Guitar All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Introduction

So, you want to play guitar, eh? No one can blame you. The guitar isn’t just a beautiful, soulful, and versatile instrument. For about 80 years now, it has also set the standard for coolness in the music world. Not a bad combination.

Though the guitar as we know it is only about a century and a half old, its roots as a plucked stringed instrument go back deep into history. Many ancient folk instruments have followed the basic strings-stretched-over-fretboard-and-played-with-fingers design for thousands of years, and the guitar is in some ways the culmination of that legacy. It seems humans have always had something like the guitar in mind.

After the guitar was electrified in the 1930s — that is, when it went from soft backup instrument to a forceful and expressive vehicle for soloing — its popularity skyrocketed, and its intrinsic qualities and sound changed popular music forever. But its softer side didn’t go away. When Bob Dylan famously “plugged in” at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and was booed by outraged folk fans, it became clear that the electric guitar had entered its own universe.

Guitar All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition covers both the acoustic and the electric universes — as well as the older classical guitar one, which has its own language, techniques, and musical pedigree.

About This Book

First, here’s what this book is not: It’s not a textbook, nor a long-winded history, nor a rote learning tool. Lots of those kinds of books are on the market, ...