Customer Reviews

Complete Guitarist

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I first got this book when I was learning guitar, but since then have shifted my emphasis to the piano. Amazingly enough, I still use this book often because of the great theory it provides. But for a guitar player, this the THE BOOK to have. I mean, it has everything. First, the design is so easy to follow, and so intuitive, that it makes learning fun. The book begins with an appreciative history of guitar, then gets into everything else, and I mean everything. Theory, scales, chords, progressions, improvising, keys, modes, substitutions, reading music, playing styles, transposing, the entire fretboard, practice methods, and a lot more I am not mentioning. Then there is complete information on how to take care of your guitar, and some examples (well, more technically, equipment) of how to get into home-recording. The greatest strength of the book is the "lesson like" format, where each two pages constitutes a central lesson, and the complexity builds as you go through it. The computer-generated pictures are easy to understand and do not get overwhelming. There is unbelievable organization in the theory (especially keys, chord progressions and impovisation), which is why I still use it even though I don't really play guitar. If God owned a guitar, he'd probably have this book.

I have played guitar over 30 years, played in bands, built guitars and lutes and attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. After a hiatus of several years in my playing, I started to re-visit guitar when my son wanted lessons. I recomend this book to anyone who wants to better understand guitars, thier history, thier uses, music and music theory. While the book could benefit from a CD for beginners so that they could hear the concepts presented, it has served as a wonderful refresher and general exercise book for scales, picking, and other areas which I have paid $25 / hour for to get less information during a one hour lesson than from a single page in the book. I use this book to explore areas outside of my usual players rut, such as jazz progressions, site reading, substituitions and the like. This is a book with real meat in it for anyone who will take the time to chew the information presented.

I had already posessed intermediate / advanced skill level by the time I originally purchased this book. Since then I have recommended it to everyone I knew who showed an interest in learning the guitar and each person has been impressed. Beginner, intermediate, advanced, there is something for everyone. The graphic format it uses is highly original and provides amazing insight to the mysteries of music theory, chords, substitutions, scales, chord/scale relationship, single note exercises, improvising melodies, history, equipment used to create sounds and maintenance of the guitar, among others. All in all, the most comprehensive overview on an instrument whose sound is as unique as the individual playing it. I have lived on pages 132 and 133 for years. Even though I feel there isn't much more I can discover on the guitar, I still refer to it ten years after buying it. I wish it was published when I first started playing, as it would've expedited progress in my early years. Sadly I have heard that this edition is no longer being printed and I'm too scared to see what the new edition looks like. That said, if you can find this book, you would be stupid to pass it up because it is, by far, THE best guitar instruction reference I've seen in 21 years of playing.

This book is fantastic. It provides a complete introduction to playing the guitar. It's perfect for someone who is just starting out and needs an introduction, or for someone who has been playing for awhile and needs to fill in some of the gaps in their knowledge. I think most guitarists could benefit from this book, if they take the time to understand all of it.

It's sort of an encylopedia of "things any guitarist should know and be able to work with."

"When I first took a look at the book I thought it was going to be the only thing i would need for learning everything about guitar and it was, now I'm right in the middle of some scales stuff(in the book) and I never get tired of learning new things from this wonder, I really kind of think that definitly this is the best guitar-learning book ever published by anyone.

I have nothing more to say about this book but, that it is the best book, of it's kind ever made AFAIK and please CMIIW.

So here is just a little piece of advice for those who are starting in all this guitar stuff, IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR A NICE, EASY-EXPLAINED,AND VERY WELL STRUCTURED, AND WITH ALL KIND OF PICS AND COMPUTER DIAGRAMS this is the book that best matches this category so... just go buy this book right now, believe me it is well worthed."

This book, like all DK books, is richly illustrated. It has a good explanation of what different types of guitars are, as well as a brief history of guitars. Thge book then provides instruction with exellent illustrations as guides. The book goes beyond merely the simplest chords. Additionally, the book provides a fair amount of music theory so you can understand chord progressions and scales rather than just learn them mindlessly. There is a lot in the book for both the beginner and the fairly advanced musician.

The book could be used as a step by step guide to learn to play the guitar but, most people will probably use it as a handbook, concentrating on the chapters of most interest to them. The book was written in the early 90s and it would be nice to see a second edition, specifically to udate equipment reviews etc.

this book seems to be torn between being a coffee table book or a useful instruction manual for budding guitarists. In my opinion it fares somewhat better on the former point than the latter and succeeds in being a really beautiful book. The "Sound and Amplification" section at the end is a particularly good example of what this book does well: lots of pretty pictures of gear with historical or technical information about each item. I would not discourage the use of this book, but I found "The Guitar Handbook" much more useful.

This book has everything a begining guitarist could possibly want to know. From how guitars are made, to what kinds of guitars do what, different playing styles and techniques, acoustic and electric setup tips etc...

Every new guitarist will find the book to be a wealth of information, and practiced professionals will find many tidbits to ponder and appreciate.

For less than 20 bucks, you can't go wrong.

However, please note: This is not a book full of songs or lengthy stlye-specific lessons. This book offers a broad spectrum of information. It is like a gigantic, but shallow lake...not a small, deep well.

Lavishly and beautifully illustrated with color pictures and diagrams. My favorite part: full page description and pictures of classic guitar/amp set ups - quite wonderful. A visual history of the development of the guitar is well done - but less interesting to me personally. An incredibly comprehensive coverage of guitar music theory, including sections on Jazz, Blues and Rock from beginner-level to expert -- quite overwhelming really; I dip into it from time to time - there is just so much. Any guitarist would love this book. DK Publishing seems to be years ahead of the competition creating by far the best books available in many fields. This book has the looks and the content. ***Highly recommended***.

Richard Chapman's book is extremely well done. It gives the reader succinct yet substantial information on all aspects of the guitar in a beautifully done presentation. This book can be used to learn new things and as a life long reference. I speak as a professional guitar instructor with more than twenty years of playing experience. Chapman's book is similar to Denyer's "Guitar Handbook" but is slightly less detailed and more up to date in appearance. I discovered Chapman's book accidentally and consider it to have been a good surprise.