The Art of Classical Guitar Playing (The Art of Series)

“The Art of Classical Guitar Playing” is a must for all classical and finger-style guitar players looking to fine tune their techniques, and pursue the mastery of this versatile instrument. Furthermore, it is also an exquisite read for pluckers in general who want to learn more on guitar technique, explore Duncan's unique perspectives, and perhaps implement some of his concepts to further their technique. I've been always interested in the physics of the instrument and how to maximize results with minimum effort both in my own technical endeavors and in my teaching practices, and Duncan’s book was the answer I’ve always searched for. However, as an avid guitar book collector, I could not help notice that a book that was in later print, named “The Natural Classical Guitar” had too many similarities to Duncan’s book, and the language used to explain particular concepts was eerily close to Duncan’s language. Does anyone own both of these books and have noticed my concerns? Since Duncan's book came first there may be a violation of intellectual property rights here.

I have been re-reading Duncan's fine book and continue to recommend it to all my students as essential reading. For years, leading classical guitarists such as William Kanengiser recommended Lee Ryan's "The Natural Guitar" as the go-to pedagogical book. However, I prefer Duncan's fantastic book because it covers nearly everything Ryan says about technique in half the space with far greater clarity. Considering that Duncan's book was published four years earlier, it made me wonder if that's where Ryan got most of his best ideas from. Sure enough, I even noticed sentences that were so nearly identical that it's very hard to believe that Ryan didn't "borrow" Duncan's ideas. The resemblance is too coincidental. But in any case, I can say that "The Art of Classical Guitar Playing" is the best book you can find that explains the "secrets" of fine playing that for a long time were known by only a few of the best players. Be warned that it's not an easy read, but it offers enormous rewards for serious students with the patience to study it closely.

I have been playing classical guitar for many years. Like many players I got to the point of being "pretty good" but could never break through the invisible wall of getting to "really good". Anyone who has been playing for a while knows just how hard that is. I finally started a systematic search to find the resources to get me there. I found this book in a roundabout way. I was watching William Kanengiser's excellent DVD "Classical Guitar Mastery". In my opinion it is one of the best instructional videos I have ever seen for intermediate players. He pays tribute at the end to Lee F. Ryan and his book "The Natural Classical Guitar" which is also excellent but hard to find. Ryan's book has a bibliography which made reference to Charles Duncan, and he gave this book a high recommendation..The reason I like this book is that it deals with the finer aspects of the mechanics of playing well in great detail. That includes right and left hand position issues and proper finger movement in relation to the strings. If you were to read the book as a beginner it would probably be too much information and it would not mean that much. After you have struggled for a while with the instrument you can better appreciate the significance of what he is saying. To me the section dealing with issues in shaping your nails is worth the price of the book by itself.This is not a guitar method. If you don't know how to play it is not going to teach you. You need Frederick Noad or Aaron Shearer for that, but this book does a great job of filling in gaps and bringing clarity to things discussed in those guitar method books.

This book is truly *revelatory.*It will change the way you think about classical guitar technique, and if you apply yourself in the ways this book describes, you will experience a quantum leap in your playing. My playing was very inconsistent and unreliable before I read this book. I made ugly mistakes often. Now I can trust my technique. The difference is like night and day.It is also fun to read. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments, where you find yourself nodding and chuckling and recognizing that, in a few paragraphs, the author has described your problem exactly, and has provided the solution.There are many methods and "talking heads" in the world of classical guitar. Some of them are great, some not so great. But whatever approach you take, you will be far better off having read and absorbed this book.

Very well written book with lots of useful insights, even for the advanced amateur. For example, the suggestion to prepare shifts has been a huge help for me.

This is a fantastic book. It has no score or music at all. Rather, it cover what is missing elsewhere; posture, articulation, coordination, velocity, expression, dynamics. It is great in the sense that it gives you diagrams and photos to show your hand position. This material is extremely important, but it is left behind in almost every method book.

A wonderful and rather philosophical approach to classical guitar playing. I have used this book since 1992 and have worn out several copies. Great insight into technical challenges and how to deal with them - from sitting position to hand placement, finger problems and practice routines. It may be too much for beginners, but I warmly recommend it for anyone with an interest in playing the classical guitar.

My classical guitar teacher told me about this book. I had many questions about the exact details of very minute technical issues,eg angle of the nails on the strings, the shaping of the nails, arm position, wrist position etc etc. This book explains "everything" in much more detail than, eg the Parkening or Woad books.Other Classical guitar experts might not agree with everything in this book, but at least it looks at every technical issue.

This is a really great book offering insights into many CG techniques. Good combination of theory and practicality. Recommended for those looking to perfect their performance. Wish I'd bought it 25 years ago.

The level of detail in this book is amazing and it will keep me busy for many, many hours. Although the book contains a certain amount of theory, it is also very practical, with many many in depth explanations of techniques that solve the typical problems faced by classical guitarists.

Would have been 5 star but for the pcitures being a little hard to interpret. Great detail and explanation of the fundamentals of playing, sorely lacking in other introductions.

Art of Classical Guitar Playing is the book you are looking for.IT is not Sheet Music as stated.Great book.

it can be verbose and wordy but it does have some very useful information. I had seen Scott Tenants videos and read pumping nylon and I take classical guitar lessons so I already knew a lot of the information presented, but there was a tip in the left hand technique that really helped take my playing to a new level and that tip alone is worth the money I paid for this book