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Steven Kirby, Assistant Professor at Berklee College of Music June 10, 2008
Susan Palmer has created a carefully crafted book for guitar students who want to learn to read and also develop fundamental chord and scale vocabulary that prepares them for playing contemporary styles. There are many features in this book that set it apart from traditional guitar method books.
1) It is extremely well paced and designed. 2) It is visually clear and appealing. 3) It reinforces learning of new material with a variety of activities including both the playing and writing of notes and note names. 4) An included CD provides chordal accompaniment for every stage. Simple melodies are thus made to feel more like "real" music right away because of these tracks. They make the learning process more instantly engaging while demonstrating how harmony can enrich even the simplest melody. The student feels like they are making interesting sounding music even when all they can play is three notes. 5) In addition to supporting the student's learning of standard notation, the book also contains important chord and scale lessons with corresponding play-along tracks. 6) Flexibility of design. The book's design makes it easy for teachers to assign lessons from different sections simultaneously to suit a student's level and progress. It's designed to be used in a very flexible way by different teachers and for students of varying levels.
Overall I rate this the best beginning level, learning-to-read on the guitar book that I've encountered not only because it does that so well but also because it offers in a well integrated way additional materials that are vital to preparing guitarists to play contemporary music and develop improvisational skills. I use this book with my students and I highly recommend that other guitar teachers check it out."
Steven Kirby Assistant Professor Harmony Dept Berklee College of Music
Info and Sound Samples
Buy hardcopy CDs http://cdbaby.com/cd/stevenkirby
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