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Learn Classical Guitar Online with Graded Method Books

Learn Classical Guitar Online with Graded Method Books and Video Lessons. 

We offer method books with free video lessons as courses of study. All the video lessons are free, offering more flexibility than a monthly subscription site. For a mere ten dollars you’ll receive months of practice and access to the materials forever. 

Each section below (separated by a line) lists the recommended books for your level. Complete each section before moving to the next. When you arrive at the grade 1 book you can start my technique book and continue using it through the other grades. Also visit my Lesson Page often to browse new topics everyday and see addition lessons on various technique and practice topics.

Beginner Level

Proceed through the book and video lessons while using the technique section at the back as a warmup. Everything you need is in the book and all the videos are listed on the sales page (just scroll down to the list). It’s all free and should get you started with reading and playing melodies and arpeggios. When nearing the end of the book, if you feel confident, you can supplement your studies with Mid-Beginner level pieces on my sheet music page.

Late-Beginner Level

  • Supplemental Repertoire
  • Mid to Late-Beginner pieces from my sheet music page.

Proceed through the book while using the technique section at the back. Everything you need is in the book and videos help you with each section. This book teaches you to read and play music in various tonal keys.

Early-Intermediate (Grade 1)

When you arrive at the Grade 1 level it’s time to have a dedicated technique book as well. Study both books together using my technique book for your technical warmup and the grade 1 book for repertoire. The technique book has multiple technique routines at various levels to limit the material to a manageable amount. Feel free to proceed through the technique levels faster than your repertoire. The supplemental repertoire is optional but most people need to spend more time and play more pieces within a level before moving on.

Early-Intermediate (Grade 2)

As you progress through the grades continue with more difficult technique routines from my technique book. Continue to supplement the experience with repertoire at the appropriate grade level or use my Easy Classical Guitar Vol.1 or 2 collection which contains repertoire between grade 1-3.

Early-Intermediate (Grade 3)

As you progress through the grades continue with more difficult technique routines from my technique book. Continue to supplement the experience with repertoire at the appropriate grade level or use my Easy Classical Guitar Vol.1 or 2 collection which contains repertoire between grade 1-3.

Intermediate (Grade 4-6)

Practice the graded books one at a time while adding appropriate technique exercises. When you complete a book it is wise to play quite a bit more repertoire at the same grade level before moving on. Make sure you are confident with the repertoire before moving on to the next grade. This can takes, weeks, months, or years. Take your time and focus on quality. Professional guitarists play music from all the grades but they play it in a very high quality and musically manner. I’d rather a student plays well at grade four forever than play poorly in a higher grade. There is so much beautiful music to play so enjoy it.

Late-Intermediate to Early-Advanced

After grade 6 it will be time to dive into some etudes and fretboard knowledge books and supplements. Another great thing to do is to cover an entire opus of etudes to test and refine your skills in a variety of musical textures. You might find playing some of the lower level etudes will give you a good review and encourage you to focus on polishing your performance/refinement skills.

My Books

Recommended Books by Others

After Grade 8

Play everything. Get every book you can find. Find every explanation from pros you can hear or read. There are also plenty of technique books for advanced players, even my technique book can be used to the grade 10 level.

The Bible of Classical Guitar Technique by Käppel – 245 pages of exercises and excellent text advice. This book is large and can be tricky to organize a routine from but by the time you reach this level you’ll need advanced exercises to tackle your weaknesses and this book provides a wealth and variety of exercises for every technique.

The only method book for technique that I’ve seen for high levels is Kitharologus: The Path to Virtuosity by Ricardo Iznaola. It’s difficult but good. Not for the faint-hearted though. It starts from the beginning with just open strings but progresses very quickly. I recommend starting from the very beginning and using his advice and metronome markings. Don’t skip any pages or you’ll pay for it later. He recommends you stay with an exercise for a least a week or two after reaching the tempo. I find his rest stroke approach, especially during arpeggios, quite intense and not for everyone. I’d recommend having quite a bit of experience before approaching this book. In particular, be cautious with this book if you still have tension and relaxation issues as the technique requirement is so high.