The Complete Illustrated Book of the Acoustic Guitar: Learning to play, Chords, Exercises, Techniques, Guitar history, Famous players, Great guitars/ ames Westbrook & Ted Fuller.

How to play the guitar. Buying your guitar ; Anatomy of the guitar ; Tuning the guitar ; Changing strings ; Guitar care ; Holding the guitar ; Basic left-hand technique ; Strumming with three chords ; More chords and strumming ; Syncopated strumming ; Seventh chords ; Guitar notation ; Using the fingers ; Simple fingerpicking patterns ; Using the thumb in fingerpicking ; Using a capo ; Playing tunes ; The C major scale and first position ; The major scales ; Introducing the blues ; The sixth shuffle ; Building a blues solo ; Advanced blues ; Barre chords ; More on barre chords ; Understanding keys ; Chord construction ; How to find any note ; How to transpose without a capo ; Left-hand embellishments ; Country picking ; Advanced country guitar ; Integrating a melody ; Altered tunings ; Drop D tunings ; Open tunings ; More open tunings ; DADGAD tuning ; Introducing jazz chords ; More jazz chords ; The 12-bar blues in jazz ; A dozen classic blues licks ; Double stopping ; Half-open chords ; Improvising with the major scale ; Advanced left-hand techniques ; Practice patterns ; Party tricks ; Slide guitar ; Classical guitar ; Further classical guitar techniques ; Gypsy jazz ; Latin jazz ; Flamenco ; The 12-string guitar
Chordfinder. Introduction ; Major chords ; Minor chords ; Seventh chords ; Minor seventh chords ; Major seventh chords ; Diminished seventh chords ; m7♭5 chords ; Dominant seventh jazz voicings ; Minor seventh jazz voicings ; Major seventh jazz voicings ; Suspended fourth ; Half-open chords ; Essential chords in open G ; Essential chords in open D ; Essential chords in open DADGAD
History of the guitar. Early ancestors of the guitar ; The five-course Baroque guitar ; The transitional guitar ; Early 19th-century guitars ; Arcas, Torres, Tárrega and beyond ; The flamenco guitar ; Pioneers of the steel-string guitar ; The guitar today
Directory of guitars. Early guitar-related instruments ; 16th- to 18th-century guitars ; 18th- and early 19th-century transitional guitars ; 18th- and early 19th-century six-string guitars ; 18th- and early 19th-century guitars ; 19th-century guitars ; 19th-century classical guitar makers ; 19th- and early 20th-century classical guitar makers ; 20th-century classical guitar makers ; Mid-20th-century classical guitars ; Late 20th- and early 21st-century classical guitars ; 20th-century flamenco guitars ; Late 20th- and early 21st-century flamenco guitars ; 20th-century flat-top steel-string guitars ; 20th- and 21st-century flat-top steel-string guitars ; 20th-century archtop guitars ; 20th-century gypsy guitars ; 19th- and 20th-century multi-string harp-guitars ; 20th-century guitars ; 20th-century resonator guitars ; 20th-century acoustic bass guitars ; 20th- and 21st-century acoustic bass guitars
Glossary

The guitar is a fascinating instrument that has been around in various forms for thousands of years, and it continues to be the instrument of choice for many musicians today. This book will guide you through all you need to know to play an acoustic guitar, from buying the right guitar and learning the basic chords to mastering techniques