Teach Yourself Visually Guitar

The guitar is one of the most popular musical instruments played today. Every style of music, from classical and country to rock and blues, can be played on the guitar. Teach Yourself VISUALLY Guitar will be a valuable resource to a wide range of readers-from people want to play a few songs around a campfire to those who aspire to become rock stars. This information-packed guide will cover all the basics of playing the guitar and reading music, but will also include more advanced guitar techniques. The book will also provide information about what to look for when purchasing a guitar or guitar accessories, and guitar maintenance and repair. Teach Yourself VISUALLY Guitar will feature full-color photographs of the tasks being covered, from playing chords to repairing a guitar, along with clear, step-by-step instructions. Useful tips will provide additional information and advice to help enhance the reader's guitar playing experience. Each Yourself VISUALLY Guitar will be packed with information useful to people who are picking up a guitar for the very first time. For more experienced guitar players , the book will provide a refresher course on the basics and the opportunity to add more advanced techniques to their repertoire.

Teach Yourself VISUALLY Guitar should include sections on:

• The anatomy of a guitar and how guitars work.
• How to tune a guitar.
• Step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs illustrating how to play major and minor chords, barre chords and power chords.
• Picking techniques.
• Easy-to-follow instructions on basic guitar maintenance and repair.
• An overview of guitar accessories, such as amps and effect pedals.
• How to get rock, folk, classical or blues sounds from a guitar.
• Instructions with accompanying photographs for performing advanced techniques, such as hammer-ons, pull-offs and string bending.
• How to read music and chord diagrams.
• Words and music for basic songs.

The Companion Website offers readers the audio for all the exercises, scales, and practice pieces in the book. Readers will be able to listen to examples of different techniques and effects such as hammer-opnes and slides. In addition, readers will find background music that they can play along with to exercise their newfound skills. 

Tim Martin is head of the Guitar Department at the Merriam School of Music as well as an active session musician specializing in live performance and studio recording. He has played in numerous musical pit bands (Grease, Tommy, Hair). Martin teamed with the maranGraphics Development Group to make Teach Yourself VISUALLY Guitar easy to follow and adaptable to your personal skill level.