Etude Books for first year player

[salzo]

I have been teaching myself the classical guitar, and I am quite happy with what I am working with, but feel I need to find some appropriate etude books for my level. I have been working in the NOAD SOLO GUITAR book, and I just started the second position chapter. In addition to the Noad, I have been working in Aaron Shears, "Classical Guitar technique". Both of these books do have great etudes, but I am wondering what would be some good dedicated etude books for players dealing with first and second position only. I know my daughter used to play a "first position" etude book on violin, figure there must be such books for guitar also.
I do have Noads "classical", baroque" and "renaissance" etude books, and have played the first three in each book-but looking ahead I will not be ready for the rest for quite some time. Thanks for any help/suggestions.

[naccoachbob]

I don't know of any particular books, but go to the Delcamp Classical Guitar Forum. They have a section where you can go thru M. Delcamp's "course" so to speak, from the first year thru several more. You don't necessarily have to post audios or videos to that forum section, but it might be good for feedback. I've just started with it, and am not making a course from it, because I'm looking for an instructor to start me off correctly holding and fingering the classical guitar. So I'm using the materials from time to time. That side of the guitar world is new to me, having played steel string and electrics all my life.
At any rate, once you join Delcamp's: http://www.classicalguitardelcamp.co...53cfe0b1945b79

you have to post 2 messages, with the first being an introduction on the introduction page, then you can "apply" to be a member of the "Online Classical Guitar Lessons" group. They usually approve within a few hours.
The biggest thing is that you have to post at least 1 message a month to retain membership. In the past 3 months, I've posted about 35, so I'm good for 3 years.

The forum can appear somewhat staid and formal, maybe snobbish to some, but there's some good advice to be had and some quality music and instruction.
Best of luck,
Bob

[Gitfiddlemann]

I can’t recall off-hand any Etude books specifically geared towards 1st and 2nd positions. I’m scanning some of the easy studies I have by the usual suspects (Sor, Giuliani, Aguado, Carulli, Carcassi etc…) and, although there are certainly pieces in there that are entirely played in this way, they don’t seem to be, at least from what I can tell, designed by the composer with that goal in mind when looking at it from a playing standpoint.
I second the advice and comments made about the Delcamp site. You can tap a large pool of knowledge there and it could be a very useful resource for you, especially since you are already classically trained.
In previous exchanges I’m sorry that I forgot to mention an excellent source material that you should probably also consider:
Scott Tennant’s Pumping Nylon. (book + DVD).
Left hand position aside, he goes over a lot of fundamental information on classical guitar playing that is extremely valuable and beneficial for all levels and backgrounds.
Getting back to the recommendation from AGF member chickenwing about the Giuliani “120” series in a previous thread, you will find all of them in Tennant’s book, and he even arranged them in 10 distinct groupings based on their similarity. Those are all 1st position arpeggio studies specifically designed for the right hand. I still maintain that these do require a lot of mental discipline to stick to i.e. playing patterns using only the same 2 chords, but I have to agree with chickenwing that, when practiced with the proper diligence and focus, they can be extremely beneficial for the right hand, and ultimately, how well you can develop the right kind of technical skills.
Also, there are a bunch of really valuable scale study and hand co-ordination exercises in the book that are primarily in 1st position.
Worth getting as a resource imo!
Lastly, as an aside and personal opinion comment: Since you are just starting out on the instrument I would encourage you to spend a lot of time on right hand fundamentals and what goes behind the production of good tone. I wish I had done so when I started. It may sound obvious, but it’s really not easy to do, and appears to be often neglected in how people evaluate themselves and how well they sound, no matter their proficiency in playing. But if you develop the ability to produce good tone, and remain mindful of it, everything else will fall into place nicely as you play and progress. And if you don’t have a personal teacher, then instructional books like Pumping Nylon will put you on the proper path and provide the proper guidance in this regard.
Good luck!

[Roger1]

Fifty Classical Guitar Solos and Fifty Classical Guitar Pieces by Jerry Willard.

They all seem to be in the first position with occasional reach to the A on the fifth fret.

[kevets]

Graded Repertoire for Guitar (Book 1 - Easy) by Stanley Yates