Guitar For Dummies

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Guitar For Dummies Details

From Library Journal The "For Dummies" series has moved far from its humble beginnings as an auto repair manual in the late 1970s. This latest hefty offering suffers from trying to be too many things to too many readers. Certainly, the introductory chapters are clear and concise, with enough information to get the beginner started. But it's not clear whether the book is geared toward electric or acoustic guitar?the photo illustrations show chords played on an electric guitar while the reader is learning campfire songs. Acoustic guitars don't make an appearance until Chapter 12. Four additional chapters are devoted to guitar selection, maintenance, and accessories, items beyond the immediate interest of most beginning players. Libraries are already likely to have any number of beginning guitar books, and these need not be displaced. (CD not available for review.)?Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., ProvidenceCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. Read more From the Back Cover Play-along audio CD included! The fun and easy way to start playing the guitar Covers rock, blues, folk, and classical styles Start strumming tunes right away—without reading music Whether you're contemplating a career as a heavy metal superstar or you just want to strum a few folk songs for your friends, this friendly book-and-CD package makes it easy to pick up the guitar. From simple chord progressions to smokin' blues licks, it delivers just what you need to make beautiful music — and have some fun while you fret! Discover how to: Strum basic chords and simple melodies Expand your range with advanced techniques Explore rock, blues, folk, and classical fundamentals Choose the right guitar Tune, change strings, and make simple repairs All this on the audio CD All 97 songs and exercises from the book on audio CD Play along with "Simple Gifts," "Streets of Laredo," a heavy metal power chord progression, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," Chuck Berry-slides, a country riff with palm muting, "Chuck's Duck," blues turnarounds, "Mississippi Mud," a folk thumd-brush-up pattern, "House of the Rising Sun," a contrapuntal classical exercise, and many more Get Smart! www.dummies.com Register to win cool prizes Browse exclusive articles and excerpts Get a free Dummmies DailyTM e-mail newsletter Chat with authors and preview other books Talk to us, ask questions, get answers Read more About the Author Mark Phillips, a veteran arranger, is music editor for both Guitar and GuitarOne. Jon Chappell, a multistyle guitarist and arranger, is technical editor at Guitar Shop and musicologist at Guitarra. Read more

Reviews

If I could do it over, I would start with this book. I've been playing now for 7 months, usually for 30 mins to two hours a day and I have taken lessons online, via web experts etc - but I have to say that this book doesn't miss a thing. So many teachers and online experts do miss a thing or two - they just assume you know when you don't (a big peeve for me!) Jon went through learning to play guitar a long time ago and obviously didn't forget a thing to leave out. If you get bored you can skip ahead and start to apply what he just taught you. Finally, the songs you learn are a little corny - but you do learn the important basics of chording, rhythm and timing - which is exactly what you need to do to play your favorite songs!Update 06/30/09 I will now hit 2 years on the guitar on August 5th 2009 and I am re-reading this book again and re-discovering that everything you need to know is in this book. If you just slow down an make a concerted effort to understand what is written you might catch it the first time, but probably not because there is so much to learn. This is really a great beginners "reference book" as you are still going to have to seek out full songs and tabs you want to learn elsewhere. I have also been taking lessons for about a year and a major breakthrough for me was learning the pentatonic major and minor scales. I went back through the book and - doh! - there they were in plain sight, I had just missed the importance of them on my first read. On another example, I missed the 12-bar blues progressions explained as the roman numeral system (I, IV, V progression). After my teacher got me using them with backing tracks, I looked back in this book and - you guessed it - they are there in plain sight. I guess my point is that is ONE book that you can use over and over - and should - because there is a lot to learn and you won't absorb it immediately. Learning guitar is a journey and you can never really learn guitar from one source. But you can get started with a good tool. This is a great at home tool that should help me for the next few years at least.Update 04/30/15. I've now been playing guitar 7 years and 8 months. As a grown adult, no hobby has quite smitten me as much as playing guitar. I play almost every day and for the last two or so years - I have played in a 70's, 80's and 90's cover band. 6 months ago I became the bands only guitar (and "lead") player for the same band. Two weeks ago we played at a bar for 100 people. I am dumbfounded and grateful to have these experiences. Looking back now, it all started with an affordable guitar and a decision to buy this book. You have to start sometime. Start with this.

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