Writing a guitar method book

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by PeterMN

We live in the age of Google and YouTube, vehicles for information that books cannot compete with when it comes to something like learning to play guitar.

That's unfortunately true.
Not just unfortunate for those poor old book publishers - - but for any beginner looking for the most reliable information. It's a jungle out there. Or the Wild West, pick your analogy. How to find your way, and who do you trust?

Obviously you're not going to die if you go the wrong way . But you have to spend a lot of time surfing, sorting through stuff, not taking anything too seriously until you find the same info coming up from various different places. Then it's a reasonable assumption that you can trust that.

In a sense, of course, that's not a lot different from trying different books until one makes sense. And at least you don't have to pay to surf the internet (other than with your personal data for the advertisers...).

IMO, on balance, the situation is better than it was when book publishers had a stranglehold on the information. Back then, there was more of a sense that there were Gatekeepers of The Knowledge, as it were (even if their authority was often spurious). OK, you still probably learned more from your friends and from records - same as today - because it was all vernacular music, whether you were learning folk, blues, country, rock or pop. The occasional book might be a handy aid, but experience counted for much more.

Back in the 1960s, there weren't even any books on any of that stuff. OK, maybe one or two on folk guitar, especially as the 1960s progressed, as a market was identified and publishers desperately sought authors who could both write and who knew about these new popular ways of playing. Books obviously proliferated in the 1970s and 80s, acquiring CDs when they became available. Then videos and DVDs followed.

But all the time, the main learning process (I'd guess) came from personal investigation and experience: playing along with records, playing with friends. IMO that's still the most reliable and efficient way to learn, and the most true to the tradition - as well as the most enjoyable! Failing that, the next best thing is the musical "community" online.

[icuker]

One element of good guitar playing is being able to play transitions between chords, not only single notes but chord fragments. I guess that could be called voice leading? Anyway, it's not something I've found addressed in a book clearly but I think is a very powerful element when I listen to players.

I also like the idea of drilling a concept by having more than one example. Even apply it to a song or songs in the book. Better to learn a few elements well than have a smattering of pieces that the student has not clue how to apply.

A final thing I like is either a recording to listen to an item being played or better yet, references to Youtube that would have you playing the items you are trying to teach (with a backup video plan in case youtube ever goes belly up)

[Pitar]

My notion of a method book is a guide to learning the basics well enough to become acquainted with the guitar, holding it, the chord structures and finger placements, picking techniques and reading typical guitar music scores. Development beyond that would be a very challenging task to reduce to a method book.