Books by Christopher Berg

The Classical Guitar Companion

Published by Oxford University Press in November 2019, The Classical Guitar Companion features over 200 examples, etudes, and pieces organized to help serious guitar students better navigate the shoals of becoming well-trained and expressive artists. Rather than try to shepherd each student down the same path, the book allows students to approach their training within a flexible and personal curriculum based upon their weaknesses and strengths.

The work is organized into eleven main sections according the technique used, e.g., scales, arpeggios, slurs, with brief commentary. The pieces in each section progress by degree of difficulty, insofar as that’s possible given the variety of backgrounds and abilities students have, but material within the sections can be studied concurrently according to one’s strengths and weakness, interests, and advice from a teacher. In this regard, it is the antithesis of a typical method book or graded repertoire series.

In other words, each section comprises a curated collection of works that presents a path to mastery. The Classical Guitar Companion is suited for students just starting their serious study of the instrument as well as advanced students looking to sharpen their skills, deepen their knowledge of our pedagogical literature, or fill in gaps in their training.

The Classical Guitar Companion is available in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and on Apple Books. Visit Oxford's Scholarship Online site for the book for chapter abstracts.

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Learning the Fingerboard
Scale Exercises and Studies
Repeated Notes
Slurs
Harmony
Arpeggios
Melody and Accompaniment
Counterpoint
Florid/Virtuoso Etudes
What Next?

“An exceptionally well written book for the advanced study of classical guitar.” Amazon Review, 2021
“This book might be one of the most important contributions to guitar pedagogy since the Shearer method. I have never encountered a book that is so detailed, well organized, practical, and effective. [The author] has accomplished something that hasn’t been done before: he created a book that’s a method, an anthology, and a treatise all at the same time.” Amazon Review, 2020
“This book’s organisation subverts the idea of the same trajectory of development for everyone. It’s given me the resources to easily create or adjust different programs of study for different students. The introduction is one of best things I’ve read about high-level guitar study.” Amazon Review, 2020
“One book that has more than enough material to keep me busy for the rest of my life and give me inspiration to live longer! Money well spent for a book by a great performer and teacher.” The Classical Guitar Companion Facebook page
“If you’re looking for a book that is extremely comprehensive and you’re almost positive that you’ll be committing to classical guitar for the foreseeable future, Berg’s Classical Guitar Companion is an excellent choice … an amazing asset for those who are hungry to learn all they can without having to purchase another book for a while….” GuitarMeet

Practicing Music by Design: Historic Virtuosi on Peak Performance

Practicing Music by Design: Historic Virtuosi on Peak Performance explores pedagogical practices for achieving expert skill in performance. It is an account of the relationship between historic practices and modern research, examining the defining characteristics and applications of eight common components of practice from the perspectives of performing artists, master teachers, and scientists. The author presents research past and present designed to help musicians understand the abstract principles behind the concepts. After studying Practicing Music by Design, students and performers will be able to identify areas in their practice that prevent them from developing.

The tenets articulated here are universal, not instrument-specific, borne of modern research and the methods of legendary virtuosi and teachers. Those figures discussed include:

— Luminaries Franz Liszt and Frederic Chopin
— Renowned performers Anton Rubinstein, Mark Hambourg, Ignace Paderewski, and Sergei Rachmaninoff
— Extraordinary teachers Theodor Leschetizky, Rafael Joseffy, Leopold Auer, Carl Flesch, and Ivan Galamian
— Lesser-known musicians who wrote perceptively on the subject, such as violinists Frank Thistleton, Rowsby Woof, Achille Rivarde, and Sydney Robjohns

Practicing Music by Design forges old with new connections between research and practice, outlining the practice practices of some of the most virtuosic concert performers in history while ultimately addressing the question: How does all this work to make for better musicians and artists?

The book is available in paperback, hardcover, Kindle, and Apple Books. Visit the Taylor & Francis site for the book for detailed chapter abstracts.

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Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
A Foundation of Knowledge and Skill
Chunking
Mental Work
Slow Practice
Variety in Repetition
Continuity
Phrase-Storming
Feedback and Self-Criticism
Codetta

“This is simply the best book on music practise I’ve ever come across. …Music conservatoires and universities should issue this book to every entering student!” Apple Books Review, 2022
“This is one of the best books I have read on the subject of efficient, ‘mind-engaged’ practice of music.” Amazon Review, 2021
“Christopher Berg has created an extraordinary book that I would consider to be indispensable for any musician needing to improve the efficiency of their practice skills.” Amazon Review, 2019
“This book is fantastic! It ties together all the threads of Peak Performance for musicians. …a stellar work by a distinguished professor and musician.” Amazon Review, 2019
“This book invites the reader to join historic virtuosi, who took the time to write about their practice, and thereby move forward with ever increasing awareness and earned knowledge. Modern brain science supports the type of practice that great musicians have written about. This important connection is central to this book..” Amazon Review, 2019
“This is a remarkable book in that it looks at how historic world-class performers at the virtuoso level carried out their musical practice and compares it with modern, cutting-edge research findings on the subject… This book is, at heart, not the subjective opinions of a top-level guitarist, but a research-based, factual approach on what works and why when it comes to music practice. It is a refreshing book on this count.” NylonPlucks

Mastering Guitar Technique: Process and Essence

Book/eBook. Mel Bay Publications, MB 96216

One of the keys to rapid technical and artistic development is to have the guidance to study the simple version of a technique, e.g., slow scales, while fulfilling all the criteria of the advanced version of that technique, e.g. fast scales. This will result in a practice that continually moves one forward, rather than go off in irrelevant directions.

Mastering Guitar Technique was designed to be a comprehensive, exploration of the requirements for developing an effortless and musically sensitive guitar technique.

Also available on Kindle and Apple Books.

(Early Kindle versions may have been graphically sub-standard, at least according to some of the online reviews, but they must have improved. I saw a student's version recently and it looked excellent.)

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Giuliani Revisited

eBook. Mel Bay Publications, MB 95694

If Mauro Giuliani were alive today, how might his famous 120 right-hand exercises from his Studio per la chittarra, Op.1, be different?

Along with about forty of Guiliani’s right-hand exercises from his Op. 1, this book contains about a hundred original exercises by Christopher Berg based on pieces composed since Guiliani’s time and other exercises considered helpful for developing a well-rounded technique and for meeting the challenges of the modern guitar repertoire. There is abundant practice material here for guitarists of all levels.

Also available on Kindle and Apple Books.

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