A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 2 [Paperback]

William Leavitt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2003

Now available in a book/CD pack! The William Leavitt guitar method, used as the basic text for the Berklee College of Music guitar program, has stood the test of time and earned a vast and loyal following of guitar students and instructors. After mastering the basics from Volume 1, this intermediate-level book continues and builds upon the study of melody, scales, arpeggios and chords, covering the entire fingerboard. This volume also addresses: intervals, chord voicings, improvisation, rhythm-guitar techniques, play-along duets and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 122 pages
• Publisher: Berklee Press (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876390165
• ISBN-13: 978-0876390160
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #178,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Worthwhile With Much To Offer, April 11, 2006

By 

frankp93 "frankp93" (Connecticut United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 2 (Paperback)

I first came across volume 2 of Leavitt's long running series as a teenager in the 70's. I was playing out of pentatonic scale patterns like many of my rock-playing peers yet I was listening to jazz and frustrated by my inability to graft that
technique onto playing standards and modal pieces. The guitarists and horn players I was hearing were playing phrases and notes that I couldn't find in my limited grasp of the fingerboard.

The Leavitt book introduced me to a variety of scale fingerings covering the entire fingerboard. They seemed so foreign at the time, but have since become as natural as my pentatonic "boxes". The forms themselves rather than the pattern exercises are
the important things to focus on. Create your own patterns.

The books are about more than scales and arpeggios however. In fact, to be honest I would now regard the scale and arpeggio material as secondary. While the books have been around since (I believe) the 60's and "modern" might be stretching
things a bit, the chord voicings and studies however are still, in my opinion, valid, interesting and worth serious study. Most books on chord melody deal with monolithic block chord harmonization. On the other hand, Leavitt's chordal etudes
contain a wonderful variety of textures and techniques that can form the basis of a more "improvisatory" chordal technique, where arrangements sound spontaneous rather than memorized and static.

A lot has changed in terms of material available to guitarists since these books ruled the roost (for all I know, at Berklee they still do). It took me a lot of years and a lot of revisiting these (and other) books to appreciate what Leavitt's method has to offer.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Modern Method For Guitar Volume 2, October 22, 2005

By 

J. Vega - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 2 (Paperback)

This book is for anyone serious about learning the guitar well. It was my standard method in college and up to this point, I have not found a better overall method for learning the guitar. The exercises and etudes contained in the method will work many aspects of one's playing at the same time.

3 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great continuation of the first book., February 4, 2006

By 

Scott McFarland (Seguin, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 2 (Paperback)

I really have have learned some things I didn't know in this book, it was a great read.