William Bay and Mike Christiansen have collaborated to produce an outstanding comprehensive guitar method addressing all styles of both flatpicking and fingerstyle technique. Guitar teachers, take note: Mastering the Guitar series is the ideal method for the beginning student who has yet formed a stylistic preference, or for the intermediate player limited to one particular style who wishes to expand his horizons and improve his technique. an impressive double CD set with more than 80 tracks per CD is offered for both books 1A (96620;96620CD) and 1B (96621;96621CD). Each written example in the books is carefully cross-referenced to its corresponding audio sample on the CD by means of a disk and track number printed above each piece. the student is encouraged to learn to read standard notation and tablature as both systems are used throughout this 3-volume series. the Technique Studies book provides supplementary, more challenging pieces including chord studies in various keys as well as a few pieces in dropped-D tuning. Together, these three books comprise a powerful learning tool for Mastering the Guitar in a contemporary idiom.