Rock Pop Studies for Guitar Thorsten Plath gained experience in jazz and rock bands while at university, and therefore feels just as much at home with classical music as with jazz and pop. Among these include CD productions with the jazz duo ‘Take Two’, tours and appearances on radio and television (together with diverse orchestras like the NDR Symphony Orchestra and the Braunschweig State Orchestra). Alongside his many years as a lecturer at the University for the Arts and at the Music School in Bremen, he has also been a lecturer at the jazz workshop ‘Jazzit’ for 10 years. In his teaching and ‘playing’ books, he has collected new playing material for guitarists, suitable for use from the second year of guitar learning onwards. These books are suited for anyone who wants to widen their solo repertoire and play more than just accompanying chords. All the pieces on the CD are recorded by Jürgen Kumlehn. In his book “Your First Melodies – Deine ersten Melodien”, Thorsten Plath wants to provide beginners, as well as advanced guitarists, a playful introduction into reading music with the help of some small compositions. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular note value or a particular rhythm: semibreve, minim, crotchet, and quaver on the counts 1, 2, 3 or 4. The last three songs/chapters are dedicated to ¾ time, 6/8 time and triplets. In “Sounds Like”, the player will find ten etudes of pop greats in the style of Sting, Whitney Houston and Nirvana. Each song comes with a short description of the time of the artist and the song. Preparatory exercises for chord accompaniments, improvisation instructions and fingering charts for the chords covered come next. All pieces are notated in both classical notation and tablature, and can be heard on the CD in three different variations: guitar solo, guitar with playback or as playback alone. Behind every piece you will find a blank sheet of notation paper on which the guitarist can note down their own improvisation rhythms. The second book, “More Sounds”, continues the tried and tested concept of the first book. New material is provided with ten new etudes in the style of Celine Dion, Eagle Eye Cherry and Aerosmith. In his fourth book, “Jazz Guitar Light(s)”, Thorsten Plath concentrates on jazz music. With the 10 chosen jazz songs, it is not only the different styles that are presented, but also how closely solo arrangements, tape versions and improvisation link together. The individual pieces, whether swing, Latin or fusion jazz, show and explain in detail the harmonic phrases typical of jazz.