Alfred’s Basic Guitar Method 1
$7.00
| Publisher : | Alfred Music; 3rd edition (February 1, 1966) |
|---|---|
| Language : | English |
| Paperback : | 64 pages |
| ISBN-10 : | 0739047930 |
| ISBN-13 : | 978-0739047934 |
| Item Weight : | 8 ounces |
| Dimensions : | 8.75 x 0.25 x 11.5 inches |
| UNSPSC-Code : | Report an incorrect code |
| Best Sellers Rank: | #224 in Music Instruction & Study (Books) |
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| Customer Reviews: | 520 ratings |
60 reviews for Alfred’s Basic Guitar Method 1
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Easy Songs For Ukulele Supplementary Songbook
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60 reviews for Easy Songs For Ukulele Supplementary Songbook
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Concise yet easy to read and understand
This is the perfect book for those who want to do more than just play chords.
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Good for new ones or more advanced
Easy to play notes and chords good for newer one like me.
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Easy for absolute beginners
I have been playing the ukulele for 3 weeks and having never played any musical instrument before in my life – I believe that makes me an absolute beginner. I love how easy it was to start playing the songs in this book. Made me feel like I could actually play something that was more advanced than children’s nursery rhymes. The tabs are a lifesaver and help me out enormously as I struggle to read musical notes. Definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to expand their repertoire as they learn.
One person found this helpful
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Uke book, for the uke… with fun songs
All the songs in this book fit the uke with its standard tuning of GCEA (high G). Some of the other books I looked at seem to have just taken guitar melodies and then put UKE chords on top, but the melodies then fell off the range of the instrument you have so are unplayable. Not so with this one. Every note is playable on the uke (tabs are provided) and all the lyrics are given. I never saw some of these verses before (btw, turns out that Tom Dooley guy was a jerk after all). This is a great book for sing alongs. Lots of fun tunes: “I walk the line”, “house of the rising sun”, “all my loving”.
8 people found this helpful
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Fun song book
I’m a beginner ukulele player and I’m enjoying this book. The songs are fairly easy to play. The book has both notes and tabs which is convenient.
One person found this helpful
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A great start for new uke players, even better for experienced stringed instrument players.
for an inexpensive beginner uke book, it’s great. There are some really good songs in here and the chord guides through each song and tablature for note playing comes quick, especially if you’ve toyed with guitar for some considerable time. You’ll be playing the uke immediately. A few songs by the Beatles and Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and more. The tablature helps you get the tune if you’re not familiar with a song.
One person found this helpful
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Easy ukulele book
Great beginner’s ukulele song book. Nice large notes and writing.
One person found this helpful
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Nice book.
Great for beginners!
One person found this helpful
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Good but not for everyone.
The Bad: I am a music instructor and try and avoid using TAB with beginners. I try and get them to use the black dots…so, as this book contains TAB I would only use it with experienced students or adults who want to work on melody. Thus, the 3 star rating because I can’t use it for everybody I teach.The Good: The songs are cool! It is a good supplement to the Ukulele Book 1 so if you are purchasing that book, this is a good add on to your purchase. If you are a TAB reader, it is fine.
7 people found this helpful
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This is just right
I am a beginner, and this book is just perfect to carry around with me and practice. I don’t have to worry about charging up my laptop to find ukelele chord music to play outside or in my car or whatever. The only problem is that I have to stop to turn the pages. I don’t have to do that with my laptop. But I like the freedom and light weight of a book. The songs are classic in this book, and great to learn.
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good book
I have the method 1 book and want to continue. Method 1 made it very easy to learn notes and chords
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great
This product it is really helpful, for a beginner UKU player, i really recommend it.I start using it, and is easy, since i got it, i play and play my UKU
9 people found this helpful
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familiar songs. simple to learn.
bought the easy songs and the method books 1 and 2. easy to follow and learn. familiar songs. great price.
One person found this helpful
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I feel it’s a useless book for someone learning tab
I play several instruments, but have never learned a string instrument before, so I decided to start learning the ukulele. The book starts by defining very simple music terms which I found silly (like “verse” and “chorus”), But it gives absolutely NO explanation of how to play the tablature. I have no clue what all the numbers on the four lines listed as TAB even mean. I wish it gave SOME kind of explanation of how it all worked. I feel it’s a useless book for someone learning tab.
2 people found this helpful
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A Great Way to Start!
I bought this songbook for my beginning Ukulele students. I love the tabulature in addition to the notes. It’s a perfect way to learn the fingerings while learning to read the music, words, & chords. The songs are all familiar. I think it is a good supplement to any instruction books.
16 people found this helpful
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Worth picking up
If you are a beginner, this is really worth picking up. Lots of great songs, like “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry,” (Come back, Hank Williams…)
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Four Stars
My daughter says it could benefit from some more contemporary selections.
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Enjoying This Book
I don’t love every song in this book but I do like most of them. The chords are mostly easy and great for establishing a foundation. This book and the
Makala MK-S Soprano Ukulele
were a gift for my wife last month and she sounds great playing the songs.
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Great beginners guild for learning the ukulele and playing songs
Great beginners guild for learning the ukulele and playing songs. Simple and easy to follow. Don’t give up and you will be able to play fairly quickly. Very fun instrument.
2 people found this helpful
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Four Stars
Good song book for Uke
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Don’t get this on your kindle.
I’m a beginner uke player. Some of these songs are easy for me, but others provide a good stretch. However the kindle format means you have to turn pages to play the entire piece. You can make the image larger, but that cuts off part of the page. I suggest buying the book. I do love the Hal Leonard Fast Track books for uke and harmonica. I’m going to order this one in paper.
4 people found this helpful
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A good basic book for beginners
wide song selection. easy to see cheats, Print is very dark and high contrast – you can see all the notes even if slightly buzzed on mai tais. Not all the tunes are going to be your faves but you will probably like half of them. Not bad for a book with twenty songs. With the notation, I expect that this book would be very good for duets, one fingerpicking and one strumming.
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Great for Beginner Uke Players
My daughter loves it and has now learned most of the songs.
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Ukulele book
I bought a ukulele for my grand-daughter. I grew up with the guitar, I don’t know how to play the ukulele, this books has the fingering charts, however, I’m not sure what sounds are correct…so, the book is great, but the player (me), I still don’t know what I’m doing.
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Just OK
This book is definitely for a beginner. You can actually get most of this type material for free on the Internet if you will just do a little searching. But the book does serve its purpose and it is a good purchase if you would rather have a book than trying to find some similar material on the Internet. It also makes a nice gift if someone is receiving a ukulele for the first time.
34 people found this helpful
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The Internet Really Makes This Obsolete
When I bought my first ukulele two years ago, I purchased this songbook. What a mistake. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the songs. Each title includes sheet music for piano with easy to read ukulele chord diagrams. And the most difficult chord in any of the songs is a B flat–and that isn’t that tough to master. You also get complete lyrics.So what’s the problem? There are only twenty songs, and not a lot of variety: five Beatles songs, two songs each from Elvis, Woody Guthrie, and Hank Williams. Truth to tell, I haven’t opened this songbook since the day it arrived. There are numerous websites where you can print practically any song you want. Why would you spend good money on this? And this songbook says nothing about strum patterns. Overall, it’s just not very helpful. It was a rookie mistake on my part. I wish I had my money back.
3 people found this helpful
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Easy read and to learn the songs
Such a easy to read and learn uke book. I love that’s it tabs. I don’t play often so not good at uke or guitar but this is a book I can play the songs and pick up no matter how long it’s been since playing
2 people found this helpful
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Easy pop tone for uke
Pro – I like the strings with the number of the fret on it as well as the chord bars shown for the songs with the words.Con – It could tell you when to play the chords and with what strumming pattern as well as when the picking comes back on. This could be used as a duet with one person strumming the chords while the other person does the picking.
2 people found this helpful
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I love that this has the tabs
I love that this has the tabs. It makes it easy for almost anyone to pick up and play. The songs are great, a nice variety of genres.
3 people found this helpful
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Ladies and Germs, I present….
Good book. Songs are easy and fun. Hell, if I could play everyone of these songs well, I’d be a hit at any party.
3 people found this helpful
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Not much Popular Songs
I was expecting popular songs – old and new, but it is the kind of a song book that is nice to have but will be not be in use. I wish for song books like this, there is a way to view the lists of songs.
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Loving the Hal Leonard series!
We had such great luck with Book 1, we ordered Book 2 and lessons are coming along wonderfully. I also ordered Easy Songs for Ukulele Supplementary Songbook, which my 11 yo daughter LOVES. These books were recommended by her instructor – highly reecommend!
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Four Stars
Everything we need to learn simple Ukulele and have fun.
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Purchased for Self
I did not recognize too many of the songs, and there was not very much variation to the music being played. I recommend using online music/chords/tabs if you want more popular, up-to-date music, or even easy songs like these in the book
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It wasn’t what I was looking for.
The book is probably a good book but it wasn’t what I was looking for. I was looking for the old folk songs I learned to play on the ukelele on but the songs in this book were too modern for me.
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Four Stars
Still learning to play.
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Good book but not for me (yet)
I bought this thinking I can start learning my daugther’s ukulele that she no longer wants. Boy was I wrong ! This book is great, in my opinion once I find the Ukulele for Dummies or Ukulele 101 book.
One person found this helpful
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Love this book
The little diagrams with the dots above where you change cords is just what I was looking for. You don’t have to memorizethe D cord, or the C cord, etc. Much easier to play songs without much memorizing.
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decent songs
has couple of cool songs in here, tells you chords, not that great of a selection though, but im happy.
One person found this helpful
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Good book
Good book. It has good songs, but I wish it had more classic songs.It also makes u rate the book and you can’t get out of it so I’m giving it a lower score.
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very good
Great songs, but there are easier versions out there. I am a very new beginner and found some of the cords difficult but all in all this is a great book of songs
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Wonderful!
This is the best book for beginners! It has tabs too. It’s got the song “walk the line” and “your cheating heart”
2 people found this helpful
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A beginners delight
This is a very useful book for the beginner.It is written very well with this in mind.I recommend it highly.It arrived in very good time,packed to perfection,and in first class condition
One person found this helpful
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useful for uke players
I enjoy trying popular songs on the ukulele. Especially when the chord diagrams make it easy to figure out how to play the chords on the uke! More like this.. please!
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Good Beginning Songbook
This book has a lot of good eawsy songs for the beginning player. It should be used witth the Hal Leonard Ukulele Method, Book 1 to teach students, or yourself, to read notes (or tabs) which ultimately will lead to a better more advanced uke player. The songs can also be played just with chords.
2 people found this helpful
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The book is okay but the song aren’t all that great
I just wanted to learn to play the Ukulele for fun and bought this in addition to the Uke which came with it’s own book and DVD. This book is okay but the songs are more on the lame side. It was cheap enough but I don’t think I’d buy it again knowing what I know now.
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Starter book
This song book is a little thin on music and chord charts, it was a good starting point for me but i needed several other books to really get enjoyment out of this purchase.
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Easy to follow
This is a great songbook for ukulele beginner; with the pictures of the chords right above the text / notations and the selection of the songs almost “guaranteed you will know”, as a complete beginner I had a blast trying them all on the 1st day I picked a ukulele into my hand
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ukelele song book
I was disappointed that the book was more suited for adults than an 8 yr old child who was beginning to play. The instructions were good, but I did not think I could give it to him b/c of the song selections. Age appropriateness would be good to lidt with this item. Thank you.
2 people found this helpful
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Easy Songs for Ukulele
Came on time and in great shape. Haven’t had a chance to play any of the songs, but looks like great songs. Thank You
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Great for learning!
This was great! Everything I expected. Made a perfect gift for my wife who is learning how to play. It was fun for me too and I already play.
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Good songs
Like the songs good for a beginner like me~
One person found this helpful
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Perfect for beginners
Ecellent and easy to follow.
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great book
I purchased this book in hopes it would help me learn to play the ukulele. There are a lot of great songs in this book. Now I just have to learn to read and play them.
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Songs that are fun to Play !!!
Great little book that is loaded with songs that are fun to play on my Ukulele.
2 people found this helpful
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Great for the Novice..
This is a nice book to have for your first song book. Call me old fashion but I like a songbook instead of having to hunt songs on the internet. For the money its a good deal.
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Okay
Nice, simple, with the chords, tabs, and lyrics. Don’t like that you have to stop and turn pages. They could have avoided this easily and included more CURRENT songs. Other than that, it’s okay.
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Four Stars
Good.
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Four Stars
Good basics for Uke
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Very Cheaply made but works
I have to leave the back stand out all the time, because it is made so cheaply, however IT DOES WORK, just don’t open and close it to many times.
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Books
Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1
$7.00 Buy now Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1
$7.00
60 reviews for Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1
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Best for true beginners
My beginning students have a good experience with this. Even students with music background in another instrument get value out of it, although they sometimes breeze through very quickly. I usually recommend this paired with the “Easy Songs for Ukulele” supplementary songbook.
4 people found this helpful
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Misleading product information
Amazon’s customer review set-up runs into problems in the case of books which come with or without CDs or DVDs. Similar problems are found in in the case of abridged audio books, which are often quite different from the printed original, with their own good and bad points. It would be nice if product descriptions and reviews for obviously distinct original and “spin-off” products were not transferred automatically to the others with the same name. Reviews could still be accessed by clicking to open Amazon’a “all editions” page for these products.The product description for this instruction book indicates that it comes with a CD. This is not always true. The product which comes with the CD is this one:
Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1
. Another version is available without the CD:
Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1
. You may be reading this review on the Amazon page for either product. Make sure you get the one you want. The book without CD could be useful where there is an experienced player to teach the learner, but most people would probably prefer the product with the CD.
104 people found this helpful
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Great for Beginners
So far it’s great! I got it to go a long with my instructor. The pages and font are a perfect size so if you have a hard time seeing the font I’m sure you would see this perfectly. Great way to starting off in learning to read notes if you don’t know how already!!
One person found this helpful
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This book is great so far
This book is great so far. As an absolute beginner I find it fairly easy to understand. Granted I’ve just gotten started but if the rest of the book progresses in the same fashion as the first few exercises then I should at least be able to play a few tunes and have an idea of musical notation and TABs. I think this is a great book for beginners.
2 people found this helpful
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Great intro book.
Reviewing the kindle version. Excellent book. Shows the basics of chords, notes, and strumming variations. Sets a solid foundation of basics for building on.
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Good book to start!
I liked it it is a good book to start and not expensive
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This is a great curriculum. Really user friendly
This is a great curriculum. Really user friendly, teaches Tab and makes the instrument really approachable, even for very young or inexperienced students. I kind of wish it taught chords a little sooner, but I think that by and large, it’s a great book for teaching beginning students to play.
4 people found this helpful
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Beginning ukelele players
I was able to use this book to teach myself the ukelele.The CD that came with the book wasn’t very helpful as I had nothing to play it on; no CD player. Great book for beginners though.Joined a community group to help myself improve & taking more classes on my own.
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Awesome beginners book
What an amazing book! I did not even know how to read sheet music. But now I do! This book has helped me learn chords, notes, tabs, and lots of other concepts. Great book for someone just beginning to learn ukulele
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Excellent Instruction
I’ve used Hal Leonard books for years and have always found them well written and informative.
One person found this helpful
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Very beginner
Good for a super beginner. I started with a different but and trying to advance, so I returned it.
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Not as good as their Guitar Method Series
This book is ok. I would have prefered if it were formatted the same way as the Hal Leonard Guitar Method series, where standard notation is taught first and tablature is introduced later. Presenting both notation and tab from the start is confusing for a lot of my students. It’s a lot to look at while one is just beginning to learn to read and play music.
One person found this helpful
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Easy to Follow, Very Comprehensive
I picked this up with no prior Ukulele experience, but with some experience with other instruments. The material on learning to read music and picking melodies is excellent; the descriptions of strumming patterns and techniques is a little hard to follow. I wish some of the examples were a little more developed, but it’s a great guide to learning. I’m glad I went with this over other books which only offered chords.
5 people found this helpful
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Very Helpful
This has been very helpful to me. I am just learning the ukulele and I wanted to learn to play melody. This book is very easy to follow and I was able to begin plucking songs almost immediately. They were basic nursery rhymes, but I learned the notes and good techniques as well. It is a very thin book, only 48 pages, but it has good info in it so I feel happy with this purchase.
12 people found this helpful
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Great learner with great information and useful music theory
If you’re just starting off, or already familiar with playing the uke, this is a useful book. I like that it doesn’t just show how to play a chord, but also how to play single notes, different types of strum patterns, and some useful music theory. I also like that you’re able to log on and hear examples of each section in the book. Highly recommended.
One person found this helpful
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great book. It begins with basics and build up …
great book. It begins with basics and build up with well explained examples. I was expecting the book to jump in with chords so I was surprised to see that the program started with learning the notes on each string and the C major scale. That exercise was actually a good foundation for the chord lessons that followed! The struming techniques were well illustrated. Really enjoyed this book and flew swiftly through the lessons in two weeks and came away feeling accomplished and ready for more.
13 people found this helpful
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Great book
Great ukulele tutorial book.I wish it didn’t have religious songs included, but, that aside, it’s a great book to learn from and, as an instructor, I recommend it to all of my students.
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Good book for beginners
I got this book to try to learn ukulele. Zero previous experience and still it was easy to follow the book.
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Great book
Bought this for school. It is easy for my son to follow.
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Great for my learning style
I picked this up for kindle after trying a number of other options and by far this had been the best for my learning style. It’s a good balance of songs and repetitive practice. It also has images of how to finger the cords which isn’t something all the books have and makes a huge difference when you’re trying to self teach. It’s great solo and I’m betting even better with a tutor!
3 people found this helpful
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Great Book to start as long as you have prior music experience, teacher or guide
I bought this book for my wife who is just starting to learn to play the uke. She played clarinet years ago in school but this is her first instrument since. This book is a great foundation for learning not just harmony but also melody, etc. She struggled a bit with some of the concepts but I was able to guide her though it so I feel this book is better suited if you have prior music experience or for working with a teacher. There is a wealth of information here and working through it all will give you a solid foundation to be a well rounded musician. I’ve used similar Hal Leonard method books for Guitar in the past and they are all good.
2 people found this helpful
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Complete course for learning the ukulele
This book, along with the second book in the series, is a complete course for teaching the beginner to play the ukulele. It’s designed to take a total beginner and teaches them to play. You have to start at the beginning and progress your way through to the end – it doesn’t work to just dip in the middle.The author’s approach is a bit unusual because he starts off teaching finger-picking individual notes to create melodies (tunes). Most books or classes start by teaching strumming chords, singing at the same time. In this book, chords are taught later. Some music theory is also taught, but not to a major degree.I actually bought this book then joined a class. The book’s approach didn’t mesh with the class’s approach (which emphasised strumming songs), so I put the books aside. It was only much later, after attending the classes for about 18 months (great fun, by the way), and reading about ukulele playing and music in general that I began to appreciate the clever way this book is put together.It’s pitched to the total beginner. It doesn’t ask too much, and gradually builds the learner up. The songs are chosen to be playable by the beginner. It also introduces some music concepts along the way. The CD is very good at demonstrating the play described in the book and the author gives further explanation. I think the CD is essential to the book.The book is not without it’s faults, but most of these are minor. I think an explanation of it’s approach and what the student will be able to do at the course’s end would have been helpful. Perhaps some further advice on how to go about practicing would have been good. Some descriptions of the likely difficulties a student might encounter as they are learning and how to get over them would have been useful (and encouraging). For example, the awkwardness of getting your left hand into the correct position to form the chords, and also discomfort and slowness changing chords. Perhaps more explanation of how the individual techniques being taught fit into the big picture of playing ukulele songs. What do they contribute? Maybe some advice on how to choose a good beginners ukulele (and avoid a bad one).Most of these are minor tweaks, rather than deal-breaking complaints. I’ve come back to these books as I’m now learning finger picking. I now realise what the author was trying to do.I think it is possible for a beginner to learn to play the ukulele – both strumming and finger-picking – from these two books. I don’t think the learning experience would be overwhelming for the total beginner. I guess that’s the beauty of the author’s teaching method.
86 people found this helpful
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Great Method book!!!!
This book starts with the basics and moves on to more difficult patterns. Has songs as well as exercises to develop skills.
2 people found this helpful
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A Gold Standard
Hal Leonard is the gold standard for self-taught music, regardless of the instrument. This is true for his series on ukuleles. Simple to read, because of its large size, he will have you playing chords, scales and sheet music in no time. I guarantee it.
2 people found this helpful
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Disappointed
Supposedly (per cover) this include audio access, but I don’t see any key or any instruction about how to get this access. (Also I don’t find in this page how to place a question, so yes, this is question if anybody can help me).The images cannot be enlarged and sometimes they are barely readable.Only pro: readily accessible
One person found this helpful
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No Audio
I assumed that this came with downloadable audio tracks. Haven’t been able to find anything in the book about being able to do so. Very disappointed so I came back the next day and bought the actual book I only give this 3 stars for this reason.
One person found this helpful
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Hal Leonard Books – Sets the standard high
I purchased for my granddaughter to use, as she begins her music journey. The format and method of instruction is just easy and practical to learn. I began playing the classical guitar using the Hal Leonard classical book.
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Nice introduction
I’ve been playing uke for a little over a year, but I want to go beyond just strumming. This book is helping me begin to play melodies on the ukulele. I have very little formal music education, so a beginner book like this is good for bridging that gap, as the emphasis is on working with the basics of notes and tablature as well as keeping in time.The exercises are clear, well laid out. Each one builds upon the previous work.Since I’m using kindle on an IPad, my one critique would be that some music pages are split up. This can be an issue if they won’t appear together as you play. Of course, as you memorize each tune, this becomes less of an issue.I had purchased a physical copy of the book and misplaced it. I am very pleased the Kindle edition of this book was under $5.00!The physical copy doesn’t include a CD; the audio files are online. I love having the audio together with the book!
15 people found this helpful
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Needs Digital Audio Library
This is a decent book for beginners that will help you learn music theory and some basics for playing the ukulele. It is relatively easy to follow even with only some prior musical experience, and something that can supplement lessons very well. I like it, but am also very disappointed that Hal Leonard has a website for digital recordings for some of its books and this one is NOT included. An introductory book should have audio recordings so learners can hear strumming techniques and the included songs to begin to develop their own playing techniques and style.
4 people found this helpful
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What a GREAT buy! Great starter book
A thorough book for beginners to understand all parts of learning a new instrument. I am a woodwind musician that has never touched a stringed instrument today and this book gave a full understanding of the instrument and teaching scales and chord families in a way that sets you up for success. My partner, who had never touched an instrument before, has confidence in her learning journey as well after this book. 10/10 recommend!!
2 people found this helpful
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One of the finest ukulele tutorials in the market
This is one of the finest ukulele tutorials in the market. I have no rhythm and I’m tone deaf. Learning music, even on the delightful and charming ukulele, is a chore for me unlike anything most people can imagine. This is one of two books I constantly fall back on to refresh my most fundamental skills, to remind myself the differences between minor and major scales, to guide my clumsy fingers as I strum chords, pluck melodies, or just play around with different combinations of sounds. I cannot count the number of “learn to play the ukulele” books in my library, but this is one of two that I replace every time the covers tear, the pages get ruined by spilled coffee, or my current copy gets lost.Everything the beginner needs is here, presented in a smooth,natural progression from the very first notes to complex strum patterns interlaced with a variety of flourishes and melodies.
73 people found this helpful
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Good starting point…
Okay, I don’t know how to play anything so I started with this as suggested for beginners. Just bought a ukulele and since this was featured got this also. I think it’s pretty good for someone just learning the basics about music and playing the uke. Have not put the CD on yet, until I can get a little more experience with the fingering, but it was included with the book…one person said it wasn’t, so don’t know what happened to theirs. Of course you’ll get really tired of Row, Row Your Boat and Twinkle, Twinkle…but I already have my eye on some Dylan (YES, he really has a songbook for ukuleles!) and a Blues book, Waaayyyy on down the road. I think Lil Rev gives good information and instructions and at least gets you started doing something that at least sounds familiar. Will probably also get his second book when I get through this one. This might help someone who already plays a guitar to get acuainted with Ukulele chords, but probably not much else.
6 people found this helpful
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A good start
The constant juxtaposition of tablature and staff notation can allow players to learn one form of reading, without learning the other. But; it does a good job of progressively teaching students basic concepts
One person found this helpful
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Great Beginning Ukulele Book
I did like the book very well. Teaches the basics of reading in general, but it was a good refresher and many cute songs to strum along with. Plus gives recommended strumming techniques.
One person found this helpful
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Intermediate level
I found it very helpful with choosing but the rhythm teaching was kind of confusing and some of the music listed was kind of obscure and I didn’t know them. I have an extensive history with music, reading piano sheetmusic, and playing guitar and I can see that this book would be confusing for the novice.
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Good beginner book
Teaches some strumming and TAB.Pretty much like anything Hal Leonard.
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Simple, well-paced and solid methodology.
Great start for anyone with basic music knowledge, but also suitable for complete beginners.
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Be careful and choose the 2010 edition.
If buying the kindle book, look at all available options and choose the 2010 EDITION ONLY. The 2005 edition, while cheaper by a few dollars is inferior quality. The musical notation portions of that edition were scanned images that are grainy and blurry and the overall formatting is poor. Also it doesn’t include any of the audio tracks. Even if you don’t want the audio specifically, it’s worth the few dollars extra to have the crisp images of the later edition.
Ukulele Method Book 1: Bk. 112 people found this helpful
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Easy to follow
Have made it 1/3 through the lessons and find it easy to follow and a nice intro to playing the ukelele!
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Solid Introduction to Understanding the Ukulele
I bought this as a Christmas present for some great Nieces and Nephews. I went over it first and found the book to be a super introduction for a person who really wants to learn to play more than the normal three chords on a Uke.This set is terrific if you are interested in stretching and learning to understand what can really be done on a Uke rather than just getting stuck in one key. This book will easily lead you out of the doldrums which happen in many beginning instrument courses. It is a great source for a foundation of learning which … is what you need to play any instrument.The price is right at Amazon, the DVD / CD just reinforces what is being taught and progress is as fast as you want it to be.Dion – Chicago
One person found this helpful
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Four Stars
Good instructional book for beginners. Would like to see more in it for the money, but still good
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Fine quality books
Simple for beginner or advanced. Fine quality books. Notes along with the songs. Explains easily how to do each note using the uku. Will order more. Get the whole series is what we may do.
One person found this helpful
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It’s ok, it just may not be right for everybody.
I am an instructor. I do like a lot of the material in this book however I personally don’t like to teach out of books with TAB with younger students. So, I would not recommend it to my younger students, but I would use it with older students, so that is why I gave it only 3 stars. The book has some good songs in it. If you want to start working on melodies and can’t read music then this book may be fine for you.
8 people found this helpful
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What i expected.
Arrived on time. I like that the book uses “tabs” instead of just notes. It has the notes as well but the tabs make it perfect for beginners. This will be a great tool to help my students learn proper fingerings of chords and a few basic melodies.
One person found this helpful
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Fantastic Book
This is a must have book for all the beginners out there.. I just picked up ukulele 5 months ago… Illustrations and audio are perfect …..So easy to follow….
One person found this helpful
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Great for beginners or as a refresher
Great book to have on hand if you’re just starting out on the ukulele. It goes over all of the basics notes, chords, and playing techniques, and even teaches you how to read sheet music and tablature. Songs in the book range from children’s melodies to folk, blues, bluegrass and even some classical. Can’t wait to master them all and then pick up Book 2!
2 people found this helpful
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Learning to read music made attainable
Great for beginners. My adult daughter is using this to learn. She’s used other Hal Leonard music teaching books. They don’t disappoint.
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Hal Leonard Ukulele Method book 1
Glad to have bought that. at 73 you think you know everything you have learned in your life and you find out you know nothing,or have forgotten most opening this book made me come downt to earth with a bump, and yes My Dog Has Fleas.Have to get a CD player so I can listen to the CD instructions 5* publication, 5* for seller, 5* for postage and Packing
One person found this helpful
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Best choice
I wish I’d found this book earlier, it is so helpful. I feel I am making real progress at last. It is so well set out and clearly explains everything and you don’t need to be able to read music to understand it. I am so happy I have found this. The examples are not difficult to follow and at last I feel I’m getting somewhere. I highly recommend this for beginners (like me).
25 people found this helpful
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easy to understand
I got this book as part of a beginner Ukulele class I am taking. It has been a good book to start with.
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I’ll admit I was skeptical about this method book, …
I’ll admit I was skeptical about this method book, but this was just a reminder to me to not judge a book by its size. Every page of this 50 page book is chock full of lessons and songs that progress as you learn. This is a MUST for a new ukulele player.
One person found this helpful
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OK for Me. But for You, Who Knows?
Being a complete beginner, the first part of this book gave me a decent start. However, once I got past the first few pages, I began to find contradictions between this book and other, mostly online, sources concerning some of the chord fingerings. I then began to find more useful information other places.
One person found this helpful
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Hal Leonard Ukulele Method Book 1 (with audio CD) (Bk. 1)
A very basic book about the ukulele but if you are starting out and have no background in music or understanding about reading notes and chords this is a good place to start. The Ukulele is a fun instrument to learn, wish I had found it 20 years ago and the Hal Leonard book is a good place to start. If you have a background in music, skip Book 1 and good onto Book 2. I suggest you consider purchasing both at the same time and save yourself some time. The CD is also a useful tool as you get to listen to what you should sound like.
2 people found this helpful
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Do not spend money on this book
I’ve been playing ukulele for about two weeks and everything in this book really put me farther behind. I don’t think it’s necessary to learn the single string notes when learning to play the ukulele because I’ve been practicing learning songs in chord form. This taught me nothing I didn’t already learn from using youtube FOR FREE. I am so upset I spent money on this unhelpful book that was also a huge waste of time reading and trying to play along. There are pages where the notes and tabs do not go together and it makes no sense. See my attached photo. This book simply will not be helpful in advancing your skills. Perhaps it’s because I can read music, but this book was incredibly confusing and the opposite of what I was hoping to get from this purchase. If you really want a ukulele book like I did, save your money and get a different one, or better yet: go to a music store and see what you’re getting before you buy it.
16 people found this helpful
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Start Here
Great first book for all aspiring ukelele players.
One person found this helpful
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Confusing lessons
Very disjointed lessons. Book is supposed to be for beginners, and one of the first strum patterns is very difficult and has to be counted as 16th notes. I have spoken with two ukulele instructors and a number of players, and none of them recommend trying this pattern. After introducing this pattern, the author then goes back to a very simple strum pattern. My instructor rewrote some of the chords in some of the songs, which is counterproductive. We both became frustrated with the lessons, and I have switched to other instruction books.
10 people found this helpful
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Ukulele book
Bought this so I could learn to play that ukulele I purchased in Hawaii! I already play guitar, though it has been a while. The reviews indicated this was the book to buy. We shall see. Now to make the time to get to it!
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Looks Good
I probably won’t start for a while because I have so many commitments left in 2017, but I have always been pleased with your books.
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Great Tool
Very helpful in learning the chords and how to play the Ukulele.
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Recommended by instructor
This Ukulele method book was recommended by our instructor. It has been great so far (few months in) and we love the songs in it!
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon CustomerAmazon Customer –
Great material, but product not shipped well.
These are great beginner books. 2 stars because they were shipped “brand new” but arrived with broken spines. They need to be shipped in something more sturdy so they are not folded in transit.
One person found this helpful
Yulduz Bozorova –
Ok
Ok
Kindle Customer –
Music in me.
Nice and easy for me to learn.
Tina smith –
Five Stars
My husband loved it
Cheryl Cherry-hill –
Good buy!
I got the book for my 85 year old mother who just started guitar lessons. She loves the book because the notes are large enough for her to see!
One person found this helpful
Gabbie M. –
Love it
This is a great guide for beginners.
JR –
Five Stars
Easy to follow
Sharon Clark –
Great choice.
Easy to follow and understand, starts easy and builds on skills as you move forward without throwing you in right away.
Charles Wilson –
Five Stars
great
Morg –
Great!
Great beginner guitar book! no confusing terminology, and always to-the-point!
Amazon Customer –
Good starter book for guitar
Could introduce strumming and chord structure more instead of concentrating on picking notes
jp –
would have been 4 stars but no sound files
At a private teacher I do like this book…. but obtaining sound files is proving to be next to impossible. Of course you can shell out 13.46 for the cd but that seems a little unfair. Anyway, I did find it in iTunes store and purchased it and … viola….the sound files are included and actually will play….. but they are too fast for beginners. My plan was to find these files on my laptop (I know they are not coming from the cloud as they work even when I turn off my wifi) and use the Anytune app to slow them down…. but I can’t find them on my hard drive! They are there somewhere … but I can’t locate them. Anyway, if you are reading this and have found these files please let me know in a review. I would say in the questions section but for some reason I can’t find the “ask question ” link…. ugh.
5 people found this helpful
william –
Perfect start into playing guitar manual.
Exactly what I was looking for. Shipped quick. Highly recommend this seller.
Rick –
Been around for a generation
The original edition(s) of this classic beginner’s book date back to the 1960s. When I was 8 or 9 years old (1965-ish), my dad bought a beginner’s guitar for me, along with this book. I was glad to see that the book is still around [in an updated edition], and I bought it as a future gift for my grandson… or someone else if he decides he doesn’t want to learn the guitar.
One person found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
very good
My friend wanted me to teach her 8 year old son how to play the guitar, so she asked a retired music teacher what a good book to use is, and he recommended this one. So we each got it and so far I am very pleased with it. I have never known how to read music (I learned to play chords years ago, but never to read music)but this book teaches to read music as you learn which string of the guitar plays which note and where it is on the music staff. I am learning things as I teach my little friend also. I really like this book. It is simple to understand and it is laid out in a way that I (and my student) don’t feel overwhelmed. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about playing than just chords.
7 people found this helpful
Kara Anne –
Great book for a beginner
I bought this book for a friend. As I am giving her lessons. It is well written and easy for a beginner to understand.
Harpo –
Good for beginner
Easy to follow. Good for beginner.
R&M –
Great Book for Beginners
Fantastic book to start learning how to play and read music. Very simple to use where you don’t need a teacher to help you thru the book. I started with this same book over 40 years ago and I just bought it again for a friend who is wanting to learn to play.
2 people found this helpful
L. M. Bolt –
Easy to understand and very helpful
I’m three years in to re-teaching myself piano with Alfred’s books and I’ve always wanted to play guitar as well so I bought this one. All of Alfred’s books are easy to understand but, as with anything, practice makes perfect. I’ve been doing the lessons for just over a month now and am pleased with my progress. Playing any instrument takes time and practice and I find myself wishing I could play more than three simple lines of ‘Ode To Joy’ but ,as with the piano, I know I’m learning things at this necessary stage and this book is very helpful.
One person found this helpful
invisible –
Not the most inspiring elementary music book.
This is an elementary level book, which has pictures, fretboard diagrams and standard notation. Many of the songs are traditional ones but others would be unfamiliar to the twelve year old target reader. It was designed to use song files which were not included and not linked so I suppose this means the learner must learn the song before they can hear it played. So I doubt that any child I know would be motivated to practice without strong mentoring from a teacher or family member. At this point I’d say it would not be as effective otherwise.
Nurse James –
As good as ever
Every bit as good as when it was part of my training in 1965 forming a strong foundation for learning music theory as it applies to Guitar. This purchase is in an effort to show my Son how to fret with all Four fingers.
Mark Weathers –
Great
This is a great beginner’s guide to learning to play the guitar.
catherinepb –
Good method, but not so good theory
It seems to progress in a very methodical way from one string, two fingers, onto the next string and eventually all fingers. So the student can work up those callouses and build the finger strength gradually. I’m not sure I like how the theory is presented, and so I use a separate book for the music theory. That’s why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars.
Amazon Customer –
Kids need to learn slower.
It is great accept it goes to fast unless you have a teacher helping you. I have a teacher to help me but some people don’t!
A.Prime.Shopper –
Miss the chord chart
It is still a good tutorial for learning to read music on a guitar. However, I REALLY miss the chord chart that they used to have inside the back cover. It is now best for only note by note playing.I used this many, many years ago when I was learning guitar, so this has probably been through several new editions since then. But, one of the most useful references was the the index with finger charts for nearly any chord. If I had known that it no longer contained this, I probably wouldn’t have purchased it. Will have to use on-line chord references instead.
8 people found this helpful
Lou –
Not very basic for a beginner, more like a lesson on music reading
The book is good but not what I expected for a non player beginner.
Sandra Robinson –
Guitar method for us oldies works!!
Maybe it’s because I’m ‘older’, I am struggling a little. Mainly with the first string cords, but each time I practice them I see an improvement and better understanding. This book is great for explains thing in a clear and precise way. Love it. Highly recommend it.
PeterSz –
It is OK I guess but it did not help …
It is OK I guess but it did not help my kids to want to learn the basics of the guitar.
Muhammad Bilal –
Easy to learn
Very easy and detailed information for beginner learners
TimM –
Good basic book
Bought this for our 11 year old daughter, who wants to learn the guitar. I went through the book and brushed up on my cords and note reading so that I could help her. The book makes it very easy to learn the basics and our girl is having fun trying to learn the instrument.
One person found this helpful
Amazon Customer –
Cool
Cool
G. Davis –
Good, needs to be updated.
Good instruction, old songs.
Leo –
Very instructional
Very instructional
Norma V –
The foundation to learn the guitar and play it.
This guitar study is an expanded version of the Alfred guitar book 1. A basic study for the beginning student or a guitar player who would like to learn guitar basics and theory.
One person found this helpful
Cher G. –
She is very happy with the book and it is easy for her …
My daughter has started guitar lessons and this is the book her instructor asked her to purchase. She is very happy with the book and it is easy for her to follow.
Gene’O McQueen –
guitar hero
was excited to open the package and start playing. although i have a long way to go to be the hero that enamours mariah carey i’ll practice, practice, practice until she recognizes my style.
One person found this helpful
Luke Freml –
Nice book
Nice book
DEEVCO –
Five Stars
Needed for guitar lessons and was recommended by the teacher.
Roderick E. Tankerson –
Good Buy
jumps right in. best for teenagers and adults.
Clara –
great book, very useful for beginners
Came fast, great book, very useful for beginners.
SaigonSteve –
Good for the basics
Good book for learning or reviewing the basics.
Simon Segal –
I’m happy with the item I’ve got from
I’m happy with the item I’ve got from you
CWalker –
Five Stars
Great book for beginners, children or adults.
Amazon Customer –
Don’t buy this if you are looking for the chord progression chart.
It is missing the last page of Chord progression chart. I bought this for beginner to have the legacy chord progression chart.
One person found this helpful
loraleep –
Five Stars
Great book, great condition
DuArte –
Five Stars
Great deal!…
Dudley E Craig –
Basic Guitar Method ???
Only 3 pages of measly instruction; the rest of the book is some music reading but mainly sheet music you can get in many other places.I would return it but I was only suckered for $7.00.
One person found this helpful
Chan Chun Man Philip –
Alfred’s Basic Guitar Method 1 (kindle)
I bought the kindle version for convenience sake. But the images in the kindle version were so blur that I feel being cheated. It is below the usual expectation. Finally, I have to buy again a printed version.
5 people found this helpful
Mary A. Harris –
DVD missing
My husband likes the book but it does not have the DVD that was suppose to be included.
One person found this helpful
Kim B. –
Easy to Understand
This book is great, however we can’t access the digital files to listen to the samples that you follow.
Jasonian –
Great guitar lesson book for beginners
Great guitar lesson book for beginners! I bought it for my son who just started lessons, but I’ve been using myself to practice and learn so I can keep him interested. Very easy to follow.
Amazon Customer –
Great book
I sell learned allot from YouTube. But with this book I learned to play melodies and read music. It has some great songs.
Pina –
Easy to follow
Easy to follow
Ninjagal –
Easy to follow
Very easy to follow. This was highly recommended by a friend who teaches basic guitar and I’m glad I got it.
Amazon Customer –
Fundamentals of music
This is a great book for beginners. It will have you playing music withpractice in no time.
sveda277 –
This was a great deal because I got the basics 1&2 and the …
This was a great deal because I got the basics 1&2 and the theory book for the price the music store was selling each.
One person found this helpful
Claudio –
Four Stars
really good
vincent –
it helps
na
donna casale –
Love it
I had same book 30 yrs ago very goid
Emma –
good
Good helpful for the beginner. Teacher recommend me to buy. Good good good. Hope to play guitar well. Fighting fighting
One person found this helpful