CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter One: Understanding the Basics, and Buying the Right Guitar
The Anatomy of a Guitar
How Guitars Work
Electric Guitars: Where Does the Sound Come From?
Types of Guitars
Buying a Guitar: What to Look For
A Few Words About Practicing
Chapter Two: Tuning and Maintaining Your Guitar
The Standard “Concert” Tuning
Relative Tuning
Other Ways to Tune a Guitar
Tuning Using Harmonics
Types of Strings
Changing Strings
Cleaning and Caring for Your Guitar
Adjustments and Minor Repairs
Chapter Three: Holding the Guitar, and Understanding Written Music
The Right Position: Sitting and Standing
Left-Hand Position
Right-Hand Position
Writing Music as Chords and Slashes
Guitar Tablature
Standard Notation
Chapter Four: Playing Your First Songs and Chords
Chords C and G7
Chords D7 and G
Fuller Versions of Chords
Four Songs to Play
Chapter Five: Picking and More Open-String Chords
Right-Hand Picking
Minor Chords
Chord Families
Open-String Chords
Practicing Chords
Left-Hand Fingering
Three Practice Songs
Chapter Six: The Basics of Reading Music
Rhythm and Tempo
Written Music in Standard Notation
Time Signatures
Rests, Dotted Notes, and Tied Notes
Basic Musical Notation
Finding Notes on the Guitar
Key Signatures
Two Practice Songs
Chapter Seven: Mastering More Right-Hand Techniques
Basic Rhythm Guitar
Basic Alternate Bass Picking
Basic Fingerpicking
Folk Picking
Basic Blues
Country Picking
Chapter Eight: Moving Beyond Basics, and Moveable Chord Shapes
Adding to the Musical Alphabet
The Chromatic Scale
Scales on the Guitar
Playing Moveable Chords
Barre Chords
Moveable Chords by Type
Moveable Chords with Muted Notes
Chapter Nine: Playing in Position
The Basics of Position Playing
Playinga Scale
Moveable Patterns
Key Centers
Chapter Ten: Learning Basic Harmony
The Rules of Harmony
Understanding Intervals
Building Scales
Understanding Chord Structures
Arpeggios
Diatonic Chords
Standard Progressions
The Cycle of Fourths and Fifths
The Blues
Appendix One: Glossary
Appendix Two: Guitar Tricks