Customer Reviews

A Modern Approach to Classical Repertoire - Part 1: Guitar Technique (Modern Approach to Classical Guitar)

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I've had this book for over five years and the music sounds great. It starts out with relatively easy pieces and you can learn to play nice sounding music from the get-go. Right and Left hand notation is used for problem areas. The author lists the notes/min that you can match with a metronome to get a sense of a goal of how fast to play. Most of the pieces are in the first five frets. If you want to progress beyond five frets, I would hook up with a teacher. All the pieces area good mix of Sor, giuliani, carulli, carcassi, etc.

This is a very accessible collection. (Note that it is misnamed by Amazon; the title is actually "Classical Guitar Repertoire: A Graded Anthology of Solo Pieces," and it has nothing to do with technique per se -- go to the Duncan method books for that.) Each piece has some inherent musical value, however simple it may be; and there is a mix of melodic pieces and technical exercises. Unlike many collections, the grade is not too steep; you should be able to play all or almost all of the pieces within a year if you practice diligently. Unlike the other reviewer, however, I would recommend starting with a teacher right away if you can find a competent one. I know that I developed a number of bad habits that took considerable work to get rid of, and I would have learned faster and had more fun if I had had a teacher.

Two-thirds of the pieces here are at what Duncan calls "achievement level two," a designation which matches his method book (a good buy on Amazon, although I've never used it much but do own it). The rest of the pieces are for the third-level student, and they are significantly harder but still within reach.

I would also recommend getting another book of Renaissance pieces if you enjoy that era as I do. The vast majority of the pieces here are Classical, and I myself prefer the Baroque and Elizabethan pieces. Also, if you want to learn something with a serious Spanish flavor, e.g., a Malaguena, you will have to look elsewhere, as Duncan is squarely in the Classical era. Sor, Carcassi, Carulli, etc. are here, but Duncan doesn't even include any Bach, although there is a beautiful little piece by Krieger and another by de Visee.

Absolutely a great book if you want some beautiful guitar pieces to play that are beginning to intermediate levels of difficulty. Fifty-five pieces of some of the historically best classical guitar pieces ever written. Some of the composers are: Sor, Giuliani, Carulli, Carcassi, DeVisee, Diabelli, Logy, Purcell and others.

Many of the pieces are perfect for wedding music, and can be easily sight-read if you are a moderately good sight-reader. All notation is clear and well-written, with very helpful left and right hand fingering suggestions included. NO TAB! (yeah!) so you will have to be able to read music notation but don't be afraid - the first few pieces are very easy.

I teach classical guitar and have many of my students purchase this book. The pieces in it add greatly to their repertoire and are very impressive to listen to them being played. I have owned this book for many years and it is one that I draw upon frequently. Maybe I should buy a new one since it is so worn now, but I'll wait until it completely falls apart.