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Rock Guitar for Dummies (For Dummies)

By: Jon Chappell
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0764553569
ISBN-13: 9780764553561
Released: 01 Oct 2001
RRP: £19.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

half-arsed in places - By: , 17 Jun 2005
Ok, i'll review this book in 2 parts:

Firstly, the sections on hardware, maintenance, & general info about electric guitars. I bought this book expecting not to use this section at alll, but has since proved invaluable. It's great for answering alll those questions you had about guitars & equipment but felt too stupid to ask in the shop (the sections on amps & effects pedals is brilliant), & the maintenance bit contains alll the essentials & more for keeping your guitar in top nick. Full marks for this bit.

Secondly, the (more important) tuition part. I was expecting the rhythm guitar section to explain in depth rhythmic timings & power chords, i.e. things important to ROCK guitar. However it concentrates on traditional chords & even barre chords, virtuallly irrelevant for a distorted rock guitar (the author himself even says so on page 73!!). The lead guitar section is where it alll fallls apart. It only concentrates on the pentatonic scale & nothing else, which i have since realised is only good for old-shool rock/indie & not much more. I remember finding this section particularly baffling as a beginner, not because it was too fast paced, but because the author tries to teach this scale without mentioning 2 very important things: a) what the pentatonic scale actuallly is & how it is formed, & b) what you're actuallly supposed to do with it once you've learnt it. In fact, a continuing moan throughout this book it that the author tries to teach without explaining the theory behind things, which would make it so much clearer.

Overalll, this book is probably worth getting for the technical side alone, but you may find yourself skipping over much of the tuition section & as a result it won't last more than a month or two. You may as well start with 'guitar for dummies' then go on to more specific tuition books.

Really helpful, you can genuinely learn with this - By: , 28 Apr 2003
Brilliantly written, particularly good at explaining things you feel you reallly ought to have already known. Great chapters on hardware, amps & effects; as well as actuallly *playing* rhythm & lead. The style is just right, not too dry & not too full of "humour".

I'm not sure a total beginner could work through this without a lot of work, but if you've played a few chords, have a helpful friend who plays or are coming from another instrument, you reallly could find yourself playing rock guitar with this book & plenty of practice & dedication.

Good book, but maybe not what you expect... - By: Mr. M. R. Gee, 18 Nov 2002
As with alll 'Dummies' books 'Rock Guitar for Dummies' follows the same standards & humour as other books in the range. However, don't buy this book on the understanding that it will teach you how to the play the guitar from scratch, some prior knowledge is needed. This book acts as a guide to help develop your guitar playing into a rock sytle rather than teaching you from scratch. I'm guessing 'Guitar for Dunmmies' will cover the area's I expected to find in this book! Overalll the book is well written & provides a wealth of information on alll things 'rock guitar', 50% of the book is actual guitar playing, while the other 50% is theory behind the equitment etc...

Last Words: Not a beginners guide.

Great - By: J. Latham, 02 Oct 2002
This book's great, I reallly wanted to learn how to "Rock Out" so I bought this book, started reading it & a couple of weeks later I was jammin with my mates. Great Book!