A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 1 [Paperback]

William Leavitt (Author)

Book Description

Series: Modern Method for Guitar | Publication Date: August 1, 1995

This practical, comprehensive method is used as the basic text for the guitar program at the Berklee College of Music. Volume One builds a solid foundation for beginning guitarists and features a comprehensive range of guitar and music fundamentals, including: scales, melodic studies, chord and arpeggio studies, how to read music, special exercises for developing technique in both hands, voice leading using moveable chord forms, and more.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: German --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Berklee Press Publications (August 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0793545110
• ISBN-13: 978-0793545117
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent (with a few caveats), June 23, 2008

By 

A. Sircom (London UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 1: Book/DVD-ROM Pack (Method (Berklee Press)) (Paperback)

Levitt's 'Modern Method' has been the foundation stone upon which many great guitarists have built their careers and reputations. It's pretty much beyond criticism for many players, but it's worth noting some observations:

1) It's not recommended if all you want is to learn how to strum a few chords

2) If you simply want to read TAB and chord charts, this is not the book for you

3) This will not help you perfect your string bending, hammer ons, pull offs, fingerpicking or even sweep picking

So, why the five stars? Because it's essentially boot camp for guitar. Spend a year with the book (and the accompanying DVD) and you will come away with a good basic understanding of how music works and how to apply that understanding to the guitar. You'll also be on the way to be able to sight-reading 'the dots'. Plus, in the process you will improve; playing slowly, carefully and methodically to the unstinting beat of a metronome can reveal many weaknesses in technique.

The DVD is hugely useful, too. Not only does it demonstrate the exercises well, but Larry Baione adds a human touch that the text is sometimes missing.

In short, if you want to take guitar seriously, there's no better starting place than William Levitt's books.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, February 21, 2007

By 

Harrison Wolstein (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 1 (Paperback)

This book is awesome. I recently finished but I'm in the process of review currently. The book takes you from the very basics and has you reading in 4 positions by the end of the book. It also gives you 5 or 6 major scale fingerings as well as tons of chord forms, chord reading etudes, picking etudes, etc. The book is a complete system for becoming complete player and every aspect of beginner playing is covered here. Everything is planned out in a genius way thanks to William Leavitt, one of the greatest guitar teachers in history. This book is heavy and I honestly wouldn't reccomend it to the straight beginner because it's too brainy and hard. If you've been playing for awhile and you're ready to get serious and learn to read then this is the perfect book. In my opinion this is the greatest book you'll find out there and I can't recommend it enough. I'll warn you though, it's no cake walk and takes time and dedication (which will be worthwhile!).

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent (like anyone else NEEDS to say it...), July 11, 2006

By 

K. D. Jones "KD" (seedy truckstop, between earth and mars, booth in the back, the coffee's cold. all are welcome.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 1: Book/DVD-ROM Pack (Method (Berklee Press)) (Paperback)

Six or more stars, really.

I finally bought this book after "thinking about it" forever. (I have a problem with the thinking thing.) Well, just as has been said before... drop everything else and go through these books. You'll be WAY ahead if you do. I studied classical guitar for a year in college (though I'm primarily a jazz-rock-etc. player), and this SHOULD have been the book they used back then. The exercises are melodic enough that anyone with an ear should be able to follow them with little difficulty, and still you'll learn everything you need to learn.

The progression of exercises is sensible, and everything holds together as a meaningful whole, an attribute lacking in most guitar instruction books. (Though you may want to add Arnie Berle's "New Guitar Techniques for Sight Reading" as well. Not that there's a gap in Leavitt's books, just that Berle's approach may broaden your approach a bit. Berle's other books are good as well, in my opinion.)

So don't think (as I did) that this is a method for "that kind of player over there, but not me," as I did. Regardless of your intended style, what you will get here will put you years ahead if you just do it. After that, you'll be ready to tackle anything - it'll still be work, it always will be, but you won't spin your wheels as hundreds of thousands of players do.

Guitar players owe something good to Leavitt for this book, really. It's obviously the product of a sensible, disciplined, knowledgable and concerned mind.