Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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177 of 177 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A method book with a curriculum and a design!, July 22, 2006
I'm a guitar teacher who has been teaching beginning guitar since 1983 to a multitude of young start-ups learning the instrument. This has always been the main book I use for beginners. This book's target audience is 12 to 19 year olds. Students 8 to 11 have used the book with me but struggled, as the note reading and strumming is a little difficult for them. Students under 12 need a book more dedicated to 3 and 4 string EZ chords played on the high strings (like Alfred's Kid's Guitar Course) as opposed to full 6 string chords. This book progresses into lengthly 7 and 8 line melodies pretty early on and children under 12 can't maintain a high level of concentration for that long without soon becoming frustrated and impatient. (Maybe Hal Leonard will release a "Guitar Primer" as a preliminary to this book someday).
But it's perfect, like I said, for the 12 to 80+ year olds. This age group has the maturity, finger strength, and the self-discipline to diligently practice the material slowly without giving up too soon. Dedicated practice time is the secret to success using this book or any other method book. The lessons are progressive, meaning each chord sequence you learn uses chords from the previous lessons and the notes you play for melodies contain sharps and flatted notes from previous lessons.
The song selection is nice because there are all styles, time periods, and ethnicities represented. There's rock songs, folk songs, Christmas songs, traditional African American spirituals, fiddle tunes, classical pieces, and what I really enjoy as a teacher - 2 part duets! Book one covers the rudimentary chords and 1st position note playing. Book 2 gets you into finger picking, Carter Style, and alternating bass notes with open string cowboy chords. Book 3 gets into rock playing and improvisation using pentatonic scales. There are also "jam sessions" in book 3 that give you, the student, the chance to sit in with the band and apply what you've learned.
The book is authored by Will Schmid, past president of MENC, a national music organization that sets the national K-12 standards for music education. The book's overall strength comes from Schmid's insight into professional guitar education. This is a method book with a curriculum and a design.
This book is a revision. The revisionist being rock star celebrity Greg Koch. Greg Koch, although a little wacky (but in an entertaining way) can cover any genre of music to stylistic perfection. His performances have been professionally recorded with a full band of studio musicians. The tracks have a slow version to practice along with and a up-to-tempo version to hear what it should sound like up-to-speed. The CDs will be very helpful for those without the benefit of a guitar teacher. The audio tracks will help facilitate your learning because you can pop the CD into your boombox and listen to the lesson material as if Greg Koch himself were giving you a private lesson. (wouldn't that be zany and fun!)
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88 of 89 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good for any Beginner, or Amauter player, March 8, 2005
I have been playing guitar for several years, and even play on the worship team at church. So far I have learned by just chords or playing by ear. I picked this book up to learn how to read music and take my musical ability to a new level. AND this book definetly does it!!
This book starts of at square one of how to hold a guitar and proceeds very logically through into more advanced topics; reading music, building chords, music theory, advanced fingerings, all main key signatures, etc. This book will help practically anyone who plays guitar, to play better. (Unless you are already a Pete Townsend or Eric Clapton, but if so why are you looking for a new book on how to play guitar?). This book comes with 3-CDs that play nearly every song within the book covered allowing the guitarist to develop perfect timing, playing with other instruments, and knowing how the song should sound. This book is great for any beginner, amauter, and even the intermediate players will be able to pick something up. Especially since it's less than $25 bucks make this a 5-star buy for any guitar player.
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40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent series!, October 17, 2003
By A Customer
This is a great system for learning the guitar. The instructions and photos are clear and this gets you reading music and playing tunes quickly. (Includes TAB in the second book) - since all three volumes of this serires are bound in one terrific spiral binding - this is an excellent value. I am a pianist and like this system because it gets into reading notes immediately. I tried another system that did not explain what notes were where on the guitar and found it frustrating since I knew where they were on the piano, I wanted to know where they were on the guitar - not just where to place my fingers. This is a great book!
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