Acoustic Guitar Primer Book for Beginners: With Online Video and Audio Access

I noticed that most of the negative reviews complain that the book is too difficult. I think it's a great book but it's true that it is difficult for a "beginner" book. I think a lot of beginners end up quitting because when you start out practicing is boring and feels unsatisfying (you can't play anything that sounds cool), and can be painful on your fingers. If you're a beginner, there are some good resources on YouTube. The "Marty Music" channel has a lot of beginner acoustic lessons where you can learn some basic strumming patterns and some easy songs. I found that "Wish You Were Here" and "Over The Hills And Far Away" were fairly easy to learn and sound great. This book is somewhat the opposite in that it has a lot of songs that sound simple but are actually difficult to play. But I still recommend the book because it teaches you the "right" way. It forces you to learn the fretboard without constantly looking at your fretting hand. Casey teaches you to hold the guitar correctly (e.g., not to roll it back at an angle to make it easier to look at the fretboard), to play bass notes in between strums, and to use correct fingering to transition chords properly. As one example, I always played G-Maj the "easy" way, with my index, middle, and ring finger. Casey has you play it the "hard" way, with your pinky finger on the high E, so you can quickly transition to G7. It's hard, but it's better to learn this way. To summarize - you should spend some time learning "fun and easy" songs, because that will make you more motivated to stick with guitar. But this book is a great resource for learning things the proper way and building good technical skills.

Excellent starter book to learn flatpicking rhythm playing especially if you’re into bluegrass or old time. The audio tracks have 3 different speeds you can play along with to really work on your speed, timing and groove. Minor negatives: songs are in the Keys of C and G only, now granted those are the two of the most common keys but it would’ve been nice to have an example or two in A, D or E. I also wish some of the tracks had a space for a break to give you an opportunity to practice playing lead, rather than verse/chorus only format. No discussion of using a capo either, which would be helpful for beginners to start thinking about. I suppose these topics are beyond the scope of the book though.

So I’ve been playing Ukulele and piano for a few years, and finally getting serious about my acoustic guitar. I’ve been thru a number of books for beginners and intermediates, so I know what to look for in terms of a good guide. That said, this one is a really good one! As I’ve been playing other instruments, a lot of the early exercises usually seem redundant but this book does a great job of introducing you to some tricks exclusive to 6 strings, and builds you up to playing a decent tune within the first few pages. Usually these books are overly-wordy, confusing to someone new, and introduce the basics in a boring, mechanical way. This books is concise and broken up in a way to be illustrative and easily understood in the midst of introducing quite a lot of skills early. The tips within the lessons are fantastic, very helpful with hand positions, posturing, and ways to avoid bad playing habits (if you’re a noob, pay attention to these!). I do wish it had some more advanced stuff, but it’s a fairly short book and correctly advertised as a Beginner Level Primer. Given my experience, some things were redundant to me personally. All in all, I would recommend this book highly to newcomers or those looking to transition or even sharpen some core guitar skills. Will be looking for more from this author!

Easy to read

My daughter is learning to play the guitar and was thrilled with the book, especially with the online site offered for help.

Ok

Grandson was pleased

I still cant play! but its my fault lol however this book has an easy to start guide and has showed me that the guitar is not for me. As much as I wanted to be the next Jimmy Hendrix it turns out my fingers dont have the same idea that I do. I always had a love for guitar just cant do it with the pain in my hands. This book is easy to understand and if you use it correctly and follow the steps I know you will be playing in no time.