New from the makers of Guitarist, Total Guitar and Guitar Techniques: Musician's Handbook: Guitar! It's the ultimate guitars special: Everything you need in one 132-page manual: How to choose a guitar, a guide to maintenance, your first lessons, how to record… Everything you need to be a better player FAST. INCLUDES download of audio and video to accompany the lessons inside (see page 5). Don't miss it!
WELCOME TO... MUSICIAN’S HANDBOOK [GUITARS]
ANATOMY OF AN ELECTRIC GUITAR
ANATOMY OF AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR
ICONS FENDER STRATOCASTER • Used everywhere from Woodstock to Wayne’s World, we salute the doublehorned, triple-pickup’d icon of rock ’n’ roll.
ICONS GIBSON LES PAUL STANDARD • In 1958, Gibson unveiled the guitar that would set the standard for ultimate rock tone and sustain. Just ask Eric…
ICONS FENDER TELECASTER • Designed to be near indestructible and ideal if you like it loud. We honour the ingenious solidbody that started it all.
ICONS GIBSON ES -335 • We raise a glass to perhaps Gibson’s second greatest creation: the semi-acoustic that thinks that it’s a solid…
ICONS IBANEZ RG SERIES • One of the greatest metal guitar ranges of all time was launched almost 25 years ago, with more than a little help from Steve Vai.
ESSENTIAL GUITAR ACCESSORIES
TUNING YOUR GUITAR • Tuning your guitar is an essential skill for any guitarist, and there are many ways to do it! Here we’re focussing on the most common tuning of all – standard tuning – plus we’ll show you a few other easy ‘altered tunings’.
LESSONS
TAB GUIDE • OUR EASY-TO-FOLLOW GUIDE TO MUSICAL TERMS AND MORE.
ESSENTIAL OPEN CHORDS • New to guitar? We show you the ropes with eight essential beginner chords and two backing tracks to practise over.
ESSENTIAL STRUMMING • A few simple chords and beginner rhythm techniques go a long way. Master the essential basics with this simple guide to strumming.
ESSENTIAL BARRE CHORDS • Don’t be put off by their fearsome reputation – just two simple barre chords can expand your rhythm playing across the whole fretboard.
ESSENTIAL PENTATONIC LICKS • Get to grips with the most important guitar scale you’ll ever learn with our video lesson and CD audio tracks.
RHYTHM GUITAR WORKOUT
CHORD PLAYING • Are your fingers struggling to stretch? Landing on the wrong strings? Fret buzzes? It’s time to make your fret hand a finely-tuned athlete.
CHORD VARIATION • Increase your chord vocabulary the easy way with our creative approach to learning new shapes.
EXPANDING BASIC CHORD PROGRESSION • Discover how some simple chord variations can help bring new life to one of the most common chord progressions.
RIFFING • Syncopated riffing with all four fretting-hand fingers is a vital part of a rhythm guitarist’s arsenal. Hone your accompaniment skills here!
20 INSPIRING CHORDS • Tired of always reaching for the same boring chord shapes? Read on as we show you some of our favourite chord shapes that are guaranteed to take your playing to new heights.
JOHNNY MARR • We pick the brains of The Smiths wunderkind and national treasure. If this indie-rock and pop guitar legend says it, it’s worth listening to.
SOLO BETTER NOW • Master the lead styles of some of rock’s greatest guitarists and start your way on the path to soloing greatness
RHYTHMIC LEAD PLAYING • Just because you’re playing lead doesn’t mean you can forsake the rhythm. Take a tip from Alex Turner’s Arctic Monkeys’ style and get creative with phrasing.
BLUES-STYLE VIBRATO • Your personal vibrato is a unique thing that will improve your tone and sustain, and give your playing new life. Take a leaf out of the King Of The Blues’s...
