Table of Contents

Introduction 1 Book I: Guitar 101 7 Chapter 1: Guitar Anatomy and Tuning 9 Chapter 2: Developing Basic Playing Skills 23 Chapter 3: Buying and Stringing Guitars35 Chapter 4: Deciphering Music Notation and Tablature 59 Book II: Sounds and Techniques 75 Chapter 1: Basic Major and Minor Chords 77 Chapter 2: Adding Spice: Basic 7th Chords 95 Chapter 3: The Left Hand: Chord Techniques 107 Chapter 4: The Right Hand: Rhythm Techniques 121 Chapter 5: Playing Melodies in Position and in Double-Stops 139 Book III: Rock Guitar 151 Chapter 1: It's Only Rock Guitar, but I Like It 153 Chapter 2: All about Amplifi ers 169 Chapter 3: Playing Lead 191 Chapter 4: Groovin' on Riffs 213 Chapter 5: Playing Up the Neck 225 Chapter 6: Rock Guitar Legends, Styles, and Genres 245 Book IV: Blues Guitar 267 Chapter 1: Blues Meets Guitar: A Match Made in Heaven 269 Chapter 2: Playing Blues Rhythm 279 Chapter 3: Blues Progressions, Song Forms, and Moves 303 Chapter 4: Blues Riffs: The Bedrock of the Blues 325 Chapter 5: Blues Genres: Acoustic, Electric, and Blues-Rock 339 Book V: Classical Guitar 371 Chapter 1: Introducing the Classical Guitar 373 Chapter 2: Playing Easy Pieces in Open Position 395 Chapter 3: Combining Arpeggios and Melody 409 Chapter 4: Classical Guitar Genres: The Renaissance to the 20th Century 429 Book VI: Exercises: Practice, Practice, Practice 445 Chapter 1: Putting the Major Scales to Use in Your Playing 447 Chapter 2: Adding Major Scale Sequences to Your Repertoire 463 Chapter 3: Tackling the Three Minor Scales 477 Chapter 4: Building Finger Independence with Chord Exercises 509 Book VII: Writing Songs and Music 537 Chapter 1: Everything You Need to Write a Song 539 Chapter 2: Whipping Your Song into Shape: Song Forms 549 Chapter 3: Scales and Modes, Moods and Melodies 569 Chapter 4: Composing with Chords 581 Book VIII: Appendixes 603 Appendix A: The Mother of All Guitar Chord Charts 605 Appendix B: How to Use the CD 621 Index 629