5 comments about Guitar Fretboard Workbook.

1. This book is 22 chapters. It starts with very basic single string study and quickly gets into scales, chords and arpeggios. It categorizes most every combination. The fun part is that you are filling in the dots in the diagram. It feels like solving crosswords. There is minimal writing by the author which is good. It is mostly work out on your part. The correct answers are printed in the index. The last exercise is basically review of everything. It took me over two years to finish this thin book. I gave it five star because I liked this workbook a lot and learned too much from it so gave two extra copies to my buddies. I am now keeping it as a reference book.



2. i am a beginning guitar player. i started reading books on how to play guitar about 6 months ago. this book really helped me to figure out the fretboard. at first, i was very intimidated to play. with the help of this book, my understanding has increased tremendously. everything is explained well. i have bought alot of how to books and this one is near the top of my list.



3. Sorry my Portuenglish.
   I recommend this product. It's fantastic if you are'nt a full time guitar student, but likes this instrument end decided to play it until the end (and I'm talking about the the real end).
   The five paterns and the lessons are fantastic. If you follow it you will memorize the fretboard and also learn to find the notes if you forgot something.
   But, if you buy it, go step by step and moves to a new lesson just when you have the previous fresh on memory. It must occur also when the book says to keep some practices in parallel. Do it step by step.
   I also recommend buying some little round adesives (sticks) to fix on the fretboard (7th fret, 3rd string, D=red). It helped me a lot.



4. I am a player of over 12 years now and finally realized that it was time I get serious about this instrument. Up to this point, I was able to sit with a program and learn songs at half speed and "knew" my scales but whenever I sat down with a jam track it just sounded like noodling. I could play some fairly complicated tracks but when asked to produce something myself all that came out was some scales and, at best, some quotes from other songs. I wanted to break this barrier and having studied music years before had a strong feeling my lack of theory was the disconnect.
   
   You can learn scale shapes but without theory they sound lame. You can learn chords but need some theory to give them direction. This book forces you to learn the fretboard (something I never bothered with beyond the 6th and 5th string), learn the CAGED method (I taught myself the three note per string shapes), Pentatonic and Major scale shapes in CAGED, focusing not on shapes but the notes contained and where within those shapes, intervals, arpeggios and from that point on more heavy duty stuff.
   
   This book isn't a learn licks book, instead it really teaches you your instrument. It sounds cliche, but this book has really opened up the guitar as well as made the scales much more applicable and understandable. Forcing you to use the arpeggios allows you to find notes of the progression within the scale and transform your solo from noodling to solid harmony.
   
   While this book isn't the magic bullet that will solve all of your problems most people here have, correctly, identified that this is the critical step from intermediate into advanced player. If you spend the time with this book and literally think about it during your free time to conceptualize and internalize the information, it breaks down most of the barriers in your playing. After this book, many things will make more sense and suddenly lick books, your favorite songs and other additional teachings will mean much more to you. For this reason, I am happy to have read and practiced the teachings of this book and recommend it highly.



5. I like the workbook style of this book. Very easy and understandable for beginners and pros.

5 comments about Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises: Complete (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics).

1. I loved getting this book of Hanon exercises, which I had 25 years ago, the last time I played the piano. I'm enjoying them every day.



2. Just as expected - as an adult beginner - this is a great way to begin to "program" the right fingers for the right note. Thanks for your prompt service.



3. This book is for people who are learning to play the piano and who are willing to put in the hours of practice. This book helps you to practice scales and chord progressions in a vigorous manner. If you wish to play piano and are willing to put in the time and effort needed to play beautifully, then this is the practice book for you.



4. I "completed" (you never really complete it) 20 exercises and was delighted to find the complete 60 exercises in Amazon.com. The price was right so I bought all 60.



5. I was an average pianist until I worked my way through this book. By this point, I can probably kick your butt. In fact, I wish I had learned piano almost exclusively by technical exercise books like this.
   
   As it was, I learned piano through the Alfred's three-book course. The problem there is that many of the songs, besides being recognizable, are fun to play.
   
   I officially regret this now. I wish I had found this years ago. Well, I did find them, but they seemed dreary and boring.
   
   But it took me a while to get through the Alfred's books, because you end up reviewing songs you don't really need to review just because you like the sound of them. You end up spending a lot of time making the song sound presentable.
   
   With books like this, though, the songs are awful. That's the point. None of them sound good. You don't like playing any of them.
   
   Which leads you to focus on technical mastery. I'm telling you, if you've got the discipline, Hanon is the way to go. You'll make progress the fastest. Then, when you return to those Alfred's or those Bastien books, they'll seem like they were written for kids.
   
   To be sure, what I am recommending is -- at least for sober, disciplined adults -- an approach to piano chiefly consisting of technical exercises, not necessarily this book. This is a famous one -- almost a hundred years old -- but there are others out there. There are things that disappointed me about this book:
   
   1. The left hand and the right hand are always playing the same thing, giving it to you easy. Whereas everybody picks up a book like this to take a licking.
   
   2. The notes are kinda small.
   
   3. It's not spiral bound.
   
   4. Hanon's idea of drilling you basically consists of you mastering fingering, whereas I would have liked them to have included tricky counting exercises. Instead, it's just pages and pages of 16th notes.
   
   5. There's no point in buying this old yellow one. Alfred's has the exact same text redone: Hanon: The Virtuoso Pianist in 60 Exercises. The Complete Edition. Unlike this one, it has spiral binding. Not only that, but Alfred's simply didn't just run the galleys again, they recomposited the entire text. Plus it's cheaper!

5 comments about This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

1. OK I liked it, but it was like taking a class at the Junior College. That's not a bad thing, but don't take this book to the beach. It requires thinking and paying attention and all that stuff. I can do it. It was to good to have finished.



2. Good read if your an interested novice in music. There's a sequel out by the same author that's more current if you wanted to give that a shot.



3. Physicist Emerson Pugh once quipped, "if the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn't" [1]. In his book This Is Your Brain On Music neuroscientist Daniel Levitin notes how the number of ways that brain neurons can connect is so vast that we will never fully comprehend all the thought processes that we are capable of.
   
   In recent years, mapping techniques have revealed a lot about the functional regions of the brain. Wernicke's area is responsible for language processing, the motor cortex for physical movement and frontal lobes for generating personalities. Both encephalography and MRI have given us key spatial-temporal data about brain function in these regions. But we also find that activities such as listening to music contravene such a simplistic compartmentalization.
   
   In fact the perception of pitch, tempo, the emotions invoked by a piece of music and the lyrics of a song all use different parts of the brain albeit simultaneously. Levitin repeatedly emphasizes the multi-faceted aspects of the music `experience' noting how a, "precision choreography of neurochemical release and uptake" leads to our appreciation of music [p.188]. The brain is thus a massively parallel device, capable of carrying out several different tasks at once.
   
   While it is through a lifetime of exposure that our brains become used to the note scales and music styles of our culture, it is during childhood that we are most receptive to learning music rules and note sequences. The finding that children's tastes in music are heavily influenced by the music heard during prenatal development, has forced a shift in the way we think about childhood memory.
   
   We now know for example that the cerebellum has the capacity to recall with precision accuracy the rhythm of a music piece long after it has been heard while the brain stem and dorsal cochlear nucleus are able to distinguish between consonant (harmonious) and dissonant sounds. In fact our brains are able to group sounds without any conscious effort from ourselves.
   
   We rarely have difficulty deconvoluting the sounds of instruments- a trumpet will always sound like a trumpet and a clarinet always a clarinet. Every instrument has its own characteristic `fingerprint' of tone frequencies many of which can now be copied by electrical synthesizers. Indeed frequency modulation synthesis has allowed musicians to simulate instruments and incorporate their own unique sounds into their music.
   
   Levitin's work at Stanford University has brought to light our capacity to faithfully remember music pieces in their original pitch and tempo. In essence the brain can re-deploy ('re-member') the same neurons that were used in the original perception of a music piece. The sound separation capabilities of the brain, which allow it to differentiate between concurrent sounds (say two different instruments), are nothing short of remarkable.
   
   We are only just beginning to understand how it is that the brain registers the sound signals that cause our ear drums to wiggle at certain frequencies. Feature extraction is the process through which neural networks then `decompose' the sound signal into information about pitch, timbre and loudness amongst other things. Through repeated exposure, our brains generate 'schemas' of what sounds should go together, what letters will appear in a word and what different types of music will sound like.
   
   Levitin does a fantastic job in explaining the universal patterns and regularities of musical construction revealing the common music elements that unite apparently disparate pieces of music such as those of Mozart and The Eagles, Prokoviev and Steve Wonder. The non-arbitrary frequency distances between notes are what identify any given piece of music.
   
   Levitin makes his book that much more exciting by recounting many of his own personal stories both as a musician and a neuroscientist. His work as a record producer with some of the biggest names in the business and some of the best-known artists of contemporary rock provides a unique flavor to his scientific discussion.
   
   Nevertheless his conversations on evolutionary biology and its relevance to brain evolution with the greats of molecular genetics, notably Francis Crick and James Watson, are somewhat of a disappointment. Indeed in the last chapter Levitin develops the idea that music has served as a `vehicle' for social bonding and cohesion citing the tendency of people to identify with others with similar music tastes as supportive evidence. He is quick to dismiss psychologist Steve Pinker's assertion that music was nothing more than `evolutionary cheesecake' that in humans rode on the back of the more critical adaptation of language.
   
   Rather, Levitin sees music and musical appreciation as an adaptation in itself that may have allowed sexual partners to charm each other through their courtship displays (an extension of Darwin's theory of sexual selection). He cites the highly social and musical tendencies of Williams Syndrome patients and the musical and social difficulties of autistic children as clear evidence of an evolutionary connection between music and social integration. But what of the complexity that Pugh so eloquently drew our attention to so many years ago?
   
   Naturalist Jane Goodall expressed her views on evolution when she wrote of, "a series of vanished brains, each more complex than the one that came before it" [2]. And yet without the crucial evidence of the `how'- the mechanistic meat of evolutionary theory- the role of natural selection, particularly as relates to music appreciation, remains but a skeleton of speculation.
   
   Literature Cited
   1. Inside The Mind Of God- Images And Words Of Inner Space, Introduction By Sharon Begley, Edited By Michael Reagan, Templeton Foundation Press, New York, p.61
   2. Jane Goodall (1999) Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey Warner Books Inc, New York, NY, p.126



4. This book provides deep insights into the impact of music in humans.
   Daniel Levitan started out as a musician and a music producer. Later,
   he became a neuroscientist and a researcher. He brings a unique perspective
   to the understanding of functioning of human brain in processing the musical
   input. This book is written for lay people, and not for neuroscientists. As such,
   it is a very easy read for lay people. It is highly recommended for musicians
   at all levels of expetise.



5. It was OK, but not great. Decided to re-sell after I skimmed some of it. It was more in a pop style than I was looking for.

5 comments about The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition.

1. This book is brilliant.
   
   The explanations of music theory are not only given with crystal clarity but in a way that makes it fun to learn.
   
   If only all learning books were this good.
   
   Mike Dennett



2. This is a good book for studying at school. It is helpful and insightful. You can even read it if you're not at school it's still a great tool for you to dive into, if you're into that kind of thing.



3. I purchased this book about a week ago and have found that it covers a large amount of information in one book. It is an excellent reference guide, or would be great for someone having little understanding of theory to learn very easily the basis of music theory. The exercises at the end of each chapter help to touch on the high points, and the appendix has a great chord reference. The visual aids (tips, notes, definitions,...) are also great for filling in some of the knowledge gaps. The CD is also great to use while going through the chapters.



4. The book is probably very good for someone who has some background in music. I purchased it for my husband as he has absolutely no musical knowledge, and it was just way too advanced for him. I really wouldn't call it an "idiots" guide.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   just to advance for him.



5. I have a bunch of music books kicking around here, but this one was unusually excellent, despite the title, and no, I'm not an idiot (at least I hope I'm not). Music theory is covered pretty well here, some of which might be left out of other books or which might be presented in an unnecessarily complex way. This book also provides some introductory information on composing and arranging. I've been playing guitar for years now and my understanding of music theory had more than a few holes in it, but this book was excellent in patching things up. I'm getting more into writing lately, and I'm also trying to stretch out to other instruments a bit. A solid understanding of music theory is very helpful. I'd recommend that anyone who is involved in the creation of music and who hasn't learned theory yet read this book, whether you play jazz, punk, country, rock, whatever style. I'd guess that anyone with the curiosity for it, even theory n00bs, could digest this book over a week or two of casual reading and writing (the book is actually a very casual read) and be putting what you've learned to use right away, which is another good aspect of this book - it encourages you to put what you're learning to practice.
   
   This book can show you how chords (including inversions and extensions) and scales are constructed and how they are relative, common chord progressions that everyone should know, how chord progressions are constructed (including substitutions), how to get started writing melodies and backing progressions, give you a gentle intro to reading music, a primer on arranging and composing, lots of in between stuff, and it makes a good reference.
   
   My suggestion to anyone out there who is having a hard time learning theory (I see a few mentions in the reviews here): Have a need to learn music theory first - maybe your cart is in front of the horse. Spend some time playing, learning, and creating music first, and you should be finding yourself with plenty of questions that need answering - write down your questions as best as you can in a notebook or something. When you feel that you need to have some of these questions answered, see if learning music theory doesn't answer them directly, or at least put you on the path to figuring out the answers for yourself. If you're a three chorder and manage fine without knowing any theory, great - skip learning this stuff. But maybe you're learning a song and wondering where the next chord is or how the writer came up with the chord progression in the first place - understanding chord construction and chord progressions will help you right away. Or, you have a melody in your head, but you don't know how to work out the backing rhythm for it - understanding harmony and chords can help you get there much faster than poking and hunting alone. Maybe you're tired of playing the same old generic progressions and are looking to add some color - understanding chord extensions and substitutions can help you in spicing things up. Maybe you occasionally jam with some more advanced musicians but you seem to get lost at times - knowing theory can help you to better understand what's going on in the moment, give you choices of where to go next, and show you how to communicate with other musicians in music terms. For example, I'd say that piano/keyboard players generally know more about music than guitar players, but how can a guitar player learn anything from them if he/she can't speak the common language?
   
   Music theory is a tool, and in my opinion, you should learn it if you have a need and curiosity for it, not because musicians are supposed to know it. The alternative to an excellent book such as this one is finding a teacher to help you, which isn't a bad idea for many people. For those of us who prefer to learn things on our own, for whatever reason, a good book such as this is very helpful.

5 comments about The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook (Guitar Chord Songbook).

1. I bought this for my son and he loves it. He had wanted a book of Beatles songs he could play on his own with his guitar. This book is great for him, give him, cords, notes and words.



2. I saw this book on Amazon a couple of times, and I figured it was like all of the other Beatles books I've encounterd, way too technical for my playing level. Well I bought it and on the first day I had it I was playing Three Beatles songs. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. But, as most everyone else has said, the binding makes it extremely difficult to manage while playing,and since the other reviewers has found a solution, Thanks everyone, I'll fix the binding and I will be completely satisfied with this book. All for about $20.00. Well worth it!



3. If you are trying to learn Beatles songs and are used to downloading the chords from the internet, this book is a great find. All the songs are there, and the claim is that they are presented in the original form that the Beatles played. I think that's true for most songs, but maybe not all.
   That said, I wish the authors had put the measures in for the entire songs, not just the introduction/instrumental parts. If you're an advanced player, it won't matter, but then you probably don't need the chords either, just the lyrics.



4. This is a great book that unlocks the masterful songwriting that was the Beatles. Their use of simple open chords peppered with the occasional jazz chord makes this book a great study of 20th Century songwriting at it's best. Where was this in the sixties?



5. Like other reviewers have mentioned, this book doesn't stay open very well ... you will either have to put weight on it to keep it open or, in my case, bending the binding so far back as to nearly make the book fall apart.
   
   I recently picked the guitar back up after 8-10 years absence, and this was the first book I purchased shortly thereafter. This book is great for those who like to play the Beatles' music. My wife is surprised at how many Beatles songs she actually knows. ("I didn't know they sang that one, too!").
   
   I would recommend even given the poor size / binding. Would it have been better spiral-bound? Of course, but this book has the chords to your Beatle favorites, and if you're like me, maybe you'll find a few songs that you didn't think you liked as much, but are a joy to strum out the chords.

5 comments about Alfred's Basic Adult Piano Course: Lesson Book, Level One.

1. The best option is always to have a music teacher whenever you want learn a musical instrumnet
   
   exceptions is applied when you choose to read Alfred books
   
   I ordered the three books and I just received my first book (LEVEL ONE) and I'm very happy with the book
   
   start with these 3 levels and then go to Carl Humphries's book (The Piano HANDBOOK)
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0879307277/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
   
   don't go far, those are the books you need to learn piano. (excellent introduction to the piano world)
   
   Thanks



2. In my high school we can take a piano class as an elective, and the book that we use is this one. The teacher doesn't have to do anything because the books teaches us so well, in the past 4 weeks I have played through 1/4 of the book and love all the songs that I have played. I would definitely recommenced this book to beginners.



3. I've never taken a formal music lesson in my life when I was seized suddenly with a wish to play the piano as an adult. I've always managed to teach myself a lot in life, and have a pretty good track record (taught myself furniture building, sewing, calligraphy, home electrical repairs, and a bunch of other stuff. I just seem to learn better that way. I guess that's how my brain is wired. Maybe someday I'll take lessons or classes). This book has been a wonderful resource, and provides a smooth introduction to reading music, which I must admit at first intimidated me. The lessons are logically ordered and have helped me to gain confidence quickly. A real plus is the progressive series of books that introduce the learner to additional avenues or courses for study once a level of learning has been attained. Well done and well designed.
   A strong recommendation for a well-organized self-teaching course. Look for my budding concert performance career!
   (A teeny-tiny minus: all the exclamation points lends a kind of exaggerated enthusiasm, but others might not find it a distraction. Since I can't award a half-star, I gave it 4 stars, so my review is actually four and a half stars. Still an EXCELLENT product.)



4. The book itself is great for learning. I started piano years ago, and then quit. When I wanted to pick it up again, I ordered this book and it has been great. It teaches you chords early on which makes the sound so much richer. You feel like you are really playing music rather than sitting there just using five fingers playing jingle bells. I highly recommend it.



5. I first used this when I took a beginning piano class in College. It is easy to use and extremely helpful. It takes you step by step through what you need to know. It is very easy to use if you are trying to teach yourself.

5 comments about Teaching Little Fingers to Play: A Book for the Earliest Beginner (John Thompsons Modern Course for The Piano).

1. Even a parent with no musical experience can use this book to help their kids learn notes. Thompson makes it easy. I got this to teach my husband and my kids and have been playing the piano for about 25 years now. This was my second book, right after the notespeller book.
   
   I can sit him down and have him teach himself. He enjoys this book.



2. I began teaching beginner piano students in January of this year. Wanting to give unfamiliar methods a try, I chose this book for one of my 6 year old beginners. She seemed to really enjoy the songs...and it wasn't until about 2/3 of the way through it that I realized she was not learning to read the notes. I finally noticed why - EVERY note for every song in the entire book has a finger number under it, and my student was just reading the finger numbers rather than memorizing what the notes looked like. I was wondering why my supplemental note-training was not sticking! I do not recommend this method at all if you want your students to learn to read music, and I am disappointed for the temporary set-back in my student's training. I have switched to Alfred, and it has been perfect for all my young beginners.



3. The product was delivered in superb condition promptly. Would buy from this seller again.



4. My children are 4 and 6. I tried the book on both and 4 is just a little young. I wished the book gave more intro on when an appropriate time to start would be. Hoever, the book did deliver on what it promised. I could teach them even though I only know a little music. It got their interest started.



5. My daughter's piano teacher finds this a great book to teach piano to younger children. I read the reviews on Amazon and am happy with my purchase!

5 comments about Music Theory for Guitarists: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask (Guitar Method).

1. This book takes a very straight-forward approach to explaining music theory as it relates to the guitar. If you already have a basic understanding of music, the first couple of chapters will mostly be review, but still worthwhile. If you do not read music at all, you'll still find the book useful, as the author does not assume that you have any prior musical knowledge, and starts off with very basic concepts. As someone who knows a little bit about music starting out, but is still struggling with guitar, this has been one of the more helpful books I have added to my guitar library lately. I highly recommend it.



2. The problem with this book is that while it does a good job of defining things, it doesn't provide the necessary context to explain why they matter. For example, there's a thorough treatment of different keys. But what exactly does it mean to say that a given song is in the Key of C versus the Key of A? The book doesn't provide the basic information about how different musical elements fit together. There's a Wheel of 5ths to show the order of flats and sharps. Great. How do I use that to inform my actual playing?
   
   As someone with zero knowledge of music theory, there's still more that I need to know prior to being able to take advantage of this book. The title led me to believe that it included "Everything," i.e. those foundational pieces, but it really doesn't. Unless you already understand music theory, get a different book. This one may do a good job of taking your theory knowledge and applying it to guitar, but it comes up in short in teaching those basics in context.



3. I am a novice guitar player with no music background. This book is a great starting point for getting into music theory.



4. I've been playing guitar for quite some time, by ear mostly. This book is true to it's title - music theory. But it is applied directly to the guitar. The book filled many gaps in my knowledge such as key signatures, chord construction, and intervals. Well worth the money, I would recomend this book to anyone learning to play or to those with experience but would like to learn the foundation upon which guitar method is built.



5. I'm returning to the guitar after a 20 year lay off, (the whole life getting in the way of art thing) and have found this book really useful, so much in fact my boyfriend, who has been playing for several years, saw it and wanted a copy. I found a lot of really good, well explained lessons in this book. However, I think, if you're new to music it would be a good idea if you had a teacher to work through this book with. Another good book to work out of along side this one is "Guitar Reading Workbook" by Barrett Tagliarino. Both of these books together really give you a good foundation. I use both of these books when I'm away from my guitar. That way I can "practice" without having my guitar with me. Getting an understanding of theory will make you a much better guitar player than simply learning your fave riffs. This is a good book to help get you there.

5 comments about The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians (Instructional).

1. I agree that the concept of the chord wheel is a good one, but the information in the book is too advanced for a beginner. If you don't know much about musical construction and function, it is difficult to determine what the author might be telling you.



2. 
   I just happened to stumble upon this product. I am one of those songwriters (as many are) who does not know how to read music. I do respect music theory and want to learn more without spending inordinate amounts of time having to do so. I like how the Chord Wheel shows us chordal connections.
   
   Used in conjunction with other learning materials, I do think it is a worthwhile purchase. You can easily take it with you to a gig or wherever!
   
   
   Concurrent to this purchase, I also bought this: The Everything Music Theory Book: A Complete Guide to Taking Your Understanding of Music to the Next Level (Everything Series)
   
   
   Good luck!



3. I can't say enough positive things about this brief little book!
   
   I read through the reviews here before buying figuring that I could use the Chord Wheel but the rest of the book would be unhelpful. So many people said the same thing. I absolutely disagree! The 12 pages in this brief book cover more material, more simply and clearly, than anything else I have ever come across.
   
   Most books I have seen start with basics, and build on with excercises that I get lost in for lack of ability to see the big picture. What am I supposed to be learning? How does it all fit together? Why isn't this fun? I would have to practically earn a PhD in music before I would ever figure out how to be creative and actually enjoy playing music with most music instruction books.
   
   THIS book, on the other hand, is invaluable.
   
   The Chord Wheel itself, as everyone seems to agree, is really cool. Pick a key, play the chords within that chord family (found online or by looking them up in a separate chord reference guide) in any order or combination that appeals to you, and you sound good playing your instrument.
   
   The 12 pages of text are OUTSTANDING. The first time I read through it, I couldn't understand it at all. The second time, it took some concentration but I managed to comprehend everything. The third time, I understood it with less effort and it made just a little more sense. After the third time through I started asking questions - what about minor keys? There are minor keys, right? I read more closely and it all started clicking. I may not be able to teach it to someone else just yet, but every time I read it, it makes more and more sense. The thing is, it's only twelve pages, so you can read it in a short time.
   
   You don't have to master every concept to at least understand how it all fits together - and once you understand that, everything else is easier to learn. Chord progressions and analysis, circle of fifths, scales, modes - learn what that means here, and you'll have a strong conceptual foundation to get the most out of other music books - the ones I couldn't get through! I may revisit them, but there is enough here for me to work on (actually playing music, not reading and working through exercises), that I don't feel any urgency just now.
   
   Just give the book a chance. Read through it more than once. If you don't get it, you will if you keep at it. It actually isn't all that hard, really, it is just that people like me with a minimal to zero musical background are naturally going to have a hard time building a conceptual framework for undestanding the language of music.
   
   If you are looking for something to get you up and running, this is it! Combine it with chord reference charts or you won't be able to use it (if you can't play the chords!) but you can find that stuff online or at the library.



4. This book is great! I have been trying to learn on my own and taking a few lessons but felt like I was hitting a wall. The teachers I went to tried teaching me about theory but for some reason nothing was getting through. I got this book and everything came into view. I immeditatly began to understand it and how songs were put together. If everyone feels they are stuck and have hit a wall you need to get this and I guarantee you will get instant results.



5. Though this is not perfect, it is useful. Yes, if you know theory well enough, you can figure most of this out in your head. However, if your a novice or just need a reminder, this is great. No, it doesn't completely describe theory or cover every possible option but I don't think it was intended to. The instructions inside are brief but there is a website to back it up. I find this thing very useful.

5 comments about Hal Leonard Guitar Method, Complete Edition: Books & CD's 1, 2 and 3.

1. This book is one of the better beginning/intermediate guitar teaching books I have met. Usually is not easy learning guitar from a book, but the fact that 3 CD's accompany this book makes it easy to hear how it should sound. The material in the book can be imitated without much effort and gives a good base for further studies as it also inspires to explore on your own, especially the parts with guitar licks which give good ideas of how to build licks. The book uses standard music notation as well as tab notation. I am quite satisfied and find the book well worth its money.



2. Hal Leonard has a great way of teaching that makes it easy. I loved this book and was so excited when I was able to finally play a full song on my guitar..hehe. I had NO knowledge of the guitar before I got this book, I just has a beautiful guitar gathering dust..lol..but after I ordered this, now I can actually PLAY IT!



3. This guitar method book & CD set is excellent for beginning guitar students. It includes beginning music theory, note reading, cording, strumming, and TAB.



4. this was a great purchase - my guitar book was in perfect condition & was exactly what i needed.



5. So far this has been a great book. My daughter and I are taking Guitar lessons together and the teacher told us about book one. I saw This book with all 3 in one so I sprang for it. It is full of lots of little songs that challenge the beginner. Learning the notes has really helped me a lot!! - I would buy it again and would recommend it to others.