The Guitar Grimoire: The Exercise Book Paperback – January 1, 1999

Will be reviewing further but, with the marketplace, I was able to get most of this serious in great condition for under 45$.The books are amazing and will go into further detail in each review. The exercise book is good; in fact I need to start doing those more. It’s just…The information in these books, especially 2 books covering chords and scales, are so fascinating that I end up just reading through the scales and modes book.One thing to note is how the author puts down a lot of building blocks of music theory at the beginning very well and I’ve learned so much from those alone.Just don’t forget that it can be overwhelming…and that is OK.Just never stop playing and put your heart in it when you pick up that guitar.…and searching Amazon warehouse for some deals on these books!! 🙂

Item as described, happy with purchase

After feeling that I had reached my maximum capability on guitar from just learning songs and my beginner basic exercises. I needed a new challenge to further improve. The Guitar Grimoire gave that to me. In the beginning of the book, the author explains that these are the exercises you need to do for the rest of your LIFE, continuously getting better everyday. I couldn't agree more. You don't get a nice muscular body by showing off at weight-lifting competitions, you obtain it by the exercises you do outside of the competitions. The same goes for the guitar. You see real improvement through your exercises, not your songs. And the Guitar Grimoire exercises have already shown me immense results after just 2 weeks!After just 2 weeks I have noticeably improved my precision and speed on the fretboard AND in picking. I am a fingerstyle guitarist, and before I got the book I was working on increasing my speed when playing Allegro. I was able to play the song at a decent speed but not without immense fret buzz. After my first week with this book, I played for my friends at my guitar club and they were amazed at how far I'd come. Also, the print on the book is fine for me, I've seen some other reviews complaining but it has very clearly printed both sheet music and tabs, plus diagrams. In conclusion, IF you're willing to put in the dedication and time necessary, this book will take your guitar playing to the next level, no matter what style you're in.

Tons of “mindless” exercises to keep you busy while sitting on the couch. Take it to Office Depot or wherever to get it spiral bound. Printing does make it hard to read the numbers at times, but if you know where you’re supposed to be on the fretboard then it’s not that big of a deal.

The only reason I give this 4 stars is the print quality. No issues with the tab or the staff music, the issue is with the diagrams. Over-inked, so you don't see the graphics intention on 75% of them - however, this doesn't keep me from scoring 4 stars at least. I have an Intermediate musical background, and own several other Grimoire's; the understanding of the exercises is clear. I would assume even a slightly better than beginner would quickly understand the exercises given the tab and suggested fingering is there. I would not necessarily recommend to a beginner unless you are really committed to expanding your guitar skills, as it does assume and clearly states at the beginning that if any of it doesn't make sense, you need to consider the "scales and modes" to help you gain that knowledge.Commit to the exercises, and over time (probably quicker than on your own) you will improve speed, accuracy, and articulation.an opinion:I have seen other reviews complaining about the tabs; no issues with my received copy. However, again if you are actually following the instruction provided regarding the patterns I would think that even if the tab is somewhat hard to read (is it a 6 an 8 or 0?) it would become clear based on the pattern explained (or even the staff music).

It doesn’t cover everything but it will get you on the right track perfectly in terms of repetition, this book goes the same way re: said repetitionAll but takes you by the hand and shows youWish this was available when I started

There are a lot of negative comments regarding the Guitar Grimoire series, many of which are simply that they appear to be "dull" or "only the scales, shapes, patterns." Remember that these critiques are subjective, just as my review of it is, however this book is incredible.I can't stand YouTube video collections, "Awesome Licks" style tutorials, etc. because there is a lot of "Just focus on this and this, keep practicing and you'll be there in no time!" with way too much fluff, pandering, and - lacking any other vocabulary - bullshit. I desperately need structure, and this book has it right from the beginning. There are about three paragraphs of introduction, and then it moves directly into the exercises.I would recommend this book to anyone. And no, you do not need to know musical theory before starting this book. While yes, it would behoove one to know that there are major and minor scales before starting, it isn't necessary.

There is a LOT of good scale work to learn in this. Really handy for practicing your picking and your scale runs. Easy to follow the explanations.