Guitar Instruction Books
There are instruction books for all kinds of guitar playing. The way the instruction is given varies between the different genres with the teaching of music theory for guitar remaining much the same for all styles.
A classical guitar instruction book will take the student from theory straight into simple pieces, graduating to more complex guitar music without learning chord shapes or improvisation. A jazz instruction book, on the other hand, will be chockablock with exotic guitar chords and scales. A rock or blues guitar instruction book will take you through such stepping stones to improvisation as the pentatonic scales and the CAGED chord system.
For the purpose of this article we will assume you are a complete beginner who wants to dip his toe in the cold and forbidding waters of guitar playing to eventually discover the warm currents of musical satisfaction.
Beyond Bedroom Guitar by Spencer Westwood is an introduction to guitar that immediately leads the student to a certain way of looking at guitar playing. This book is aimed at the medium or advanced guitarist and the beginner guitarist who has got to the stage of being able to strum a few chords. The guitar instruction is based on changing the way we approach learning in general and contains some techniques derived from the field of self-hypnosis. If you want your guitar instruction to be a life-changing experience, give this book a read.
The Only Basic Guitar Instruction Book You’ll Ever Need by Jack Wilkins and Peter Rubie starts at choosing your first guitar and moves to tuning and holding the guitar and guitar music theory. We then move onto some songs and chords plus basic fingerpicking. The book’s structure alternates between theory and practical guitar work, taking us into more advanced ideas and techniques as we practice what we have learnt from the previous chapters.
Guitar Lesson World: The Book by Patrick MacFarlane is compiled by the founder of guitarlessonworld.com which has been giving us free guitar lessons since 1996. The book is inexpensive and comprehensive and is backed up by audio files that you can find on the website. The only snag is that it is very much based in theory, so if you would rather learn chords and songs without the whys and wherefores, you should probably give it a miss.
Each of the three guitar instruction books I have listed in this article stand out for its unique approach to teaching guitar. They are aimed at guitar students who have already found a serious commitment in themselves to learning how to play guitar. If you are looking for something simpler or for a particular genre, there are many books that will get you started.
About the Author
Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.
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Trash to Cash-Episode 1-A Garage Sale Adventure w/Lynn Dralle (Your guide to buying & selling at online auctions like ebay & Yahoo.) [VHS] $2.99 Lynn Dralle is a 3rd generation antiques dealer. She is an eBay Power Seller who sells up to $20,000 a month at online auction. She is an award winning author and her books I Buy and I Sell will help you keep track of what you buy and what you sell at online auction. In this episode, follow Lynn Dralle from Garage Sale to Garage Sale as she buys a carload full of stuff. Some of these finds are… |
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Guitar Method: In the Style of Pink Floyd [VHS] $2.35 … |
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Electric Slide Guitar [VHS] $6.00 This video will introduce guitarists to the world of playing electric slide guitar in open G and open E tunings. David begins with the basics of getting a good slide sound, takes you through slide scale patterns and riffs in open position and up the neck, and demonstrates step-by-step how to create riffs, solos and backup parts in the styles of Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Duane Allman and Ry Coode… |
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Neil Peart Taking Center Stage: Lifetime of Live Performances $24.05 Neil Peart – Taking Center Stage was filmed in various locations over the course of a year. In it, Neil Peart takes you on a behind-the-scenes look at Rush’s 2010-11 Time Machine tour. This includes rare and exclusive footage of Neil’s personal pre-tour rehearsals and backstage events at a Rush concert (including a visit to the soundcheck, and an unprecedented backstage interview as Neil warms up … |
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Fender Presents: Getting Started on Acoustic Guitar — A Guide for Beginners $12.57 Over 3 hours long with 50 interactive lessons. Covers tuning, essential chords and scales, music reference, practice tips, rhythm techniques, play-along tracks with a band, 3-D fretboard graphics, instrument care, and more. Includes 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and German. Hosted by Keith Wyatt of the Musicians Institute…. |
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The Acoustic Guitar Method $22.35 These carefully graded starter lessons for the acoustic guitar are based on David Hamburger’s best-selling books, issued by the publishers of Acoustic Guitar magazine. Beginner guitarists will learn how to use a pick and form all the most important chords, while those with some guitar experience will learn fingerpicking styles and other essential playing techniques. More than two-dozen classic son… |
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Ukulele For Dummies $14.15 Learn everything ukulele – from chord progressions to playing pop, folk and holiday favorites. Includes audio CD…. |
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Hal Leonard Guitar Method, Complete Edition: Books & CD’s 1, 2 and 3 $13.23 The Hal Leonard Guitar Method is designed for anyone just starting to play acoustic or electric guitar. It is based on years of teaching guitar students of all ages, and reflects some of the best teaching ideas from around the world. This super-convenient Complete Edition features the new and improved method books 1, 2, and 3 spiral-bound together. CDs give blow-by-blow assistance from super-playe… |
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Kid’s Guitar Course, Book 1 (Book and Enhanced CD) (Kid’s Courses!) $8.89 Alfred’s Kids Guitar Course teaches one to play the guitar right away. The Complete Edition combines Levels 1 and 2 with activity pages. Each lesson is easy to understand and makes learning music fun with the help of three irresistible guitar experts – a clever classical dog, a cool jazz cat, and a friendly blues loving alligator….. |
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Animusic – A Computer Animation Video Album (Special Edition) $13.47 Watching Animusic is like being mesmerized by the world’s most elaborate Rube Goldberg devices: You’re so astonished by their ingenuity that you can’t look away. This “computer animation video album” is the brainchild of Wayne Lytle, a progressive-rock keyboardist and 1988 graduate of Cornell University’s Program of Computer Graphics. Modifying techniques originally applied to the visualization of… |