Ernesto Garc�a de Le�n's 20 Studies, Op. 50 is an ingenious collection thataddresses fundamental questions about how to develop and maintain guitar technique. It is designed toserve guitar teachers and students as well as performers and concert audiences. Since it explores notjust the technique of our instrument, but its musicaland expressive aspects as well, it makes daily technical work enjoyable, not tedious?even for someone only beginning to study the guitar.

For guitar teachers and students, 20 Studies canserve as a basic curriculum or it can complementother methods or other sets of studies. For performers, it provides a complete overview and tune-up ofthe guitar technique in one graded set of daily studies that can be played in less than half an hour. Thiswarm-up then provides the player delicious concertrepertoire?as the complete set, or in smaller groups,or in combinations with other music by ErnestoGarc�a de Le�n.

These musical exercises are also useful to rectify,reform or rehabilitate the guitar technique.

The materials out of which the twenty studies aredeveloped are first idiomatic patterns of the guitarand then the variety of musical styles so appealing toand characteristic of Ernesto Garc�a de Le�n. For example, classic examples of the music of theCaribbean coastal basin in general and thecomposer's native state Veracruz in particular appearunvarnished in #12 (a rumba veracruzana) and #20(a son). The other studies blend elements of Mexicanmusic in general?songs of the revolution, nativedances, boleros, children's songs, and so forth?withelements of European classical music, Beatles, NewAge music, jazz and other musical styles, in a wayintended to appeal to the player and to the listener.

As the summary on pages 34 and 35 illustrates,the first sixteen studies explore basic formulas for theright hand. At the same time, they also address thefull range of left hand techniques?including balanceand positioning, independence of the fingers, longitudinal and transversal movements, shifts by substitution, by displacement, by jump, and by positions,barring, stretches and contractions, damping, pivoting, crossed movements, and movements with fixedfingers. The last four studies concern the slur.

Though each of the basic right- and left-hand formulas explored in the twenty studies is relativelysimple in itself, each is a building block of a solidtechnique. Mastery of the complete set of twentystudies?less than half an hour of music?integratesall the formulas and develops the technique to a levelat which an enormous range of the guitar repertoirebecomes available.

20 Estudios para guitarra compuestos por Matteo Carcassi (1792-1853). Tercera parte del m�todo para guitarra op 59. En este primer volumen, los primeros 20 estudios est�n editados en notas f�ciles de leer y digitados para la mano izquierda.

ISBN 9781619114708. All the exercises in "Killer Technique: Classical Guitar" are either based on or inspired by challenging passages and patterns that appear in compositions. Technical elements and passages have been stripped down and transformed into exercises to help the reader concentrate on specific targets through repetition. The exercises cover various techniques, such as finger independence in both hands, different types of shifts, in-context slurs, in-context arpeggios, scales, tremolo and switches between different technical elements. The exercises are presented in standard notation and tablature. Explanations and instructions are also provided. By using standard notation, the exercises include detailed information regarding fingerings and strings. Tablature versions of the exercises are also included, however, the rhythm and finger information is written in standard notation.The exercises are divided into two main sections: right-hand and left-hand. Each section consists of different categories specific to that hand. The exercises are not written in any particular order within each category - by practicing these exercises, the reader will master difficult technical transitions when they are encountered in compositional contexts.