Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant for Classical Guitar

Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant – The Classical Guitarist’s Technique Handbook. Pumping Nylon by Scott Tennant has become one of the most popular technique books for classical and fingerstyle guitarists alike. It has great physical workouts to train muscles and gain finger independence and dexterity. It’s a very popular book due to how memorable the exercises are, which in turn, are great for warm-ups and technique correction. That said, it’s more of a reference exercise book rather than a comprehensive technique method so it’s best suited to intermediate to late-intermediate guitarists or those looking for a set of warm-up exercises to conquer. However, beginners could start with some of the independence and alignment exercises. Overall, even if you own other books you probably will want to get a copy of this to see what all the hype is about. Personally, the best thing about it is that it’s not overly comprehensive, it’s just a solid set of material that everyone needs.

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Check out some Pumping Nylon video lessons

You might also consider my technique books

Classical Guitar Technique: Essential Exercises, Scales, & Arpeggios – 122 pages, Video lessons. Start anytime after Vol.2 method and continue with repertoire lessons.
20 Favorite Exercises, Notation + TAB, Video lessons, Gr.1-6, Great for crossover or a quick boost.
Major Scales for Classical Guitar – Beginner to Intermediate, Notation + TAB
Ten Classical Etudes, Gr.4-7, videos lessons, Notation & Notation + TAB

Bradford Werner

Bradford Werner is a classical guitarist and music publisher from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He originally created this site for his students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music but now shares content worldwide. Curating guitar content helps students absorb the culture, musical ideas, and technique of the classical guitar. Bradford also has a YouTube channel with over 94,000 subscribers and 13 million views. He taught classical guitar at the Victoria Conservatory of Music for 16 years and freelanced in Greater Victoria for 20 years and now dedicates much of his time curating content online and helping connect the classical guitar community. See more at his personal website.

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Alex

January 5, 2025 / 12:29 pm Reply

I’ve been working through your technique book for a month or two since starting your grade 1 method and recently read a bit about pumping nylon. Do you think it has anything to offer over your technique book?
- Bradford Werner
  
  January 5, 2025 / 6:59 pm Reply
  
  Pumping Nylon is a great book, and when it was first published it was an excellent text filled with many memorable exercises and some great etudes you won’t find elsewhere. It’s still great but today there are plenty of books to choose from so I I’d first recommend mine and then the The Bible of Classical Guitar Technique by Käppel – 245 pages of exercises and excellent text advice.