Modern Method for Gtr Vols 1-2-3 by Will Leavitt

This set is one of three or so I've used in teaching over the years.  It's pretty thorough.  As you noted, the pieces aren't familiar, which helps in reading.  On the downside, sight reading studies should include a few more things that aren't as 'pretty' as most of these pieces -- the object is to play what's written, not what your ear expects.  (In fairness, I've only found books of sight reading studies that give decent exercises for this -- general method books all tend towards tonality in their examples)

It does move at a pretty brisk pace, so I'd supplement it with other reading studies.

As with any method, it's not a substitute for a good teacher, but the pieces do seem well suited towards overcoming one common obstacle in technical development -- holding one or more bass notes selectively while something else is going on in the melody.

One thing to work on when developing your sight reading: you learn to read at sight by reading at sight.  Get yourself a few BIG books (like fake books with hundreds of pieces) and read a few cold every time you play.  Play them ONCE.  Repitition of exercises is fine for technique, but to be able to read things cold, you need to practice reading things cold :)

Tom

Tom, so you do recommend this series?  You said you have used three.  I presume this one and your own book.  What is the other title and why do you use that as opposed to the zillion other books out there?

I think sight reading would be a great skill.  After playing for almost two years I have tab sight reading down well but would take a about a minute to decipher each chord in standard notation by writing out the F-A-C-E and E-G-B-D-F next to the notes and translate it.   :'(

My book isn't for sightreading... you'd be hard pressed to learn to read from it.

When I started teaching, I used the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Method... it was the best one around then, and it's still pretty good.  The other method set I've used was written by his son, Bill Bay, and it's the Mastering Guitar series.  Of the three, I like this one the least... but I ended up with a few students in a row who had already bought one or more of the books in this set (I think there's 8 of them... there's 7 in the Mel Bay set), and they wanted to work with what they already had.

One other book that I've used for sight reading specifically is "Sight to Sound" -- I think it's by Leon White.  The exercises in it aren't as tonal as those in most books, so your head isn't anticipating a melody, which is a key to fluent sight reading (you want to do what your eyes tell you comes next, not what your ears think should be next!).  I don't use this book as a primary teaching tool, though, since that's pretty much all it covers... the other books are more of a progression through various techniques.

Tom

Come to think of it, I've used one other series... Alfred Method.  I didn't care for it, and haven't used it in a long time.

So your book and this one are the two you use to teach?  That's a pretty good sign that they are good books.

Noteboat
Just to muddy the waters. What is Bay's son's series like?  I really like Mel Bay's first book, especially an old copy I got from an acquantance. Definately for the non-singer though.

And would you recommend "Sight to Sound" --  by Leon Whitesight and a fake book?

Ok, I've dug through my bookshelf...

Mastering the Guitar (by William Bay and Mike Christiansen) covers a lot of ground.  I guess I don't care for the mix of writing styles - some are standard notation, some TAB; some plectrum, some fingerstyle... it would be more useful to students to present these things in more clearly defined sections, I think.  I also don't teach things in quite the same order... they introduce sliding into notes before they've covered ANY full chord forms (even C), and after teaching just the notes on the first three strings.  Heck, they get into pull-offs and hammer-ons after teaching just six notes on the neck!

Other than that, it goes at a slower pace than Mel's books... Mastering the Guitar IA covers pretty much the same material as Mel Bay's book 1, but in 144 pages instead of 48.

I flipped through Leon White's "Sight to Sound" just now, and it wasn't quite the book I'd remembered earlier.  It does teach basic sight reading and position reading, and covers rhythms (in single note playing) quite well... but the one I was thinking of was actually a totally different book, "For Guitar Players Only" by Tommy Tedesco.  That's the one you want for some really challenging student pieces... not only are they unexpected in tonality, but they change time signatures, key signatures, etc; they really get you up on your toes.

Interestingly enough, they're both from the same publisher, Dale Zdenek.  I think that company was bought out by someone much bigger since I got my copies -- it's probably Warner Brothers or something like that now.

Tom

Thanks Tom! :)

One small problem   http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0916902129/103-2086963-5343811?v=glance :P

$200 seems a bit steep, eh?

Maybe I should sell my book collection and retire? :)

Whoa! Are those books worth 200 bucks? And I hate to go off subject but are you going to write a part 2 for your Theory for guitarists, or have some kind of workbook incorporated with it? Just thinking ahead, because I'm sure someone had to buy me your book this year. I kind of hinted at it to everyone. And am patient in knowing that it has to come across the border before it gets here.   :'(

Thanx Tom

Well, $200 is what they're asking on Amazon for a used one...

Is it worth it?  Maybe.  It's the cost of 10 or 15 lessons... you might get your money's worth from the book.  If I didn't own it already, I wouldn't spend that much, though... I'd plunk the same bucks down on 3-5 fake books in different styles and have several hundred pieces to sight read instead.  It's really all about practicing reading, anyway.

I'm working (slowly) on several more books... the followup to Music Theory for Guitarists will be Harmony for Guitarists.  Since it's such a broad subject, it'll probably end up as a 2-3 volume set, with one on traditional four part harmony, one on modern harmony, and maybe one on the odds and ends.  I'm also making notes for a book on technical exercises, and one on mastering rhythm guitar styles.  Since I'm doing several projects at once, I probably won't have another title out until 2005.

Oh, I'm also working on the good ole top-secret hush-hush blockbuster best seller that will make me rich and famous.  No telling when I'll get that done... I started it in 1980 :)

Tom

Thanx Noteboat,

On the info and the hush hush secret. :-X j/k It's like recording on SP or EP, right?, where you have more tape and bad quality on EP, and less tape with more quality on SP. Goodluck on your SP books.  :)

Bought Volume One today I did.

Next year Volume Two.

After that Volume Three.

After that graduate from high school hit the road. ;)

Could you do one book a year like that?  I mean if you spent an hour with it every day?

Maybe... it's about the quality of your practice.  Volume 1 goes through the 4th position, quarter note triplets, some 7+5 chords, etc... I've never had a student master the range of things presented in a year.  Two is probably more realistic.

I don't doubt that you could play through the book in a year, but the key is to be able to master the material.  Don't worry about the calendar.