A Dynamic Approach to Guitar Instruction

The Shearer Method

By Alan Hirsh & Thomas Kikta

Aaron Shearer’s books have been the benchmark of classical guitar training for over 55 years. His efforts and his students’ efforts have created some of the most prestigious guitar programs in America, earning him the title from the Guitar Foundation of America as “the most prominent pedagogue of the twentieth century.”

Towards the end of his life, he was compelled to write his magnum opus—his final say on his approach to teach the guitar.  The Shearer Method would once and for all be defined in his words and bring his experience of 70 years of teaching to the table.  This work was over 500 pages and was ultimately split into three volumes creating the opportunity for future students to experience his definitive thoughts on how to approach learning the classical guitar.

Here are companion videos and curriculum outlines for the three volumes of the Shearer Method:

Beginning Guitar—Book I Classical Guitar Foundations

To watch a video and hear music from Book I:

• Setting seating position and optimal hand positions
• The six-note introduction of basic technique and music reading:
  • Establishing basic right-hand technique—p on strings 2, 3, 4
  • Establishing basic left-hand technique—A on 3, C and D on 2
  • Introduce basic musical concepts—reading six notes
• Free stroke fingers—dyads i-m
• –Alternation of dyads i-m and p
• Sympathetic movement—arpeggio: p,i,m; introduction to chords
• Triads, i-m-a. (develop chords from this point forward)
• Alternation of triads i-m-a and p
• Opposed movement—p, i, m, i
• Introducing a—p, i, m-a, i
• Sympathetic movement—p, i, a
• Opposed movement—p,i,a,i
• Music of the Masters (simple pieces by Sor, Carcassi, Carulli)
• Developing Scales
  • Single string Alternation i, m (m, a)
  • Single string alternation with string crossings
• Open-position scale
• More Music of the Masters

Intermediate Guitar—Book I, Classical Guitar Foundations and

Book II, Classical Guitar Developments

To watch a video and hear music from Book II:

• Rest stroke and playing scales in keys
• Developing music reading in a variety of keys across the fingerboard (this is an ongoing focus throughout the year)
• Developing response to rhythms—all meters, including mixed and irregular (ongoing focus)
• P-i-m chords
• Combining rest and free stroke
• Slurs
• P-i-m-a chords
• Arpeggios without p
• Music of the Masters (simple pieces by Sor, Carcassi, Carulli)
• Ensemble music prepared for end-of semester concert performances (not part of the Shearer Method)

Upper-level Book III, Learning the Fingerboard

To watch a video and hear music from Book III click: 

• This is a resource for developing reading skills up the fingerboard. Material may be assigned to one student, pairs of students, or divided among large groups
• Book may be used for learning the fingerboard or—for more advanced guitarists—developing sight-reading
• Book organization by fixed position and available (typical and guitaristic) keys.
• Five scale forms: 2 on 5; 2 on 6; 4 on 5; 4 on 6; 2 on 4.
• Sequence:
  • Position II—5 major keys, 4 minor keys.
  • Positon IV—4 Major keys, 2 minor keys.
  • Position V—2 major keys, 2 minor keys.
  • Position VI—2 major keys, 0 minor keys.
  • Position VIII—4 major keys, 4 minor keys.
• Learning module for each key:
  • Scale presentation to be learned, visualized, and memorized.
  • Harmony patterns learned, visualized, and memorized: I—IV—V—I.
  • Three two-part inventions of graded levels of rhythmic difficulty:
    • Easy (simple rhythms—quarter note half note).
    • Moderate (eighth-note subdivision).
    • More challenging (syncopations, 16^th note rhythms).
  • Comprehensive Scales—the vertical connections along the fingerboard.
  • Repertoire of the Master—each of the musical selections applies multiple positions.

To learn more about The Shearer Method, click here.

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