Product Description
This book/CD addresses proper hand positions, playing position, counting musical time, music notation and more. Starts with simple strummed chords followed by plucked notes with the thumb, plucked chords with the thumb alternating with the right-hand fingers together and simple arpeggios. Progresses through an integrated mixture of melodic and arpeggio techniques. The companion CD includes teacher accompaniments (left-stereo channel) and most of the student e... More >>
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EDIT UPDATE: I decided this isn’t quite as superlative as my original review below sounds. It’s still near the top of my list and it is done very well, but it might not be for everyone and it still is best, of course, to have a teacher and work with the material they recommend…
Exceptionally high quality in all the elements that make a good book, spiral-bound, high-quality printing, beautiful layout, with 88 pages that have just the right amount of information per page. The included CD is fine, nothing special, but professional and acceptable. I haven’t seen the DVD that is available separately.
I do have some complaints, but it is mostly about what is not here. The book teaches only free stroke. It does not include any longer pieces, and, for that matter, it actually has mediocre music. However, I did not find the lack of quality music to bother me as much as in many methods. There are mostly very short exercises that are predictable and plain but therefore they are easy. Students tend to lose patience with music that challenges them but is not rewarding. The music here in Yates’ book is musically uninspiring but also musically unchallenging. Students will get the idea very quickly, and then you will have to go find quality music elsewhere. That is fine with me, and will work well for me and my students.
The best parts of this new book are the first sections. There are all sorts of little things that are impressive. Instead of belaboring the issues, like many books do, Yates is exceptionally concise. I am amazed at how well he specifies exact concepts so succinctly. In five well-laid out pages that have only a few diagrams and truly minimal text he completely and accurately explains everything about posture and hand position. Ok, well, actually I wish he mentioned alternatives to the footstool (I use the Dynarette guitar cushion and sometimes the NeckUp among other options). But Yates gets a bonus in my view for mentioning that the classical thumb position is because of the wide classical neck and not that it is just a dogmatic rule of guitar.
In four short sentences, he summarizes everything a beginner needs to understand about practice attitudes. It is the clearest, best summary I’ve seen, and I prefer it to the long-winded constantly adamant hammering of the ideas that many other authors use. After a very nice basic introduction to meter (however, still failing, like every other method, to differentiate between rhythm and meter), he jumps in with easy three string chords. He has students strumming chords with the thumb, and I think it is a fine introduction, although I plan to add more explanation of acoustics and theory for my students. He then moves on to thumb and fingers all at once chord plucking in the standard classical manner. I’m not sure this should be done so soon, but he deals with the subject wonderfully. I can always choose to supplement with other things or skip around if I feel it is necessary for any given student.
Arpeggios are next, and at this point he is using standard notation. There is no way that a student will be fully comfortable with the concepts of notation already, but the ideas are clear enough that it isn’t a problem. However, I would supplement this with other material that better teaches the concept of notation and I think the combination will be ideal. Little by little, Yates builds up all the first position notes, adds accidentals, more chords, and gets into more complex pieces.
I am unsure about the second half of the book being as great. It is built well on the initial foundation but just isn’t quite as special. By this point, the student will be ready for other material. I’d opt to finish out the book anyway, but add many pieces from elsewhere.
In conclusion, because this book is so straightforward and clear, it provides the absolutely best starting foundation that I’ve yet seen. Absolute beginners are not necessarily motivated to deal with overly involved introductions, but they do need accurate and clear instruction that is not dogmatic. Yates has the balance perfect… well, at least the very beginning introduction. This is an ideal starting point even for those not focusing primarily on classical guitar.
Rating: 5 / 5