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Music Reading for Guitar (The Complete Method) Paperback – March 1, 1998

by David Oakes (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 345 ratings
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(Musicians Institute Press). Starting at the elementary level and progressing to advanced techniques, this comprehensive method is like a complete two-year guitar course in book form. It includes over 450 songs and examples, and covers: notes, rhythms, keys, positions, dynamics, syncopation, chord charts, duets, scale forms, phrasing, odd time, and much more. Designed from an MI core curriculum program.
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  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Musicians Institute Press
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 1998
  5. Dimensions
    9 x 0.38 x 12 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0793581885
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0793581887
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Musicians Institute Press (March 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0793581885
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0793581887
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.16 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 0.38 x 12 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 345 ratings

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
345 global ratings
Private Instructor’s wet dream
1 Star
Private Instructor’s wet dream
Phenomenal book for masochists who prefer hyper analysis over in-field practice and improvisation. If you’re ready to play jazz gigs in front of like a dozen people once a month then have at it.
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Top reviews from the United States

texan techie
5.0 out of 5 stars fairly complete, good book.
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2010
Verified Purchase
i'll first say that i'm 33 and am an experienced guitarist - i'm also a good chord chart reader and alright rhythm chart reader. i bought three books all at the same time to help me with my sheet music reading insecurities: Guitar Fretboard Workbook by Barrett Tagliarino, Guitar Reading Workbook by Barrett Tagliarino and this one. And actually I lucked out! Each of them progressively lead you into the next (sort of). The Guitar Fretboard Workbook was good for identifying note names on the fretboard, then the Guitar Reading Workbook was more of a beginner's guide to the world of reading music (for the guitarist), lastly this one give's you the more in-depth exercises without going overboard too fast. I know some music theory/reading books start off at a slow pace in the first 5 pages then slam with you with things above and beyond what you even want to learn. I would recommend this book as it starts off easy for beginners and moves slowly forward with good exercises and "real" musical excerpts/arrangements to play.

For guitar I see reading music split into two different disciplines: Knowing to read the notes on the staff, and knowing where the notes are on the strings of the guitar. My point is, on say the piano, there's only one key on the keyboard that'll play the note you're looking at on the sheet music, while on the guitar you could possibly have 4 different options to play the same note (of course you'd have to take into consideration the technical feasibility of playing the note). So, as someone who's *very* proficient playing guitar (20 years in fact), I'd recommend even to get a supplementary book like the Guitar Fretboard Workbook to help you with being able to identify where the notes are on the strings, and this book here to help you put the two disciplines together.

Hope this helps!
68 people found this helpful
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M. Sindel
5.0 out of 5 stars Best I've seen
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2006
Verified Purchase
I've been teaching guitar since shortly after I recieved my BA in classical guitar performance in 2001, and I've used a few different methods. This one is great for anyone wanting to learn to read music on guitar. It starts off with basic rhythms, which too many methods overlook in order to hurry off to playing 150 year old folk songs that no one cares about anymore. It also starts off teaching you notes in the 5th position (which is more useful and better intonated than open position). Imcludes music theory and builds progressively from lesson to lesson, reviewing things you have just learned and putting them in the context of popular classical songs. For those of you who want modern popular songs written in a method book, keep in mind that hit songs get outdated very quickly and with classical songs, authors don't have to pay royalties to use them (keeping the books cheaper for you).

The two points where it could use improvement are: 1. An accompanying cd would make the rhythms easier to understand for beginners 2. chords written out in notes. It does do a good job of introducing chords in the context of lead sheets which are largely ignored by the likes of Hal Leonard, Mel Bay, Alfred, et. al.

I recommend it with "The songwriters workshop:Harmony" book (for theory info), [...] for scales and "contemporary chord khancepts" for more advanced chords.
63 people found this helpful
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Mojave Jazz
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Reading Method For Guitar
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2011
Verified Purchase
First of all, guitar is one of the most difficult instruments to learn to read music on. It has so many positions to choose from and so many different ways to play the exact same melody. I've studied all the method books, Alfred, Mel Bay, Berklee, etc. The problem with every reading method for guitar is that they start you in the first, or open, position. This isn't a practical way of doing it because, one, you don't generally play guitar in that range, and two, by the time they move on to a practical, useful position, the student has either lost interest or is completely confused.

The MI book starts right off in the fifth position. What a breakthrough. The fifth position can cover all keys, (with a few finger stretches and a few exceptions), and it has the range to cover most melodies. You quickly establish good reading skills, then they move on to the open position, and more. By the time you finish this book you'll be able to read on a professional level.

I combined my studies with other reading material and I was amazed at how quickly my reading skills progressed. It doesn't matter what level of musicianship you're at, reading music is a skill. Much like learning Morse Code it's a repetitive study that with the right method anyone can learn. In all my years as a professional musician this is the best book I've come across.
11 people found this helpful
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Micro
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource, But It Desperately Needs Audio Accompaniment
Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2019
Verified Purchase
I just finished working through this book. I'm an experienced noodler that's been playing for nearly thirty years. So I know my way around a fretboard, but I've always just played around with basic rock covers. I recently decided to try to learn more about playing jazz, and learning to read sheet music seemed like a natural first step in that direction. The book is almost perfect - the exercises are perfectly challenging (not too hard, but not too easy), and the book expects a realistic rate of progression. It took me about four months of dedicated, daily study to finish the book from cover to cover, but I feel quite comfortable saying that I can now sightread melodies with the guitar (not a lot of focus on chords in this book, but chords are just melodies "smashed together").

My only complaint is that the product should be updated to include online access to audio. The examples in the book are fantastic and plentiful, but there's really no measure by which the student can gauge her performance. Especially when I was first learning some of the more rhythmically challenging exercises, an audio accompaniment would have let me feel confident that I had, in fact, mastered the concepts.
17 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Ezequias Andrade
5.0 out of 5 stars Music reading for guitar
Reviewed in Brazil on December 17, 2023
Verified Purchase
O produto é muito bom. O maior problema é que eu não posso imprimir para ter o livro físico.
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Normal Human
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for guitarists willing to put in the effort
Reviewed in Canada on March 27, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book is for those who can already play guitar (rock, blues, metal, etc.) and are willing to put in the effort to learn to read music. The preface states that it assumes the reader has been playing guitar for at least two years but has no serious background in reading music.

The author, David Oakes, does a couple of things differently than other books on learning to read music for guitar. First, it starts with the fifth position and spends the first four chapters working from that position. I found that intuitive - if you have a background in rock or blues, you've probably spent a lot of time in fifth position, and the notes in fifth position are centred on the musical staff without too many ledger lines. Most books seem to start in the open position. Second, the book has a fair bit of rhythm work including exercises clapping or tapping out beats to a metronome. The rhythms in each chapter are pretty challenging and a good workout. One review complained about the rhythm exercises, but I think they're important as dealing with non-simple rhythms is an essential aspect of reading. These sections need to be taken seriously and practised diligently. Third, the book focuses on reading single-note lines, played pick-style, to the exclusion of chords. There are chord charts, and the book discusses the conventions of chord charts and has the progression for some of the melodies played, but no pieces with chords interspersed with single notes (as would be found in all classical repertoire books). That's an interesting choice which I think is meant to be responsive to the kinds of music-reading situations most pro guitarists for whom this is written (originally MI students) are likely to find themselves.

You can't just look at this book and become a good music reader. You'll have to spend a lot of time working through it methodically and practising the pieces to develop those skills. And then keep reading regularly to develop and maintain reading ability. But I think that's true of any approach to learning to read music.
One person found this helpful
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david robbie
5.0 out of 5 stars Arrived as advised
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 14, 2023
Verified Purchase
Arrived promptly and in perfect condition
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Miguel Ángel Roldán Carballo
5.0 out of 5 stars Un libro para aprender a leer música
Reviewed in Spain on May 25, 2023
Verified Purchase
Uno de los mejores libros que conozco para aprender a tocar solfeo con la guitarra. Utiliza un método estupendo para aprender todas las notas del diapasón.
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Simone Fiaccavento
5.0 out of 5 stars You, Guitar Player, will never look down when you have a score in front of you!
Reviewed in Italy on August 22, 2018
Verified Purchase
Simply perfect!!! This method is just what a guitar player needs. It has the guitar fretboard as its foundation, so every lesson made you pratice on a small part of your fretboard giving you the way to link eyes, right hand and left hand. You will not find long scales to execute as you are a classical music player but you will find pratical exercises that let you deal with the tipical arpeggios that you may find in a studio session or in an orchestral rehearsal.
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