There are a myriad of guitar instructions books on the market, and I certainly know how hard it can be to pick which one to buy. I have bought and read many, many guitar instruction books, and today I want to mention one book that I find very useful for learning guitar in a structured manner.
The book is called Foundations For Guitar and is written by Mark Wein. Mark is a guitar teacher in Orange County, California, and he has many years of experience teaching and playing guitar.
This 96 page guitar instruction book starts by covering posture, instrument mechanics and basic explanations of theory. The book then progresses very quickly into actually playing guitar, with clear instruction.
This book has the beginning player strumming open position Major chords and also picking notes on the top 3 strings. There's good coverage of both right hand and left hand technique mixed in.
As a guitar teacher myself, I find this book has a good mix of theory, practice, examples and exercises. I particularly like that Mark constantly emphasizes playing in time. That is a topic many forget. Furthermore, the note reading sections with exercises are very good and useful. Note reading is an important skill which all musicians should learn at an early stage. This book gets you going on this right away.
So, there you have it - a book that provides just what it promises - it gives you the foundations for playing guitar. It's a book that you probably won't finish in a week or two, and that's a good thing. I think you will have good use for it for a long time, as it provides both thorough knowledge and good exercises. You can also visit Mark Wein's website for more materials. He posts video lessons regularly, and he has an active forums as well.
Foundations for Guitar is a modern method for learning to play the guitar. Beginning and Intermediate guitarists will learn "foundation skills" that are usable in all styles of music. Topics covered include: Music Theory Rhythm Theory Note Reading Single Note Guitar Skills Open Chords Power Chords Barre Chords Partial and other movable chord shapes 7th and 9th Chords Chart reading Rhythm Guitar Strumming in Eighth and Sixteenth Note Rhythms Arpeggiated or "Broken" Chords Alternate Picking.
You can also get a preview of this book at Foundations For Guitar - Google Books
By Robert Renman - www.dolphinstreet.com
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