Everybody's Guitar Method, Book 2: Intermediate Guitar Book

Purposeful growth. The material never feels arbitrary; each new technique builds logically from what came before, and the blues work brings everything together in a context that feels like real playing rather than isolated drills.

Students who have completed Book 1 and are ready to expand their technical range and musical independence. Guitar teachers who want a structured method that respects students' intelligence while maintaining steady progress.

• Work through the blues section in one key until the riff sits solidly in the hands, then rotate through the other keys. The muscle memory from the first key transfers quickly, and students often surprise themselves with how fast they pick up the transposition.
• Record yourself playing the accompaniment pattern, then layer the riff over it. This turns a textbook exercise into something that feels like actual music-making and reinforces the relationship between parts.
• Slow down the fingerpicking patterns to half tempo when introducing them. Speed comes naturally once the right-hand motion is efficient; rushing it builds bad habits that take weeks to undo.
• Encourage students to experiment with dynamics and vibrato on single-note passages. The musicianship section sets this up perfectly, but it only sticks if they're actually trying it in real time, not just reading about it.

Use Book 2 as the spine of your intermediate curriculum, reserving supplemental pieces for specific musical contexts (concerts, ensemble projects) rather than for remedial technique work. The blues material is particularly valuable mid-year when students need a refresher on ear training and creative thinking before tackling more complex ensemble repertoire.

• Fifth position navigation and sight-reading in higher positions
• Blues improvisation using simple riffs and chord changes
• Fingerpicking technique with right-hand accuracy and independence
• Transposition by playing the same riff across multiple keys
• Expressive playing: dynamics, articulation, vibrato, and tonal control