ISBN 9781609741617. William Bay and Mike Christiansen have collaborated to produce an outstanding comprehensive guitar method addressing all styles of both flatpicking and fingerstyle technique. Guitar teachers, take note: Mastering the Guitar series is the ideal method for the beginning student who has yet formed a stylistic preference, or for the intermediate player limited to one particular style who wishes to expand his horizons and improve his technique. An impressive extended length online audio recording with more than 160 tracks is offered with both books 1A and 1B. Each written example in the books is carefully cross-referenced to its corresponding audio sample on the recording by means of an audio track number printed above each piece. The student is encouraged to learn to read standard notation and tablature as both systems are used throughout this 3-volume series. The "Technique Studies" book provides supplementary, more challenging pieces including chord studies in various keys as well as a few pieces in dropped-D tuning. Together, these three books comprise a powerful learning tool for Mastering the Guitar in a contemporary idiom.

ISBN 9781609741761. We believe this to be the most complete and thorough book of its kind in print! The Scale Section contains major and minor scales in numerous forms and positions. The Arpeggio Section contains a multi- octave presentation of each chord-related arpeggio. The Chord Section presents carefully voiced, powerful-sounding chords in every key. In addition, chord spelling, chord notes, and scale tones are shown. A wealth of information for daily practice performance.

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 Guide To Twentieth-Century Guitar: Praxis is the first instructional book of its kind. It takes a strikingly new and refreshing approach to learning guitar, and it is carefully designed to guarantee efficient practice with rewarding results. Establish Your Own Musical Direction: Whether your playing falls under one of the more traditional conventional styles, or whether you're a composer and arranger or exploring new musical regions and establishing your own musical direction or personal fusion of musical ideas and influences, Praxis has what you need. Unlock The Musician Within: The name of the system (Praxis comes from the Greek word meaning practice and to do) accurately reflects its general orientation. Play it first, getting sound and satisfaction out of the guitar immediately, and musical understanding will naturally follow. Praxis lets you choose the precise subject you want and immediately provides relevant musical examples. And these examples are presented in such a way that the principle behind the example is always clear, thus allowing you to apply it directly to your music. One Step Beyond - Originators Vs. Imitators: Traditional guitar books try to teach you to play someone else's music. That approach tends to produce imitators rather than originators and real musicianship skills are picked up slowly and almost by accident. Praxis takes you directly to being able to play anything that you want ... someone else's music, your own music, and everything in between. Praxis takes you one step beyond. Efficient Learning: Guitar instruction books are traditionally written in a progressive fashion. Book 1 first, then Book 2, etc. However, the selection and sequencing of material is usually determined by the book rather than the reader, and the familiar result is that, while the book progresses, the student doesn't. Again, Praxis reverses this. You don't have to start with Book 1, there is no Book 1! You go where your interests lie. Just begin work on any one subject in any volume that attracts you. Integrated Study Programs - 239 Compact &. Powerful Units: Because Praxis is a modular system, it can be reassembled into many different combinations. These different combinations of units can answer both varying curricular needs as well as individual interests. Directly stated, there are countless guitar books housed within Praxis, either three, or ten, or ...

English.

Style &. Craft - Troubleshooting 1 - The Fingerboard Map: Chords. The Guide To Twentieth-Century Guitar: Praxis is the first instructional book of its kind. It takes a strikingly new and refreshing approach to learning guitar, and it is carefully designed to guarantee efficient practice with rewarding results. Establish Your Own Musical Direction: Whether your playing falls under one of the more traditional conventional styles, or whether you're a composer and arranger or exploring new musical regions and establishing your own musical direction or personal fusion of musical ideas and influences, Praxis has what you need. Unlock The Musician Within: The name of the system (Praxis comes from the Greek word meaning practice and to do) accurately reflects its general orientation. Play it first, getting sound and satisfaction out of the guitar immediately, and musical understanding will naturally follow. Praxis lets you choose the precise subject you want and immediately provides relevant musical examples. And these examples are presented in such a way that the principle behind the example is always clear, thus allowing you to apply it directly to your music. One Step Beyond - Originators Vs. Imitators: Traditional guitar books try to teach you to play someone else's music. That approach tends to produce imitators rather than originators and real musicianship skills are picked up slowly and almost by accident. Praxis takes you directly to being able to play anything that you want ... someone else's music, your own music, and everything in between. Praxis takes you one step beyond. Efficient Learning: Guitar instruction books are traditionally written in a progressive fashion. Book 1 first, then Book 2, etc. However, the selection and sequencing of material is usually determined by the book rather than the reader, and the familiar result is that, while the book progresses, the student doesn't. Again, Praxis reverses this. You don't have to start with Book 1, there is no Book 1! You go where your interests lie. Just begin work on any one subject in any volume that attracts you. Integrated Study Programs - 239 Compact &. Powerful Units: Because Praxis is a modular system, it can be reassembled into many different combinations. These different combinations of units can answer both varying curricular needs as well as individual interests. Directly stated, there are countless guitar books housed within Praxis, either three, or ten, or

A hard-hitting Flamenco guitar arrangement for Fandango de Huelva based on standard traditional themes. The Fandango de Huelva is a relatively fast and rhythmically strict Fandango compared to Fandangos from other regions in Andalusia (Granada, Ronda, Málaga, Almería) that are often slower and without a steady rhythm (sans mesure). Rhythmically, Fandango de Huelva consists of a repetition of a six beat phrase, that Flamencos refer to as a compás, with accents on the third and fifth beats (1 2 3 4 5 6). This is notated in the score as a repeated sequence of 4/4 and 2/4 measures with the first beat of the compás falling on the third beat of the first 4/4 measure. The first accented beat in the compás falls on the first beat of the following 2/4 measure and the second accented beat falls on the first beat of the 4/4 measure following. This asymmetrical distribution of accents in the phrase gives the Fandango a kind of choppy almost stop-and-go flow. Note the number of holds that occur in the melodic passages. These are signs of a feature of the Fandango that is used much more in the slower versions where the singer or guitarist can vary the rhythmic flow at will. The melodic passages in the piece are based on traditional songs for Fandango de Huelva, much as Brahms? Hungarian Dances were based on traditional romani melodies from Hungary. The piece ends with a so-called Macho, a finale, in Verdiales, a fast Fandango rhythm from the region of Malaga. The Verdiales runs in standard 3/4 measures.I learned the Fandango de Huelva rhythm in my studies with Juan González ?Triguito? in Madrid in the late 1960?s. I gathered further rhythmic and melodic material working with other Flamenco guitarists and singers, especially in El Mesón de la Guitarra just off the Plaza Mayor, during my years in Spain.The Fandango de Huelva is a fast and lively style (palo) of Flamenco with lots of good old-fashioned strumming (rasgueados) together with long continuous melodic passages. There is quite a bit of tapping on the face of guitar (golpes) in combination with the strumming and left hand legatos. Some passages are played with the thumb in alzapúa, meaning that the thumb strikes in triplets down, up, and down again in rapid sequence in combination with glopes. The alzapúa and tapping really add to the gitano-andalusian flavour of the piece. The last measures of the finale in abanico (fanning) rasqueado style are a powerful sendoff. Audiences have always enjoyed the positive spirit and energy that the Fandango de Huelva radiates.