Q. What makes Melody and Harmony different from all the other method books out there?
A. 1) Most method books focus on the mechanics/techniques of playing the guitar -- and totally forget about the Music! The Music and Guitar series was written to teach the music concurrently with the instrument -- musical knowledge is logically partnered with technique.
2) Most method books seem to assume that you will have a teacher to teach and explain what isn't in the book. The Music and Guitar series is written to teach you exactly what Mr. Hannemann teaches his students -- the text is Mr. Hannemann speaking to you directly.
Q. What will I learn in Melody and Harmony?
A. 1) Accompaniment Guitar Playing: you will learn to read and understand chords and accompany your singing (or any other instrument) either strumming or with arpeggios (finger patterns).
2) Solo Instrumental Guitar Playing: If you have already completed Fundamentals you know how to read notes and where they are on your guitar. Now you will learn how to play pieces written for solo instrumental guitar, starting from a very simple melody, then adding a bass line, then adding chords, then varying the melody while adding arpeggio playing of the chords to enrich the guitar arrangement. Techniques include the roll, hammers and lifts, the rasquedo, the palm mute, natural and artificial harmonics.
3) Music and musicianship: As part of your on-going ear training you will learn to play, hear, and recognize most of the basic intervals. You will learn to spell, read, finger and use major, minor, diminished, 7, maj7, and 9 chords (and you will learn what those are). You will be introduced to counterpoint; melodic structure and melodic variation; and simple harmonization and variations to that harmonization of a given melody.
Q. Wow!, that's a lot! How long will this take? Will it be difficult?
A. Most of my students having completed Fundamentals will get through the material in Melody and Harmony in 6 - 10 weeks (depending on how much they practice). Like Fundamentals, Melody and Harmony presents a series of simple short Lessons, many only one page in length, others 2 - 3 pages long. Each Lesson focuses on only one element.
Q. It seems like I'll have to learn a lot of songs and pieces........
A. Nope. You can learn all of this in one piece. Theme and variations is a favorite vehicle for composers to write and teach music. You start with a simple melody and then add to it and change it through several variations which increase its complexity. In our case that single simple melody is Twinkle -- with 7 variations (including a bit of the blues).
