Guitar methods are far from being a novelty item : in the sixteenth century, Luis de Milan wrote a book of songs for the vihuela, the Spanish ancestor of the guitar. The pieces and exercises written by the composer were designed to go from easy to tricky, and each one had a tempo indicated with it, which was a brand new idea at the time. Modern guitar teachers owe a lot to the vihuelist virtuoso, if only because many of his works have been adapted to fit the modern instrument.