Product Description

Have you always wanted to play guitar? Who wouldn′t? Think of Jimi Hendrix wailing away on his Stratocaster. . . Chuck Berry duck–walking across the stage to "Johnny B. Goode". . .B.B. King making his "Lucille" cry the blues. No doubt about it—guitars are cool.

Guitar For Dummies 2nd Edition tells you everything a beginning or intermediate guitarist needs to know: from buying a guitar to tuning it, playing it, and caring for it, this book has it all—and you don′t even need to know how to read music. Full of photo–illustrated exercises and songs you can play to practice the techniques discussed in each section, this step–by–step guide will take you through the basics and beyond before you can say "Eric Clapton." You′ll learn how to:

• Match yourself with the guitar and equipment that fits your needs and budget
• Select the right accessories: amps, picks, pedals, capos, cases, and other goodies
• Pick and strum to produce a clean, clear, buzz–free tone
• Know whether you′re really in tune
• Play melodies without reading music
• Perform basic guitar maintenance and repairs
• Build strength and dexterity while playing
• Play in different styles, including rock, blues, folk, jazz, and classical
• Make your guitar talk with bends and slides!

Fully revised and updated, with an all new interactive CD that allows readers to listen, learn, tune, and play along, Guitar For Dummies 2nd Edition is the perfect introductory guide for any novice acoustic or electric guitar player. 

Note: CD–ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #311 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-11
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 408 pages

Review
“…offers everything the beginner to intermediate guitarist needs in an irreverent and accessible format…” (Harborough Mail, 17^th November 2005)

Review
“…offers everything the beginner to intermediate guitarist needs in an irreverent and accessible format…” (Harborough Mail, 17^th November 2005)

Synopsis
Have you always wanted to play guitar? Who wouldn't? Think of Jimi Hendrix wailing away on his Stratocaster...Chuck Berry duck-walking across the stage to "Johnny B. Goode"...B.B. King making his "Lucille" cry the blues. No doubt about it - guitars are cool. "Guitar For Dummies, 2nd Edition" tells you everything a beginning or intermediate guitarist needs to know: from buying a guitar to tuning it, playing it, and caring for it, this book has it all - and you don't even need to know how to read music. Full of photo-illustrated exercises and songs you can play to practice the techniques discussed in each section, this step-by-step guide will take you through the basics and beyond before you can say "Eric Clapton."

You'll learn how to: match yourself with the guitar and equipment that fits your needs and budget; select the right accessories - amps, picks, pedals, capos, cases, and other goodies; pick and strum to produce a clean, clear, buzz-free tone; know whether you're really in tune; play melodies without reading music; perform basic guitar maintenance and repairs; build strength and dexterity while playing; play in different styles, including rock, blues, folk, jazz, and classical; and, make your guitar talk with bends and slides! Fully revised and updated, with an all new interactive CD that allows readers to listen, learn, tune, and play along, "Guitar For Dummies, 2nd Edition" is the perfect introductory guide for any novice acoustic or electric guitar player. The CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Customer Reviews

Get a lesson!
I bought this for my son who wanted to learn. What a waste pay for a few lessons with a teacher quite cheap for kids. Used for a couple of days then discarded. Anyone who has been playing more than a month will find this a waste of money.

Dont be a Dummie buy this book.
This book is brilliant from basic through to very advanced.The book plus the C/D I might had must of taken ages to format,ending in a great product.Even if you only learn to play basic guitar,you have not wasted your money.If it was 3 times the price it would be cheap.There are over 380 pages or good info and the C/D OF course.I suggest anyone interested should take advantage of the excellent price currently at Amazon.co uk.I Per sonly think you could sell it on after use for a return of your purchase price [honestly].By the way Jon Chappell as a hand in this book along with Mark Phillips.I would recommend buying both for £15 You wont be sorry.PS i have also wrote a review on Jon Chappell,s DVD.Hope this helps Sincerely Brian B

Brilliant for beginners
This takes you from absolute beginner to the point where you are sounding pretty competent in a nicely structured A -> B -> C fashion. It starts off with basic stuff like the most common open chords and how to play simple melodies using tab then goes on to the more difficult stuff like barre chords and techniques like string bends in a solo. The final part of the book deals with techniques related to specific genres - rock, blues, folk, jazz etc.

I've looked at a few how to play guitar books and this one was definitely the winner. The range of material is really good - from basic to advanced you cover quite a lot of ground technique wise and the music is pretty varied and more interesting than a lot of other books that I've looked at. Everything is explained clearly and you don't have to know anything about reading music or musical theory to be able to use it (though some of this is mentioned in passing to give you some idea of what's going on). At the end of the book I was definitely a much more confident guitarist than I was to begin with so it definitely did what it was supposed to. I particularly liked the sections covering different genres of music - being able to relate the techniques that you've learned to the specific types of music you want to play is a big plus which not all "how to" books actually do incidentally. The CD is very useful and easy to use.

Ok a few gripes with the style - I don't really share the authors sense of humour and for that matter his taste at times (thinking of the greatest guitarists lists etc) but these are pretty minor. Stylistic and taste issues aside this book is great in terms of actual information. If you want to start learning guitar you can't go far wrong with this.