The Beginner's Guide to Playing Guitar

The guitar is one of the most versatile musical instruments and can be used to play an assortment of musical styles, such as folk, country, blues, rock, pop, jazz, classical, and even flamenco. Learning to play it can be complicated, but it needn't be, as The Beginner's Guide to Playing Guitar so expertly shows. In the experienced teaching hands of Douglas J. Noble, players who haven't touched a guitar before, nor have any prior musical knowledge, can easily learn the basics. All the musical examples included here were written for the novice, with easy-to-understand notation and straightforward timing. Key chapters include: * Guitar Music Notation *The Twelve Bar Blues *Classical Guitar *Barre Chords *Music Theory *Jazz Although the book does contain some actual songs, it concentrates on material written specifically to improve a certain aspect of playing. Readers will work progressively through a variety of styles - from classical to rock, blues to jazz - with the knowledge that each style influences the other. Advocating a practice routine of ten to fifteen minutes a day, Noble stresses a basic, no-nonsense approach that will have even the tone-deaf strumming away in days.