Around 1996 when I was first hired at Mel Bay Publications, William Bay released the first of several volumes of a new guitar method called Mastering the Guitar. Unlike the pioneering series, Mel Bay's Modern Guitar Method first introduced in 1947, the new series featured a more diverse and up-to-date guitar repertoire in several styles including folk, blues, rock, jazz, Celtic, flamenco, and classic guitar selections. Furthermore, Mastering the Guitar exposed students to both standard notation and tablature without duplicating tunes in both mediums. In short, the public got its money's worth.

By far our best-selling series, Mel's original method was unique in many ways. It got the reader up and playing within the first few pages and introduced only enough music theory to understand the demands made on the player at any stage of the method. While directed primarily towards the plectrum player, it used Mel's carefully graduated arrangements of folk tunes and studies derived from clarinet literature to teach returning WW II GIs to become better sight readers-this with the intent that they might take jobs in the then burgeoning radio and television industries.

Still, with its updated repertoire, various styles and inclusion of tab, I frankly expected the Mastering the Guitar series to gradually eclipse The Modern Guitar Method series- at least in present-day popularity, although it would take years for it to catch up in terms of sales.

But it was not to be; while the pedagogical concepts established by Mel Bay's original method were implemented in the new method, by the time Mastering the Guitar, Book 2C (the sixth book in the series) rolled off the presses, its studies and arrangements in flat-bearing keys were already too challenging for all but the most dedicated guitar students.

So, astutely switching back to "Plan A," Bill Bay not only developed expanded editions of each of the seven grade levels of the The Modern Guitar Method, but contracted skilled author/instrumentalists to write The Modern Electric Bass Method (John Reid), The Modern Violin Method (Martin Norgaard/Laurie Scott), The Modern Viola Method (Norgaard/Scott), The Modern Cello Method (Renata Bratt), and The Modern Classical Guitar Method (Stanley Yates). All of these method books maintain the standard of getting the reader up and playing within the first few pages, gradually cultivating effective sight reading and technical proficiency on their respective instruments. Upcoming Modern Method series books include editions for banjo, fiddling, flute, fingerstyle guitar and recorder.

Recently I was asked to proof the companion DVD for Stanly Yates' Modern Classical Guitar Method. I was pleasantly surprised that the technique that Stanley reveals on that video is very close to what I was taught over the course of ten years of guitar study in Spain. The book is very carefully graduated and the DVD shares concepts and tips that I have never seen discussed in any other guitar method. I couldn't help thinking, "What if I'd had this Book/CD/DVD package 35 years ago, before going to Spain?"

Certainly, I would have been much better prepared and a more advanced player if I'd had Stanley's book before uprooting myself and committing to a teacher in a foreign country, leaving my friends, family, culture, job and mother tongue behind. In retrospect, everything happened as it should have and I gained immeasurably from my experience. Aside from a multifaceted educational experience, I had a complete and delightful lifestyle and family in Spain.

Even so, working at Mel Bay Publications these last 12 years has tempered that experience and made me think of past shortcomings, alternative paths and times when I might have made better artistic/career choices. I've concluded that it's part of the Mel Bay tradition to put us all on a level playing field. Advanced students will always benefit from master classes with a virtuoso concert artist, classes in music history and repertoire, and shared thoughts about interpretation from teachers who may not be concert artists themselves but know of what they speak.

But now, you don't have to go to Spain or even a university guitar department to learn to play the classic guitar. Anyone in the world whether in rural Illinois or the back roads of China can begin to study an instrument and be confident that the technique and musicianship they are learning is authentic and correct. All you need to start is the appropriate Mel Bay method book! Access to electric power and a CD or DVD player would provide icing on the cake.

Flatpicking guitarists should definitely look into the expanded editions of The Modern Guitar Method. Carefully chosen graded materials fill-out and complement these books and they are among the time-tested best for learning to read standard notation on the guitar. So if you're just starting out as a guitarist or if you're an accomplished fingerstyle or classical player interested in exploring plectrum technique, The Modern Guitar Method, Expanded Editions may be the ticket to your success. They certainly deserve your consideration.

Best wishes,
Stephen Rekas
Guitar Sessions Editor

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