Jerry Willard 50 Easy Classical Guitar Pieces | Guitar TAB Songbook with Online Audio | Classical Guitar Sheet Music for Early Intermediate Players | Hal Leonard Music Book

Fantastic Book. Perfect material for both the experienced and novice guitar player. I've been a guitar player for over 30 years and have had formal classical lessons in the past. For the last 10 years or so, I've been playing only sporadically, and have not looked at sheet music in over 15 years. Recently I decided to take up classical guitar again and was horrified to discover almost all of my reading and a good portion of my classical technique had gone away. After looking online for some material to help me on my way, I stumbled upon this and picked it up. I have been extremely impressed since doing so. As someone who worked through many of the old instructional books (Mel Bay, Noad, etc), I really wish I had started with something like this. One of the lessons I've learned in my journey as a guitarist is that practicing is most useful and most fun when it involves actually playing music. This book begins with very, very simple guitar pieces, but ones that are very musical. I find myself starting most of my practice sessions now with the first four pieces in this book, both to get my hands ready, but also to get myself in a musical mood. My only caution for the very new player is that there is no guidance on technique or form. I don't think this should stop you, but if you don't have some idea of where you should be headed with such topics, I'd spend a little time poking around on YouTube to get some guidance on the fundamentals. On this note, make sure to get multiple opinions on this. My experience is that there is a lot of gospel about what one should and shouldn't do, but in the end you just need to find something that works for you.

Nice book

Fifty pieces, indeed easy, anyone having studied for about six months will be able to handle these short works. They include Sor studies, a study by Napoleon Coste, anonymous Renaissance works--the usual suspects for beginning classical guitar. A few of them are quite charming; there is a "Andantino" by Carulli, with his usual graceful Italian charm that I sight-read right off the bat but has value as a warm-up piece to work on dynamics (because you aren't struggling with the notes.) That's the value, I think, here. You have a variety of decent works that you can use to improve sight reading or fluidity because they aren't annoyingly difficult. The one star off is sort of a quibble: the notation is supplemented by tablature below. If you want to become good at sight-reading, tablature is something you don't want to use as a crutch. And there it is, right below the notation. I'm going to have to paste paper strips over it. It's just too easy to say, where IS that note and see it on the string, when you really want to develop the brain-hand connection of see note-play note. For the same reason, my piano teacher years ago would never allow parents to paste stickers onto the piano keys or put those cards behind the keyboard with the name of the note. Learn it cold. You'll be happier later on when your hand almost has an eye in each fingertip. The CD is nice if you can't sight-read and play by ear--again, a crutch, but good to listen to hear dynamics and ideas for adding that to the musical interpretation.

I am still trying to learn guitar but am stubborn and won't give up! I am taking an excellent Coursera beginning guitar class through Berklee school of music. The instructor is fabulous. I am up there in age but don't think that should be a factor. This book comes with a CD with all of the pieces played on it. They are all very lovely and include some well known classics like Scarborough Fair and Bach Minuet. I have been listening and following with the sheet music. I am hoping that the familiarity will help when I try to actually play them. I am learning the notes and scales on the fretboard and then I will tackle the first simple pieces. Even the beginning pieces sound really nice on the CD. There is guitar tablature on the sheet music so that if you have difficulty reading notes, you can follow where to place your left hand and what notes to play. My goal is to go through this whole book, even if it means getting a teacher and torturing them with my inability!!!!! I appreciate the authors knowledge and skill in compiling this information.

This book is terrific!. The pieces sound very nice and the book is very clear and well organized with good finger and position suggestions.. As a guitar teacher this will be my ‘go to’ intro book for classical guitar instruction because I believe the students will be able to play the pieces with minimal frustration.. I got the book today and have already worked through half the pieces.. Great book 👍👍

I've had this book for sometime, in fact it's getting well-worn so I got another copy last summer to insure I can go on playing the pieces. I've gone through periods of playing the CD and then ignoring it, because at first I found it discouraging- the pieces sounded so much better than I was playing them. Yet it's a pleasant CD to listen to and I've gotten past my own hang-ups and can better judge my own progress without my ego involved. I go back to the CD every so often- it helps to have a player that displays the track numbers. (My own biggest problem is that I'm a "thumber" - I can't grow very good nails so I'm fleshing the notes- oh well) I play a decent representation of most of these now. This is a challenging repertoire for a lot of levels from past-the- basic s beginner to Intermediate and beyond- given the CD to strive for- sure to enhance almost anyone's study. One of the better books I've seen- and that's maybe out of 5 or 6. The CD really makes it effective.

Pros: Approachable material Cons: I don't like tablature! It produces large amounts of clutter resulting in too many page turns while playing.

Muy buen artículo, pero claro, según tu nivel puede ser adecuado o no. Es de nivel básico.

nice

This is a great little book for early intermediate level musicians. Very beautif. ul music at good price. This book is a good value.

Un buen libro para uno que es principiante, además de autodidacta, genial el poder escuchar la grabación de las piezas

Have you been playing guitar for over a year now? Then this is probably not the right book for you. Sure, you'll find some stuff in the last third of the book worth checking out but on the whole you need a different book. It states clearly this is a book of easy pieces on the cover and that is exactly what it is. From the first piece you'll be able to play some nice sounding tunes of reasonable length. These are simple enough that you'll not be tied down to one piece for weeks on end; in fact you'll probably be learning four or five at any one time which makes it enjoyable to play a guitar (you know when you start you are sooooo slow at picking up pieces) and that makes learning quite fun because these are simple enough to flick between yet just about complex enough to sound good to your non-guitar literate friends and family. What's nice is that the last portion of the book does stretch the beginner a little bit more as well. A minor point while I'm at it . . the type face is lovely and clear and, thankfully, large. The music is easy to read and laid out clearly making it great for following as you play. Small point I know but I hate it when you get lost in the music because everything is crammed together on a page - that can't happen with this book. All in all a good selection but for the novice - I think the intermediate player will get bored before reaching the end but newbies will appreciate the selection contained between the covers.