50 Easy Classical Guitar Solos by Jerry Willard
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Book Reviews of 50 Easy Classical Guitar Solos
Book Review: Good Package, Great Value
Summary: 5 Stars
I own several other "easy to intermediate" level repertoire books, and this one has some good pieces not found in any of my other books. I tend to disagree with the reviewers who suggest that there isn't enough variety among these songs--I was actually pretty impressed with the selections here. The CD is very good, because Willard plays slowly enough to make it more helpful than if he was racing along at concert speed. I sure wish I'd had a book/CD like this 20 or 30 years ago! I've played guitar off and on for over 30 years, but just purchased this 2 months ago. I took lessons for a few months way back in 1980 to learn the basics of classical guitar, and have mostly played classical since. However, I haven't played consistently because of re-occurring pain in fingers/joints, and also what I perceive as a lack of talent. So I'm still not much beyond the "advanced-beginner" stage. Which leads to my final reason for recommending this package, and why, for me, one little thing was probably worth the 12 bucks I paid: Willard has slightly modified Tarrega's lovely Study in E minor (one of the best pieces in this book), making it easier by eliminating a bar chord that has always been hard for me to play smoothly--and hurt my wrist... And the change doesn't detract from the beauty of the song. I'm now playing it better than ever, and it doesn't hurt!!!Book Review: Better than beginner material about froggie
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the reasons I never really got into reading music when I was beginning, was because those exercises are CRAP. Froggie going to school is garbage, and so is 100% of all beginner "compositions."
Then I find this EASY book. Now I am motivated to learn to read. Why? Because I WANT to play this material!! It is real composed, classical pieces that are really worth the effort to play. Written by the best composers in the history of music.
Excellently graded from super, super easy, on to slightly more composed and still easy as it goes along, in order, thru the pages. And the quality of the compositions increases as it moves along so you really, really, want to improve so that you can play the pieces towards the end. Remember, there are 50, FIFTY, awesome pieces of MUSIC, that you WANT to play, and only the final 5 or 8 are harder than the ones before it.
The CD really helps because the timing and phrasing is not always obvious to the beginner in reading.
I have had this for years, and got one for someone as a gift. ...another amazingly low cost gem, books are awesome.
Book Review: depends on what you're looking for
Summary: 5 Stars
I was actually looking for a decent book on Spanish ballads and I came across this book. This is a great book for beginner or intermediate classic CLASSIC guitar players. As many reviewers mentioned, the pieces get complicated as you go on BUT not necessarily faster in tempo, which is what I was looking for. If you're looking for fast pace pieces (yes, it's a technical term) such as classic Spanish ballads this is definitely not what you're looking for. Yes, there are some difficult pieces towards the end...but the reason they are complicated is that they weren't originally written for the Guitar. And one thing that struck me the most was that on the recording the pieces are played by an electric guitar with Harpsichord sort of effect, which really hurt...with all that, I gave the book five stars because pieces are very consistent and they go from easy to more complicated ones. All of them also have TABs which can be helpful for beginners...it just wasn't the book I was looking for...Book Review: A good reading aid
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the "tablature edition" : the book alternates the lines of standard notation with lines of tablature. I suspect that some of the works have been simplified from their original form to make them easier to play. Extensive right and left hand fingerings are given on many pieces. The keys are easy, mostly C and G. Dynamics markings are used very sparingly. There are a few half-barres and a few notes on alternative strings. I found that it's just challenging enough while still being playable and enjoyable. One minor quibble: the CD tracks don't always follow the the sequence of the pieces in the book, so you may have to refer to the table of contents to match page number to CD track. It's not spiral bound, so you'll need some way of keeping it open. All in all I'm very pleased with my purchase.Book Review: Great for beginners, not challenging for higher skill levels
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book thinking there would be some intermediate level pieces included in it. However, all the pieces are extremely easy. I'm a fairly experienced intermediate level player and I could play the most dificult pieces with 10-15 minutes of practice. The author's fingerings for both right and left hand techinique are perfectly in line with classical guitar technique; using them will definitely benefit the beginner guitarist when they move on to higher skill levels. The pieces are very beautiful for being so basic and I will definitely include some of them in my daily practice. The only minor flaw is that the author's playing on the CD doesn't always match the tab, getting the sound that you hear requires a little more skill than the tab shows. But again, that's a minor issue.