Mel Bay Complete Sor Studies for Guitar Paperback – March 20, 2015

Every time I open this book I get another rush of appreciation for Fernando Sor, and another glimpse of his brilliance. The man knew what he was doing. These "studies" do a wonderful job of developing competent classical guitar playing, but he also was a genius composer. These tunes are beautiful and many worth playing in recitals.No. 4 is a great study. The guitarist has to play in the key of C minor which has 3 flats to keep up with, plus the rhythmic challenge is superb. Again, Sor clearly knew what he was trying to accomplish with this piece. I love playing this piece myself just to keep my counting and flat-reading in condition. I don't necessarily think that this book progresses consistently from easy to more difficult pieces (imho), as some easier pieces come after some some rather difficult pieces. But nonetheless, this book is a treasure trove of delightful and very technically helpful, pieces. I teach classical guitar and will suggest this book to my students.All pieces are printed VERY clearly on quality paper, and are extremely well notated giving very good fingering suggestions. There is NO TAB so you will have to be able to read standard notation. The book is spiral bound so it easily stays open on the music stand - really love that!I use this book mainly to practice my sight-reading skills, but have found some jewels that I will commit to memory because they are so beautiful. I am very pleased with this book.

Fernando Sor was a prolific composer for the classical guitar in the 18th century. His popularity led him to compose a large body of instructional etudes and studies. As opposed to other composers of his time that also produced instructional material, Sor wrote first for musicality, second for instruction -- these pieces are therefore very approachable for the beginning guiarist, yet stand on their own musically.Because these pieces are musically interesting, several CD compilations containing the various Opuses in this book are available from online merchants; search for Fernando Sor and you are sure to find them with a bit of effort. For me at least, it is very valuable to be able to hear what a work sounds like before I sit down and try to learn it.Fingerings follow those recommended by Sor with some adjustments. In some cases, I have found need to alter the recommendations but overall the annotations are well-placed and very helpful.One of the best features of this compilation is that the book is spiral bound, it lays nice and flat on a music stand without need for clips to hold the pages down -- I wish all music books were published this way, it is so much easier to work with.I've been playing from this exact book for several years and it has brought me countless hours of enjoyment. For a few years, it (along with Giuliani's Exercises) comprised the bulk of my classical music training under the supervision of a teacher.

Fernando Sor's Complete Studies for Guitar is essential for the beginner, intermediate and advanced classical guitarist. The pieces are deceptively simple, but do require patience and practice to master the correct fingerings and technique. As David Grimes points out in his Introduction, "Fernando Sor (1778-1839) was a leader of the "first generation" of guitarist who played instruments similar to the ones in use today..."Excellent choice for sight reading and goes beyond Segovia's Twenty Studies classic.There are some hidden gems in these Complete Sor Studies that you will want to add to your classical guitar repertoire.

Very quality studies. I definately recommend. They fall between Guiliani and Carcassi studies. The Guiliani studies being the hardest in my opinion.

This Sor study book is great. Unlike other study books that concentrate on repeats of specific techniques, the study book incorporates studies that are melodic and classical and entertaining. It is a refreshing 'other' way to develop guitar skills. For the pure technical aspects that do not necessarily incorporate song style melodies, I also have Carcassi's complete methods for the guitar. It's good that I purchased them both together as I like to alternate between them during my practise sessions.

Easy to have access any etude of the greatest composer of classical guitar period, Fernando Sor. Complete collection of all Sor's studies is a very good idea.

Actually, I'd like to give it 3.5 stars. It's great that it contains the complete studies, but has a large omission in the lack of right hand fingering. For beginners without a teacher this is crippling, although, it's true that beginners should have a teacher. I was an intermediate player twenty five years ago, who stopped playing, and then started again in 2017. I'm just playing for fun, without a teacher, so more annotation would be very helpful. My edition is the Kindle edition, which is nice for the convenience, but it's possible to write on an old fashioned paper book.

For those classical guitar players who grew up playing Segovia's edition of "20 Studies for the Guitar" by Fernando Sor, this Mel Bay book of the complete Sor studies has some real gems in it, including some musically plain etudes as well. The binding is not an issue -- we all know how to clip or hold down pages in a bound volume of music. What struck me immediately was the lack of expressive marks throughout the book. No ritardandos, no accented notes, nothing. Indeed, there are no dynamic markings throughout the book either. No piano, forte, subito, etc. Much of the music itself helps the player determine the dynamics, but I've never seen scores like these. Nevertheless, there are some great pieces in this volume, and the fingerings are generally helpful.

Raccolta completa, ma diteggiature pressoché assenti.

Nicely printed complete Sor Studies. Blank pages left to avoid awkward page turns. There are no faults with the book.

Good bookVery good musicAll are good in this bookI really grateful to the authorWith this book study I may pass grade 8 examination

A very good well writen deserves 5 stars.

Just what I was seeking music wise. However the kindle version appears to have images rather than text which means one can't resize the text which makes it somewhat difficult to read, even on the iPad kindle app. I know it's a minor gripe, but going those with poor eyesight it could be problematic.