Mel Bay's Modern Guitar Method Grade 1

by Mel Bay

The world's premier method for learning modern plectrum style guitar, time-tested and proven successful in building the theoretic and technical foundation needed to play in any style. All seven grades of this method are written in standard notation only to encourage better sight reading. In Grade 1, the student guitarist will learn to play solos, duets, scales, and chords in the keys of C, A minor, G and E minor. Even in Grade 1, the student is already exposed to the chord/melody concept of guitar performance.

Genres: Music, Textbooks, Childrens

48 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1948

About the author

Mel Bay was an American musician and publisher best known for his series of music education books. His Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords remains a bestseller.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't really know who Mel Bay is, but he seems pretty alright to me. Great beginner guitar book! Oh yeah, Jeff sucks.

[Connor Eberhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was the first book that helped me learn how to read sheet music and is great for beginners! It builds up in difficulty, in a nice way!

[Stephanie Pieck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a basic guitar book for people who want to learn to play using the pick, although the only instruction on what to do with the pick amounts to this (paraphrased by me):

• Hold the pick firmly between the thumb and index finger;
• Illustrations of the signs for downstroke and upstroke; and
• A note before one piece that tells players to use upstrokes for the second note of repeated eighth notes. (There are downstroke and upstroke markings on every note in that piece, and then not another upstroke sign or mention of picking anywhere else in the book.)

The book closely follows the format of the author's previously-written Classic Guitar Method, Volume 1, often recycling pieces and giving them new names or rearranging them as duets.
What keeps this book from dropping to a one-star or two-star review? It's well-paced, giving players lots of chances to practice skills. If one is patient and follows the instructions, they will finish the book with a solid ability to play in four keys. Another plus: there are lots of YouTube videos of many of the songs, at least one of which goes through the entire book page by page, and others that offer tutorials on particular songs or pages.
The book was originally published in 1948 and was revised and reissued in 1960. A lot has changed since then in the world of teaching guitar. But if you want a thorough approach with a long track record, this may be the lesson book for you.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this book to teach guitar and how to read music on guitar to beginners and intermediate players alike, and I am always amazed at how much I enjoy it, especially because it's not perfect: it could be revised and rewritten just that little 10% better.

Pound for pound, this book "Mel's Music Grade 1" (is better than the expanded version for sure. the Expanded version gets bogged down with too many boring and mindless exercises that take away from the music) is a fantastic value along with The Standard Guitar Method Book 1 by Dick Bennet.

Flipping back and forth between these two books will get you reading notes in no time and perhaps more importantly, having fun whilst doing it.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mel Bay teaches really well and is good for both self-learners and learners with instructors. Anyone can catch on easily with this book. However, some points of the book are really difficult for a complete beginner and made me frustrate a couple times. To me, the book took somewhere around a month and a half to complete.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for learning the basics of guitar. The songs that you learn at first are very plain (Twinkle Twinkle, etc), so it can be frustrating at times. But if you want to learn how to read sheet music, there's no way around it. By the end of the book you'll be playing more complicated pieces, so it's really worth it if you stick with it.

[Pietro · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok for starting to read music. Not a bad book. Very gradual introduction. The price is too high, with almost the same amount of money you can buy the complete Leavitt books, which are WAY more thorough.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy guitar work and music

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book to learn the basics!

[Bjm Index]

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