Complete Idiot's Guide To Playing Rock Guitar - 279 Page Book And 99 Track Audio CD

I want to play Rock guitar!

Rock guitar rules! Everyone loves the idea of screaming out a Rock solo. It's so popular, the best selling games of the popular gaming systems are based on playing rock n roll on the electric guitar. This book will get you there, right from step one.

Digging in to the book and CD, and using the course for the first time.

This is a very large book and CD course, with a lot of information to offer on the subject of Rock Guitar. Sometimes when you get a course this size you want to focus in on the most relevant information it has to offer for your personal situation today. One way you can do this is to scan the table of contents and pick out the topics you see that interest you and go to the page number listed. This usually works.

I tried something a little different with this course: instead of opening the book to the table of contents, I popped the audio CD into the player and began listening. I started at the last track on the CD (there are 99 of tracks) and worked my way back. It wasn't long before I found some great sounding music that I want some instruction on playing. Once I found the track I liked and wanted to learn about, I used the book feature called the Track Guide located at page 265 of the book (Appendix C). This track guide told me the chapter number and section name of the track I was interested in, so it was a snap to find it and get started learning. The tracks are well done and they sound great. Full band playing the backing, introduction so you know what section of the book the track goes to. Nice length so you get the feel of the full song or example.

Here's a look through the book to give you an idea what the contents of the Rock guitar course is like:

A nice introduction to let you know what the book is going to be like, how they are going to teach you, and what you can expect to learn.
The book works under the assumption that the reader has never played guitar before. You can use this as a beginner book. All the parts of the guitar are explained as they take you from square one.
A little information on how to buy your first guitar. How to tune your guitar. How to hold the guitar.
How to read guitar music tablature.
The book concentrates on the key guitar skill of finesse. Somewhere else I've heard the guitar described as the easiest instrument to play badly. It appears the author understands this concept and spends considerable time teaching the importance of what the book refers to as guitar finesse. The importance of sounding the notes correctly, and cleanly without any buzz, hitting the correct strings and the correct number of strings, etc.
When there's an audio track for what you're seeing in the book there is a CD disk icon and the number of the CD track you'll hear it on.
Small tidbits of information are sprinkled throughout the book in the margins. You can learn a lot by simply flipping through the pages of the book and taking a moment to read these guitar info snippets.
Power chords. What and where is the root of a chord. Major and minor chords. Rhythm and strumming the guitar. Some of the influence of Blues on the Rock genre.
There is a section that talks about guitar effects. These are most often a vital part of a players sound. The different effects are described and explained.
The audio CD has 99 tracks, professionally demonstrating the techniques and songs presented in the book.
The appendix contains a glossary of guitar terms.

Want to know what sets this book apart from others? What stands out and is special about this book and CD Rock guitar course? Well, here it is: This book is loaded with teaching. There's more than just showing us how to play Rock guitar, there's a lot of advice, and tips, and sharing of real-world lessons learned. This information is priceless. In any book, photos, example notation, and any number of items, (this book has plenty of examples, by the way) can fill up the page space and before you know it, the book is full, but without too much teaching. This book, on the other hand, is loaded with a lot of solid teaching about the craft of playing Rock guitar. As you read, you can tell that you're listening to someone who has learned a lot about Rock guitar by paying their dues through the years. And as you read this book, you'll be able to benefit from this wisdom.