Easy Pop Melodies: Correlates with Book 1 (Hal Leonard Guitar Method (Songbooks))

I am a private music teacher and I have used dozens of "Easy Pop Melodies" as part of my curriculum. I use it in conjunction with Hal Leonard's "Complete Guitar Method". I like the way it uses familiar songs, though many of my younger students don't know them. It introduces songs progressively from easy to more difficult. When used with the "Complete Guitar Method" book, it provides a nice break from exercises and lets them have a more practical experience. They will play both written melodies and new chords as they learn them. A good choice.

If you're learning guitar from the (very effective) Hal Leonard method books, you're probably a little embarrassed by the old-timey tunes that you're playing. This book is a supplement with some more contemporary popular songs in the form of lyrics + melody + chords. It would be nice if they would just incorporate some of these kinds of songs in the method book in place of say "down in the valley" and "patsy-ory-ory-aye", but given what we're stuck with this supplement is worthwhile for the beginner.

There are quite a few recognizable pop songs in this book from the Beatles to Johnny Cash. All are easy for beginner guitar players if you know most notes and some basic chords. If you are much beyond the beginner level, you might be bored with most of these songs as they are all fairly simple melodies and chord accompaniments.

Still, this is a nice break for beginners to let them expand a little beyond self guitar lesson books and have some fun learning a few songs that are not nursery rhymes or other songs you would never normally play.

After working on Hal Leonard Guitar Method Complete Edition, I decided to get this book for some additional songs to practice. And after realizing that you cannot print from Kindle book, I went for the paper version since I wanted to be able to see more than 1 page at a time (for songs that are 2 pages). Unfortunately, this version did NOT come with any audio CDs. It looks like there is one with Book and CD for higher price but this is not it. I say this because I find practicing with audio tracks on the Guitar Method to be much more fun and effective for me. It gives you a chance to hear what the song is supposed to sound like, keep with the proper tempo, and just more fun playing.

I am still practicing the songs, but in the future, I will be looking more carefully to select books with audio CD or youtube feed that you can play along with your lessons.

I am a true beginner on the guitar. I think the Hal Leonard series is a great way to begin your guitar journey. It progresses at an easy pace which keeps the frustration level down. Frustration leads to quitting and we don't want to quit . . . . do we? Practice, practice, practice.

This is a great book for beginning guitarists. I've only been playing approximately 2 months and I am able to at least play the melody on several of the pieces. The songs are familiar and are arranged in such a way that although they are for beginners, they still sound very nice.

I wish I could find more song books like this. The songs are made easy enough for a beginner guitar player like me. Once you get better at a given song you may deviate from the score a little to play the song more like the original. The only thing I wish it had is the strumming pattern for the chords. That would really make it complete and 5 stars.

This book has 20 songs, but you only get the first verse and chorus of the song. Also, there are no strumming patterns noted for the chords. I guess it's a good supplement to the songs included in the guitar book for learning the notes and chords since these are more modern songs, but don't expect to be able to pick more than the basic melody and you have to figure out the strumming patterns for yourself.

No chord charts or tabs are provided, which was an unexpected since it is a beginner's book. I had to look up the chords on my phone. Assuming that folks that know the chords by heart are probably beyond the skill level of this book anyway.

Literally nothing but the songs, and I don't even think they are all complete songs either.

Additionally be aware that there is no cd with this. I didn't realize that when ordering...

Great book. I recommend it to all levels of players.