Alfred's Basic Guitar Method, Complete

Recognized for over 50 years as the best-paced and most comprehensive guitar method available, Alfred's Basic Guitar Method has introduced over five million beginners to the joy of playing guitar. Now included are blues, country, folk, jazz, and rock styles, plus more pop songs! Videos are available for the visual learner, and correlating theory, chord, and pop books provide everything you need from one complete method. Learning to play has never been easier or more fun than with Alfred's Basic Guitar Method---the first and best choice for today's beginning guitar students.

The Complete Edition includes Books 1, 2 & 3 of Alfred's Basic Guitar in one convenient volume. It begins with the basics like how to hold your guitar and read music and takes you all the way to advanced playing techniques.

For the first time, companion audio tracks that can be downloaded or streamed online are included with the book, so you'll have everything you need in one place. The online media is newly updated and features video lessons, MP3 audio tracks, as well as TNT 2 software which lets you slow down tracks, isolate and loop parts, and change tempos for customized practice.

About the Authors

Morty Manus is president of Alfred Music Publishing Co., Inc. When Morty joined the company, he had recently received a business degree from City College of New York. As a clarinetist and pianist, he saw the need for quality music education publications. Drawing upon his musical experiences, Morty oversaw the development of instructional publications for accordion, guitar, piano, and drums; performance music for band, orchestra, chorus, and music theory.

Morty is the author and editor of numerous Alfred titles, including Alfred’s Basic Guitar Course, Alfred's Basic Piano Library, Alfred’s Adult Piano Course, and Essentials of Music Theory. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate degree in music from the VanderCook College of Music in Chicago for “having made a significant contribution to the music education profession as evidenced by his outstanding creative achievements, scholarship and leadership.”

Morty met his wife Iris when she was working for Alfred on Saturdays. Iris has worked on a full-time basis for Alfred since the late 1960s, and maintains the position of executive producer.

Ron Manus is the third generation of the Manus family helping to lead Alfred Music into the future. Ron joined Alfred Music in 1988 and today is the company's Chief Business Development Officer.

Ron's energetic and creative contributions to Alfred Music have improved the company in many vital ways. In the late 1980s, he managed the creation and growth of Alfred's New Media division, expanding the company's core strengths beyond book publishing and spurring the evolution of music instruction into contemporary mediums such as software, enhanced CDs, videos, DVDs, and later streaming content. He also played a major role during the 1990s when the company transitioned to a team-based structure, a system that allows the business to react more quickly to changing market opportunities. In 2005, Ron was an instrumental part in the acquisition of Warner Brothers Publications from the Warner Music Group which brought into the company the music of George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Tony Bennett, Led Zeppelin, the Eagles, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Van Halen, Green Day, and hundreds more.

Ron is one of Alfred's top-selling authors, having over 100 published titles to his credit, including instructional items for guitar, bass, banjo, harmonica and ukulele.