Customer Reviews

Progressive Masterpieces Of 19th Century

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Jason Waldron has compiled a great set of classical guitar pieces which would make you crave for more. The CD is a big help to get that fingerpicking right. The songs are arranged (approximately) in order of difficulty and grouped according to keys. This is my first classical guitar book and ever since I've laid Dave Matthews and the gang on the side. I'm still at #21 (out of 56!) but at this stage my technique is getting finer. The songs alternate from joyful to somber, always giving a "feel" -- beyond reading and listening -- for the most romantic period in human history. It seems to me that this hobby would last a lifetime. Long live Sor and Giuliani!

I've used this book in conjunction with the Christopher Parkening Methodology to teach classical guitar to my students. The pieces start with easy exercises and move to more intermediate pieces by the end of the book. One of the best parts of this book is the studies are arranged by key, so the student becomes quite familiar to fingering on specific parts of the guitar neck. As a supplement to the Parkening Methodology, I use the Progressive Classical Guitar Method, which accompanies the "Masterpieces." With completion of both books, not only does the student have an understanding of the basics of classical guitar, but will be ready for more intermediate study.

This book is fine for the absolute beginner, although there are better ones out there. Do not buy this book if you are even close to intermediate level guitar.