Read many many favorable things about this book, so I ordered it. I understand it's very dry and requires readers to understand some basics, but other than that I can't find anything that substantially describes the content.
What can I expect when it arrives in a few days, and is there anything I should be doing in the meantime to prepare? Thanks in advance.
"There's no easy ways man," he said. "You gotta learn the hard parts for yourself."
It assumes you already know the basics of standard notation - note values, the names of notes on the staff, etc. It actually does explain that stuff on the first page, but ONLY on the first page - within the next two pages you'll be playing a one-octave C scale, and doing triads in various inversions.
In contrast, the Mel Bay book 1 takes about 30 pages to get to that point.
Leavitt's book contains a lot of picking exercises, and more duets than Bay. It'll also expose you to extended chords and alternate fingerings a lot faster than other methods - by page 35 you'll be doing 9th chords.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Thanks for the response.
I'm glad to hear about picking exercises, because that's something I really need to work on. I'm at that point in my development where I know the basics of playing the guitar, changing open and a good number of barre chords. I'm a passable campfire player as it stands. This book sounds like it'll be a useful tool in reaching the next level, of actually working for musicianship rather than casual pastime.
"There's no easy ways man," he said. "You gotta learn the hard parts for yourself."
I recommend it as a book for musicianship. The drills and studies will greatly improve your technique.
I like to use method books for most students - there's already so much good stuff out there for sight reading. Most guitar players have never been exposed to music in standard notation, so I start them off with Bay; those who already play another instrument well do better with the Berklee series.
Every once in a while I get a student who's already a 'real' musician - I had a new classical guitar student start tonight, a retired gent who's an accomplished pianist (I'm talking 60+ years of playing) who loves guitar music. For those exceptional people, I throw out the method books - in half an hour, having never played before, he got down holding the guitar, rest and free strokes, major scales in open position, and did a passable play-through of an arrangement of Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance". I get a student like that maybe once every two-three years, and we just work from sheet music. He already KNOWS how it should sound; it's just a matter of adjusting his motions to get what he hears in his head.
People like that make my day :)
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
If, when I'm as old as your student, I've reached that level of musicianship, I'll be a happy man. Day by day.
"There's no easy ways man," he said. "You gotta learn the hard parts for yourself."
Noteboat
That's an AMAZING story. I feel very humble. And crap at the same time.
HA HA
Matt :cry:
How does Hal Leonard's Book compare to Mel Bay's? Are they roughly the same?
I'm sure there are authors that are published under the Hal Leonard title that are good and some that are bad. I'm sure that there are authors that are published under the Mel Bay label that are good and some that are bad. They're publishing houses, not authors (although they may have been authors at one time, anyone know?). Do you have specific titles that you are comparing?
"Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded." - Jimi Hendrix
I was thinking about the Hal Leonard Guitar Method - Complete Edition, which looks like this: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0634047019
It seems that or the Mel Bay Complete Method are the competing choices. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0871666650
I have some students who already had other method books (Hal Leonard, Alfred, Fender, etc.), so if they've already got a book, we use that....
All of them cover reading standard notation in first position. I prefer Bay, but that's probably because it's what I used when I learned to read on guitar.
I haven't seen the complete Leonard book, so I don't know how far that set goes... I have a copy of the complete Bay. I'd advise students to buy single books rather than complete editions - even though you save a few bucks by getting it under one cover, by the time you're halfway through it the book will be falling apart. If you try to work through a 300 page book - and both the complete Bay and the complete Berklee run about that long - you'll find it'll take you 3-4 years of daily work to get through all the material. Buy 'em one at a time as you need them.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Dude, NoteBoat, awesome advise.
...you'll find it'll take you 3-4 years of daily work to get through all the material.
I've talked with so many people learning guitar that buy a "short" book thinking they'll get through it in a month and play like Steve Vai. My first introduction to learning from a book was actually the Leavitt book being discussed here. I thought the same thing.
However, I talked to a guitar instructor (mine at the time) and he told me "Hey, this book isn't going to teach you to play rock. At best, you'll have a good sense of jazz. The lessons, as far as reading music, are great, but don't go too fast. Get every one perfect then go to the next."
After 3 months of lessons, we were to around page 15! I was getting discouraged. According to him, I was making good progress. It just wasn't what I expected.
My point is this... A good, well-written guitar book (and I'm sure any of these have their pros and cons) will take a lengthy amount of time to get through. That will be true for Bay, Leavitt, Leonard, Daniels, or any other book you look at. Just be mentally prepared for it, and you won't be disappointed with the results!
"Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded." - Jimi Hendrix
Yup. There's no short cut for hard work.
If you do get the whole way through the Leavitt series, however, you'll be a fine guitarist!
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
Mental preparation, check. The things you were talking about are things I've gone through myself since I started playing. You know, looking for quick easy solutions to problems that are only solved through practice. I feel like I'm at a point in my development where most people would either be happy with what they can already do, or get frustrated and quit. I'm not satisfied with either of those options, so the only decision left is to take the plunge and make a serious commitment to learning the guitar.
I got the book today unexpectedly because it shipped from a warehouse about a half hour from my home. Convenient. I definitely see how working through this could take years, but I can also see how that work is going to pay off.
Lotta good input folks. Thanks.
"There's no easy ways man," he said. "You gotta learn the hard parts for yourself."
I see. I actually have sort of a random method book (Jerry Snyder's Guitar School) that's not any one of the ones listed above. I'm working through it simply because I've already paid for it. but once I'm done with that, I'm trying to see what I should follow it up with.
I'll just pick something when the time comes. On thing that I've noticed is that some of them come spiral bound, which seems like it'll save on wear and tear.
One point about the Leavitt Books that Noteboat points out is that it has more duets than Mel Bay Method. This is less helpful when working through them on your own, with a teacher it would be much more of a learning experience. Mine came with the CD. The tempo of the pieces on the CD is pretty fast, making it hard to play along with when you're learning it initially (for me anyway) and when you come to the duets they are not separated but both parts together, and briskly, like I said. So the value of the CD was limited for me.
On the other hand, there is a lot of knowledge packed into those books and they are definitely worth working through. (I actually think I'm going to dig mine out now and take another go at them. I only seriously got to about 25-30 pages in, and if I had been working with a teacher I probably woiuld have been sent back to page 3. :lol: )
