What's a good beginner book to start with?

deranged_coder · #1 05-18-2010, 01:42 PM

Hi all,

Been recently asked by a friend of mine if I could teach him how to play guitar. So rather than just go blindly into it and make stuff up as I go along, I was hoping for a good beginner guitar book that can act as a guide. I consider myself an intermediate level guitarist (I can do strumming, flatpicking, fingerpicking, understand chord theory and construction and I can read standard notation and tablature) so for me it is more a matter of having some sort of systematic guide so (1) I do not overwhelm my friend, and (2) I am not so disorganized that I wind up discouraging my friend from learning.

As far as goals go, my friend is not planning on becoming a professional musician. All he wants is to be able to pick it up as a hobby so he can learn some chords and sing some of his favorite songs in his living room in the evenings.

I did some research on the web and found some promising looking books:

Any experience / opinions on the books I've listed? Any recommendations for books I have not listed but you've had positive experiences with?

Thanks!

jackcooper · #2 05-18-2010, 03:10 PM

Hi.

The Bert Casey books are very good if your friend is interested in learning roots music. The CD is very well recorded and enjoyable to play along with.

The Bruce Buckingham book is also very good. It's mostly chord based, but has some good rhythm exercises in it too.

One of my favourite books is http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Method-...4218249&sr=1-4

For some reason, no-one has reviewed it, but it deserves 5 stars.

Never buy a book unless it has a CD. Without a CD, the learning process will be stunted in my opinion.

Good Luck.

Jack.

daza152 · #3 05-18-2010, 05:48 PM

I have to recommend The Guitar For Dummies book as it helped me immensely, I also have arriving next week The Blues guitar For Dummies book. They are so easy to follow you can't go wrong

Daza.

redcloud · #4 05-18-2010, 07:26 PM

It isn't a book, but the lessons and materials are well presented; have a look at justinguitar.com.

markallen · #5 05-18-2010, 07:49 PM

I'm a huge fan of Bruce Emory's books. Great books written from an adult perspective that make learning fun. Everything from beginning guitar through various styles and three great books on theory. Check him out at www.skepticalguitarist.com

deranged_coder · #6 05-19-2010, 11:41 AM

Thanks for everyone's replies so far. I am planning on checking out my local guitar store during my lunch break today to see what books they have available. I will keep an eye out for the books which have been recommended by everyone.

daza152 · #7 05-19-2010, 12:15 PM

No problem, and don't be put off by the For Dummies book They have intermediate techniques as well as the one I'm waiting which hopefully will explain things about blues in a simple easy to follow lessons which it did so well in the first one.........read on

Daza....(I think books for beginners is under-rated too, you learn heaps that way).

deranged_coder · #8 05-24-2010, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackcooper

The Bruce Buckingham book is also very good. It's mostly chord based, but has some good rhythm exercises in it too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallboard

I'm a huge fan of Bruce Emory's books. Great books written from an adult perspective that make learning fun. Everything from beginning guitar through various styles and three great books on theory. Check him out at www.skepticalguitarist.com

Well, when I visited my local guitar store last week, I walked out with copies of both the Guitar Basics by Bruce Buckingham book as well as the Skeptical Guitarist: Guitar from Scratch book.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daza152

No problem, and don't be put off by the For Dummies book They have intermediate techniques as well as the one I'm waiting which hopefully will explain things about blues in a simple easy to follow lessons which it did so well in the first one.........read on

Daza....(I think books for beginners is under-rated too, you learn heaps that way).

Didn't see this at the local guitar store but I'm still keeping an eye out for it. I agree, even if one is no longer a beginner, it is always nice to revisit the fundamentals and something which may not have made much sense to you the first time to go through a book will make perfect sense after you've been playing for a while. I know that while I was skimming through the Guitar Basics and Skeptical Guitarist books I had a few "hey, never thought of it that way before but that really makes perfect sense!" moments. Just goes to show that we should always be open to learning new things, even from "beginner" books.

Turtle · #9 05-24-2010, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fallboard

I'm a huge fan of Bruce Emory's books. Great books written from an adult perspective that make learning fun. Everything from beginning guitar through various styles and three great books on theory. Check him out at www.skepticalguitarist.com

Ditto on that. Emery's books are great. Starts off assuming you know NOTHING except that you want to play guitar, and builds from there.

daza152 · #10 05-25-2010, 02:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deranged_coder

Well, when I visited my local guitar store last week, I walked out with copies of both the Guitar Basics by Bruce Buckingham book as well as the Skeptical Guitarist: Guitar from Scratch book.

Didn't see this at the local guitar store but I'm still keeping an eye out for it. I agree, even if one is no longer a beginner, it is always nice to revisit the fundamentals and something which may not have made much sense to you the first time to go through a book will make perfect sense after you've been playing for a while. I know that while I was skimming through the Guitar Basics and Skeptical Guitarist books I had a few "hey, never thought of it that way before but that really makes perfect sense!" moments. Just goes to show that we should always be open to learning new things, even from "beginner" books.

If you go to amazon .com you can actual view the book page by page....There is 'Guitar for Dummies' and 'Blues Guitar for Dummies' check it out on there.

Daza.