Harvey Reid's landmark 330 page college textbook, Modern Folk Guitar, co-written with Dr. Terry Lee Kuhn of Kent State University, was re-printed by Woodpecker Records in 2004, but as of 2014 is no longer in print. There are plans to publish a revised and updated edition in 2017 or 2018, but it's unclear whether or when that will happen.

It was first published by Alfred Knopf in 1984, later sold to McGraw-Hill, where it remained in print until December 2003. It was the first folk guitar textbook (and may still be the only one!) to pass through the lengthy process of scholarly peer review, and to be published with the formal consent and suggestions from the community of university-level guitar educators. It has remained a mainstay of the college folk guitar field, and has drawn considerable praise from numerous educators for its clarity, completeness, and ease of use. (Read reviewer comments.)

While it was designed for use in a college classroom setting, it is well-suited for use in self-teaching and private study. It contains a wealth of information about folk guitar, including chapters on history, music theory, tips on owning a guitar, and much more. Intended for adult beginners, it assumes no previous musical knowledge, and covers accompaniment skills and basic chording, finishing with simple melody fingerpicking.

In a field cluttered with books written and published without any academic oversight, Modern Folk Guitar stands out as the comprehensive and authoritative work in its field, and remains a definitive text and the only book of its kind.

For over 20 years, this amazing book was available only in selected college bookstores where it was being used in a course, so it has not been visible outside of academic circles or widely distributed.

(Most recent ISBN #0-9759219-0-8 )

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