The master's thesis addresses one of the issues with guitar lessons: developing reading abilities in guitar lessons at a junior music school. Being able to read sheet music is a sophisticated, multifaceted ability that requires mastery of numerous subskills to be combined into a single competence. A systematic review of methods for the guitar was conducted based on an analysis of sources, biographical, and bibliographic records. The assessment included methods from 1536 to the present. Nineteenth-century guitar approaches – written by guitarists – provide minimal advice to students in terms of developing reading skills in the higher positions. With the prevalent pattern of teaching music reading ability as a distinct skill from music performance, many contemporary methods are based on nineteenth-century methods. Some techniques for improving guitar reading skills at higher positions have recently been established, but it is obvious that more study based on didactic, psychological, and pedagogical concepts is required.
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