The Christopher Parkening Guitar Method, Volume 1, revised 1998, is a comprehensive approach to teaching classical guitar. Written by an accomplished premier classical guitarist, it is not just a collection of exercises and guitar pieces, but includes historical background, basic technique, lots of textual information, photos and a useful appendix of terms. While a few of the photos in the original edition which should have had better lighting are included, this is easily overlooked since many have been added which are of far superior quality.The nice thing is that Mr. Parkening seems not only to be teaching proper technique but also what to listen for and critique yourself so you can continue to improve. As he mentions in the Practicing section, “Always keep in mind it is better to play one piece well than many pieces poorly.”
There are pages explaining music notation terms as well as a large fretboard diagram toward the back showing each note name on each fret (all the way up to the 12th fret) and it’s corresponding position on the staff. There are a number of chromatic scale studies, arpeggio studies, finger technique exercises although I wish there had been more of these included (this is actually my ONLY quibble with Mr. Parkening’s book and one he fortunately rectified in vol. 2).
I recommend this text for first time students of classical guitar who will not just learn the rudiments, but beautiful guitar pieces as well. Having said this, there is no substitute for a teacher… don’t go it alone!
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