Must have books for beginner to advanced players

[TenorGeetard]

Looking for recommendations on what books to purchase for some students and for myself. Looking for a book that's kind of an all in one beginner book featuring and introducing some theory, chord structure, scales, explained thoroughly and for ease of understanding. Also a couple more books for the intermediate and advanced players. A book that introduces higher level approaches and techniques to help improve versatility and to help understand how to play more intricate or varied styles. Maybe something that can really delve deep into more cutting edge, or progressive technique. Not particularly looking for something extremely wordy and really heavy in endless advanced theory. In other words, i'm not looking to impress anyone with heady talk about music. I want to DO IT.

[Steve DeRosa]

Spent my entire adult life teaching - IME I'd start with the old standby Mel Bay method books (available in a single volume compilation and covers both technique and theory in a logically-organized, easy-to-understand format) and supplement it with genre-specific materials in your preferred style(s) (jazz, blues, country, fingerstyle, classical, etc.) as you acquire proficiency...

[Steel and wood]

I found all my intermediate to advanced theory and playing on YouTube. (Better learning method for me than a one size fits all book also). A teacher like "Lick N Riff" on YouTube might also be helpful given he has multiple lessons covering just about everything acoustic intermediate to advanced. (Plenty of other resources like him also).

Good luck!

[Steadfastly]

You can get the Hal Leonard Learn & Master Guitar DVDCD set and download as many books as you want for just under $100.00. It starts off with beginner lessons and right up to intermediate.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/book...guitar&index=2

[musicman1951]

You'd imagine there would be an all in one beginning book, but I suspect there is simply too much ground to cover (and few want to cover it all).

I no longer accept new students, but I had all my students do the first half of any of the standard guitar series (Mel Bay, Alfred, etc.) until they knew the notes in first position on all 6 strings. Then I switched to Aaron Shearer Volume 1 Classic Guitar Technique. That's a nice book with very musical tunes at an easy level.

If the student was still digging it we went on to Volume 2. I hit a bit of theory in every lesson, but didn't have a book for that (although there may be fine books out there).

At that point if they were interested in being the next rock giant I would spend a third of their lessons correcting the tab they downloaded of their favorite song.

[devellis]

Gotta say, I hated those Mel Bay books. I was a kid and impatient. Friends were just picking up guitars and playing them. I didn't want to do a bunch of exercises that didn't sound anything like music or practice on songs that I'd never want to play. The Mel Bay series, at least back then, seemed to focus more on orchestral/jazz styles and I wanted to play more pop/rock/folk stuff. What worked best for me at that early stage were song books that had chord diagrams and that included popular songs that I liked. Also, sharing tips among friends who were a bit more advanced went a long way.

At a much later stage, after a long layoff from playing (like decades) and a more mature attitude, I found the Skeptical Guitarist books (specifically, Volume 2 on the fretboard) hugely helpful. But they (at least Volume 2) may be a bit advanced for a rank beginner, although I actually never got Volume 1, so I shouldn't generalize to the whole series. But for someone who wants to learn their way around a guitar neck in a practical way, I think Volume 2 of this series is tough to beat. The key to using it successfully, I think, is taking things slowly and not moving on to the next idea until you've gotten a pretty good grasp of what came earlier. You could easily spend months working through Volume 2. By the end, you'll have a good grasp of chord structure and scales, both in terms of what notes do what and in terms of where the various shapes are on the fretboard. Essentially, you get a pretty good grounding in theory without ever realizing that that's what you're learning. For students who prefer a less formal learning structure, I think that approach is perfect. And lots of seasoned players would also find Volume 2 (and probably others) useful. I found that there was stuff I "knew" that worked for me but I wasn't clear as to why it worked until I read this and worked through the exercises.

These aren't dirt cheap and I think they're only available through the author's approved outlets at a standard price. But well worth the money.

[Johnny K]

I'm throwing out my most recent purchase. Mikey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar. Book 1. This is alleged to be THE book to own.

[Blueser100]

Originally Posted by Steadfastly

You can get the Hal Leonard Learn & Master Guitar DVDCD set and download as many books as you want for just under $100.00. It starts off with beginner lessons and right up to intermediate.

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/book...guitar&index=2

I bought this course several years back. It's very professionally done and it emphasizes theory and note reading and starts from a beginning standpoint. I only finished it halfway because I was already intermediate when I began, and because I felt it didn't focus enough on learning songs. I don't know any single book or two that encompasses everything the OP is looking for.

[Sax Player Guy]

I am really digging this book, Total Acoustic Guitar:

https://www.amazon.com/Total-Acousti...gateway&sr=8-1

It is not for absolute beginners, but it opens with a really nice, concise review section of the basics. Includes online access to demo tracks and backing tracks. I am only 1/3 of the way through it so far, but it's been very helpful to me.

[TenorGeetard]

Thanks for all the responses.. Ill look into these suggestions.