All these positive reviews make me want to vomit. It’s wasting the time and money of so many students. Why this is such a popular method I’ll never understand.
This book does nothing and goes nowhere. Each page is so contentless that you’d wonder how it ever got published. To put it into perspective, Mel Bay’s “Method for Modern Guitar” covers more ground in 48 pages (still at a comfortable pace … it’s the one I use with my students) than all three volumes of the Hal Leonard series. That’s sad.
Rating: 1 / 5
I truly thought of myself as a beginner, because I’m still horrible at playing – and don’t know many songs at all. But this book made me realize that I was very much beyond beginner status. I had lessons about 15 years ago for 4-5 years, but trust me, I’m still learning, and very much a beginner. By reading this book, with my limited, very limited experience, I felt like the equivalent of a college-grad returning to school to fine-tune his math skills, only to realize he was enlisted in Kindergarten-block-counting 101. Again, I’m not advanced, not even intermediate, and I found this book was the equivalent of what I learned back when I took lessons – and my teacher probably taught me all of this material in the first month or two. Given this, perhaps this was the intent of this book – to really start you off. However, one thing sticks out to me is the headline which states: Books 1, 2 and 3. The chapters are seperated into three sections – there are no differentiations between these chapters, and a book. Sort of misleading. For the money – I read through the entire book, played every single page – re-learned (or verified) everything in about 2 hours. I am planning to return this. Not impressed with the Hal Leonard line – after this one. I read all the reviews here on amazon, and was duped. I’m not sure where everyone is coming from – with the raving reviews. I think many are teachers who just agree with the teaching method- not necessarily intersted in giving amazon customers a look into ‘value’. I wonder how many raving reviewers actually bought and used the book to learn. Probably few.
This book is not for people who have the slightest bit of experience with guitars of any kind. Think of it like sitting in on the first three classes of grade 9 math. You will NOT augment your skills in any way by using this book if you know anything whatsoever.
Though it is difficult for me to be in your shoes, if you are a beginner, (please, if you have some experience, don’t count yourself), but if you really are new to guitars, and don’t even know what a whole note is, maybe this book will help you. I’m only giving it the low rating because too many have given this a rave review, and because of the joke in the title (3 books, give me a break!). How can you just group chapters, and call it three books? Outrageous.
The book is physically good – in the sense that it is durable, and printed nicely – very clear, and readable from a distance. Also – very informative, and doesn’t leave much out, but again, the material is very basic.
I hope this was helpful – and good luck finding the right method for you.
As far as method books go, this one is not bad. I still recommend individual/group lessons if you hope to advance. But all in all, not a bad book for the beginner.
Rating: 3 / 5
All these positive reviews make me want to vomit. It’s wasting the time and money of so many students. Why this is such a popular method I’ll never understand.
This book does nothing and goes nowhere. Each page is so contentless that you’d wonder how it ever got published. To put it into perspective, Mel Bay’s “Method for Modern Guitar” covers more ground in 48 pages (still at a comfortable pace … it’s the one I use with my students) than all three volumes of the Hal Leonard series. That’s sad.
Rating: 1 / 5
It is easy to use book. I did not read it completely but it sounds a good refrence book for bigginer like me.
Rating: 4 / 5
I truly thought of myself as a beginner, because I’m still horrible at playing – and don’t know many songs at all. But this book made me realize that I was very much beyond beginner status. I had lessons about 15 years ago for 4-5 years, but trust me, I’m still learning, and very much a beginner. By reading this book, with my limited, very limited experience, I felt like the equivalent of a college-grad returning to school to fine-tune his math skills, only to realize he was enlisted in Kindergarten-block-counting 101. Again, I’m not advanced, not even intermediate, and I found this book was the equivalent of what I learned back when I took lessons – and my teacher probably taught me all of this material in the first month or two. Given this, perhaps this was the intent of this book – to really start you off. However, one thing sticks out to me is the headline which states: Books 1, 2 and 3. The chapters are seperated into three sections – there are no differentiations between these chapters, and a book. Sort of misleading. For the money – I read through the entire book, played every single page – re-learned (or verified) everything in about 2 hours. I am planning to return this. Not impressed with the Hal Leonard line – after this one. I read all the reviews here on amazon, and was duped. I’m not sure where everyone is coming from – with the raving reviews. I think many are teachers who just agree with the teaching method- not necessarily intersted in giving amazon customers a look into ‘value’. I wonder how many raving reviewers actually bought and used the book to learn. Probably few.
This book is not for people who have the slightest bit of experience with guitars of any kind. Think of it like sitting in on the first three classes of grade 9 math. You will NOT augment your skills in any way by using this book if you know anything whatsoever.
Though it is difficult for me to be in your shoes, if you are a beginner, (please, if you have some experience, don’t count yourself), but if you really are new to guitars, and don’t even know what a whole note is, maybe this book will help you. I’m only giving it the low rating because too many have given this a rave review, and because of the joke in the title (3 books, give me a break!). How can you just group chapters, and call it three books? Outrageous.
The book is physically good – in the sense that it is durable, and printed nicely – very clear, and readable from a distance. Also – very informative, and doesn’t leave much out, but again, the material is very basic.
I hope this was helpful – and good luck finding the right method for you.
Rating: 1 / 5
The guitar book that I ordered arrived on time and in perfect condition, exactly as promised.
Rating: 5 / 5
As far as method books go, this one is not bad. I still recommend individual/group lessons if you hope to advance. But all in all, not a bad book for the beginner.
Rating: 3 / 5