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.

Ernesto García de León'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 ErnestoGarcía de León.

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 García de León. 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.

ISBN 9781610650380. The guitar studies of Fernando Sor (1778-1839) have long been valued highly among the indispensable elements of a guitarist's training. A number of prominent virtuosi attribute a large portion of their development to the diligent study of these works. Sor's studies address an impressive array of technical and musical topics, including proper left-hand fingering, training of the right hand, interval and chord formations, scales, arpeggios, repeated notes, ligados, barring, natural harmonics, control of note duration, balance of melody versus accompaniment, and the handling of contrapuntal voices. A careful study of these pieces will lay the groundwork for a solid technique and allow the guitarist to build the control necessary for the expression of his or her musical concepts. In preparing this edition David Grimes worked with Sor's original publications, but incorporated some alterations that appear in those studies that Napoleon Coste chose to include in his Methode complete pour la Guitarre par Ferdinand Sor. Furthermore, Mr. Grimes has corrected misprints, modernized the notation and rectified some inconsistencies. Finally, some developments in technique since Sor's day have been incorporated in this edition.

ISBN 9781609740443. This collection of classic guitar studies is intended for the intermediate guitarist. As a whole, these etudes emulate the content of Carcassi's famed 25 Etudes, yet in a more contemporary harmonic and rhythmic idiom. These pieces are also distinguished in that they are not only valuable as left and right-hand technical exercises- but also as valid, pleasurable concert repertoire. The first ten etudes 11-20 focus on the use of the a finger in combination with i and m. Etudes 4,7,11,13,15, and 17 also concentrate on left-hand slurs. The final five etudes were composed as - and intended to be performed- as a set with each piece dedicated to a particular Latin American composer.

ISBN 9781609743215. A systematic approach to developing technique on the classical guitar must include studies designed to focus on concise, specific techniques and offer musical challenges as well. The studies in this book will assist in the development of certain techniques of right hand touch, right hand finger movement and right hand chordal balance. In addition, this book presents clear and direct left hand technical challenges that promote the development of consistent left hand technique. These musical motives also help to develop the ability to recognize and read note groups quickly and should prove to be most helpful in the continuing quest to improve sight-reading skills on the instrument. Written in notation only.

ISBN 9781619117129.

Mel Bay's own method for the classic guitar, featuring a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of music and reading guitar notation, plus graded studies and pieces. This book presents classic guitar technique in a manner that anyone can easily follow. Musical and technical concepts are introduced gradually as needed throughout the text and driven home with ample musical illustrations. Information is provided on: basic right and left-hand techniques, reading standard notation, harmonics, and playing in various keys and positions. In addition to the many classical etudes included here by Aguado, Bach, Carcassi, Carulli, Diabelli, Giuliani, Sor, and others, Mel Bay has made a significant contribution to the student guitar repertoire by transcribing works by Bach, Brahms, Chopin, Mozart, Pleyel, Rubenstein, and others in the classical style. The pieces and exercises are arranged to progress systematically through various keys and playing positions. Written entirely in standard notation only.

ISBN 9781609744168. These twelve "mechanical studies" for guitar are intended as an atmospheric modern counterpart to the classical arpeggio study, a fundamental aspect of right-hand training. Accordingly, the left hand is kept relatively in the background while the right hand explores a particular pattern, texture, or technique.The companion audio with this book features pieces from two Mel Bay Publications titles by Stanley Yates: En Mode - 22 Easy Character Pieces for Guitar and Etudes Mecaniques - 12 Easy-Intermediate Studies for Guitar.

ISBN 9781610659659. The ukulele is an extraordinary instrument with a remarkable history. Apart from its well-practiced use as a strummed accompaniment instrument, it is capable of real beauty and the most delicate expression. It has as much depth as Renaissance and Baroque guitars and lutes, and is worthy of serious study by all those who have a heart for music.This set of 20 fingerstyle arrangements is written for the beginning student seeking something a little more challenging to play. These 20 progressive studies touch on all aspects of fingerstyle playing on the ukulele presenting different styles: blues, jazz, classical, and even minimalism and serialism. There are studies in arpeggios, scales, modes, ii-V-I chord sequences, strumming, syncopation, campanella fingerings, improvisation, hammer-ons, and pull-offs. Some of the studies concentrate on the left hand, some on the right hand, some on both. Possibly the most comprehensive set of studies currently available for the ukulele, mastery of which will equip one to explore any style of music desired. It is also a showcase for how well the ukulele can adapt to different styles of music. Includes access to online audio.