Rating: 
Summary: Great for new players
Review: I learnt from this book when I was about 7 or 8, and I found it great to work from. It lasts a couple of years, and I found it incredibly helpful. After that, I moved onto Volume 2 - Check it out as well.
Rating:
Summary: The best introduction to guitar playing
Review: I love this book. It's the unquestioned classic for beginning guitar instruction. If you want to learn classic finger-picking technique, this is the book to start with. By the time you've learned the Carulli and Guiliani etudes near the end of this volume, you'll have a feel for guitar tradition, as well as a modicum of technique. If your teacher isn't familiar with it...find another teacher immediately! If you finish this modest volume and want more, by all means get volume 2.
Rating:
Summary: Does the trick.
Review: I suppose I may be prejudiced in favor of this, considering that it was the book I learned from myself and the only classical guitar method I knew back in those days. Nevertheless, it worked very well for me, and I still refer to it from time to time as a sort of warm-up exercise. I went from this to 700 YEARS OF MUSIC FOR THE CLASSIC GUITAR, edited by Albert Valdes Blain and then to WE GATHER TOGETHER, edited by Ron Rendek. Check out volume two, also.
Rating:
Summary: Great book to start with
Review: If you are a beginner and are serious about learning classical guitar then this is the book for you. I have been using this book for a year and have no regrets about buying it. If you use it to practise seriously, you will definitely see positive results in a month.
Rating:
Summary: The best book to start with
Review: If you wanna start learning classical guitar, this is the book you wanna buy. It includes basic techniques for fingering, music notations, basic scales, etc. Towards the end of this book, you can learn some pieces with arpeggio, which are simple but has an impressive sound. It would be more effective to use this book with "Solo Guitar Playing 1" by Frederick Noad, which has more pieces to practice in this level. Overall, this is a great book to start with, if you are serious about learning classical guitar.
Rating:
Summary: Does the trick.
Review: In my late twenties, I decided that I wanted to teach myself how to play classical guitar. The inspiration came to me long after I had abandoned a frustrating, embarrassing, and futile struggle to learn trumpet as a youth.I bought a bunch of books (I still have them -- the stack is six inches tall), studied with a class given over NPR-TV, and I even took some beginner classes. But I didn't get far. I'd about concluded that music and me were never going to be a "thing." It was about then that Shearer's "Classical Guitar Technique," (Vols. I & II) came to my attention. It looked pretty good! So, I bought Volume II and I took it home. I figured that I must have learned enough over those ten years that I could skip Volume I. But it was clear within a week that I needed Volume I, as well. So, I went back and got it, too. What wonderful books they are! I spent the next two years in near ecstasy as I went through Shearer's lessons. I was actually learning! I was playing an hour every night -- not because I thought I had to, but because I was LOVING it! The songs I was playing were some of the prettiest I had ever heard for classical guitar. Wonderful songs by Sor, Carulli, Aguado, and the likes. And I was playing them! Toward the end of that time I got a copy of Shearer's "Supplement 2, "Basic Elements of Music Theory." I studied it as well, and that was also a good decision. (I never thought to inquire about Supplement 1 -- I don't know why). By that time, one of my teen-aged sons was taking guitar lessons on his own (but on a rock guitar). I sat-in on his lessons. His teacher decided to hold some group lessons in theory for his charges. After watching the class fidget with frustration for three weeks, I asked (privately, of course) if I couldn't have a half-hour with them. The instructor agreed. At the end of that half-hour, the students came up to me to say that they could finally began to see what the instructor had been trying to get across to the class -- and they thought it was cool! Shearer's book had made the points so well to me, that I was able to present it clearly to a class of teen-agers, despite my limited training. Now, I'm still not musician enough to earn my supper with my guitar, and I'm certainly not a music theory expert. But, I have to tell you, I'm a thousand times more of a musician now than I was before, and I owe it all to Aaron Shearer's books. I've never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Shearer, and I probably will never have an opportunity to thank him in person. But I do feel obligated to thank him, and that is why I wrote this. If you decide to try Shearer's books, you will definitely find them challenging. But, from the first week, you will also find them immensely rewarding.
Rating:
Summary: Long Sought Fresh Air
Review: In my late twenties, I decided that I wanted to teach myself how to play classical guitar. The inspiration came to me long after I had abandoned a frustrating, embarrassing, and futile struggle to learn trumpet as a youth. I bought a bunch of books (I still have them -- the stack is six inches tall), studied with a class given over NPR-TV, and I even took some beginner classes. But I didn't get far. I'd about concluded that music and me were never going to be a "thing." It was about then that Shearer's "Classical Guitar Technique," (Vols. I & II) came to my attention. It looked pretty good! So, I bought Volume II and I took it home. I figured that I must have learned enough over those ten years that I could skip Volume I. But it was clear within a week that I needed Volume I, as well. So, I went back and got it, too. What wonderful books they are! I spent the next two years in near ecstasy as I went through Shearer's lessons. I was actually learning! I was playing an hour every night -- not because I thought I had to, but because I was LOVING it! The songs I was playing were some of the prettiest I had ever heard for classical guitar. Wonderful songs by Sor, Carulli, Aguado, and the likes. And I was playing them! Toward the end of that time I got a copy of Shearer's "Supplement 2, "Basic Elements of Music Theory." I studied it as well, and that was also a good decision. (I never thought to inquire about Supplement 1 -- I don't know why). By that time, one of my teen-aged sons was taking guitar lessons on his own (but on a rock guitar). I sat-in on his lessons. His teacher decided to hold some group lessons in theory for his charges. After watching the class fidget with frustration for three weeks, I asked (privately, of course) if I couldn't have a half-hour with them. The instructor agreed. At the end of that half-hour, the students came up to me to say that they could finally began to see what the instructor had been trying to get across to the class -- and they thought it was cool! Shearer's book had made the points so well to me, that I was able to present it clearly to a class of teen-agers, despite my limited training. Now, I'm still not musician enough to earn my supper with my guitar, and I'm certainly not a music theory expert. But, I have to tell you, I'm a thousand times more of a musician now than I was before, and I owe it all to Aaron Shearer's books. I've never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Shearer, and I probably will never have an opportunity to thank him in person. But I do feel obligated to thank him, and that is why I wrote this. If you decide to try Shearer's books, you will definitely find them challenging. But, from the first week, you will also find them immensely rewarding.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for Beginners
Review: This is not a book for beginners. While it does illustrate how to string, hold, and tune a guitar and explain the differences between various guitars it is a total waste if you do not know how to read music.
Rating:
Summary: Not for Beginners
Review: This is not a book for beginners. While it does illustrate how to string, hold, and tune a guitar and explain the differences between various guitars it is a total waste if you do not know how to read music.
Rating:
Summary: The Ultimate Beginner's Book
Review: This is the authoritative beginner's book for Classical Guitar students in North America. Like any rigorous classical method, Aaron Shearer's is not suited to those seeking to learn the instrument without a teacher. The chances are that when you begin study with your teacher, he or she will have you purchase this book. It will be an excellent choice. If he or she is not thoroughly familliar with the book and method, another teacher should be considered immediately.
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