ISBN 9781619117143.

This is the flagship book in Mel Bay's Achieving Guitar Artistry series. Herein you will find an extensive collection of linear pieces with interesting melodic content. Frequent performance of these etudes will not only enhance technique, but offer the guitarist a wonderful opportunity to improve tone, touch and lyrical phrasing.We suggest playing each etude at a slow tempo at first, the goal being to achieve a clear and beautiful tone on every note. The next objective is to develop a sense of lyrical completeness to each musical phrase. Make the phrases sing! Once you have achieved the desired quality of tone and expression, increase the tempo to work on the technique.Mel Bay's Guitar Journals - Mastering the Fingerboard: The Reading Book (MB20903) would make an ideal supplement to Linear Guitar Etudes as it presents etudes in all keys and positions.The pieces in Linear Guitar Etudes are multi-positional. That is, the player will be required to move from position to position on the fingerboard. The music is presented in standard notation only, with left-hand fingering included on the more complex passages, and circled numbers to indicate the strings where certainnotes and passages are to be played.These etudes sound good on both nylon and steel-string guitars, and will be a valuable addition to the music library of any guitarist, enhancing their abilities regardless of the style of music played.

ISBN 9781619117679.

Is the beginning stage of learning the guitar proving to be a frustrating experience? Do you lack songs which you can play from start to finish? Do the ones that you can play all the way through not sound much like their original versions? I have been teaching these pieces to my beginner students for quite some time now, and the success rate has been remarkable. Most methods start by having the student slowly move back and forth between basic chords using only down strokes, playing chords one note at a time to make sure all the notes ring clear. This book offers something much differentaplaying music! The pieces are designed to target trouble areas often experienced by beginners of the instrument: arching the fingers enough in order to let all the notes of a chord ring clearly. Rather than just droning on through a series of chords, musical patterns are created so that as you learn proper technique youare also playing something musical. The results have been better than expected. Focusing on figures that demand proper technique and some of the most common strumming patterns found in popular music, many of my students are able to execute beginner and intermediate level songs within a few weeks of picking up the instrument rather than a few months. Additionally, the dreaded F chord, or root 6 major barre chord, often rings clearly with all 6 notes being heard upon the first attempt. This book will help you achieve your guitar related goals quickly, more efficiently, and most importantly, more enjoyably. Includes access to online video.

8.75 x 11.75 inches.

At first hearing, fingerstyle solo jazz guitar can be more than a little overwhelming. Melding together are improvised lead lines and chordal work and bass lines and rhythmics. Relax. Since you already play jazz with a pick, you are familiar with many of the musical elements used in fingerstyle jazz. It is just that it may not be obvious to you what, specifically, fingerstyle concepts and techniques are. That is exactly where this book begins.

There is plenty of music sheet for classical guitar of various styles, directions and levels of difficulty. There is also enough methodical literature for all tastes. However, every year there are appearing new schools, methodical collections and exercises. That?s why the art of playing classical guitar is not standing still.

During my pedagogical activity rather often I faced the problem of searching or creating small exercises for a particular technique and solution of a particular problem. What didn?t suit me in the existing studies? First of all, the monotony of technical material (the accent only on the left hand technique of a performer, while the concentration of sound control is mostly in the right hand; a limited quantity of technical methods: arpeggios, chords, passagework technique). Secondly, it?s an amount of musical material. As a rule, the main efforts were aimed to memorize the text, which distracted from the very purpose of etudes, the work on a certain type of technical difficulties.
That is how the collection �Unusual Studies� appeared.
What is their �singularity�?
The collection is conditionally divided into several sections in the order of increasing the complexity of material, and it concludes with three �Concert Studies�. They are distinguished by a more developed emotional atmosphere and rather high level of complexity and size. These studies require a certain level of preparation and can diversify a performer?s concert program. Nevertheless, they are only an addition to the basic material, which is focused primarily on the elementary and intermediate levels of training.
When it comes to the ?singularity?, focus is shifted to the right hand, with the detailed fingering of the right hand. The fingers �p� and �a� are introduced more actively, paying attention to the alignment of their sound, attack power. It is necessary to strive for full equality of all fingers of the right hand, using fingers �p� and �a� not only when playing bass and melody, but also in arpeggio, passaggio technique (in the middle of an arpeggio or passaggio).
- learning to use touches in a high contrast while playing: staccato/legato. This, in my opinion, is extremely necessary to already assimilate at the initial stage of training.
- active use of the alternation in the musical material of open and closed strings. Control over the strength of the sound of open strings, timbre ratio.
- using the high positions of the guitar?s fingerboard with open strings without excessive physical effort .
- rather small size of studies. This allows to concentrate directly on the technical difficulties, rather than on memorizing.

I hope that this collection will help you to achieve the desired result faster and more effectively, will bring not only methodical benefit, but also aesthetic pleasure.

The Fundamentals of Jazz Theory is part one of a larger study entitled, ?Jazz, The Language of Music.? The first volume deals with all the necessary music theory one needs to improvise intelligently. Universities and conservatories have a normal two year program for just this study. This book deals only with the portions of music theory that is necessary to perform in a jazz venue.

This could be used in a class room situation or worked with privately by any jazz educator.

This book is for the serious student of jazz and will enlighten them to the necessary mechanics of music that they must know if they wish to pursue study in the art of improvisation.

Presenting the first volume of the Flat Key Series for guitar: Five Studies in F Major.

I - A short Fernando Sor inspired waltz with a simple melody and sequential interlude.
II - This study features two-voice counterpoint with a brief arpeggiated interlude.
III - This full-on arpeggio study in sextuplets incorporates hammer-ons and pull-offs and includes a brief exploration of the relative minor.
IV - This study fuses a flowing syncopated pattern with extended and altered chords and a smooth melody.
V - Inspired by Astor Piazzolla, this study opens with a chromatic sequence leading into a resolute melody supported by a rich harmony and decorated with quintuplet embellishments.

The Flat Key Series features not often seen keys for guitar to expand the guitarist's harmonic vocabulary and experience. Keep an eye out for additional volumes or contact KPMP for more information.