New Complete Guitarist

This is a very good book for an experienced guitar player. It is too concise for a beginner in my opinion. It seems to be incredibly complete and I highly recommend it to expand your knowledge of all aspects of the guitar.

I really like this book a lot! I've taken guitar lessons for 3-1/2 years and have bought several books about guitar playing and guitars in general. This is by far the best book that I have found. It contains guitar basics through complex techniques and music theory as well. It also gives some good riffs for various styles which gives the player an opportunity to experiment with styles they might otherwise never try.

I just started playing guitar, had never even picked one up before so I wanted to find the best intro. I bought several other books, magazines, etc., and out of all of them this is the best. It explains what every symbol in the sheet music means, it explains briefly the theory of what makes a guitar sound the way it does, history of guitar music, techniques for plucking, strumming, etc., and it is VERY visual. It goes through timing, scales, and of course chords. It shows you where you should be every step of the way, which is important when trying to teach yourself. I don't think there is any substitute for hands on teaching with a professional, but this comes close. Highly reccomended and you can't go wrong for the price

This is a wonderfully illustrated book with lots of photos. Everything is explained and illustrated in a most excellent way. This should be a must have for beginners and an exellent reference for everyone else.

I never got to read the original Complete Guitarist, which was out of print when I got around to buying this book, but let me say this book is very good. The original, from what I have heard, was more richly illustrated than this book is, but The New Complete Guitarist still keeps the meat and bones of the original. It starts from a complete beginners standpoint (how to hold the guitar), through to advanced scale and chord structures, all the way to how to maintain your guitar. I have had other books on guitar playing, but this one cuts straight to the nitty-gritty. It's basic chords are indispensable for a beginner and the sprinkling of music theory really lets you understand the chords you are playing, instead of tedious memorization. I would recommend this book to anybody who owns a guitar and would like to push themselves further. This book will grow with you.