A Modern Method for Guitar Vol 1 - Thread Index

**fep** · 03-26-2012, 08:49 PM

**ten left thumbs** · 03-27-2012, 03:36 PM

wow. So neat, so organised... so much work.

**Aant** · 04-02-2012, 09:21 AM

Ah, thanks for organising this! It's really useful.

**sully2112** · 08-18-2012, 09:35 PM

Hey Everyone,
I am new to this forum. I have the Modern Method for Guitar complete book which includes all three volumes. However, I have only played some of the material and skipped around a lot. Because of this, I have not learned much. I’m really happy to find others using the same method.

I’ll need to start from the beginning and will post vids/recordings to the forum but a goal of 2-4 pages a week may be a bit much. However, I will try to complete the first volume within 6-8 months. I work full time and attend school full time so I usually do not have much time to practice.

I’ve read a lot of the posts and watched and listened to the performances and I must say I hope I am half as good as you all when I complete the material. Kudos to all of you for terrific work and much improvement!

I do have a few questions:
1. Can anyone help explain how to post vids/recordings to the forum? I only have a laptop with built-in mike and camera (both of which I have never used).
2. What should be the goal, tempo-wise for the scale and speed exercises? I was thinking about 150 bpm when playing eighth notes. Too optimistic?
3. What tempos are meant by: moderate (120 bpm?), fast waltz, slow 4, etc. I did notice while playing some of the material that a tempo almost came automatically. Is this what you all have found?
Well, I think that’s enough for now. Is anyone planning on continuing with vols 2 & 3? I’d like to see your progress and the difficulty of them.

Until next time, peace and good playing,
David

**ten left thumbs** · 08-19-2012, 03:34 AM

Hi David, good to have you on board. The threads are all here, so feel free to dig in!

To answer some of your specific points:

Time. It would be fair to say, I think, that everyone who started the MM study group found it hard. It is a book worth taking time over, and worth taking in order. I'll leave you do to the maths of how much time you have, and what rate of progress you want.

1. recordings. I use a Zoom H2 for audio, and a zoom q3 hd for video. Whether your built-in mic and camera are up to the job really depends on how good their are, you can only find out by trying. You can also buy an external mic and plug it in, it may be better. For audio, I upload files to boxnet, but there are other solutions like sound cloud.

2. Speed. I use the CD rom that comes with the book, and there he starts all exercises at 80bpm. Of course, you can work on speed itself, but you might as well make sure you've got the point of the exercise, at a moderate speed, first. For many here, we work on the exercises without metronome, or at very slow speed first. It does get that hard.

3. Yes I do plan to do volume 2 also, but, it's been a long hard slog, and I'm almost finished vol 1, so I can really only think about that just now.

**robby27** · 10-02-2012, 12:03 AM

I recently jumped back into the Leavitt Vol 1 after a hiatus and I interested in joining up with this study group. I'm at the Chord Etude 1 on page 62 which is where I left off several months (or longer?) ago. Pages 60 to 62 seem to be the one of the only blocks for which there's no thread in the above index. Am I missing something or looking in the wrong place. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

**TOMMO** · 09-18-2013, 05:58 AM

Pages 67 to 69 missing?

**michael-m** · 12-15-2013, 07:04 PM

I realise this ship has long since sailed, but I'm going to have a go at following in the footsteps of those who went before...

**ten left thumbs** · 12-16-2013, 05:31 AM

Good to have you on board!

I notice you are in Perthshire. Just north of me (Scotland)? Or on the other side of the world?

**michael-m** · 12-16-2013, 01:18 PM

The dark, grey, damp place just North of you, not the sunny place on the other side of the world!

**ten left thumbs** · 12-16-2013, 03:50 PM

So your days are even shorter than mine?

These long arctic nights are great for guitar practice, aren't they?

**ten left thumbs** · 12-16-2013, 04:22 PM

So your days are even shorter than mine?

These long arctic nights are great for guitar practice, aren't they?

**ashishashen** · 07-07-2014, 04:59 AM

Hi Guys,

Greetings from India.

I guess the group in not active anymore.
I just started working on Volume 1.
Just completed first 3 pages for now.

Have been playing guitar for almost 7+ years.
I am a self taught player so I'm pretty much illiterate when it comes to music.

Planning to apply for music school in few months so picked up the book and now working hard.
Also trying to do some ear training.

As I have already got the techniques I get bored while working on the lessons(reading music and playing slow)
and then I get distracted and start to noodle around with the guitar and play random stuff try to come up with something or the other.

Any advice on this.

And any practice routine anyone follows that might help.

Thanks
Ashish

**robby27** · 07-07-2014, 05:53 AM

I don't know if the group is still active as I have not participated in a long while but I'm still incorporating the Levitt books into my practice routine. I'm deep into volume 2.

I'm no expert, just a life long student of the guitar. The best advice for practice I can give is to break sessions up into short periods of 20 to no more than 30 minutes, including warm up and review of prior exercises, of focused study of just one to three pages of the book, or one technical study, then take a break or stop completely. Comeback later and do something else or get creative. You must use a metronome to measure your progress. The research shows that short focused sessions each day are most effective. Its important to keep moving through the book page by page and reviewing prior lessons. Its amazing how you steadily get better.

It took me 20 years to get this advice, but its really worked for me.

**fredli26** · 03-14-2016, 07:44 AM

this is so nice, thank you for the study group created.

**hoosier1981** · 06-29-2018, 09:41 PM

I am about to pick up this 3 part series and was wondering if I should get the big book (all 3 in 1) for $35 or pay $25 each for vol 1, 2, 3, as they come with a CD? Does the CD contain (all) exercises in the book, or just a selection of duets, etc... ?

**Jazzstdnt** · 06-30-2018, 11:43 AM

I think the CDs have almost everything (but don't quote me), while the video for Volume 1 does not. Besides you can beat the playing on the CDs

It's all about you.

I have multiple copies of the single books and one big book which I never use. I would buy the separate volumes, you'll wear them out, and the big book is too bulky for a music stand.

Enjoy!

**matt.guitarteacher** · 06-30-2018, 01:19 PM

Originally Posted by Jazzstdnt

I think the CDs have almost everything (but don't quote me), while the video for Volume 1 does not. Besides you can beat the playing on the CDs

It's all about you.

I have multiple copies of the single books and one big book which I never use. I would buy the separate volumes, you'll wear them out, and the big book is too bulky for a music stand.

Enjoy!

Yup. I have the big book. It's cool, in that it's big and impressive, but it's not really that practical . Most mortals will take a great deal of time to get through each of them , and you really have no idea whether you're going to even get around to volume 3. Think we all have an idea that we're going to get there in a few weeks or something, but it's a pretty substantial work. I mean, there's other stuff to learn in music as well.

**hoosier1981** · 06-30-2018, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by Jazzstdnt

I think the CDs have almost everything (but don't quote me)

Thanks! I picked up Vol1 and Vol2 today with CD. The CD does contain every exercise so well worth it over the DVD for me. I used to play guitar 'tabs' as well as piano over 15 years ago and wanted to start from scratch and learn notation/theory for the guitar this time around. I did just start with an instructor who recommended this book, but the CD should help me to make sure I'm not hitting sour notes as I try to learn the notes of the fretboard while sight reading. The tracks are titled so I might rip them to a cloud drive so I can play them through my phone.

Also, I took the Vol1 and Vol2 books to the local office supply store and it turns out they all offer a cut / spiral binding service for around $5 per book, so I got that done. I just started with an instructor who recommended this book so I'm looking forward to getting some theory under my belt and wean off 100% tabs.

**hoosier1981** · 06-30-2018, 04:34 PM

I picked up both volumes and the CDs contain the tracks with info so that's great!
I had a local office shop spiral bound each book.

Vol1 - CD contains ALL exercises.
Vol2 - CD contains only the etudes and duets / songs.

**Jazzstdnt** · 07-01-2018, 01:20 AM

That sounds about right. Knuckle busting time now. :0

**znerken** · 08-17-2018, 05:55 AM

May I ask those who have gone through the volume 1 book, how did you approach the constant review recommended? I mean, are you supposed to review all previous material in the book all the time, or did you just review _what_ you had been practicing on that week? And how did you review it?

Thanks!

**Jazzstdnt** · 08-17-2018, 08:35 PM

I think going back and playing past "lessons" is the watch word. Especially the most recent 10 pages or so. That's while you're going through the book.

Once you're finished with the first half of the book you can go back and play it from page 16 or so. Not every day, maybe every few days.

One finished with the second half of the book do the same or split it in two.

You may be tempted to play them much faster than you originally did.

**znerken** · 08-18-2018, 06:05 AM

Originally Posted by Jazzstdnt

I think going back and playing past "lessons" is the watch word. Especially the most recent 10 pages or so. That's while you're going through the book.

Once you're finished with the first half of the book you can go back and play it from page 16 or so. Not every day, maybe every few days.

One finished with the second half of the book do the same or split it in two.

You may be tempted to play them much faster than you originally did.

Well initially I did one exercise at the time, until I managed it at the same tempo as in the video, then moved on. Now I am at page 15-18, roughly, and I feel the exercises getting to a level where I have a hard time playing them at 90 BPM, as in the video. So now I have changed my approach. I play multiple exercises every day.

If I go back and review a lot of the earlier duets and stuff, I feel I need to re learn them, as I can't remember everything. I guess, one approach, could be to every week, look back at what you have practiced, then move on to the next material. Then when you get to half of the book, you can go back and play through everything.

However, if I have to play through all the previous material once a week, it will take a loooong time?

**matt.guitarteacher** · 08-18-2018, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by znerken

Well initially I did one exercise at the time, until I managed it at the same tempo as in the video, then moved on. Now I am at page 15-18, roughly, and I feel the exercises getting to a level where I have a hard time playing them at 90 BPM, as in the video. So now I have changed my approach. I play multiple exercises every day.

If I go back and review a lot of the earlier duets and stuff, I feel I need to re learn them, as I can't remember everything. I guess, one approach, could be to every week, look back at what you have practiced, then move on to the next material. Then when you get to half of the book, you can go back and play through everything.

However, if I have to play through all the previous material once a week, it will take a loooong time?

Ten pages at a time was a good recommendation. Just work on those ten for a week without to much judgment. That's what was done in these study groups as well.

look at these study groups for whatever lesson you're in, and get a feel for what other people were doing.

**znerken** · 08-18-2018, 09:16 AM

Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher

Ten pages at a time was a good recommendation. Just work on those ten for a week without to much judgment. That's what was done in these study groups as well.

look at these study groups for whatever lesson you're in, and get a feel for what other people were doing.

None of the study groups thread focused on 10 pages for a week. That would be way too much for me also, and I play several hours every day.

**matt.guitarteacher** · 08-18-2018, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by znerken

None of the study groups thread focused on 10 pages for a week. That would be way too much for me also, and I play several hours every day.

Sorry. Top of my head. Anyway, really do whatever you feel works. If you want to guide, the study group threads are well thought out.

**znerken** · 08-18-2018, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher

Sorry. Top of my head. Anyway, really do whatever you feel works. If you want to guide, the study group threads are well thought out.

Ye I use the study groups. If you scroll up, you can see how many pages they worked on. This is the index thread

**matt.guitarteacher** · 08-18-2018, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by znerken

Ye I use the study groups. If you scroll up, you can see how many pages they worked on. This is the index thread

Last time I was working in volume 2, I guess. It was about 10 pages at a time. At that point, it's really helpful , because the lessons are very diverse in what they cover. Couple pages of chord voicings , couple pages of scale reading, a "piece " for solo guitar , arpeggio page etc. etc. some of that stuff isn't enough on its own for a week, or is too mindnumbing/difficult to laser focus in on. There are no rules with this stuff.

**russmac** · 09-23-2018, 07:48 PM

After fumbling around for a few days, I just stumbled onto this site. Still don't know how I did it.

Welcome Fabian.

**znerken** · 09-25-2018, 03:38 PM

I wonder, to you who finished this book; after you were finished, in a retrospective view, what did you learn? How did you improve? Not from other stuff you practiced, but as a direct consequence of exercises in the book.

**matt.guitarteacher** · 09-25-2018, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by znerken

I wonder, to you who finished this book; after you were finished, in a retrospective view, what did you learn? How did you improve? Not from other stuff you practiced, but as a direct consequence of exercises in the book.

It's good solid material all around. Good reading material etc.

For me personally, the rest stroke chord strumming which is basically required for those chord études and solos was tremendously valuable. Really taught me that technique, which I've used constantly ever since. That and the single finger rolls. I learned those specifically from that one and use them regularly as well.

There's nothing wasted in working through volume 1 at all.

**Jazzstdnt** · 09-26-2018, 12:12 AM

Not to be flippant, but if you will look at the Index on page 126 then I think that you can say that you will be better at everything listed there.

You will play fundamentals (scales, chords, arpeggios) better. You will read better. You will develop better left and right hand technique. You will learn to render original solo material in an artistic and musical way.

Overall, you will be a better guitarist for having worked through the book diligently. What you won't be is a jazz player, not yet anyway.

**znerken** · 11-05-2018, 05:56 AM

Originally Posted by TOMMO

Pages 67 to 69 missing?

Yes, @fep, can you add 67-69 to the index?

A Modern Method for Guitar Vol 1 Pages 67 to 69

**georgebanketas** · 12-31-2018, 10:18 AM

I know I am late to this party. Thank you for this resource. I started MM vol 1 a few weeks back. I am currently on pg 18. I will start back at the beginning and post in the related threads. There are all these awesome posts about the exercises and how some played through it. I have already gained some good tips going forward from the first thread. Looking forward to going through this all the way.

**Art ”Artie” Storm** · 04-10-2019, 06:19 AM

Ok. I did not even know i own vol 1 and 2 from 1966. My godfather gave it to me 10 years ago when i started playing. Never really learned to read music, just some easy songs with piano. Now it is time to do something about it.

**jetaman** · 01-17-2020, 08:14 AM

Hey guys I have a question about picking - In the DVD video, Larry explains that he always plays pick rest, taht means he rests a pick on an adjacent string when picking a note. This technique is a bit awkward for me, because i played for many years with free picking. But on the other hand I am self taught and I feel like i have a lot of gaps in my technique, and i want to brush up all my gaps, and start learning the right way. So what would be your suggestion - start re-adjusting and playing rest pick like Larry suggests or keep playing free picking?
Thanks

**matt.guitarteacher** · 01-17-2020, 10:26 AM

Pick up new techniques anywhere you can and any time you feel they may be of value. This style isn't "replacing" your free picking technique. Doesn't really work that way. Anyway, when you know BOTH ways, you can basically just choose between the two, subconsciously, by ear, as you see fit.

For me personally, that rest stroke technique was one of the most valuable things I got from the exercises in that book. Those chord solo études, or whatever they're called, are worth the book by themselves. Those particular exercises will benefit greatly from having good rest stroke technique.

My $0.02.

**jetaman** · 01-17-2020, 10:50 AM

Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher

Pick up new techniques anywhere you can and any time you feel they may be of value. This style isn't "replacing" your free picking technique. Doesn't really work that way. Anyway, when you know BOTH ways, you can basically just choose between the two, subconsciously, by ear, as you see fit.

For me personally, that rest stroke technique was one of the most valuable things I got from the exercises in that book. Those chord solo études, or whatever they're called, are worth the book by themselves. Those particular exercises will benefit greatly from having good rest stroke technique.

My $0.02.

Thanks Matt! That is the kind of advice that I was looking for. May I ask you some more questions since we're on the subject:
I start playing all exercises in 60 bmp and work towards 80 bmp. However, on the DVD Larry plays everything at 80 bmp from the start. I play slower becase it's hard for me to read and play without looking at the guitar. Also, i want to play as clean as possible, without extra noises and sounds from the fingers or strings. So, how much time should be spent on exercises? To what extent should I focus on one particular exercise?

**jetaman** · 03-28-2020, 10:54 AM

Hey guys, after Matt's comment that rest pick technique is the most useful thing he learned out of this book, I spent some time practicing it. I recorded a small video and need some review from you guys. So, please check it out and give me your two cents - am I on the right track? Am I holding the pick correctly? Is the rest pick technique working for me?

**djg** · 03-28-2020, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by jetaman

Hey guys, after Matt's comment that rest pick technique is the most useful thing he learned out of this book, I spent some time practicing it. I recorded a small video and need some review from you guys. So, please check it out and give me your two cents - am I on the right track? Am I holding the pick correctly? Is the rest pick technique working for me?

reststrokes and alternate picking usually dont go together well.

**swannod** · 03-31-2020, 10:26 PM

Originally Posted by jetaman

Hey guys, after Matt's comment that rest pick technique is the most useful thing he learned out of this book, I spent some time practicing it. I recorded a small video and need some review from you guys. So, please check it out and give me your two cents - am I on the right track? Am I holding the pick correctly? Is the rest pick technique working for me?

I can only offer the opinion of someone else who has been working through Volume 1 for about 1 1/2 years. Your hands seems reasonably relaxed and your hold on the pick seems normal. I'm sure you're playing with a metronome, but the speed studies definitely benefit from rehearsing with a metronome as well as following Larry's advice to play the study with a full bar break between the patterns. Perhaps you could work a bit on your tone on the highest string - I had a big problem with that (in fact still working on it). You should just play slower or only focus on the tone on highest string. By slow I mean slow enough to the spell the scale in your head out loud, if you can't do that, it's too fast. Once you can keep a consistent tone and spell at the same time, I think you'll be surprised that you can bump the tempo in reasonable increments and still get a good sound. Other than stick with it and realize that from what I've read and seen from videos and from my own personal progress - spending a couple years on getting a good rest stroke is pretty normal. Based on the results I've seen, it seems worth the investment - that's a lot of control.

Going back a bit to your earlier posts - I probably got to page 100 and used free stroke for the alternate picking and then I watched the video where Larry said you should use the rest stroke even when alternate picking. So I went back to page 1 and went through everything again. In particular I found focusing on 8th note studies, 16 notes studies, triplet studies, speed studies, and string skipping picking studies important. It now feels comfortable though I can't yet go very fast (150bpm 8th notes before it falls apart). At first it seemed it would be impossible to get fast with the rest stroke but after spending a lot of time on the speed studies - it's pretty clear that just not true. It just takes a lot practice.

My other tip is that I find it counter productive to spend too much time on any one thing in one sitting. With the exception of maybe the chord etudes there's really no value in practicing anything in Volume I so much it becomes memorized / mechanical. In fact, I've now completely stopped caring about "finishing" Volume I. I'll never be finished. I've instead collected all the other Leavitt books as well as a couple of the Real Books. Now what I do is just work on stuff (literally anything of interest from Volume I) that sounds bad for anywhere from 5-45 minutes. Then I "break" to learn/review a Rhythm study, learn a Classical picking piece, or sight read from a Real book. Other times I break and try to learn a Charlie Christian solo / lick. I've also found it often to helps to more or less intentionally "forget" a specific study. When you come back to it much later you'll find that there were things you just couldn't have understood the first time around. I'll probably be properly on Volume II in a couple of months, but I suspect I'll be reopening Volume I for some time to come.

Perhaps one final tip is that I found that the position reviews at the end of the book are really punishing and take a very, very long time if you really want to be able to "feel" the keys and really "know" all the chords. I forced myself to flip back and go through all the chord forms and then spent a lot of time trying different ones to figure out which voicing I preferred. Sometimes this was to minimize movement, other times because of the sound. I was shocked how hard this was, but that was because I had played the chord exercises in a memorized/rote way. Finally, given how difficult they were for me, going over and over a position review became a bit too mind numbing - I found Leavitt's Melodic Rhythm studies useful for keeping up my enthusiasm. You can practice a lot of different chord progressions and can then come back feeling refreshed. Also excellent rest stroke practice because there's so many different rhythm patterns.

**bluestime** · 05-07-2020, 04:11 AM

Hello!

I am new here and just working on the last pages of Vol I. Is there a study group for Vol II in this forum?

**jolz** · 05-15-2020, 08:44 AM

Same here, I am also working on the last pages of Vol 1, would be interested in joining a study group for volume 2, great idea

**musicturtle** · 06-10-2020, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by bluestime

Hello!

I am new here and just working on the last pages of Vol I. Is there a study group for Vol II in this forum?

Me too!

New here and just into the first 10 pages or so of Vol. 2

I guess we could start our own thread if you all were into it.

**jolz** · 06-11-2020, 02:30 AM

I am still working on the last parts of volume 1, it's taking a bit longer than I expected (the chords to the position reviews are really challenging!). I suggest to create threads in the same format as this study group, that is: "A Modern Method for Guitar Vol 2 Pages x to x", and create an index thread like this one where it's linked. I will join in and post my recorded videos as soon as I finish the first exercises in vol 2. Looking forward!

**swannod** · 06-22-2020, 12:38 PM

I've started Vol. II around mid-April - as mentioned elsewhere Vol. II just seems very different due to the deep focus on the major scale across the fretboard and triads for the first 60 pages of the book. I think doing these exercises without relating them to actual music seems pretty counterproductive and honestly pretty boring.

My feeling so far is that Melodic Rhythm For Guitar (MR) is intended as a direct followup to Vol. I and to be used concurrently with Vol. II - it uses everything from Vol. I and continues to push you since the reading is more challenging due to the rhythms and utilizes all the chord forms and then some. Leavitt asks you to play the exercises in different positions which is exactly what you're studying in Vol. II.

The Classical Studies for Pick Style Guitar (CS) also seems like a direct follow up to Vol. I and to be used concurrently with Vol. II. If the picking studies didn't sink in from Vol. I, this book will definitely fix that in hurry (or slowly in my case, it's hard). Many of the pieces use higher positions and consolidate various technical problems one encountered in Vol. I.

All this to say, I wonder if the study group for Vol. II wouldn't benefit from just being more open-ended and flexible? i.e. give 4 weeks for each key and people can include the studies plus whatever material from MR or CS (or something else!) they feel demonstrates putting that practice into action.

**musicturtle** · 06-29-2020, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by swannod

I've started Vol. II around mid-April - as mentioned elsewhere Vol. II just seems very different due to the deep focus on the major scale across the fretboard and triads for the first 60 pages of the book. I think doing these exercises without relating them to actual music seems pretty counterproductive and honestly pretty boring.

My feeling so far is that Melodic Rhythm For Guitar (MR) is intended as a direct followup to Vol. I and to be used concurrently with Vol. II - it uses everything from Vol. I and continues to push you since the reading is more challenging due to the rhythms and utilizes all the chord forms and then some. Leavitt asks you to play the exercises in different positions which is exactly what you're studying in Vol. II.

The Classical Studies for Pick Style Guitar (CS) also seems like a direct follow up to Vol. I and to be used concurrently with Vol. II. If the picking studies didn't sink in from Vol. I, this book will definitely fix that in hurry (or slowly in my case, it's hard). Many of the pieces use higher positions and consolidate various technical problems one encountered in Vol. I.

All this to say, I wonder if the study group for Vol. II wouldn't benefit from just being more open-ended and flexible? i.e. give 4 weeks for each key and people can include the studies plus whatever material from MR or CS (or something else!) they feel demonstrates putting that practice into action.

I think this is a good idea.

Either way thanks for the reference of MR and CS. I am already hooked on those two.

At the moment I am practicing the G major scales up and down the fretboard and the next page in Vol 2. (pp 18-21)

Adding to that the first piece in CS and the first study in MR. Definitely makes it more interesting.

Also agree with one of your posts above that MR provides a good review of chords and rhythm technique.

**Danil** · 08-03-2020, 04:59 PM

Speaking of CS.

In Allegro piece by Carcassi William asks for 120 bpm. With his books I try hard to observe scarce instructions and markings as closely as possible - it was not until I stopped leaving out inconvenient things I started to make some progress.

A tempo of 120 sticks out - I can't remember any other occasion of him explicitly setting bpm.

I wonder if anyone has managed to make it sound musical with a pick approaching this tempo with all that wide string skipping? Of course the tempo is the one intended by Carcassi - for a self respecting classic guitar player that. For the rest -
the piece is enjoyable at slower tempos, but this tempo mark looks to be being there on purpose.

**swannod** · 08-04-2020, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by Danil

Speaking of CS.
In Allegro piece by Carcassi William asks for 120 bpm. With his books I try hard to observe scarce instructions and markings as closely as possible - it was not until I stopped leaving out inconvenient things I started to make some progress.

"Leaving out inconvenient things" - I kind of wish I had realized this earlier when studying with the Method. There's just no point driving anything into the ground, Leavitt consistently introduces new ideas and concepts that won't really be explained or seriously practiced until much, much later. The beauty of this approach, once you accept it, is that review becomes significantly more enjoyable. Earlier pieces still retain a considerable amount of value as you progress.

As to the Carcassi piece specifically - I think I started learning that one 5-6 months ago? I have the notes more or less memorized, but I've found that even at slower tempos it's quite rare that I can play it very well. Definitely not at 120bpm. Personally, I've discovered that to be true for nearly every piece in CS.

My feeling is that the CS pieces are much like the Chord Etudes. They are intended to be revisited over and over and over again. If you ever get to the point where you can play them with ease even after some time away then I think you've probably achieved a pretty high level of guitar technique!