This is the one we’ve been waiting for!
This book has been designed as a series of lessons, laid out in much in the same way as my group classes for beginners at the Berkshire Community College. Each chapter gives you step-by-step guidance through the initial stages of learning the guitar.
Here is the Table of Contents:
1 Getting Acquainted and Getting in Tune
You need to have your guitar in tune in order to play, so you’ll learn how in your very first chapter.2 Warming Up One Note at a Time
Once you’re in tune, you can start playing! In this chapter you learn about how to hold your guitar (whether sitting or standing), about picking and placing your hand on the fingerboard. You also get a quick look at guitar tablature so you can play some warm up exercises designed to get your fingers limber.3 And Now, A Few Chords
In this chapter, you’ll discover how easy it is to read chord charts and how it’s even easier to play some basic chords. And you’ll be playing a simple song before the lesson is over!4 “A One and a Two” Learning to Read Rhythms
Now that you know some chords, you want to learn about rhythm so that you can sound even better. You’ll be reading simple rhythm notation before you know it and you’ll also discover how to make even the most basic strumming sound very cool by adding an alternating bass line.5 “All in the Wrist” Learning to Play Rhythms
You will continue to improve your strumming abilities in this lesson by learning about sock puppets. No lie! Plus you’ll learn a new chord and get to play a very cool new song.6 Swinging with the Blues
Discovering how triplets and swing rhythms work will set you up to play almost any blues song your heart desires! You also learn some new chords, how to play shuffles and a very cool blues-style riff.7 Stretching Out with Three New Chords
Now that you’ve gotten your fingers loose and ready to play, it’s time to tackle the three chords that will lead to adding thousands of songs to your repertoire. Plus you’ll start working on walking bass lines to make your chord changes sound even cooler.8 Making Your Guitar Sing with Slurs
Just when you thought you were sounding pretty good, you’re going to find yourself sounding even better! In this chapter, you’ll learn the four basic guitar slurs and how mixing them in with your strumming makes you sound like you’re not a beginner any more.9 Strumming by the Measure or by the Note
In this chapter you’ll learn about different rhythms and strumming patterns and also find out how to play arpeggios. Plus you’ll get to learn two classic songs.10 Stop and Go
Things start picking up speed when you learn about sixteenth notes and different muting techniques. This chapter finishes with a great arrangement of “The Gallows Pole.”11 Finger Picking with Style
You give your guitar a totally new sound when you learn how to finger pick. This chapter shows you how easy finger picking can be and teaches you three different styles. Plus you get your first taste of classical guitar music.12 A Major Step Forward
If you can count to twelve, you can learn music theory. It is truly that simple! In this chapter you learn how to make any major scale and also learn cool ways to incorporate them into your playing.13 Building Chords from Scratch
This chapter teaches you how to make any chord you can possibly think of, plus a dozen or so you didn’t even know existed! You will never need chord charts again!14 Barre Tending
Once you know how to play basic barre chords, the entire length of the fingerboard becomes your playground. And you’ll get plenty of practice with them as you will be learning three new songs in this chapter.15 Using Your Intelligence
With all the musical knowledge you’ve gained in the last chapters you can start to come up with some very interesting song arrangements of your own. Your next big leap forward starts here.16 Clipping on a Capo
With a capo and a bit of transposing (which you’ll learn in a heartbeat in this chapter), you can rearrange songs to fit your vocal range or even come up with second guitar parts to make playing with your friends more rewarding.17 Beyond Standard Tuning
Alternate tunings have been around since guitars themselves. They can make your guitar sound heavy or harp-like. This chapter teaches you about many alternate tunings and you’ll also get to hear how a single song can sound when played in two different tunings.18 Filling in the Blanks
Adding fills (short melodic phrases) to your playing makes you sound more like a seasoned guitarist. You will learn how to create and use fills to make your playing your best yet in this chapter.19 Bringing Chords and Melody Together
In this chapter you learn how to make your guitar sing for you. Through chord melody, you’ll find how easy it is to turn your single guitar into a whole band.20 Making a Solo
Soloing doesn’t have to be scary if you take the time to prepare first. This chapter walks you step by step through the process of creating a guitar solo and also teaches you about playing scales further up on the fingerboard.21 Picking Up Speed
Getting comfortable with alternate picking can help you develop more speed in your playing. You’ll also discover the frenetic sound of crosspicking in this lesson.Chapters 22 – 29
The final eight chapters take you on a mini-tour of the many genres and styles of guitar playing that wait for you. You’ll get two song lessons each on Country, Rock, Blues, Classical, Folk, Celtic, Jazz and Pop music and learn how to put all the knowledge you’ve gained from the first part of the book to use in your playing. And you’ll learn more cool tricks and techniques as well.
Additionally, there will be tips on buying instruments and handling string changes, day to day maintenance and minor repairs available as “Book Extras” or “Quick Guide” at the Complete Idiot’s Guides’ website.
In addition to all this, IÂ will be posting lessons at Guitar Noise to supplement some of the song lessons from the book such as The Art of Accompaniment, which breaks down “Oh! Susanna” from Chapter 12, The Quick Change Chromatic Blues, an original fingerstyle blues song featured in Chapter 24, and Where Did You Sleep Last Night, a walk through of Nirvana’s version of “In the Pines” by Leadbelly, which you’ll find in Chapter 23.
Of course, as with our other book pages there will be an “errata” page dedicated for the mistakes and typos that we find in this particular book. It will hopefully not be all that long or involved but should be of help in case you find something just flat out weird!
Be sure to come to this page for all the latest updates on this terrific book!
Peace
TO BUY THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO GUITAR
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Guitar went on sale on October 5, 2010, so you should be able to go to your local bookstore and just buy it. You can call and check with them a week ahead of time to make sure that they’ll have a copy and chances are very likely they’ll even hold it for you.
You can also buy it online from all sorts of sources, but I am recommending people try to buy it through Guitar Noise’s various affiliate links to Amazon, which include the links here at davidhodge.com. If you go on the Guitar Noise home page you’ll find a “Recommended by our Readers” book wheel down towards the bottom of the page. Click on the photo of the “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Guitar” cover and that will take you to the Amazon page where you can pre-order it until it becomes available. I think you need a secure credit card to buy from Amazon, but they make take Paypal as well. I’ll check into that if you’d like.
You can also, if you’d like, order a copy through me. I charge $20 (I pay the same Amazon price everyone does and the extra usually makes up for the shipping) and you also get a free autograph! I take cash, checks or money orders.
If you do want to order through me, just email me at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and let me know so I can tell you where to send a payment.