neck very understandable in a short amount of time.
You won't be disappointed in this material.
This book has regular notation and tab. I find that tab is useful on occasion but learning to read properly will be a great benefit in the long run.

Since April 22, 2009, I have been reading and working on Barrett Tagliarino's Guitar Reading Workbook. In that time, I have found that Barrett's Guitar Reading Workbook is a vital resource for this two year beginner guitarist. With this book, I have learned that the musical staff can be learned with all of its twists and turns. From basic notations like the quarter-note vocabulary, to repeat signs and scalar reading, the Guitar Reading Workbook has been helpful to me in learning not only the notes on the staff, but also to be able to apply them to the fretboard. Another item that this book has been helpful to me is the ability to practice staying in time. Like all the other chapters in this book, Barrett goes in to detail on how to count the notes and rests and to use the metronome to reinforce this counting process. But what I like about this book and all of his other books, is that he explains in detail but with a humorous approach, then makes you write the lesson out and then practice the lesson. This explain-write-practice approach has been helpful to reinforce all that Barrett Tagliarino's Guitar Reading Workbook has to teach.

You may also want to check out all of Barrett Tagliarino's work books:
Guitar Fretboard Workbook
Chord Tone Soloing: A Guitarist's Guide to Melodic Improvising in Any Style (Musicians Institute: Private Lessons)

Very well written and very focused on the subject at hand. Lessons introduce the concept, focus on how to master, then provide a workbook section to solidify the concepts. Future chapters build on previous lessons tying together nicely the subject matter. I've read & used the Fretboard Workout book with great success. I wish I were able to take personal lessons with the author.

For many of us who want to play and express our imagination through guitar, there is weird tendency to neglect lots of basic knowledge of music; with such a great excuses like "Jimi Hendrix couldn't read music, but he was arguably the greatest, so guitar player don't require knowledge of reading music" or "music is all about expression of feeling and inspiration, not those "uncool" paper studying". Well, at least myself was that kind of guitar player, and I was struggled guitar player for years. Rambling with pentatonic scale and never sounded "right". And this "Guitar Reading Workbook" was one of my solutions to overcome these problems.

"Guitar Reading Workbook" is my fourth purchase from the author, Barrett Tagliarino. Thus, this review would be some kind of accumulated review with other books from the same author, but I really feel that this book should be the first one I would recommend to anybody who want to be "serious" about guitar and music.

I first bought "Guitar Fretboard Workbook"; the purchase was purely based on Amazon's bestseller ranking, and lots of reviews. I just wanted to give it a try. "Guitar Fretboard Workbook" discusses much same old fundamental stuff like basic scales and concepts about intervals and chords, but with very effective method based on five root shapes, and the author's writing was very easy to follow, so I got interested in his other works.

Then, I purchase "Chord Tone Soloing". This book discusses about "which" notes would sound great over specific chords. Those target tone idea was something I was never able to figure out by myself, so this book was also quite refreshing and very helpful. But then I got another problem, timing. Even though I knew "what" to play, I never quite get "when" to play.

That's why I got "Rhythmic Lead Guitar". This one goes over very basic concepts of rhythm, and "counting". Counting the beats, this simple idea was unbelievably effective to be aware of music itself.

Since simple counting gave greater chance to be engaged with the music, then I started to think that complete visualization of what to play, and when to play is my ultimate goal as a musician or composer. So I finally got this "Guitar Reading Workbook" to organize and visualize my idea onto some kind of standard format.

My previous composition or improvisation always sounded like utter mess. Even though I got great inspiration, I was never able to make a music out of it. I just couldn't understand what was going on. Now with the help of awesome works from great author and guitar player, Barrett Tagliarino, I can pull out, and evolve my simple inspiration such as chord progression or riffs into a real music. And without the organization ability that I achieved from the "Guitar Reading Workbook", I'm pretty sure that wasn't even possible.

I highly suggest this "Guitar Reading Workbook" to any frustrated guitar player who never quite "get" the music, and always feel something is missing while you're playing solo, composing or anything. Being able to read and write the music will definitely help you.