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.

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 👍👍

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.

Nice 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.

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR BEGINNING TO INTERMEDIATE CLASSICAL GUITAR PLAYERS.I USE IT WHEN TEACHING STUDENTS BECAUSE IT HAS INTERESTING PIECES THAT ARE NOT TOO OVER THE TOP.THE GUITAR TAB AND THE CD ARE BONUSES.HATS OFF TO MR. WILLARD FOR THE PIECES THAT EVEN THE TEACHERS WILL FIND INTERESTING.

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

Se qualcuno avesse dubbi, questo NON è un corso di chitarra classica. Il libro infatti comprende spartiti e tablature di 50 brani di musica per chitarra classica, di compositori vissuti tra il seicento e l'ottocento. Gli autori sono quelli soliti di repertorio (Sor, Giuliani, Carulli, Aguado etc.) più qualche brano tradizionale e qualche scelta piuttosto inusuale. All'inizio ci sono le note biografiche di alcuni autori, ma un giro su wikipedia è molto più utile. I brani vengono presentati senza alcun commento: solo lo spartito e le tablature. Nel CD accluso si possono ascoltare nell'esecuzione dell'autore ad una velocità accettabile per scopi didattici. Tenere presente che: a) I brani non sono in ordine crescente di difficoltà ma un po' mischiati a casaccio b) l'autore presuppone che conosciate già le tecniche di base della chitarra come il legato o il tremolo c) i brani non sono proprio "facili": diciamo che il livello è almeno di secondo anno di conservatorio (salvo qualche eccezione) d) la registrazione audio è scadente e non permette di apprezzare i dettagli dell'esecuzione. e) i brani musicalmente piacevoli che vale la pena di studiare sono circa la metà di quelli presenti Diciamo che vale giusto quello che costa. Buona musica a tutti.