Customer Reviews

Progressive Popular Classics of the Great Composers Arranged for Classical Guitar, Volume 1

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The Progressive Popular Classics series have come to us from Australia and turn out to be some of the best of the genre. Each book is accompanied by a CD of the author playing every piece in the book. The CD alone is worth the price, as it is a compilation of justifiably popular classics written for or transcribed for the guitar and beautifully performed. The tyro should get Mr. Waldron's Classical Guitar Method, Book 1, but will enjoy this series of texts as something both as listening pleasure and as inspiration to practice and improve.

This is Volume 1 in a series of 6. As a fairly new classical guitar player I am finding this series, arranged by Jason Waldron, extremely useful. The music lives up to its name of "popular" classics, and contains numbers such as "Liebestraum" by Liszt and "Caro Nome" by Verdi - music that we hum every day. I can play the fairly simple uncomplicated arrangements and that encourages and inspires me to continue. Waldron has included a CD of the music which is proving very helpful for tempo and the odd tricky chord. Paging through the contents I notice the pieces get progressively more difficult. A wonderful challenge and one to which I can aspire.