Guitar Atlas: Volume 2: Guitar Book & CD

A musical passport. Each section invites you into a different world, complete with the historical roots and living practice that give each style its character. You'll discover unfamiliar rhythms, unexpected harmonic colors, and fingering approaches that reshape what your hands know they can do.

Guitarists at all levels who want to expand their technical and cultural vocabulary beyond standard Western repertoire. This works equally well for beginners seeking engaging material with cultural grounding and advanced players looking to deepen their understanding of global guitar traditions and techniques.

• Study the recordings first before tackling the notation. Hearing the rhythmic nuances and ornamental styles of each tradition grounds your interpretation in the source material rather than generic guitar playing.
• Pay close attention to the rhythm sections demonstrated on the CD. World music traditions often rely on subtleties in swing, syncopation, or metric feel that notation alone cannot fully capture.
• Use the TAB as a learning tool, but develop your ear by listening repeatedly to the recordings without looking at the page. This builds the intuitive understanding that musicians in these traditions develop through immersion.
• When moving between different regional styles, spend time absorbing each one before jumping ahead. The characteristic techniques of Cuban music differ meaningfully from Russian approaches, and rushing diminishes your grasp of both.

Weave individual pieces into recital programs to introduce audiences to underrepresented traditions, or build a complete concert around regional themes that pair well with other world music offerings. The breadth of this collection also supports independent study tracks where students can choose cultural areas that resonate personally while building technique across different musical contexts.

• Playing characteristic rhythms from Cuba, Russia, and four other world regions
• Reading and executing guitar-specific techniques native to different musical traditions
• Developing rhythmic feel beyond standard Western metric conventions
• Translating standard notation and TAB into culturally informed interpretation
• Listening actively to recorded performances and modeling phrasing and ornamentation
• Understanding the historical and cultural roots of global guitar styles