Guitar

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The guitar is a very popular stringed musical instrument. This book is mainly concerned with standard six-stringed acoustic or electric guitars; though most of the material in this book can also be applied to twelve-stringed guitars or seven-stringed guitars. It is definitely not necessary to understand music theory to read this book, although it can yield a deeper understanding of the principles contained herein.

The purpose of this book is to introduce novice and intermediate players to the basic concepts of good guitar playing. Important techniques are given their own section, and exercises and examples are provided whenever they can. When you have finished reading this book, you should have a good understanding of the fundamentals of guitar, and be on the right track towards mastering the instrument.

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Contents 1 Getting Started 2 Playing the Guitar 2.1 For Beginners 2.2 Lead Guitar 2.3 Rhythm Guitar 2.4 Playing Styles 3 General Guitar Theory 4 Equipment 5 Maintenance 6 Appendices 7 About this Book 8 External Links 8.1 Music Theory Wikibook: The Basics 8.2 Guitar Resources 8.3 Guitar Lessons 8.4 Guitar Software and Hardware 8.5 Guitar Tablature & Chords

Getting Started

• Different Types of Guitars
• Anatomy of a Guitar
• Buying a Guitar
• Buying an Amplifier
• Setting up the Guitar
• Tablature
• Lead Guitar and Rhythm Guitar

Playing the Guitar

For Beginners

• The Basics
• Double-stops and Power Chords
• Open Chords
• Muting and Raking
• Learning Songs
• How to Continue Learning
• Song Library
• Technical Exercises

Lead Guitar

• Scales
• Scale Theory
• Picking and Plucking
• Arpeggios and Sweep Picking
• Slides
• Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, and Trills
• Bending and Vibrato
• Harmonics
• Tremolo Bar Techniques
• Tapping

Rhythm Guitar

• Chord Types
• Barre Chords
• Movable Chords
• Chord Progressions
• Alternate Picking
• Tremolo Picking
• Rhythm

Playing Styles

• Folk Guitar
• Blues
• Slide Guitar
• Rock/Alternative Guitar
• Country and Western
• Metal
• Jazz
• Classical Guitar
• Flamenco
• Celtic

General Guitar Theory

• Tone and Volume
• Singing and Playing
• Writing Songs
• Playing With Others
• Recording Music
• Tuning Your Ear
• Playing What You Hear

Equipment

• Guitar Accessories
• Effects Pedals
• E-bow
• Cables
• Bass Guitar
• Harmonica and Guitar Combo

Maintenance

• Guitar Maintenance and Storage
• Adjusting the Guitar
• Stringing the Guitar

Appendices

• Dictionary
• Alternate Tunings
• Scale Manual
• Chord Reference
• Blanks - These are templates used for writing tabs and making scales in this book.
• Translations - This is a temporary work page to help translate content from the German guitar book. Please see the discussion page for details.

About this Book

• Authors

External Links

Music Theory Wikibook: The Basics

• Introduction
• Music Notation Systems
• Rhythm
• Scales and Intervals
• Modes
• Chords
• Chord Structures
• Consonance and Dissonance

Guitar Resources

• WholeNote.com On-line guitar community, tabs, reviews, and interactive lessons.
• GuitarWiki.com Wiki based guitar resource with lessons, chord library, music theory, a gear section and tabs.
• The Stringery Guitar Site with printable references, videos, and more.

Guitar Lessons

• Learn How to Play Guitar | Learn Guitar | Free Guitar Lessons | Learning Guitar Learn How to Play Guitar Online at GuitarPlayerWorld.com with Free Guitar Lessons and Resources.
• IGDB.co.uk Guitar lessons, chord charts, useful links, and how to set-up your guitar.
• GuitarNationLive.com Learn, play and master your guitar with comprehensive guitar lessons. Topics range from complete beginners to advanced.
• Free Video Guitar Licks Archive of video guitar licks with tablature in all styles of play.
• Rhythmpatterns.com Sight-reading rhythm patterns, offers rhythmic exercises for guitarists (notes+MIDI)
• Guitar Tuning Tips has information on basic tuning, along with alternative guitar tunings.
• 12bar.de teaches you how to play slide guitar in standard tuning (as opposed to an open tuning), along with some licks and basic technique.
• FreeGuitarVideos.com features over 150 free video lessons on beginning guitar, blues, rock, country, jazz and more.

Guitar Software and Hardware

• www.power-tab.net Useful guitar tab editor named Powertab that lets you play back the song as MIDI.
• GuitarFX.net Guitar effects software for PC.
• TuxGuitar Open-source tablature editor for Linux, Windows and Mac.

Guitar Tablature & Chords

Tabs

• tabs.guitarworld.com Large tabs database.
• ClassicalGuitarTabs.com Tabs and guitar forum.
• Guitaretab.com Has a large guitar archive without too many ads.
• Ultimate-guitar.com Over 200,000 guitar tabs, bass tabs and chords. Also features lessons, columns, forums and news updates.
• 911tabs.com A tab database.
• Guitar tabs editor

Chords

• HowToTuneAGuitar.org Chord Finger Over 1800 guitar chords, organized by type of key. As well 8 Chord Inversions for each chord
• ChordChart.ro Learn to play any song, by learning basic guitar chords
• All-Guitar-Chords.com Comprehensive scale, chord, progression database, with a very good interface. Also includes a jamming machine allowing you to practice with backing tracks.