Customer Reviews

The Guitar Handbook

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first started playing the guitar 2 decades ago, a friend had a copy of an earlier edition of this guide and he gave me the book to use while I was getting started. Using the book, and I mean really reading the book thru thoroughly, I learned a whole lot about the instrument itself and the music that could be produced from the guitar and that really helped my performance as I developed on the instrument.

The book begins with guitar innovators, those guitar players who have had a serious impact on the way the instrument is played, etc. This section was actually fun to read and was quite informative about several guitar players who had influenced my own playing.

The following two sections of the book cover acoustic and electric guitars. These sections detail how each instrument (acoustic and electric) are put together, how to set the action, the various types of each style of guitar, how pick-ups are put together, etc. This is a helpful and technical section which instructs the reader on the ins and outs of the make-up of his instrument.

From here, the book moves into actually playing the instrument. It begins with the beginner, teaching good practicing habits, what to practice, improving fingering, chord progressions, reading tablature, tuning, action, right and left-handed techniques, etc. Then this section moves into chords (with photos), three-chord theory, flatpicking and strumming and other various fingerstyles, barre chords, and even how to transpose songs. Inside this section there is also a sub-section on rhythm guitar, setting tempo, time signatures, using chord charts, time values, etc. Essentially everything you would need to know to be a well rounded guitar player is included (including slide guitar).

The final section deals with the maintenance of the guitar. This section teaches the reader/player all the things that are needed to know about the most difficult maintenance aspects such as how to customize an instrument, to the easiest such as changing your strings. For the electric guitarist, there is a guide to guitar electronics which includes pictures and lists of all the tools you will need, instructions on reading wiring diagrams, actual charts and photos of how an electric guitar is wired, pick-up circuits, etc.

Finally, at the back of the book is a fairly extensive chord dictionary with pictures of how each chord is fingered. This dictionary is very helpful to the player when trying to find the same chord but to know where it is elsewhere on the fret board. Overall, what can I say but that no guitar player, regardless of your experience should be without this definitive guidebook.

While refurbishing a used electric guitar (a Gibson Flying V), I needed circuit diagrams and a friend lent me his copy of The Guitar Handbook. After reading a few pages, I didn't want to give it back! The book's brilliance lies in its economical use of language, diagrams and photos. It's as though Ralph Denyer and his editors are telepathic; knowing exactly what the reader needs and wants to know about guitars and guitar playing. Every page is a gold mine, illuminating topics I thought would be boring -- for example, complex music theory. Truly inspirational, the book unveils the once-daunting mysteries of music, including technical vocabulary, and still manages to stay down to earth. Listen to this quote: "Many guitarists--especially those that are self-taught--are suspicious of scales and regard them as an unattractive and unnecessary discipline. This is untrue." I've been rocking for 20 years and now my 16-year-old daughter is teaching me to sight-read music! One word of advice: if you expect to keep your copy of The Guitar Handbook, don't lend it to a guitar player.

Everyone here is giving five stars, but I recently bought this 1992 (revised) edition off amazon, replacing the previous edition that I had 20 years ago which was nicked by one of my friends.

If you really know music, you will see that there are now lots of editorial errors. for example, on the MODULATION page, it says:

"You could change straight from C to G, since the vertical columns show that G is both the dominant (V) in the key of C and the root (I) in the key of C and the sub-dominant (IV) in the key of G.."

I assure you that:

G is the dominant (V) in the key of C
but

G is not the root (I) in the key of C
and furthermore

G is not the sub-dominant (IV) in the key of G..

the author meant:

"You could change straight from C to G, since the vertical columns show that G is both the dominant (V) in the key of C and the root in the key of G.. and C is the sub-dominant in the key of G"

These errors are perhaps to be expected in our age of computer grammar check. If you know your chord theory you can sort that out with a red pen after scratching your head for a while, but if you don't, you are going to be lost.

I also find mislabeled chord diagrams like the seventh augmented fifth fingering on page 127. It says root note on the 5th string but the root is on the second (A) string, and the intervals are labeled upside down. from top 3rd,b7th,#5th,1st? No: 1st,#5th, 3rd, b7th.

What can I say? it is disappointing and again a beginner is going to be stuck here. Nevertheless it is and has always been a great book.

If you are a beginner and purchase it, just keep in mind that there are errors, but if you are buying this to replace your old copy, maybe better wait till a new edition comes out, and I hope the publisher doesn't make the cover any thinner.

This book has an incredible amount of information, but is more suitable for somebody who already has SOME experience with guitars or is attending a course. The section on learning to play the guitar is packed with information that cannot possibly be followed by a self-teaching beginner. I have spent by now almost one month on 4 pages! If you wish to fully profit from this book, you should also know how to read music notation.

I got this book to learn more about theory and scales and things like that. I got this book for the right reason-this book has everything a beginner would need to learn about scales, modes, chord theory and construction, harmonics, guitar anatomy and more. This book outlines the basics of everything a beginner should know. Even learn about sheet music. I recommend this book to any beginner or intermediate player--for acoustic OR electric.

This is probably the best overall book you will find about guitars. It covers quite a bit of material. The details about how a guitar works and how to maintain a guitar are the best I have ever personally read. For example, setting the scale length of a guitar, a very important part of getting a guitar to sound good, is covered in easy to understand terms. It helped me fix some minor tuning issues on my Stratocaster.

This is also an effective book if you are interested in buying a guitar. You will be able to identify problems with most guitars because you will know what to look for. For example, checking for a warped neck. There is a great two page section that gives you the basics about how to look for that kind of defect.

And don't let any of these other reviews convince you that there is not enough theory in here. Granted, if you are brand new to playing or music in general it probably won't make much sense and you will struggle. But if you understand some basic scale and chord structures this book will help you gain a better understanding of how it all works. Odds are that those who do not like the theory in this book either do not like the approach or didn't actually read the entire book.

This book will NOT make you sound like your favorite guitarist. All the great players are great because they practice and the greatest players just have the gift. So do not expect that out of any book or instructor.

Lastly, do not buy the hard cover edition. Get the soft cover/paperback edition. You will want to have this book in front of you when you are working on your guitar or playing it. The only thing that would make this book a 5 star is if you could get it in spiral bound format.

If you are new to the wonderful world of guitars or a seasoned pro there is something in this book for you, from the basics like the anatomy of the guitar, strings, basic setting up etc, to more detailed information like modifying the electrics, effects, amps and so on. It also gives an excellent insight into the whole music making experience, such as PA equipment and basic sound engineering. Also included is a profile of some of the most influential exponents of the guitar in recent years. There is also a detailed section on reading music, chords, harmony and theory as well as basic repairs to your 'axe'. I have had this book for a number of years and I have found it invaluable as a reference guide and light reading, my only critisism is that the bass guitar is only lightly touched upon, but the basic principles apply to the bass anyway. In all I think this is the book to have in your collection whether you dabble, or do it for a living, go out and buy it!

The part of my copy that gets the most wear is the section on "how to play the guitar". Having played guitar for nearly 20 years, but skipping over most of the theory behind it, I have become an avid music theory student. Music is a deep language, and the author has a gift of unlocking the mysteries of music and of the fretboard without spending a thousand pages on it.

I'm finally learning my scales and modes and every note on the neck. It's just not that difficult!

It's amazing what is in there in addition to guitar playing theory: guitar construction, repair, customizing, and care; great guitarists profiles and comments; performance technology. It's an encyclopedia for the guitar.

Buy the book and LEARN YOUR SCALES! Keep on rockin' in the free world.

I have a 2nd printing of the 1982 edition and just purchased an 11th printing of the 1992 edition because I thought the updates might be worth it after giving it a glance over at Amazon.

I would give the original 1982 book 5 stars as I believe it was probably the first of it's kind and it covers a wide range of topics. Like one of the other reviewers, I never really read the book when I was in my teens thinking it was too complicated or not relevant to what I wanted to do, but 20 years later, I have finally got around to reading it and have appreciated the information contained in it. Though most of the information can be found elsewhere, the author puts it together for you in one package. The "playing the guitar" is the books strongest section that I find indispensable, while the other sections serve as a good introduction to their topics, which can then be explored in depth by looking to other books

I give the 1992 edition 4 stars because of errors in the text as mentioned by some of the other reviewers--I wish I would have read some of the other reviews before buying this copy and I am going to check my '82 edition to see if it contained the same errors. In my copy, in the playing section, all the text was missing from one of the pages and the titles under two diagrams on the same page were missing.--I'm glad I have my '82 copy which has this missing text. Although the book was revised, there does not seem to be much in it that really makes it much different than the first edition. The book has about the same number of pages. I would have expected the author to go into a little more detail on some subjects, to mention some of the changes or trends that have taken place since the original book was written, or make references to other books or sources of information for those wanting to know more than what is presented in each chapter--For example: more famous or important guitarists, more about specific guitar brands, more about guitar effects, more about studio recording, and so on. The author included more artists at the beginning of the book, but he also reduced the amount of text per artist, though I don't think anything important was cut.

I must say, this book is absolutely excellent. As a fledgling guitarist, this was an invaluable resource to me. Even as a more advanced guitarist, I can still learn new things from it. The best thing about this book, that I can say, is that it covers such a broad range of topics. From history, to playing, to even wiring a guitar, this book's got it all. It's probably the best one I've ever seen (and I have seen a lot). Another good thing is that it's got so many illustrations. Perfect for getting a visual representation of different chord shapes, etc.