Rage Time Returns! These Guitar Books SUCK! DO NOT BUY!

[@franxuante07]

I rly wish there’s a better version of that Johnny Smith book. I can’t read music at all and I even approach all the music theories via tabs and the fretboard. Johnny Smith was the guy that brought me into jazz guitar. As a rock guitar player, I had not listened to any jazz before. One day I was just curious and searched jazz guitar songs. The first one popping out was his Autumn Nocturne. It completely blew my mind. Later I got into quite a few jazz/fusion songs (tho never learned to play jazz), but Johnny Smith is still among my favorites. His voicing is very unique and imaginative. He defo has a special understanding of the instrument

[@thepostapocalyptictrio4762]

As someone who has had an on and off project transcribing the Well Tempered Clavier for ever, I’ve learned how tough transcribing Bach pieces can be. Good to call out bad transcriptions.

[@mattk9089]

I think part of the problem is the publishing companies and book editors. Part of the problem maybe that music editors are not necessarily specialists in guitar. One very minor gripe I have is that some transcription books of albums will put the songs in alphabetical order rather than the order they appeared on the original album! That is just probably standard publishing company convention being applied rather than thinking about how the end user might prefer to use it.

[@markinthemix6055]

I always appreciate you reviewing guitar lessons and instruction books. Please keep it up. I’m a sucker for a good book or lesson program.

[@JohnPrepuce]

In general, the vast majority of guitar music can just be notated in treble clef (of course transposed by an octave) so the use of the grand staff is just cumbersome. Tabs are a very important part of guitar notation as well, and you have acknowledged that in your videos. Any modern composer, engraver, or transcriptionist who doesn't use tabs for guitar music makes things much more difficult for the guitarist.

[@walletinspectorband]

I also bought that Bach book unfortunately and the fingering was so bad I basically never touched it. I'm glad you're calling it out.

[@LeviClay]

Make sure you leave it a 1 star review on amazon. Protect other consumers!

[@walletinspectorband]

@LeviClay i normally never like to leave bad reviews, but in this case I felt scammed.

[@LeviClay]

@@walletinspectorband people with bad intentions rely on you feeling bad as a way to keep scamming others. Don't feel bad for getting the word out and protecting others! :)

[@vincent8707]

To be fair writing a book which requires a 7 string guitar is cutting a huge player base out of the market. A strategic error like the Kursk incursion or NATO expansion.

[@LeviClay]

Not when I present an alternative and actually address it rather than just doing it and then claiming it’s 100% accurate. Accuracy and respect means more to me than the few people who will be put off by the reality of the music.

[@mbmillermo]

About Vai and the clefs: I haven't seen his book, but I have noticed that there are lots of clefs but only three main kinds: F, G and C. An F-clef fixes the F below middle C, a C-clef fixes middle C, and a G-clef fixes the G above middle C. So while we are most familiar with bass clef (F), treble clef (G) and alto clef (C), all of those clefs can be shifted to different lines and they become different clefs, but they always point to F, G or C. Is it possible that Vai added more clefs to make this more general point? He obviously is a professional show-off (that's what he was doing when I first saw him with Zappa's band back in 1982!), but he might have been making a useful point, even for beginners.

[@LeviClay]

I like your charitable interpretation, but no. No context is provided. They’re given no explanation and equal weight

[@javierrodriguez4218]

8:07 *laughs in "Mr. Goodchord's Almanac of Guitar Voice-leading: For the Year 2001 and Beyond"

[@DaveDurango]

What are your thoughts on some of the older neo-classical books like Celentano Rock Around The Classics, Fath's 24th Caprice, and John Tapella's Challenge The Masters?

[@LeviClay]

So of those, the only one I have is challenge the masters. It’s fine. I think of all of those things as accessibility options, because once I learned to read I just started arranging from the source material

[@brodycobbguitars]

Dave Celetano is amazing. His books are fabulous, imho.

[@DaveDurango]

@@brodycobbguitars Agree. I love Rock Around The Classics

[@johntimland9394]

That was nothing like the old school Levi rants that I recall. It’s much better this way and better for your health. Happy New Year !

[@AndKento]

Love this! I'd also like a counterpart of some of your favorite music books

[@mbmillermo]

By the way, the Prelude in C Major (BWV 846) is playable by two guitars with a simple left-hand / right-hand division of notes. The guitar playing the left hand part can play all of the notes in the correct octave if the low E string is tuned down to C. The left hand starts at middle C and ends up two octaves lower. It works neatly as a duet. For solo guitar it can't be done properly.

[@mindcontrol67]

Levi have you seen the art of guitar channel and his series on bad tab books?

[@LeviClay]

I have! I’ve enjoyed some of them!

[@ludwignobel]

Guitar notation in grand staff was used by none less than Fernando Sor (i.e. his Fantasy in c minor). J. Smith obviously chose this method for good reasons (voice leading gets much clearer this way than cramming everything into one system), and no editor has the right to "correct" this delibarate choice. This is a book for advanced musicians who can read in all clefs and transpose ad lib. As much as I like your content, you really went to far with your comment on this fantastic book.

[@LeviClay]

They have the right to stop printing it ;) And let me get this right… it’s a book for “advanced musicians”…. That starts with all the stuff I teach in literal first lessons with students? Ooooook 👍🏻

[@ludwignobel]

@@LeviClay Ok, I should have phrased it "aspiring advanced musicians", I give you that. And having the right to stop printing is not the same as changing the intentions of the author, is it? Nevertheless, no bad feelings here, man. Keep up the good work, and all the best for the new year!

[@LeviClay]

@@ludwignobel no bad feelings taken. I open and welcome challenging questions! Discussion is good! I don't agree about aspiring advanced musicians though, unless past a certain point ALL music is written on grand staff, and it just isn't. It was presented on the open market of ideas, the market decided no. As for is it down to the publisher to make changes. It actually kinda is. Books are changed all the time to update changes in approach to language for the audience. They absolutely could make those changes as this book has got a lot of criticism over the years for this reason. But at the same time, I'm glad it exists and that you enjoy it! Have an awesome 2025 :)

[@landerspolimis3690]

Very impressed with this podcast Levi. I don’t see how telling the truth about your findings in these books offensive. I am impressed you want to save your subscribers time and money. Happy New year to you and yours. 🎼🎸

[@ross-sound-journal]

Ive also toyed with the idea of notation for guitar in grand staff, while still keeping the octave transposition. My reason, however, is because I had an 8 string acoustic built. However I returned to treble clef because the drawback of grand staff became clear. I was notating the thumb on the bass clef, but often times it created an unruly reading experience, especially when the thumb played notes higher in pitch than any of the fingers. Bach's lute suites were notated on the grand staff, so the idea has existed for a long time now. Lute music as a whole started out with fairly basic tablature, relying on letters as opposed to numbers. But as the range grew, grand staff was adopted for certain instruments.

[@LeviClay]

I really like grand staff for wide range acoustic stuff like that. The major drawback is that a LOT of it is in open tunings… and notation for open tunings is dumb

[@ross-sound-journal]

​@@LeviClay yeah notation for open tunings can be very cumbersome... Weird thing for me is that it is still easier to read than tab. I have almost never used tab outside of the books I've written and reading it confuses me because I typically think of notes in terms of solfeggio.

[@kurtklingklang5918]

Guitar based music books have been ‘crap’ for a very long time. I’ve always assumed it’s because the author is a classically trained musician that doesn’t actually play guitar to any level at all. When I was 17 I decided I wanted to play guitar. Unfortunately I didn’t know anyone who did. So, I bought a guitar that ‘looked nice’ along with amp and also a LED Zeppelin guitar book. The chords used and illustrated in chord boxes were generally ‘cowboy’ chords that just didn’t sound like the recorded versions at all. Because they weren’t. Another very common problem is music writers transposing famous pieces, or chart hits, into completely different keys - usually without mentioning this. Consequently, when you’re trying to strum along to Wonderwall, or whatever, it sounds absolutely garbage, and until you understand some donkey has randomly transposed the song into a completely different key, you are left scratching your head, and getting disillusioned.

[@Guitarfactor]

Hey Levi! I was wondering if you have any books on learning the fretboard or triads? I am fairly new to music theory and your books on scales, chords, and arpeggios have REALLY helped me!

[@LeviClay]

Well I’d say those resources are pretty intense as is. BUT I have actually just finished filming both a triad mastery course, and a learning the notes course that I plan to have out as soon as possible. Both are in excess of 10 hours of video, practice routines, etudes etc

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

I think calling Johnny Smith stubborn might be an understatement. Re Bach two part inventions writing them at guitar pitch does necessitate a lot of ledger lines (unless you simply write 8va) and guitarists moan about that too. Tbh the transposition thing still catches me out sometimes if I’ve forgotten I’m reading a lead sheet as opposed to a guitar part etc. when it comes to piano music transcriptions, I honestly don’t know what the best solution for the learning reader is tbh. But that book sounds unforgivable …

[@MannyScottGuitarist]

Hi Levy, when will you release your book of the 2 part inventions? Thanks

[@LeviClay]

Middle of the year

[@ross-sound-journal]

I've always loved playing Bach. Ive always used the scores on the IMSLP, and transpose/arrange myself. It is incredible how many people aren't aware of the octave transposition issue. Hope all is well with you, from Ross the Music Teacher

[@FriedMetroid]

I love how it seems like everyone in any genre if they are really deep into music, loves Bach As they should

[@joshdixonmusic]

Thank you Levi! I almost bought one of those Bach books the other day. It had 4.5/5 stars on Amazon, but I couldn’t find a sample page to read, something was off about it, so I was left undecided. So glad I didn’t buy it. Thank you 🙏 I will look at buying your Bach book when it’s out.

[@mbmillermo]

You are right about everything. I'll just say that there is one advantage to that Johnny Smith book: It forces the reader to learn to read bass clef and to play piano music properly on guitar. I like your idea. Maybe you can convince Mel Bay publishing to a let you rewrite the Johnny Smith book. By the way, I met Mel Bay back in the '90s in his store in Kirkwood, Missouri. He was telling me stories about playiing in juke joints in the Ozarks as a teenager in the 1920s. His kids were working there and they yelled at him, "dad, leave the customers alone!" I said, "no, please don't! Tell me more." Thanks for the warning about the Gruber books. I'll be looking for yours.

[@Truthinshredding1]

Happy new year 😂😂😂😂

[@KeefsCattys]

I play mandolin and I'm trying to learn to read standard notation more fluently so I can take full advantage of the wealth of violin music out there . I learned guitar with TAB , but hate it when the notation isn't there too , because it gives you more information . Some TAB is awful, especially on sites like Ultimate Guitar etc .

[@agent_o_range]

My only disappointment as far as music books go is the old classic Wolf Marshall’s Yngwie Malmsteen solos book.

[@Summalogicae]

What was the problem with those? These are for Rising Force and Marching Out?

[@CarrigansGuitarClub]

The 80's were littered with disgraceful tab books....that hindered players than improving their technique!

[@YavorArseniev]

Excellent way to start the year, but what an odd mix of anger, nostalgia and joy this video has triggered in me. Glad you're not hiding the flame of righteous anger. That being said; Happy new year, Levi! May it be healthy, joyous, successful and inspired and filled with delightful surprises and magical moments! As for grand staff; there were a coupe of times I've appreciated it (e.g: Bach's Contrapunctus 1 from Kunst der Fuge for classical guitar), but I do agree that it is rather demanding and also a challenge to engrave. But I hate ledger lines enough to advocate for it. The clef switching one gets used to quite quickly, it is the standard for most Viola da Gamba repertoire.

[@chrissmart9761]

Bach Humbug! I still miss Guitarsoles. Hope you are doing great levi.

[@ChainsawChristmas]

I almost bought this exact book very recently. Thanks, Levi! Edit: The Bach book.

[@x2mars]

So, where do you notate middle c on your transcriptions? I was confused by this stuff for years!😂

[@daynenichols3745]

Great video! Not necessarily books, but ALOT of online guitar sites will sell guitar licks/transcriptions, and the TAB is correct, but the notation is terrible and is completely incorrect. I've been a reading guitarist for over 25 years so I instantly know if it's crap! I feel they just put the tab in and then hope the software will put in the correct notation and then don't check it either through laziness or lack of reading skills.. I think if you're selling it then it should be correct. The thing is thousands of people purchase this stuff and it never gets called out until someone who actually has some knowledge calls out the mistakes.

[@sauerkrautoneverything7807]

I transcribe some of Bach's stuff for myself, just did BWV 1023. So easy in Guitar Pro with its keyboard shortcuts to fix the fingering. When I spend money on transcriptions, I almost always wind up copying them into Guitar Pro to fix them. Trusting a transcriber could physically injure you, inhuman arrangements, and a lot of them must be tone deaf.

[@daveassanowicz186]

Well, get Bach. Get Bach. Get Bach to where you once belong ...sorry

[@markperry7655]

I find it interesting how guitar and bass players will often be unaware that they’re transposing instruments in the first place. I wonder how many bass players learn music from the cello suites and think they need to use a 5 string and go lower, rather than playing everything up an octave? I’ve had a few go’s at learning that stuff on bass vi, which works well for the higher range. I could imagine drop C on guitar being ideal for cello music. I have grown up hearing my dad play prelude in G in drop D, so up a whole tone, which I guess is the standard on guitar?

[@Gallywomack]

It seems such an odd thing to be unaware of, just listen to a recording of the piece you're attempting to read or transcribe and your ears ought to tell you you're playing an octave too low. I've tried transcribing one or two movements from the cello suites for bass guitar, deliberately transposing down into the lower register of the instrument (rather than playing at correct pitch in the upper frets). It soon got too complicated for my limited musical brain, because on 4-string bass you couldn't simply transpose down an octave, and after laboriously transposing down a fifth or whatever I started to question whether the resultant muddy rumblings were actually worth the effort 😆

[@markperry7655]

@ I had a misguided brainwave a few months ago, where I thought that pretending that the bass clef for the cello music was treble clef would bring the cello low C down to the bass guitar’s low E, it actually brings it down to just an A (that would work from treble to bass clef). I did manage to work with that by imagining that my bass was tuned up a fourth (ADGC). Bit of a mindfuck, but then again, that’s probably what musicians who know they’re playing a transposing instrument get used to?

[@LeeMcDaidDonegal]

You are so right, Levi. So many terrible books put out, even yet in 2024. Now, I know I mentioned this before (and I know you've said you have worked on major rock acts transcriptions) but I would love to see you update/modernise/correct some classic Guitar work. I would pay good money to see your name on a transcription book that had proper transcriptions of (just some of my favourites Guitar solos off the top of my head) "Baker Street" "Wuthering Heights" "Moonlight Shadow" "Bad Love" "Rosanna" "Another Brick In The Wall" "Rikki Don't Lose That Number (actually, I'd love to see you transcribe all of Steely Dan's back catalogue) All of Mark Knopfler's solos, all of Brian May's solos et al :)

[@chocomalk]

I remember getting a double edition music "transcription" of VHI and VHII in the early 80's as a gift and it was not tab, all done at the wrong octave and no solos...I nearly cried lol I could read music though so it helped get me in the ballpark...ish

[@mrguru75]

I had one Book that notated Flamenco pieces that were originally played with a Capodaster as if they were played without, totally unplayable although the notes were the right pitch, the tab part was totally wrong. Seems also so like a case of someone notating the pieces that never played the guitar and had no idea of the concept of a capodaster on the guitar. 20 bucks down the bin……

[@JeffMasonProject]

Great vid! I've heard about Johnny Smith's grand staff concept and was interested but now I will avoid it. About Stefan Gruber others have also complained about his fingerings being terrible such as the Bach Cello Suite book which I personally own and mostly ignore. I appreciate that he published those and they're fairly cheap and actually contain all the movements of the Lute/Violin/Cello suites and are great if you want to get a rough outline of what they all are. A lot of other books only publish one movement here and there. In the case of the Inventions and Sonatas book I just got it in June and I had this thought, isn't the right hand supposed to be an octave higher? If you have a book like that ready to go I would gladly pay for it and use both.

[@LeviClay]

Well, unlike Stefan, I’ll be putting care into mine. Recording all the audio, videoing performances etc. not just downloading midi and publishing it as though I put any work into it 😂

[@JeffMasonProject]

@@LeviClay Excellent, I'll buy it! Rock on.

[@mathmusicstructure]

Thank you for telling us this! I love transcriptions of classical pieces for guitar, and I could easily buy these and be disappointed.

[@CYBERDROiD9000]

Thanks Levi! I stumbled upon these books on Amazon and was curious about them. I almost bought one of them. I'm glad I didn't. ;)

[@HeartofthePiano]

As somebody who sometimes honestly (and fairly) makes reviews with sometimes furious heated responses, I admire your bravery in confronting this author directly. It's always gutting when you've spent huge amounts of heartfelt time & energy crafting things that you see other people tossing out carelessly. Btw though it's very jarring to hear somebody from the UK saying 'grand staff'- this is an Americanism

[@LeviClay]

Americans don’t get a lot right, but musical terminology is a slam dunk. Crotchets and minims are silly

[@Stemma3]

9:44 that's bad even for piano. The second system can be written all in G clef.

[@DaveDurango]

1. I've missed these videos. Shitty shit needs to be called out. 2. I'm frothing at the bit to get my hands on your Bach book.

[@BeyondTigerMilk]

"frothing at the bit"

[@DaveDurango]

@@BeyondTigerMilk ?

[@BeyondTigerMilk]

@@DaveDurango that's not an expression

[@DaveDurango]

@@BeyondTigerMilk ""Frothing at the bit" is an idiom that means to be very impatient to do something. For example, "The team was chomping at the bit for their chance to play the defending champions" tell me more oh wiseman

[@BeyondTigerMilk]

@@DaveDurango no. That's a bad ai result. It's not an expression. Find actual uses of it.

[@hinduismwithpremananddasbhagat]

Anything that says mel bay I avoid.

[@NitroHavok]

Ah, its so therapeutic to watch someone as anti - social as me rage over the things they're passionate about. Heres to another good year mate.

[@YavorArseniev]

The passion bit I agree with, but that's the type of rage coming from being anti-anti-social, not anti-social.

[@TheSonsofHorusx]

I mean how well would it work if you just took 2 part inventions by Bach for piano and played it on guitar? It wouldn’t have the fingering but I’m sure you’d naturally find the pattern soon enoughb

[@LeviClay]

Well, evidently not well because everyone has half of it played in the wrong octave

[@chrissmart9761]

What do you think of Ted Greene's unique notation, or Pat Martino's woo about the I Ching? On the one hand, I'm so impressed with people who can come up with the ideal system for them, for how their particular brain works. But does any of it make much sense to the rest of us?

[@DaveDurango]

Can you explain what you mean about Pat Martino?

[@LeviClay]

Great questions! Ted - I love his single not soloing books. I don’t like the chord books. I feel that if you have to have one of your students write a companion which you can download from his site as a way of making it clear how to use it, you missed the mark. Pat - I’m a huge fan of him. I have his signature guitar. I have a picture of him on the wall in my house. I’m glad it worked for him, but it’s nonsense. We are pattern seeking mammals, and Pat put WAY too much weight on patterns he saw, thinking of them as sacred. I remember him talking about his dad’s workday, when he went to work, when he ate his lunch, and when he came home. He pointed out those three points on a clock… make a triangle. That was a sign to him. Let’s ignore the fact that a day has 24 hours because we decide it does. And a clock has 12 because we decide it does. And your dad’s hours are due to his boss. I have. I idea how it works for him, but I’m glad it does. For me? HARD pass

[@chrissmart9761]

Levi nailed it. Clearly, this way of thinking worked for Pat, and the results were great. I will always regret not seeing him live (see also: Jim Hall) but his explanations of things are just too far out for me. I once thought that this must have been because Pat didn't go to music school, but then again, most didn't back then. They learned by doing, on the bandstand, and by lifting from recordings. Plus, I recall reading that he studied with Denis Sandole for a time as well. His "system" works for him, but I regret buying a Truefire course about it. Awesome player though, and the fact that he learned to play the guitar twice is remarkable.

[@DeffoZappo]

What is the telecaster behind you

[@LeviClay]

That’s my hybrid guitars 7 string tele

[@DeffoZappo]

@LeviClay flipping gorgeous 😻

[@stevenwarner9156]

Really looking forward to your transcriptions of the Bach inventions! Currently almost exactly half-way through Rick Graham's arrangement of the prelude to the E major violin partita; think I know what I am going to have a look at after finishing this prelude! Definitely going to avoid those Bach books, good grief! Thanks for all that you do.

[@GaryWatling]

Johnny smith was a monster player and musician. He was a great reader.

[@robertrees5161]

Did you re-write any of the johny smith music into treble clef only?

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

I agree with most of what you say here, especially about the pluses and minuses of Johnny Smith (I wrestled with the book many moons ago, and loathed its non-transposing notation while liking most of its content). Where I would disagree - and this is a minor cavil - is in your description of tab as a system of notation; I would describe it as a system of fingering diagrams. Tab is particularly useful in situations where the guitar is tuned very differently from standard tuning (think Nick Drake), but the corollary of this is that an identically tabbed passage would yield different sonic results in different tunings..

[@LeviClay]

I know what you’re getting at, and that would be true if tab doesn’t include rhythmic notation. But it should. Always. After that, a 3 on the A string of tab is just as valuable as a dot on the first ledger line under the staff. They’re both just instructions that tell us what to play and we learned to interpret them.

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

@@LeviClay There's still a difference, though, Levi - and I say that with the very greatest respect for you and your immense understanding of both the guitar and music more generally. The difference, as I understand it, is this: that while both systems are intended to yield (in any given context) a specific sonic result, only standard notation (allowing for conventions around transposition, of course) explicitly specifies a pitch rather than simply indicating a hand position on the fingerboard. The two systems complement rather than duplicate each other.

[@LeviClay]

@ again, I don’t agree. Because when write a C and give it to a trumpet player and he plays it, I don’t hear a C. I’m not sure I see a semantic difference between “explicitly specifies a pitch” and “simply indicating a hand position”. They are, for all intents and purposes, the same thing. When you see a note in notation, that is literally just indicating to you how to place your hand on your instrument to achieve the sound the composer wanted. Notation is essentially tab for piano. In standard tuning, tab explicitly tells you a pitch. If you show me a number in tab I will tell you the pitch without hesitation. The fact it has the added utility of being a cool tool for altered tunings just adds to it. But the core idea of a number somehow telling you less than a dot in regards to pitch feels like a heavily flawed argument, possibly out of a love and experience of notation.

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

​@@LeviClay Your first point I already anticipated when I made reference to conventions around transposition. There *is* a semantic difference between specifying a pitch and indicating a hand position on an instrument like the guitar that can be tuned in countless ways other than standard tuning. When you see a note in notation it only tells you what the pitch is, not where to play it. (On a 24-fret guitar, written E above middle C can be played (in different locations) on all six strings.) This is why fingerings and Roman numerals indicating positions are often used as additional aids to the guitarist by composers and editors. In standard tuning or any other tuning, tab only tells you where to put your fingers, and that - I would argue - is its unique strength. You can, of course, infer the pitch from the finger position indicated - if you already know what it is. I am not prejudiced by any irrational love for notation, Levi; like tab, it is a tool that does a particular job. Both tools are useful to guitarists.

[@LeviClay]

@@Khayyam-vg9fw When you see a note in notation it only tells you what the pitch is, not where to play it. - so... we just ignored that notation is the tab of piano? :/

[@mattevans060972]

Levi, you say you can’t play the D below the open low E string or the C or the B below that. You claim this is because the notes don’t exist on the guitar. I think you’ve just not practiced hard enough.

[@LeviClay]

I know… I’ll get there one day 🥲

[@mistersternberg2]

Thanks for the warning! Glad I won’t get scammed.

[@gianlucapolitano3228]

I bought the classical series 😭😭😭😭 (I read modifies... So what???? But are them accurate?!?! Does he wrote those midis???) holy crap!

[@LeviClay]

No, he’s just downloaded the midi from the internet and printed it after putting it in notation software. They’re no accurate. All the right hand parts are in the wrong octave, and the left hand part transposes notes that go too low

[@TheJML1975]

Is there a way I could pay you for a one off transcription? Or is that only available if i join your Patreon?

[@LeviClay]

if you have the budget, sure - that's what I do

[@TheJML1975]

@@LeviClaysorry I didn’t get a notification for your reply! Thank you for replying, and how do I go about seeing if I can afford your transcription skills?!

[@LeviClay]

@@TheJML1975 haha the general rule in life is if you have to ask, then you cant. BUT you can contact me on my website.

[@TheJML1975]

@@LeviClayhaha got it! 😂 on with my ear training it is… 😤

[@kagreen2k]

But what about the chair workout?

[@FionaMisty]

I enjoyed this review! I had bad experience with Melbay books. The amount you pay for what you get is ridiculous, such a rip off. The arrangements themselves are basic as well. I was hugely disappointed in their Christmas arrangement books because of that reason. Returned right away. Have you had any experience with Michael Mueller's 100 lessons books? (Specifically the acoustic one)

[@LeviClay]

I can’t say I have!

[@ChrisBrown-oo4bf]

Just curious. I know you'll recommend your book, which is fine. But, are there any Bach books out there that you might recommend?

[@LeviClay]

Haha I can’t recommend mine because it doesn’t exist yet! But the beauty of Bach is that he’s 100s of years old. Every bit of Bach you could ever want to pickup has been printed before and can be picked up for pennies! It won’t have tab, but that’s the joy!

[@ross-sound-journal]

The IMSLP has everything.

[@lucydayLucida]

The classical clef site has literally thousands of guitar tabs, Bach and everything else you can think of, for free. I use what's available there as my benchmark when it comes to books like this. So far, I've not come across any worth paying for, for the reasons Levi goes into, among others.

[@sonoman9095]

Happy New Year Levy!!!. Thanks for denouncing this kind of material. There are a lot of guitar books around that are crap.

[@The_Macaroon]

Love this getting called out. The Art of Guitar guy does something similar with bad tab books. Its actually disgusting to do such a bad job.

[@lucydayLucida]

I have a similar book: Vivaldi Made Easy for Classical Guitar. Just no ... !

[@TheDistortionPrinciple]

Megadeth guitar books typically seem to suck

[@TheGazza83]

Yay rage time. Happy New year Levi

[@M5guitar1]

I play piano and guitar and read the grand staff without a problem. I understand most guitarist don't. Not my problem.

[@LeviClay]

I mean, it’s definitionally your problem. If you need to communicate with other musicians, you have to rewrite. If they want to communicate with you, you have to transpose. It’s literally all on you 😂

[@kevinshotter953]

Hi Levi Where are you based? I would like some lessons. Thanx Kevin

[@LeviClay]

Scotland - you can book zoom lessons with me via Patreon

[@jsl21]

Running promo and cutting a promo! Love it dude

[@JesseLacharite]

That. was. awesome...don't mess with Bach :)

[@njt2347]

You know, just simple lines intertwining, he's really influenced by Mozart and Bach, and it's sort of in between those, really. It's like a Mach piece, really.

[@Sitiben]

And don’t mess with Levi!

[@tombstoneharrystudios584]

@@njt2347this piece is called lick my love pump

[@mrb7622]

HES BACK GUYS 😂 Love you no matter what Levi! But I miss “hot” takes !

[@danm3570]

dude I'll buy your book, bach is awesome would like to have stuff like that in tab 👍

[@thiagoborges892]

If people care about Bach's music, it won't hurt to learn to read properly! Most guitar players don't even know Bach or classical music anyway, so maybe that second book is not snobbing or excluding a significant number of players after all! Strange reason for a rant, but anyway... if that's your view...

[@LeviClay]

It’s not “reading properly” though, because that’s not how guitar is notated. And regardless, if you think something should be done a certain way (that’s fine) but we can observe that it isn’t, then it is, by definition, excluding people not in that minority category.

[@JD-vj4go]

Woohoo! Not a book i have!

[@yiguanas812]

I read it as 'Ragtime returns' first time. Guess I am showing my age.

[@marcingolab6227]

Will you be recording the Bach pieces for listening as well?

[@LeviClay]

Yep

[@user-re2yg7lb5h]

So you're going to require a 7 string guitar just because of an octave? LOL I think guitar players know when they play Bach it wasn't written for guitar and is an adaptation.

[@LeviClay]

nice thought, but unfortunately the book is very clear, these are a "100% accurate representation of the original scores", it says nothing about being adaptations. Why would it? He didn't adapt anything, he downloaded midi and let the program do the work.

[@artcontractor2351]

I love it when you do these videos

[@jeffdafonte]

YES SIR. UNLEASH THE FUCKING FURY.

[@johnmac8084]

You can't beat a good Levi rage 😅

[@celeryshredder]

It’s not really “transposed”, it’s ’displaced’. If pitch classes remain consistent it’s technically ‘octave displacement’ rather than transposition.

[@LeviClay]

Yes, but that’s really semantics. Octave displacement is a type of transposition. You wouldn’t say “transpose that up a 6th… transpose it up a b7… transpose it up a 7th… displace it up an octave… transpose it up a b9” etc

[@celeryshredder]

@@LeviClay Semantics matter. Furthermore (as you know), the conversation is always worth having because music theory and all associated terminology is in a permanent state of evolutionary ‘flux’. The process of learning to read on an instrument doesn’t incur a need to transpose, and even in piano music, octave displacement is very common and simply transcribed ‘8va’ with no issues with fingering or other concerns. 👍🏻

[@chrisbassartist4344]

You should add master of puppets for bass…so wrong

[@dcsabi1]

Metallica, Pantera, Megadeth, Extreme tabs are pretty shit

[@tonycoleman7535]

Bring back GUITARARSOLES 🎸🎸🎸🎵🎵🎵🎼🎼🎼

[@denmut]

Great TShirt of a great album.

[@leegollin4417]

Johnny Smith had almost nothing to do with that book.

[@LeviClay]

That’s definitely not true

[@leegollin4417]

@ it’s definitely true. There is a long KZbin interview with the man and he says exactly what I said.

[@leegollin4417]

@ do your research. It’s a well known fact. He would publicly say he had nothing to do with it at every clinic where someone brought book. I also know many of his students and colleagues and this is the truth. He wrote a 2 volume book that Mel didn’t publish.

[@LeviClay]

@ then explain the grand staff which he definitely used and no one else did.

[@LeviClay]

I cannot stress this enough. I work in publishing. I work with many famous guitar players on their books. We can’t just put out books without input from the artist. It has to be signed off on. You can’t just use someone’s name and likeness. Johnny signed off on the book. So he had everything to do with it. He was taking the checks for the books. It’s his book.

[@wandajames143]

His books are lazy and not very good, but there are good ones for guitar. They always will have to be transposed, well usually to fit the guitar. Not everyone play 7 strings.

[@LeviClay]

It you want to do it right, you will though. I’ve had to source a guitar from Mexico for it. If I’m doing it, I’ll do it properly. The music deserves that

[@wandajames143]

@@LeviClayif you must but even Segovia, Breams etc… transposed and changed the key many times to fit to the guitar, since it’s such a different instrument from a keyboard

[@aidybopification]

Barry Galbraith arranged the inventions for guitar 50 years ago. Published via Jamey Aebersold.

[@LeviClay]

@@wandajames143 you don’t change the composers intention. Key maybe, but you can’t just shift these up in key and then they be playable on the guitar…. Unless you want to be hitting fret 24+ on the high E string. Again, I could solve that by just taking the right hand down an octave, but we know how I feel about that.

[@christianamoebe8043]

Großartig!

[@josephmcgurk9393]

The books don’t suck. The “guitarist” commenting on them does.

[@LeviClay]

Cite your sources internet nobody

[@celeryshredder]

Books that are being sold to people parting with their money, assuming ‘quality’ and seeking knowledge, education, and development as a player need to stand up to this kind of scrutiny. Opinions may vary, but are fair and perfectly valid when formed based on sound criteria.

[@sinistermephisto65]

I bought that Bach thrash Rick Beato's book is the worst