The Classic Guide to Strategy

The Classic Guide to Strategy
Compilation album by John Zorn
Released	1983 (Vol. 1) 1986 (Vol. 2) 1996 (Compilation)
Recorded	Recorded at the OAO Studio in Brooklyn, New York on February 27, 1983 (Vol. 1) Radio City Studios, New York City on July 30 & September 9, 1985
Genre	Avant-garde
Length	77:57
Label	Lumina Tzadik (Compilation)
Producer	John Zorn, Ned Rothenberg (Vol. 2)
John Zorn chronology
Yankees (1983) The Classic Guide to Strategy (1983) Ganryu Island (1985)
Original Volume 2 Cover

The Classic Guide to Strategy is a compilation album by John Zorn featuring his two early solo records The Classic Guide to Strategy Volume One (1983), (tracks 1-2) and the Classic Guide to Strategy Volume Two (1986),^[1] (tracks 3-8).^[2] The albums were first released on vinyl on Lumina Records in and later re-released on Tzadik Records in 1996 as a single CD. The second track is inspired by the work of Carl Stalling and tracks 3-8 are named after avant-garde Japanese artists. The Classic Guide to Strategy Volume Two also contained the track "Yano Akiko" (5:20) which does not appear on the CD re-release.

The cover art from Volumes One and Two are the kanji characters for "earth" and "water", respectively, which relate to the first volumes of The Book of Five Rings written by Miyamoto Musashi.

The third volume of The Classic Guide to Strategy was released as part of Zorn's Birthday Celebration Series subtitled The Fire Book in 2003 and fourth, The Wind Book in 2016.^[3][4]