Whether you want to play a few simple melodies or jam with other musicians, this helpful guide gives you the surest path from start to success.

Whether you want to play a few simple melodies or jam with other musicians, this helpful guide gives you the surest path from start to success.

Learning to play the guitar has never been easier! This book begins with an introduction to different types of guitars and their parts, followed by helpful information on how to choose a guitar. You'll learn how to tune the guitar (supplemented with online audio), how to correctly hold it, how to read tablature, and about basic rhythm. Much of the remainder of the book gives you easy-to-follow instructions on learning chords, and each lesson is followed by a fun practice session and a simple song with which to practice the newly learned chords. In addition to over-the-shoulder color photos showing fingering positions and accompanying two-color chord charts that show exactly what to do, the reader can hear the chords, exercises, and songs performed online--with better visual instruction than can be provided with a DVD.

This book and media combo is like having a friend show you how to play all your favorite songs on ukulele. You'll learn 25 classic songs by artists like Led Zeppelin, Green Day, Radiohead, Eagles, Cream, Pink Floyd, The Allman Brothers Band, Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole, and many others. Each song is transcribed in full music notation and TAB, and comes with a lesson that contains tips, techniques, and information about the artist. We've even provided a short refresher course on music theory, and a huge chord dictionary in the back of the book. The online media contains ukulele versions of every song and computer software that lets you mute the vocals or ukulele, slow tracks down, and loop sections for practice.

Idiot's Guides: Guitar Theory is music theory for guitar and other fretboard instruments. Beginning with very simple and clear explanations, the book defines notes, their names, relationships, and guitar tablature and then explains rhythm, keeping time, and strumming. The book then goes into depth on the major scale and the four basic chords, to make guitar theory very clear and keep it easy, before going into all the chords and scales. The last part of the book covers playing solo and with others. There is more than an hour of listen- and follow-along audio files online with all of the music in the book and more.

Explains how to select a guitar, understand chords and melodies, how to read notes, explore different musical styles, and details how guitar music is written.

Now newbie songwriters can learn the craft—and sing their own praises online Beginning songwriters can hit the right note by starting out with the basics in this guide, including: • How to create melodies • How to create many different harmonies • Techniques using deliberate rhythm and stylistic changes • How to enable one's songwriting to grow and evolve • How to deal with songwriter's block • The best places to upload one's work for maximum exposure and opportunities

Learn to play the ukulele with this beginner’s guide that features information about basic techniques, tools, and music knowledge. What do George Clooney, Zooey Deschanel, Ryan Gosling and James Franco all have in common? Answer: they all play the ukulele and now, with this easy step-by-step guide, you can too! With just this book and your ukulele in hand, you’ll learn basic music skills, how to care for your instrument, and how to play some simple tunes. Whether you’re looking to impress your friends with spontaneous singalongs, or just want to strum solo, How to Play Ukulele is the perfect entryway to the wonderful world of ukulele.

Learning to play the guitar has never been easier! Idiot's Guides: Playing Guitar begins with an introduction to different types of guitars and their parts, followed by helpful information on how to choose a guitar. You'll learn how to tune the guitar (supplemented with online audio), how to correctly hold it, how to read tablature, and about basic rhythm. Much of the remainder of the book gives you easy-to-follow instructions on learning chords, and each lesson is followed by a fun practice session and a simple song with which to practice the newly learned chords. In addition to over-the-shoulder color photos showing fingering positions and accompanying two-color chord charts that show exactly what to do, you can hear the chords, exercises, and songs performed from additional content online.

Presents a self teaching guide to playing the ukulele, offering lessons on playing chords, reading rhythms, major and minor scales, and notes on the first, second, and third strings.