My philosophy on buying method books.

Way back in the late 80s when I started giving guitar lessons I had a student who was very proud of his guitar method book collection.  The only thing is that it was a collection of over 100 grade 1 method books.  I felt a little sorry for him regarding this point, but it did inspire me.

Now that I’ve been playing for 30 plus years and I have studied under a few professional guitarists, and other musicians, I feel like I can judge what information is good for me and worth learning, it’s not hit or miss.

I expect to pay over 50$ for a one hour lesson with a good teacher.  Most books even with a CD cost less than 30$.  So I figure if I can get one new lick, new technique, or learn a new perspective on an old theme, I’ve got my money’s worth.

So why not buy the books.  The only draw back is they take up space, and you need to be committed to reading through it and extracting the data.  You are your own teacher at this point.

I would not recommend this approach to a beginner, it’s no way to learn something for the first time.  With no experience you’ll always be wondering if you’re on the right track.  You need the feedback of an experienced person to guide you through the beginning.  But after you have a handle on things and know what things you need work on I think it’s well worth the money.

copyright 2014 David R Bergman