Classical Guitar of Fernando Sor

I enjoyed all the songs. Obviously some were a little difficult for me.

I've purchased a number of books published by Hal Leonard, and not one of them has EVER come in paperback. Sure, the item description says the book is "paperback" in small print somewhere between the top of the internet page and the bottom of that same page. Either way, I've never even seen Paperback Hal Leonard books. If you visit the Hal Leonard website and search for this exact book, you are not given a "paperback" option. This item is either an illegal print, or a poorly constructed product that doesn't meet the quality standards of Hal Leonard. The price is $14.99 here and merely a suggestion at Hal Leonard. I do not recommend you purchase this product from (or through) Amazon. I suggest you do it through the Hal Leonard Website. If you try to purchase this product from Hal Leonard, they will give you the option of completing your purchase through an Internet Retailer, and Amazon isn't listed among their suggested Internet Retailers. I think it probably has a lot to do with quality control. If you click on the Guitar Center option, this very same product is actually less, it's $12.99. One retailer called Guitar Connection even has it at $11.99.

Good book, although it has a small mistake in one the titles. Instead of having Op. 45 # 3 as the index say, it has Op. 43 # 3. That should be corrected in the ToC. Otherwise a good Classical Guitar book.

I received this book as a gift. This book is good for beginners or people looking for classical guitar pieces that are easy to play but also beautiful and/or catchy, but I don't think it properly showcases the "Classical Guitar of Fernando Sor." Also, Harris repeats some of the pieces (like Sor's Op. 6 No. 11, Op. 31 No. 23, and Op. 11 No. 6) he already placed in his other books such as "50 Classical Guitar Pieces" and "Classical Guitar of Spain." This is really just a complaint about Harris's work in general as he does this for other composers besides Sor in his books. It feels lazy and is kind of a let down for someone collecting his books. I am not complaining about the selection of these pieces. They are really beautiful. The book also misleadingly has "concert masterworks" on the front cover when the only pieces worthy of the title "concert masterwork" he included in this book are Sor's Op. 9 Variations on a Theme from Mozart's "The Magic Flute" and Sor's Op. 21. Harris admits in his discussion of these pieces at the beginning of the book:On Sor's Op. 9: "This piece is a good example of nineteenth-century bravura, a term used to describe music of an extroverted character that is meant to dazzle the listener with seemingly impossible feats of technique, when in actual fact is not that difficult to play."On Sor's Op 21: "In fact, the only thing that seems to be denying the Fantasia a Beethoven-like status is its relatively small scope."Most of the other pieces contained in the book are short and sweet. Also, why did Harris pick the Minuet out of the other movements of Sor's Grand Sonata Op. 22? The first two movements of it are much longer and more impressive. Was he limited to just over a hundred pages? So, for beginners, I definitely recommend this book. However, for more experienced guitarists who are wondering what the "Classical Guitar of Fernando Sor" has to offer and in the case where I was constrained to use pieces that would make a book of the same length of this one, I would recommend, for shorter pieces, they look at Sor's Op. 2 No. 3 Andantino, Op. 5 No. 5 Andante Largo, Op. 11 No.12 Minuet in Bb, Op. 29 No. 13, Op. 47 No. 5 Cantabile, and Op. 36 No. 2 Lento Cantabile (one contender for Sor's most underrated piece; please try it out even if you are familiar with all of the rest of the pieces I've mentioned and still not convinced that Sor is a great composer). And, for longer "concert masterworks," I recommend Sor's Op. 14 "The Grand Solo," Op. 16 Variations on a Theme by Paisiello (the other contender for Sor's most underrated piece; again, please try it out if you are familiar with all of the other pieces I've mentioned and still not convinced Sor is a great composer), Op. 22 Grand Sonata in C (the whole thing, not just the minuet), and Op. 30 Fantasia. Among these pieces, a guitarist should be able to find masterworks that rival those of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethovens' piano works, but at the same time were originally written for and intended to be played on guitar.

I have 4 years of playing classical guitar. Sor had been one of my favorite. Beautiful melodies dies not come without pain. So if anyone is up to a good challenge and is enjoying playing classical guitar. This is for you. It is not easy. But what us easy in life.

The content is great but the print quality is frankly bad.It is dificult to read the fret numbers over the tab lines, this should be better solved.