The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method Vol. 1 Gtr: Guitar Technique

I have used a few books for guitar technique and this by far the best. The methodical approach is very helpful and you will see results very quickly if you put in the time. The book is designed for beginners but intermediate players will also find Parkening's teaching method useful - you may just need to skip the first chapter.Overall, a great book for aspiring classical guitarists.

The book is just what I was looking, simple explanations, easily understood narrative with good illustrations. Makes life easier for the beginner guitarist.

good book for novice onwards

I am pleased with my purchase. Thank you.

Like new and arrived as promised! Excellent.

what a book, just what I needed.

As requested. Perfect

It's interesting to have the chance to read what Mr. Parkening considers a productive way to learn classical guitar. I bought this book because I was impressed by the quality of the music compositions within reach of a beginning classical guitarist. I use it as a compliment to Frederick Noad's Solo Guitar Playing 1 method book.Mr. Parkening introduces each string and it's notation when played open (no pressing on the fret board). From there he gradually introduces more notes and their corresponding position on the staff and fretboard. There are several exercises and studies to reinforce recognition of each note learned and then several short compositions to apply what you've learned to "real" songs. Also from the beginning there are suggestions for practicing the studies and exercises with different finger alternation patterns along with suggestions of when (and which notes) to practice playing rest and/or free strokes. The nice thing is that Mr. Parkening seems not only to be teaching proper technique but also what to listen for and critique yourself so you can continue to improve. As he mentions in the Practicing section, "Always keep in mind it is better to play one piece well than many pieces poorly."There are some fascinating insights throughout the book into how Mr. Parkening thinks a beginner should approach things such as correct practice, tone production, optimal fingernail shape and attack of the strings, selecting a good classical guitar and it's care. This book also gives the most photos and detailed instruction I've yet seen in any book on EXACTLY how to sit, place your feet and legs, drape/weight your arms and hands in relation to the guitar body and fretboard and correct placement of both the left and right hands and their proper positions. Photos are plentiful although some are better quality than others. My favorites are the antique-ish photos - especially the one of a very young Segovia listening to the elder Miguel Llobet play.As the back cover says there are 50 solo pieces (some examples: Ode to Joy, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Malaguena, Fur Elise, Jesu:Joy of Man's Desiring) and over 14 duets. He also includes the necessary fundamentals of note reading, beginning music theory of sharps, flats, naturals, music keys, the circle of 5ths, chords, at first, are taught in traditional music notation and also discusses bar chords. Fretboard diagrams showing basic chords (and some bar chords) are found toward the back. All the compositions, duets and exercises are playable in the First Position - that is, they can all be played within the first 4 frets. Occasionally he will include a 5th fret note with instruction on which string to find it. This is fairly uncommon however and is only done when it ends up making the piece easier to play.There are pages explaining music notation terms as well as a large fretboard diagram toward the back showing each note name on each fret (all the way up to the 12th fret) and it's corresponding position on the staff. There are a number of chromatic scale studies, arpeggio studies, finger technique exercises although I wish there had been more of these included (this is actually my ONLY quibble with Mr. Parkening's book and one he fortunately rectified in vol. 2).The final section of the book includes supplementary pieces to learn and add to your repertoire. They aren't strictly graded although he does mention that the easier key compositions are first. At this point he mentions you can begin studying Vol. 2 of his Method while still learning and practicing the supplementary pieces from book one.Overall this is a fine book and I don't think anyone will be disappointed with it. It has some of the nicest selections of musical pieces to learn I've ever seen in any beginning classical guitar study book. The main difference I've noticed between it and Solo Guitar Playing 1 is that the composition pieces ramp up in difficulty faster in Mr. Parkening's method. The reason for this however is that it is shorter than the Noad book. Combine it with Mr. Noad's Solo Guitar Playing 1 and you have an unbeatable combination for learning how to play classical guitar.