Guitar For Dummies (For Dummies (Lifestyles Paperback))

Guitar sales are on the rise, jumping from 1.7 million sold in 2000 to nearly 2 million in 2003. Now revised and updated, this is the perfect introductory guide for all those novice acoustic and electric guitar players. It offers easy, step-by-step instruction on fingering chords, strumming and picking, using specialized techniques like the slide, and playing in a wide range of guitar styles--from rock and blues to folk and classical--plus tips on selecting the right guitar, maintaining it, and finding the best accessories. For this new edition, the authors provide expanded coverage of guitar styles including a whole new chapter on jazz guitar--well as fresh practice pieces and techniques, and updated charts, illustrations, photographs, and resources. Mark Phillips (Bayside, NY) is a guitarist, arranger, and editor with more than 30 years in the music publishing field. Phillips has served as Director of Music and Director of Publications at Cherry Lane Music, where he has edited or arranged the songbooks of such artists as John Denver, Van Halen, Guns N' Roses, and Metallica, and has served as Music Editor for Guitar and Guitar One magazines. Jon Chappell (Rye, NY) is a multistyle guitarist, transcriber, and arranger. He is currently Editor in Chief of Guitar magazine, Technical Editor of Guitar Shop magazine, and musicologist for Guitarra, a classical magazine. His other books include Rock Guitar For Dummies (0-7645-5356-9).

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: