Customer Reviews

Mel Bay Julio S. Sagreras Guitar Lessons, Books 4-6 and Advanced Technique (Spanish Edition)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On the recommendation of a fellow guitar teacher, I took a chance and got this series for use with students. (beginning and the advanced) It is excellent in every respect.

My students like it because it is so logically designed. Each exercise builds on the next in sensible progressions, so the student never feels overwhelmed by technical or reading difficulties. Much emphasis is placed on strict technique, as it should be for classical guitar. However, i have found it is also excellent for teaching Jazz and blues players how to read.

Often times, guitarists have learned to play with some degree of proficiency, but are crippled by their inability to read standard notation fluently. This book rapidly cures that problem because of its logical, well-organized progression from one lesson to the next. As such, I find it helps talented but non-reading guitarists make rapid progress.

The other outstanding difference between this book and some others: musicality.
Although the lessons are obviously designed as progressive exercises, the quality of the writing is truly musical. The ideas flow musically and help students with ear-training, while simultaneously inculcating an intuitive sense of harmony (music theory).

The miniature compositions Sagreras devised are NOT just exercises, but genuinely rewarding music. That makes this a refreshing contrast to less-mature works by some modern authors that are hyper-focused on technical wizardry or fiery fingerboard gymnastics. Those "gee-wiz, Classical is hard!" type-of-books only serve to intimidate, befuddle and discourage students.

The sheer musicality of these compositions reminds students (and teachers) why we enjoy classical guitar in the first place, thus serving to inspire students to practice. If you know anything about TEACHING music, you know that getting students to practice is half the battle. These musical compositions succeed where where technical-tour-de-forces fail.

By itself, that sets this work above many others. When combined with the easy, steady progression of lessons, this book dramatically helps aspiring guitarists understand reading. The musicality keeps them interested and engaged in the work, while helping them understand music theory, and gives them confidence of gentle discipline. Each lesson SOUNDS like MUSIC and inspires students to PRACTICE.

Taken together, those features make this one of the best teaching / reading methods I have seen in forty years of teaching guitar.

I love this book.

I have been playing the guitar for 40 years altho not well. I also have an MA in Music. I decided that I wanted to improve my technique, so I started studying classical guitar. I have many books and studies and have used them in my practice, however I always felt like they weren't helping me enough.

I stumbled across these books on YouTube. I saw students playing a study and sending it to their web teacher. What initially impressed me was that even tho these were just studies, they were musically interesting. Most studies in other books are just tedious! I did research on the books and bought them.

What makes these books so good is how Sagreras provides studies that increase in difficulty very gradually from study to study. There's always something to learn, but the steps are small enough that you can always be successful.

I can't tell you how often I've started an exercise and by the look of it, it seemed so simple. Why not just skip over it since it seems so easy. However after getting into it I always get the same feeling: "Oh Yeah, now I see. This is what he wants me to learn." They're always small things, but also always important.

I believe that a good teacher is very important, but I will say that if one has some music background, pays close attention, and thinks about what you're doing I think you'll need to pay for fewer lessons.

Highly recommended

This book needs spiral-binding to aid the guitarist!

Other than that, this book, along with Books 1-3, is essential in every classical guitarists training. A must have!

Very good, just a classic, but the editor should include a DVD or at least a CD with all the pieces, just to adapt the method to this century, that's the reason of the 3 stars.