Mel Bay Guitar Class Method Volume 1

by William Bay

This approach really works. It holds my student's interest. These are typical comments on the effectiveness of William Bay's Guitar Class Method. As no other instrument lends itself to so many moods and styles of music (blues, folk, rock, country, classical, flamenco, jazz, etc.), playing the guitar as a popular mode of expression and the instrument itself have become an integral part of American life. The Guitar Class Method was written with the hope it would expand the range of people of all ages who would be exposed to the guitar through a meaningful, authoritative method that is easy to follow.

Volume 1 of this method for individual or group study offers an overview of the various styles of guitars and playing techniques with advice on purchasing and caring for the instrument, selecting guitar strings, and playing positions. Includes special sections devoted specifically to chord strumming, blues structure and style, fingerstyle technique, note reading, and music theory. The individual sections can be used simultaneously in any order to take the class in any direction it wants. Written in standard notation and tablature with chords presented in both diagram and photo format. Lyrics are included for many songs and a few melodies are presented as duet arrangements. Access to online audio available.

Genres: Music

160 pages, Spiral-bound

First published April 1, 1972

About the author

William Bay received his undergraduate degree in business at Washington University in St. Louis and his MBA at the University of Missouri. He played trumpet and guitar professionally for many years and has authored hundreds of books on music education and performance. As president of Mel Bay Publications, he has produced thousands of books dealing with an eclectic array of musical styles, genres and instruments and performed on many audio and video recordings. He is an accomplished composer and arranger. His books have sold in the millions. He was recently inducted into the Missouri Music Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[Yycdaisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went through this older edition and I liked how it was set up. It's for complete beginners and the first section starts off with teaching basic chords. Most of the songs used are well known folk songs so you just sing the songs and strum along. The next quite short section teaches a bit about Blues and introduces tab and more about rhythm. The songs here are easy to play in this style. Then is the section on Finger Picking. Now that the student knows quite a few chords and tab, this technique makes the accompaniment to the songs more interesting. The last section teaches note reading and is quite extensive. After the student can read melody, this method goes through a number of scales, giving songs in those keys that the student can play and accompany. Along the way there is information on technique and music theory. There's even a last section on music theory that goes into a lot more detail. Oh, and there are books to supplement each of the sections if the student needs them. What some might not like about this book is that the songs are mostly older folk and popular songs.