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Mel Bay Classic Guitar Method Volume 1
Complete in three volumes, this widely used text presents classical guitar instruction in a logical and clear manner. The student is thoroughly grounded in left and right hand technical studies and is acquainted with the works of the masters. In notation only.
- GenresMusic
48 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1960
About the author
Mel Bay
451 books6 followersMel Bay was an American musician and publisher best known for his series of music education books. His Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords remains a bestseller.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 15, 2020
Tah-dah!
About 7 months after starting this method, I've worked through every exercise and song in the book.
And am I better for it?
Yes. Although, on bad practice days, I char the air with curse words and wonder, "Will I ever learn this fucking instrument!" But, the short answer is that the Classical Guitar Method, Volume 1 by Mel Bay, though not the most popular method out there, has been of tremendous benefit in teaching my fumbling fingers the basics.
As noted, there are more popular methods including that of Julio Sagreras, which I'm also using, and others by Christopher Parkening and Scott Tennant. I picked up this method because I've used Mel Bay books to teach myself other instruments.
I started my classical guitar journey in the beginning of 2020. Covid wasn't happening yet, but once it did, having a new obsession was a great sanity preserver. The Mel Bay method is a solid introduction to Classical Guitar for guitar noobs, like myself, and also for those with no previous musical experience. Note reading is introduced slowly, along with the basics of classical guitar, hand position, left and right hand finger nomenclature, etc.
The exercises are either original to the book or modified works from other guitar masters such as Carulli, Sor, and Aguado. There are, mercifully, none of the insufferable beginner tunes like "Lightly Row" or "Go Tell Aunt Rhody." Progressing through the book, I encountered more and more finger-twisty exercises, which, while sometimes frustrating, did improve my playing ability.
This book doesn't give much guidance, however, in playing musically, probably because most beginner books ignore that aspect. There's a brief mention of dynamics, but little explanation of right hand technique. Toward the latter third, left hand finger combinations are introduced with no suggested fingerings. Or the correct fingering are explained a couple pages later in another tune. Which, for self taught students, requires a certain degree of willingness to puzzle things out.
That said...there's a wealth of information available online, especially on YouTube, to supplement any method book.
All in all, I enjoyed this book and will continue to use it both as a warmup and to refine some of the later tunes in the book.
On to Volume II.
About 7 months after starting this method, I've worked through every exercise and song in the book.
And am I better for it?
Yes. Although, on bad practice days, I char the air with curse words and wonder, "Will I ever learn this fucking instrument!" But, the short answer is that the Classical Guitar Method, Volume 1 by Mel Bay, though not the most popular method out there, has been of tremendous benefit in teaching my fumbling fingers the basics.
As noted, there are more popular methods including that of Julio Sagreras, which I'm also using, and others by Christopher Parkening and Scott Tennant. I picked up this method because I've used Mel Bay books to teach myself other instruments.
I started my classical guitar journey in the beginning of 2020. Covid wasn't happening yet, but once it did, having a new obsession was a great sanity preserver. The Mel Bay method is a solid introduction to Classical Guitar for guitar noobs, like myself, and also for those with no previous musical experience. Note reading is introduced slowly, along with the basics of classical guitar, hand position, left and right hand finger nomenclature, etc.
The exercises are either original to the book or modified works from other guitar masters such as Carulli, Sor, and Aguado. There are, mercifully, none of the insufferable beginner tunes like "Lightly Row" or "Go Tell Aunt Rhody." Progressing through the book, I encountered more and more finger-twisty exercises, which, while sometimes frustrating, did improve my playing ability.
This book doesn't give much guidance, however, in playing musically, probably because most beginner books ignore that aspect. There's a brief mention of dynamics, but little explanation of right hand technique. Toward the latter third, left hand finger combinations are introduced with no suggested fingerings. Or the correct fingering are explained a couple pages later in another tune. Which, for self taught students, requires a certain degree of willingness to puzzle things out.
That said...there's a wealth of information available online, especially on YouTube, to supplement any method book.
All in all, I enjoyed this book and will continue to use it both as a warmup and to refine some of the later tunes in the book.
On to Volume II.
October 5, 2025
This book offers students many opportunities to learn skills and put them into practice. It combines familiar music with original compositions and exercises. It is not flashy and doesn't try to make learning guitar fun or easy. The emphasis is on developing solid basic skills. If used in combination with other materials, such as the Preparatory Level and Level 1 books of the Royal Conservatory of Music Guitar Series, 2018 Edition, a stúdent working alone or with a teacher can explore basic concepts in the lesson book and then apply them in a wide variety of styles in the repertoire books.
The material in this book closely mirrors that in the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Course, except the modern course uses a pick while the method under review does not. If you plan to focus on classical and other finger styles, the current book will be helpful. But if you're looking for a way to start playing rock, country, rhythm, or other styles, look elsewhere.
I only have two quibbles with this book. The first is the author's arrangements of pieces by other composers. They are good arrangements, but I would have liked full information about the original piece so I could go find it if I wanted to play it in its original form. For example, the piece called "Italian Air" is a teaching piece by Carcassi, but which one? (Carcassi wrote his own multivolume method for guitar as well as numerous sets of etudes and other pieces, many of which have similar titles but different opus numbers.) My other concern is with the way the book explains chords within scales. While the information given is basically accurate, the way it is worded may lead to confusion later on. Rather than saying there are only six chords in a particular key, the book should have noted that chords can be formed on any note of a scale and then gone on to illustrate all those chords, highlighting the ones that are taught in the book.
Even with those concerns, however, this is a book that is simple and straightforward enough to begin one's classical guitar journey.
The material in this book closely mirrors that in the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Course, except the modern course uses a pick while the method under review does not. If you plan to focus on classical and other finger styles, the current book will be helpful. But if you're looking for a way to start playing rock, country, rhythm, or other styles, look elsewhere.
I only have two quibbles with this book. The first is the author's arrangements of pieces by other composers. They are good arrangements, but I would have liked full information about the original piece so I could go find it if I wanted to play it in its original form. For example, the piece called "Italian Air" is a teaching piece by Carcassi, but which one? (Carcassi wrote his own multivolume method for guitar as well as numerous sets of etudes and other pieces, many of which have similar titles but different opus numbers.) My other concern is with the way the book explains chords within scales. While the information given is basically accurate, the way it is worded may lead to confusion later on. Rather than saying there are only six chords in a particular key, the book should have noted that chords can be formed on any note of a scale and then gone on to illustrate all those chords, highlighting the ones that are taught in the book.
Even with those concerns, however, this is a book that is simple and straightforward enough to begin one's classical guitar journey.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews