Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172587 in Books
• Published on: 1993-12
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 94 pages

Customer Reviews

For the Serious Guitar Student/Player
I can't really add much more to say about this very useful book - the above reviewers did an excellent job of describing it's content. I will, however, type up a list of what's in the content page since you can't "see inside" this book:

Preface
Introduction: First Principles
Section I: Scales
Comprehensive Diatonic Scales
Two-Octave Scale Forms
Rhythmic Formulas for Practice
Two-Octave Diatonic Scales in all Keys
Three-Octave Scales
Developing Velocity in Scales
Scales Beyond the Diatonic

Section II: Chords and Arpeggios
Systemic Cadences
Recurring Chord Forms
Cadences in the Principal Keys
Arpeggios
Basic Arpeggios in Increasing Complexity
Arpeggios with Thumb and Fingers Played Together
Practicing Arpeggios with the Carcassi Etude 2
Two Etudes by Dionisio Aguado

Section III: Left-Hand Development
Slurs
Basic Ascending Slur Exercises
Descending Slurs
Ascending and Descending Slurs Combined
Triplet Slurs
Slurs Across the Fingerboard
Chromatic Octaves and Tenths
Bar-Chord Strength Development

Section IV: Exercises in Technical and Interpretive Control
The Left Hand
The Right Hand
Interpretive Control

And there you have the entire contents page. Pretty impressive I think. If you practice these exercises and drills that Mr. Duncan has given, you will improve in many areas. I ask my more advanced students to purchase this book and we begin practicing two octave scales - minor and major.
There is nothing about this book so far, that I can find anything negative to comment on. It's well worth the money.

From competence to perfection: no easy way
Classical Guitar 2000 is what is says:a companion to Charles Duncan's Art of Classical Guitar Playing (Art of Series).
Tons of guitar instruction books are being published. Just type in words like "mastering the guitar" and within soon you may get lost musing what to choose.
This book, written in 1993, may be the one to look for.
It is not written for the beginner. You'll not find the word "easy" in the book.
The serious student (Duncan's words and, I may add, the serious guitar player) will be guided from basic guitar technique to practical examples taken from the classical guitar literature.
It offers a well organized compendium of excercises, tools which provide guidance to "the process of learning and performing music". Again Duncan's words however to be completed by the tag "technical".

Do we learn "music" from books? I don't think so. The book provides the tools to reach the technical levels to perform but it is not by accident that Duncan uses the word "student" several times in his introduction.
Set a goal, get organized, be inspired and find a source to fire the inspiration and enthousiasme to make music. The book may help you to reach that goal.

My Review
This book contains the quintessential essay on nail-filing in the literature for classical guitar. I require it for all serious classcial guitar students studying with me. It's discussion of tension as falling into the categories of functional and dysfunctional tension is a very important discussion that helps the developing student realize how the hand function properly. This book is on my "Basic Library" list for all students, classical and otherwise.
Thomas O. Olson, MM, Performer and teacher of Classical guitar, graduate, the Cleveland Institue of Music.