The Complete Encyclopedia of the Guitar: A Definitive Guide to the World's Most Popular Instrument [Paperback]

Terry Burrows (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Schirmer Trade Books (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028650271
• ISBN-13: 978-0028650272
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,925,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you kids don't pipe down I'll send you to bed., May 12, 2002

By 

Gary Penton (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Encyclopedia of the Guitar: A Definitive Guide to the World's Most Popular Instrument (Paperback)

Alright, settle down. This is a very good book with an unfortunate title. A literal "definitive" guitar book would need to be shipped via freight. Someday the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Hanson, and CC Deville will make it into the same book as Segovia and Charlie Christian. In the meantime, this is a great book to initiate the young guitarist to how the guitar has evolved over many years...more than your eighteen.

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and a good learning experience, March 19, 2003

By 

David Vidlund (Commerce, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Encyclopedia of the Guitar: A Definitive Guide to the World's Most Popular Instrument (Paperback)

The guitar is just an instrument to some, but to the people who make it a vocation it's so much more. This book is a detailed timeline of the events that made the guitar what it is today. Along the way hearing about the stories and events that the guitarist faced while playing their instrument. Learn about early classical guitars, before they used electric. The guitar itself doesn't always create all the sounds you hear, so learn about things like reverb, echo, distortion, and different pedels revolutionized guitar playing forever.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars GLARING OMISSIONS!, January 18, 2000

By 

Jodie (Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Encyclopedia of the Guitar: A Definitive Guide to the World's Most Popular Instrument (Paperback)

This is one of the many books about guitar players which fails to mention Genesis alums Anthony Phillips & Steve Hackett, which is, frankly, APPALLING! 1]Mr. Burrows mentions quite a few times the revolutionary "finger tapping" guitar technique but seems unaware that Steve Hackett is the earliest known practitioner of this technique! Steve isn't even mentioned in the book, yet Kurt Cobain gets an entry!Cobain seems to have barely been able to TUNE his instrument!

2]What makes this especially criminal is that Hackett & Phillips are two of the only contemporary composers for the guitar making any serious contribution to the repertoire!As brilliant as Frank Zappa & Steve Vai's compositions and improvisations are, their pieces are simply not viable [no pun intended] as performance works. Yet compositions such as Phillips's "Tregenna Afternoons" & Hackett's Symphony "A Midsummer Night's Dream" are MAJOR contributions to the existing six-string repertoire, and Burrows omits them in favor of...Kurt Cobain? Johnny Marr? Give me a break! When are these two great players/composers going to get their due from the orthodox media?