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The Online Guitar Store - A Modern Method for Guitar - Volume 1: Book/DVD-ROM Pack (Method (Berklee Press))
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List Price: $34.95
Our Price: $23.07
Your Save: $ 11.88 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Berklee Press
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 781
EAN: 9780876390696
ISBN: 0876390696
Label: Berklee Press
Manufacturer: Berklee Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 128
Publication Date: 2005-11-01
Publisher: Berklee Press
Studio: Berklee Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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This money-saving value pack includes Volume 1 of this practical, comprehensive method book (the basic text for the guitar program at the world-famous Berklee College of Music) PLUS a matching DVD-ROM featuring 14 complete lessons with Larry Baione, chair of Berklee's guitar department. Owning this pack is like having access to a year's worth of private guitar lessons at Berklee for only $34.95!
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: AMAZING GUITAR BOOK! DVD IS A MUST!
Comment: I have played various musical instruments throught my life and this is BY FAR the Best Beginner Book I have EVER Used, I give it 5 Stars!!!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Missing so many essential items for a beginner
Comment: I thought I would buy this to finally learn to read notation. What a mistake that was! The instruction consists of one line of notation with the notes on top of page four. That's it. You are supposed to be be reading music notation after that single line. Go ahead and check it out in Amazon's free sample of the book. Click on First Page, and go forward one page to "Notes in the first position" as the heading. See where it reads Frets and Fingers? That's it. That's all you get. Now, go to the next page, and the next. No references to notes at all, and you are supposed to be playing full pages of music after page 4! The numbers you see only tell you which finger they want you to use, not what string or fret.
The Complete Idiot's guide takes NINE! pages to fully explain music notation, and runs you through single string exercises to learn notation. The Modern Method? One line! Does the Modern Method mention Every Good Boy Deserves Favor (EGBDF), or FACE? Nope. No need to include any memorization tools taught by every singe teacher in the world, to every single student.
How this gets so many high reviews is beyond me, unless they are from students who have proper instruction to go along with the book. Larry Baione's halting, stammering, video presentation is about what I'd expect from a 1980's era metal guitar instruction video, not from the Chair of Berklee's guitar dept. Basically, don't expect actual "instruction" from this video. You'll get examples and displays. and little of value to a beginner.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ready to get serious???
Comment: The Berklee guitar books could very well be the best comprehensive method out there. This is the first of three books. The DVD is a big help because it lets the student hear and see the exercises along with reading them. Anyone who takes the time and exercises the discipline to give the Berklee method adequate attention will emerge an accomplished legitimate guitarist.
The Berklee books are geared to the serious student. Those who are looking for a few hot licks to amaze the garage band or the folks at the club should probably look elsewhere.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent (with a few caveats)
Comment: Levitt's 'Modern Method' has been the foundation stone upon which many great guitarists have built their careers and reputations. It's pretty much beyond criticism for many players, but it's worth noting some observations:
1) It's not recommended if all you want is to learn how to strum a few chords
2) If you simply want to read TAB and chord charts, this is not the book for you
3) This will not help you perfect your string bending, hammer ons, pull offs, fingerpicking or even sweep picking
So, why the five stars? Because it's essentially boot camp for guitar. Spend a year with the book (and the accompanying DVD) and you will come away with a good basic understanding of how music works and how to apply that understanding to the guitar. You'll also be on the way to be able to sight-reading 'the dots'. Plus, in the process you will improve; playing slowly, carefully and methodically to the unstinting beat of a metronome can reveal many weaknesses in technique.
The DVD is hugely useful, too. Not only does it demonstrate the exercises well, but Larry Baione adds a human touch that the text is sometimes missing.
In short, if you want to take guitar seriously, there's no better starting place than William Levitt's books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Totally Awesome!
Comment: THis book is for anyone who wants to take their playing to the next level. It takes you from the beginning to very upper imtermediate and helps you hone your reading skills. If you are not a music reader this book can be the catalyst to knowing just what it takes to be a master. I recommend this book to anyone reguardless of what level of playing.
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