Customer Reviews

How to Play Guitar: Everything You Need to Know to Play the Guitar

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I just happened upon this book by chance when first beginning my quest for literature on guitar instruction. Simply put, I didn't want to pay for lessons from the very beginning if all I needed were some basics (holding the guitar, tuning, learning the parts of the guitar, some basic tunes and chords, etc.) to get my feet wet. I was previously intimidated by guitars and guitar playing, sure it was hopelessly complicated. Evans' easy and approachable text, very good illustrations and slow, step-by-step instructions totally changed my outlook. I've learned so much already, and I barely play four chords well! Although most of the tunes you learn early on in the book aren't necessarily "popular" ones, they get the job done. Later on in the book you learn the skills to approach any kind of music. In my opinion, it's the best bargain out there. My only suggestions would be a spiral binding and accompanying CD for future editions.

I wanted to learn to play guitar but had no idea where to start. I didn't even know how to change the strings on my guitar. Luckily I found this book. This book teaches you everything you need to know including how to string, tune, and hold your guitar. I learned to play chords and finger picking faster than I ever thought possible. The slow, iterative approach builds upon previous lessons which give you the skills to tackle the next lesson. A lot of books I have seen throw you right into the deep end which can be frustrating for beginners. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to play a guitar. If not for this book I probably would have become frustrated and quit playing before I even began.

Most how to books for "beginners" are laced with technical jargon that only someone with a working knowledge of the subject could understand. Not so with this book. I have no knowledge of the guitar and can actually understand this book. A must buy for the beginner.

This book is helping me play notes and chords that sound good and I never have played anything.If looking for the perfect starter book this is it!

Since deciding to learn to play guitar, I have purchased THREE different books, and this one is the only book I use. Despite the fact that this is the only book that doesn't have an attached CD, it is the most useful!! The author's 30 years of teaching experience shines through, particularly if you allow yourself to read through the text and then try the lessons (don't skip around). Each page builds on the previous lessons, and you'll be playing simple tunes in no time.

I *HIGHLY* recommend this book above all others.

After having my guitar stolen 20 years ago, I lost interest in ever playing again. But now I have rekindled interest to reteach myself to play, most importantly to teach my son to play. This book has helped tremendously in relearning everything that I had forgotten about the guitar.The lessons are simple to follow with step by step finger placements and illustrations.

I got this book for my 12 year old son who is just starting guitar. He is taking a guitar class but wanted to get a head start before lessons started. This book is great and easy for kids to follow.

I bought this book along with my first guitar with the hope of teaching myself. The first couple of chapters teach you the absolute basics, like how to hold the guitar and play a note, which was somewhat helpful for an absolute beginner. It explains some basic music theory and builds on that each chapter along with a few simple songs to play. At the end of reading I knew a little bit about a lot of different guitar techniques, but I certainly didn't feel like I knew everything I needed to play guitar well.

I would recommend spending the money on some lessons, when I finally broke down and started taking lessons, I learned more in a week then I did from reading the whole book. Not to mention, if you take personalized lessons you will learn to play the type of music you want to play. About 90% of the songs in this book are folk songs like "Skip to my Lou" or "Yankee Doodle" not exactly something to rock out to...

Even if you don't want to take lessons, I think you'd be better off just searching the internet for free lessons online. There's nothing in this book you can't find online.

The book isn't useless, but I'd suggest you save your money.

I found this book to be useful as I'm a beginner to playing guitar. Near the back of the book there are pages with all the chords, so I can print songs off the internet, and have the chords available in the book so I can teach myself to play. The only negative comment that I would make is that although there are many sample songs in the book to learn, I didn't know many of the songs so I wasn't sure how they were supposed to sound - a little frustrating, but a good book nonetheless.

Starting with very simple tunes, this book teaches you the very basics of guitar playing and music reading. The explanations are excellent for self-instruction for the guitar. It focusses on strumming chords to accompany tunes, if you want to play classical guitar you may want to find a book dedicated to classical.