Copyright ©  1999 Greg Shelley & PGE

The following applies to the Book and Audio Compact Disc, "Meditative Guitar."  The General Theory of Meditative Guitar is further described in the section further down the page.

About Meditative Guitar, the Book and CD.

Meditative Guitar, the Book/CD, is a pre-method work.  It is for beginners or "pre-beginners."  It is also for anyone who would like to use guitar as a way to de-stress or meditate.  

Meditative Guitar, is written so you can learn to read notes at a very relaxed pace. You can learn to play along with the Compact disc—right from the start. The pace is slow enough so you can focus not only on playing the instrument but on listening and being aware of what you are playing. As you become part of the rich textures in the music you may soon find that you have let go of anything that was troubling you.

All of the songs in Meditative Guitar are written in 4/4 time. This means that the music moves along four counts at a time: 1, 2, 3, 4. . . .1, 2, 3, 4. . . .etc. All of the notes get either four or two counts. 

In addition to basic time you learn to read a total of 17 notes. These notes are all you need to know to play the simple music in this book. There are no complicated symbols, rhythms or key signatures to detract from learning the notes well. You may be surprised at the music you make and at the experience overall.

As you learn to play the songs along with the Compact disc, practice enough so that you can listen as you play. With a little practice you will be ready to go on to more complex guitar methods.

You may just enjoy playing these songs as meditative exercises to help you clear your mind. You may discover that for you, guitar is therapy.

      The General Theory of Meditative Guitar  is a predominately qualitative research paper that may be posted here on this page soon.