{"id":13130,"date":"2019-06-24T19:17:02","date_gmt":"2019-06-25T02:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=13130"},"modified":"2021-06-30T14:58:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T21:58:06","slug":"classical-guitar-magazine-readers-pick-their-favorite-guitar-methods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/classical-guitar-magazine-readers-pick-their-favorite-guitar-methods\/","title":{"rendered":"Classical Guitar Magazine Readers Pick Their Favorite Guitar Methods!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
BY BLAIR JACKSON | FROM THE SUMMER 2019 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR<\/a><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

It goes without saying that there is no one<\/i> way to learn the guitar, nor a single foolproof method that excels above all others. During my nearly five years here at CG<\/i>, conducting numerous interviews and reading just about everything that comes my way on the subject of classical guitar, I\u2019ve been struck by the sheer number of methods, etudes, and exercises that guitarists cite as having significantly influenced their study of and progress on the instrument. In my curious naivet\u00e9, I have often asked both guitarists and teachers whether there was some preferred road to excellence\u2014some combination of repertoire milestones and technique exercises that assured a smooth evolution as a player. And to a person, the answer came back an emphatic \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every guitarist is different, every teacher is different. Yes, there is certainly much to be learned from the \u201cclassic\u201d methods of Carcassi<\/a>, Sor<\/a>, Aguado<\/a>, Carulli, and others; but also from modern figures such as Frederick Noad, Christopher Parkening<\/a>, Abel Carlevaro, Scott Tennant<\/a>, and so many more. People progress at different paces, and the \u201cbuilding blocks\u201d that might make developmental sense to one person, could be hopelessly difficult for another and require a\u00a0different ordering, or even a complete rethinking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I learned very quickly is that virtually every classical guitarist on the planet has relied on a combination of different methods over time\u2014some literally from books old and new; others from techniques passed down by a teacher (or teachers) who themselves might have studied specific methods; and many from patching together bits of knowledge absorbed from everywhere<\/i>, whether it\u2019s a master class, books and\/or magazines, or the thousands of YouTube videos and online courses that are available these days. It could be argued that it\u2019s never been easier to become a well-rounded self-taught guitarist\u2014assuming you have the self-discipline and knowledge of available learning tools to keep progressing without a formal teacher. But either way, you\u2019re likely to encounter various methods during your journey to musical greatness!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the spring of 2019, we conducted an online poll of CG<\/i> readers to find out which methods, etudes, and exercises have been most valuable to them as they\u2019ve developed as players. More than 600 people responded to the poll (thank you!), and as you might expect the answers were all over the map (and came<\/i> from all over the map, as well). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First some demographic information about who responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We asked, \u201cHow long have you been playing guitar?\u201d and offered four choices: 1\u20135 years (15%); 6\u201310 years (10%); 11\u201320 years (14%); more than 20 years (62%).  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/span>We also asked, \u201cAre you: a) currently a guitar student (14%); b) an amateur guitarist who plays mostly for personal enjoyment (48%); c) a player who derives some income from playing guitar (8%); d) a professional guitarist whose primary income comes from teaching and\/or performing (21%); e) other (8%)\u2014and in this last category, the answer \u201cretired\u201d was large enough to make up 2% of the total, and included retired or former teachers and professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By far, most respondents were from the USA (where we have the most subscribers); after that, almost every European and South American country was represented, and also numerous countries in Asia, Central America, and other English-speaking domains such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. What a diverse lot you are!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then there\u2019s the meat of the survey, in which we asked the open-ended query: \u201cWhat methods (and etudes) have been most important to your development as a guitarist? (list up to five).\u201d Nearly everyone listed five, so that\u2019s more than 3,000 total responses!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I should note that the question, for better or worse, was vague enough that we got an extremely broad range of answers that went from very general\u2014\u201cCarcassi,\u201d \u201cShearer\u201d\u2014to much more specific\u2014\u201cCarcassi 25 etudes<\/a>,\u201d \u201cCarcassi method Op. 59<\/a>,\u201d \u201cCarcassi method, Fischer edition from 50 years ago,\u201d \u201cCarcassi Rey de la Torre edition\u201d; or for Shearer, \u201cearly methods and supplements,\u201d \u201cLearning the Classic Guitar Parts 1,2, & 3,\u201d and more. And for \u201cSegovia,\u201d there were, of course, mentions of the famous \u201cSegovia Scales<\/a>,\u201d but also quite a few that listed Segovia\u2019s book of 20 etudes by Fernando Sor (edited by Segovia)<\/a>, so those are perhaps more appropriately credited to Sor, not Segovia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Indeed, Sor was the name mentioned most often by the poll respondents, garnering 11% of the total; more if some of those Segovia mentions simply didn\u2019t credit Sor. No other method received more than 7% of the total, but the next nine, in order of popularity were (and again, most of these were just names, not specific methods or etudes): 2. Carcassi (7%); 3. Segovia (6%); 4. Frederick Noad (6%, mostly Solo Guitar Playing<\/a> Vol. 1 & 2<\/i>); 5. Heitor Villa-Lobos (5%, etudes and preludes); 6. Mauro Giuliani (4%, right-hand studies, arpeggios, etc.); 7. Aaron Shearer (4%, mostly Classic Guitar Technique<\/a><\/i>); 8. Leo Brouwer (3%, mostly the etudes); 9. Emilio Pujol (3%; Guitar School<\/a><\/i>); and, impressively, 10. Simon Powis\u2019 online Classical Guitar\u00a0Corner Academy<\/a><\/i> (3%, multiple guitarists\u2019 tips and techniques). Other online platforms receiving multiple mentions included Bradford Werner\u2019s ThisIsClassicalGuitar.com<\/a>, tonebase.co<\/a>, and the general \u201cYouTube.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After that impressive grouping in the Top Ten, the next batch of popular books included (in order): the Julio Sagreras lesson books<\/a> (published by Mel Bay, which also received votes for their many method books); Scott Tennant\u2019s Pumping Nylon<\/a><\/i>; Abel Carlevaro (methods, etudes, microstudies); Dionisio Aguado (method<\/a>); The Christopher<\/i> Parkening Guitar Method <\/i><\/a>Vol. 1 & 2<\/i>; Ferdinando Carulli (Complete Method for Guitar<\/i>); Hubert K\u00e4ppel\u2019s The Bible of Classical Guitar Technique<\/a><\/i>; and Pepe Romero (La Guitarra<\/a><\/i>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A number of people mentioned \u201cBach\u201d in general, and among the other favorites listed were John Duarte\u2019s Foundation Studies in Classic Guitar Technique<\/a><\/i>, Manuel Ponce\u2019s preludes, The John Mills Classical Guitar Tutor<\/i>,<\/a> Karl Scheit\u2019s Lehrwerk die Gitarre<\/i>, Martha Masters\u2019 The Total Classical Guitarist<\/a><\/i>, various Royal College of Music books, Richard Pick\u2019s School of Guitar<\/a><\/i>, Stanley Yates\u2019 Classical Guitar Technique from Foundation to Virtuosity<\/a><\/i>, Henrique Pinto\u2019s Inicia\u00e7\u00e3o ao\u00a0Viol\u00e3o<\/i>, and the general \u201cSuzuki guitar method<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And bless all of you folks who mentioned \u201cmy teacher,\u201d even giving their names in some cases!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, here\u2019s an assignment for all of you: Look into one (or more) of the methods listed here that you\u2019ve never tried and see if it might help YOU!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three online videos of parts of some popular methods from Sagreras, Matteo and Brouwer:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n