Sound of China Guzheng Basic Tutorial Vol. 1 Textbook Binding – January 1, 2011

this combine with watching her videos will teach you guzheng. thank you Carol Chang!I see that other reviews talk about learning difficult without an instructor, this book comes with a link to her tutorial videos online that you can watch. honestly I don't even play the cd the book have, I just read the book and watch her tutorial videos and it's been really helping me learn. so yes I think you can learn without an actually instructor thanks to her book and online videos, listen and practice. it's ok to go slow, just have fun :) I'm so thankful to even find this since I don't speak Chinese.

Complex but helpful book which will help me decide to stick with the 7-string and/or include this 21-string instrument. This book will help me make that decision! I recommend this for the English-speaking tyro jumping into the study of instruments of Ancient China!

Instructions are clear and helpful, though the tuning and musical notation sections are arrranged a bit weirdly. Having the CDs is extremely helpful, and everything arrived on time and in good condition.

I like the book. At first it was hard to figure the fingering for picking the strings, but as i keep praticing with the guzheng im getting better. i would recomend this book to others who want to learn to play guzheng.

For the non-mandarin speaker eager to learn the guzheng, this material is extremely helpful, not to mention perhaps the only resource available. I am learning very well through this book, though I am previously exposed to stringed instruments and music theory via guitar and mandolin studies. Good luck!

I just got this in the mail, and I'm pretty disappointed in its lack of organization. It's hard to tell which TRACKS on the CDs correspond with the parenthetical numbered tracks (9), and the Drill numbers in the book. In the book there is no mention of the CD or the tracks. It appears they don't correspond. The explanations in the book are rushed and lack clarity. None the less I will plow through this and learn from other sources as well. Lessons, and the internet. For a westerner, me, I think this instructor rushes through it all and misses important points; its written as if by a 13 year old. If you have a good ear for music and some fingerpicking ability, then you may like this book and 2 CDs; there is a lot of music here at the various levels of expertise; I'd buy it, but not only this. You and others may not have the problem I have with the book. It's just not cohesive enough for beginners. But it's full of music and technique; just no, and I mean, no explanations on the CDs, but nice excersizes and tunes.

I am a beginner, and I am finding this book very useful so far. I have also bought one for a friend who is more experienced.

The book is not bad for the price, but trying to learn an instrument from a book without hands on instruction is difficult. Add to the fact that the notation, is in an Eastern / European dot number notation, and that compounds the problem. I got the book in preparation for considering a Guzheng, but will now put that on hold. The book itself, with an instructor would be excellent.