I love this book, but it took four or five attempts at the first volume before I really started to like it.

I’ve been casually poking at my guitars but have been too unfocused (songwriting, some classical guitar pieces, some Brazilian music, etc.), so I wanted to pick just one structured thing and finish it. Really learning the whole neck and how to sight read well sounded like the most promising idea.

11 days ago I started working through A Modern Method for Guitar by William Leavitt again from the beginning. Last time, I made it almost to the end of the first book before reinjuring my hands.

I picked it up again later, but again reinjured my hands.

In this current attempt, I got through 59 pages of my old 1999 edition, and then ordered the newer 2019 edition to get the videos and audio. I restarted from the beginning a few days ago and am now on page 44.

It’s easier with the videos, because I don’t have to mess around with recording both parts of the duets, but can play along with the videos.

This is my 4th or 5th pass through the beginning material, and it gets better each time.

For this project, I’m playing a Martin dreadnought (steel-string acoustic guitar), but I’ll switch to an electric guitar once the book moves past the lower positions or if my hands don’t hold up with the steel strings.

The picks I like the most so far are Dunlop Gator Grip 2.0mm picks.

Here’s a link to the book: A Modern Method for Guitar by William Leavitt

Update: I also picked up Mel Bay’s Modern Guitar Method Complete Edition.