Sight Reading for the Classical Guitar, Level I-III: Daily Sight Reading Material with Emphasis on Interpretation, Phrasing, Form, and More

Overall this is a good book for learning to sight read on guitar. There could be a little more reference material in an appendix or something but I guess this isn't intended as the only book you need to learn to sight read. You'll need a bit more than this. But it's good for what it is, which is as described.I have been playing guitar by ear and tabulature for 30 years and I recently decided to learn to sight read. I have been doing a few minutes a day for the last week and I'm already finding this a useful skill in transcribing and picking out melody lines in other compositions. I'm still slow, but I'm certainly improving. I really should have learned to sight read sooner. But I have struggled in the past as the other books I had tried were not for guitar.

I teach classical guitar and one day one of my students came into my studio with this book (Levels 1 to 3). It didn't take but a few seconds for me to realize how perfect it was and I ordered one immediately. I've had the second book (Levels 4 & 5) and wrote a review a long time ago praising it, but never bothered to check out this book until recently.It is perfect for those who are brand new to classical guitar notation or notation in general. The exercises are so well laid out. You would use this book as a supplement to your regular guitar studies, assuming you are learning musical notation. This book will not tell you where the notes are, but delves into the musicality aspect of reading the notation and playing it. Since you can "Look Inside!" you can get a good idea of how the exercises are laid out and how they progress from simple to more challenging. My youngest student using this book is 7 and my oldest is 68 and both are learning very valuable aspects of musical expression.It looks deceivingly simple at first but it will quickly spotlight areas of musical weakness that need to be worked on. It hammers an area of music reading which is usually the hardest to grasp, and most frequently left out of method books and that is rhythm. Learning what the names of the notes are and where they are on the guitar is not that much of a challenge, but playing rhythmically precise is often the hardest aspect of playing music. It has several pages of pure rhythmic practice dispersed throughout the book (which I wish you could see but unfortunately can't), which are gold mines for rhythmic practice. As far as I'm concerned this entire book is a gold mine for excellent, practical knowledge for music reading and interpretation. The subsequent book, Levels 4 & 5 is also wonderful. You will learn a lot if using this book by yourself, but if you use it in conjunction with a qualified teacher, you will get much more out of it.

Ok, so here's the deal. I owned this book for a while, and first started using it approximately a month when I began lessons with a teacher. Previous to this, I had been teaching myself classical guitar for about a year using tabs and instructional books.This book is useful, and I am in fact learning to sight read, but there are a few major issues to be pointed out that other reviews neglect to mention.This book doesn't teach you theory, nor does it really teach you the notes. For example, we learn that the first and third fret on the 6th string correspond to what I know from previous theory studies are an F and a G, but the book doesn't mention this. It only shows that the first and third fret correspond to positions of notes on the treble clef, not what those notes are. So, it does teach you exactly what it promises, "sight reading for the classical guitar," but ONLY that and nothing more.The second issue I have is with the layout of the book. One needs to search for where new notes are introduced. For example, when the notes A and G are introduced on the 4th string, there is nothing glaring about their introduction, they are simply mentioned is passing, from which point on the exercises include the notes.The third and final issue I have with the book is the need for a teacher or another book to actually use the book. For example, Level II begins with an exercise entitled "random notes," which, in addition to previously taught notes, includes open and fretted notes on the bass strings. HOWEVER, the book never teaches you what those notes are or how to play them! I don't know where a student is supposed to learn how to play the randomly introduced notes without the aid of a teacher or clearer book. It's a bit absurb..That said, with a teacher's help, this book has worked so far. It is important to keep in mind the caveats I mentioned, however. If you have a teacher or are willing to supplement your sight reading education with other books, I have no qualms with it.Enjoy.

Only just started to use it so have only a limited opinion. From what I have experienced so far the exercises seem well graded. As a result of cardiac surgery and rehab it has been a year since I touched my guitar. I found that a lot of basic skills had become blunted. I saw this as a good time to return to basics and correct bad habits. This book allows one to pick up the skill of sight-reading and also pay more attention to finger placement. Improvements already obvious though Carnegie Hall remains remote.

I can play grade 8 pieces no problem and have been playing many years but only ever read tab. This book is clever. These simple yet deceptive tunes are not what you expect to hear, so you have to sight read, all the while learning unexpected timing and note and finger positions. Before you know it you are sight reading. If you want preety tunes, buy another book but if you want to sight read....get this one!

Not had this long, but on first sight it seems to be packed with the information that I felt I needed to know. It progresses from easy to more challenging in logical steps. Well written, clearly explained, recommended.

I didn't feel this book was for levels I-III, for me it was really just for beginners. It looks good if you are a beginner, but I was disappointed with it and it was a waste of money for me. I will be buying a more advanced book

great book to get into sight reading