Part I: So You Wanna Play Guitar  9

Chapter 1: Guitar Basics 11

Chapter 2: Tuning Your Guitar 17

Chapter 3: Getting Ready to Play 25

Part II: Starting to Play: The Basics  37

Chapter 4: Getting Started by Strumming Chords 39

Chapter 5: Playing Melodies — Without Reading Music! 57

Chapter 6: Adding Some Spice with 7th Chords 67

Part III: Beyond the Basics: Starting to Sound Cool  83

Chapter 7: Playing in Position 85

Chapter 8: Doubling Up with Double-Stops 95

Chapter 9: Stretching Out: Barre Chords 103

Chapter 10: Special Articulation: Making the Guitar Talk 127

Part IV: A Pile of Styles  153

Chapter 11: Let’s Rock: Rock Guitar Basics 155

Chapter 12: Bluer Than Blue: Blues Guitar Basics 183

Chapter 13: Around the Campfi re: Folk Guitar Basics 207

Chapter 14: Maestro, If You Please: Classical Guitar Basics 233

Chapter 15: Sunglasses and Berets: Jazz Guitar Basics 249

Part V: A Guitar of Your Own  263

Chapter 16: Shopping for a Guitar 265

Chapter 17: Guitar Amps, Effects, Cases, and Accessories 281

Chapter 18: Changing Your Strings 297

Chapter 19: Guitar Wellness: Basic Maintenance 309

Part VI: The Part of Tens  325

Chapter 20: Ten (Or So) Guitarists You Should Know 327

Chapter 21: The Ten Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time 331

Part VII: Appendixes  341

Appendix A: How to Read Music 343

Appendix B: 96 Common Chords 353

Appendix C: How to Use the DVD 357

Index  371