Classical Guitar Method Volume 1: For Beginner Classical or Fingerstyle Guitar

I am a fan of this author, he has a massive collection of video lessons, sheet music, instructions, it is amazing.The author is certainly a reference in the contemporary classical guitar education.I almost have everything that he prints.

This is a wonderful book for absolute beginners, or people like myself who have been fumbling for years and just want to hit reset and really learn the correct way. The accompanying videos on the website are so helpful. Short of paying to take lessons with someone, this really is as good as you can do. Thanks, Bradford!

It has initial good explanations and exercises. I want to learn to finger pick. I was excellent at playing the trumpet years ago, but memorizing fingerings and never taking fingers off the valves is much different. After several pages, the score reminded me of trying to learn the piano at a young age. That was bad enough - one note at a time, but which finger. This is sort of the same and no one to show me. Seems like there's a lack of which string and maybe an expectation of learning the location of every note on every string. I've never been a good memorizer of anything in life. Playing the trumpet by ear and having perfect pitch seems to have NO carryover for me learning what the book is trying to teach me.

I liked that there is a YouTube channel that follows the book step by step.

I've been teaching myself how to play classical guitar with this method. I appreciate that each lesson has a Youtube video that expands on what is in the book, plus you get to hear what the piece or exercise is supposed to sound like. Besides teaching one how to read music, Bradford teaches one about the importance of posture, and hand position. He also covers timing, rhythm and talks about the musicality of the piece - all the tips you need to sound like a musician. I think this person is an amazing educator and I am very happy to have found his work; I am getting great results from this method.

Great beginner classical guitar method book with excellent on line corresponding videos. The play along duets are fun and pretty. The pace of the book was reasonable, the instructions are clear and the overall approach to me comes across as there was an effort to make this process unintimidating.

Very wonderful and helpfulEasy to learn and fast result!

As expected

So, 64 years old and have dabbled with acoustic guitar for decades. My tuition consisted of 8 lessons covering chords and holding a pick correctly when I was 13. I never progressed much after that - stuck in a huge rut. I've been desperate to learn properly and have tried out many How To's but have come away clueless! Now, having discovered Bradford Werners method, I am completely focused on learning guitar for the first time. I love the method - how its explained and the steady focus on progression - slow and steady. I am completely engaged in learning the instrument now and beginning to read and appreciate music now. I think its just the best - cant recommend highly enough.

I'm a returning guitar player after many, many years away from the instrument. I have received lessons from tutors in the past and though I am no lead player or 'shredder', I do not consider myself a complete beginner. I've always wanted to play classical guitar and thought that this time I would give it a proper go. Cue a search of the internet where I found many lessons from many different tutors; some were good, some less so.And then I found the lessons from Bradford Werner; they even came with this book as a pdf download. I was hooked! I love the delivery style of the videos and to begin with, I used the pdf; then realised how much better it would be to have a bound copy of the practise pieces.I was not disappointed - and have since purchased several other books from the same author (though my skills need to develop more to make the best use of the other books)!This book is aimed at complete beginners and represents around one year's worth of development (up to about Lvl 1 in the UK), so it is quite basic but the approach is friendly and not overly complicated. Some reviewers have mentioned that there seems to be a lack of explanations (e.g. which fingers go on which strings) I disagree with this - the book clearly explains stages and finger positions etc. and this, coupled with the videos (which are a brilliant addition to the teaching) makes the book very useful.The author even advises getting a personal tutor and recommends other authors' works (which is a brave step when trying to sell your own resources) - but probably essential if you wish to become an accomplished classical musician. That said, whatever your aspirations - there is no 'quick fix' to learning to play, despite what many on the internet tell you! Progression takes, patience, practice (lots of it), critical self-reflection and genuine interest in music and musical theory - this book is a great introduction to this and I think, provides a sound foundation from which to increase knowledge and skills.Very highly recommended to beginners, returning players and even those who think they know a thing or two.

Really helped me start out with learning classical guitar. Nice range of recognisable songs and the videos on his website are a great help to use alongside. The exercises at the back of the book are also really useful. Already ordered the next book in the series.

This is such a great and helpful book; even better when you use all the videos and articles Bradford Werner publishes on his website. So worth the money, fun to use and tons of knowledge and passion! Hooked:-)

Easy to follow