Play Solo Flamenco Guitar with Juan Martin Book, CD, and DVD: Vol. 1 Spiral-bound – March 8, 2002

Reading standard notation a necessity for this book. Best if used in conjunction with book two. Juan can take a good flamenco faking blues guitarist and turn him into a 6 year old school kid taking lessons because his mother made him. Both books come with a dvd and then just a cd . The dvd is not a lot of use to the guitarist but I suppose a selling point. The first cd is the music of the first book. It sounds like the way this series was put together is you listen to Juan and wish he would give you a simpler version, And that's what he does. So the first pieces don't make much sense, But if you listen to the finished pieces on disc 2 you will hear the building blocks which are explained all the way back in book 1 grade 0.Grade zero will get you back into reading and make you sound ridiculously inept, but those are the building blocks for the more advanced versions. So, really, and I'm glad I have a teacher to point this all out, just start with book 1 and read. It's not so much playing as just following the directions, every little slur, proper fingering for both the scales and chords even though you can already do it easier using your old fingerings.You do not need to be a great reader to start, but you will need to give up playing and just sit in front of the book straight reading for a while. At first I was a little put off because it sounded like he was just writing easy pieces anybody can play for whoever is paying for the lessons, but now I see each piece has a technique that must be mastered or at least controlled which will come in later when you start really making music. If possible buy both books together so you will have the complete picture and goal you are working towards.

I am on Grade 2 (0 - 5) and I absolutely love every piece. This is not an instructional. It's more like 'Learn by playing'. Reaching grade 5 is a goal that keeps me motivated. In my opinion, past Grade 0, all of the pieces are all interesting enough perform for someone and get a favorable reaction. I mean to say, they do not sound like 'Chop Sticks'.I bought one of his other series ,'La Guitarra Flamenca: A Video Series', to supplement this series, but it doesn't really match up. Chapter 2 roughly aligns with Grade 2 Alegrias.I also bought, 'Flamenco Guitar Method: Volume 1' and the guys accent and the voice overs are so bad that I havent even tried much from it, but it does seem like the best book for drills for various techniques.Juan Martin plays beautifully, using the old style rasgueos. It is very useful to watch him play and mimic his hand posture. Also, I find it useful to rip the audio and play it while going to bed or driving. It helps me get more familiar with the pieces as they should sound, versus how dull it might sound if only following sheet music.Finally, I would say that this book, and most Flamenco books, assume a certain level of competency on guitar already. So, if you have not been playing for a year or more, you should get some other introductory guitar book. Flamenco is not easy.

I'm giving these books five stars, but before I do so, I will admit that I read some of the bad ratings and they do have some validity. Those who say that the video instructions are not helpful are perhaps correct. But, if you have some---not necessarily a lot, but some---ability with the basics of the classical approach these books are great. The CD is vidal, without it one---without some very real flamenco experience---will probably not get much out of it. But with the CD these books are priceless. I tried learning from U-Tubes videos but it's only with these books that I was able to enter into the world of flamenco guitar. The writings are also helpful and interesting and I like the Spanish/English for those of us who are either more comfortable with Spanish or who would like to become better at the language. There is both standard notation as well as tablature for those who aren't too interested in sight-reading, but it also gives these individuals the opportunity to begin learning if they so choose.

First of all I would tell the real story about this product. i.e. It is not for the beginners to flamenco guitar.Secondly you can use this product at the time you know all the basic techniques to be used in flamenco style of playing guitar.If you don't know the exact techniques how to play flamenco, all the solos including in this DVD are useless. So a beginner should look for the basic techniques first and then switch to this product in order to feel the exact flamenco soul.One more thing Mr. Juan Martin is the best flamenco teacher around the world said by Paco de Lucia. And one of the best players.For me I already sent an email to Mr. Juan Martin to introduce a DVD for the basic techniques required for a beginners who want to learn flamenco guitar style. Best of luck all.

Great book for all levels of people learning the various compasses (?) in flamenco. I use it everyday.