Download play-along audio tracks at knackbooks.com/guitar! ®

MAKE IT EASY! Have you always wanted to play the gui- tar, but been turned off by the latest “how to” book? Enter Knack for Everyone. ® With 350 full-color photos—along with clear, step-by-step instructions geared toward GUITAR fo GUITAR GUITAR achievable results; more than fifty music exercises; and accompanying audio tracks at knackbooks.com/guitar—it makes truly be-

friending the world’s most popular instrument CLEAN HOME, GREEN HOME easier than ever. You’ll learn to choose what for everyone style of guitar is right for you. And you’ll finally Dick Weissman is the award-winning author of master the basics—how to find a guitar, how sixteen books about music and the music busi- to hold it, and how to develop simple tech- ness, and over forty instructional music folios niques that will provide you with years of fun! on guitar, banjo, and songwriting. Previously an

associate professor in the Music & Entertainment r Industry Program at the University of Colorado

350 full-color photos Ev Gear Care & Tuning at Denver, he is also a noted performer, having Holding the Guitar recorded six solo CDs and appeared on the Today

Tablature & Music Show and on numerous radio and local televi- er Strings * Basic Songs sion shows. He lives in Portland, Oregon. Visit the author at dickweissman.com.

C, F, & Simple Chords yon Fingerpicking Julie Keefe is a freelance photojournalist based in Portland, Oregon. Visit her at keefeklicker.com.

® e US $19.95/CAN $24.95 A Step-by-Step Guide to Notes, Chords, and Playing Basics Knack is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press Guilford, Connecticut www.KnackBooks.com Dick Weissman CLEAN HOME, GREEN HOME WEISSMAN Photographs by Julie Keefe

Knack Guitar.indd 1 DELANEY 6/29/10 11:30 AM

DELANEY ® guitar for everyone

00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 1 6/29/10 11:35 AM 00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 2 6/29/10 11:35 AM KNACK guitar for everyone A Step-by-Step Guide to Notes, Chords, and Playing Basics

Dick weissman

Photographs by Julie Keefe Photo editor John Klicker

®

Guilford, Connecticut An imprint of Globe Pequot Press

00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 3 6/29/10 11:35 AM ®

Copyright © 2010 by Morris Book Publishing, LLC Printed in China

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be the part of the author or Globe Pequot Press. The author and Globe addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Pequot Press disclaim any liability in connection with the use of Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437. this information.

Knack is a registered trademark of Morris Publishing Group, LLC, and is used with express permission.

Editor: Keith Wallman Development Editors: Imee Curiel, Katie Benoit Cover Design: Paul Beatrice, Bret Kerr Text Design: Paul Beatrice Layout: Kevin Mak Cover photos © shutterstock; back cover photo by Julie Keefe All interior photos by Julie Keefe

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN 978-1-59921-511-2

The following manufacturers/names appearing in Knack Guitar for Everyone with CD are trademarks: Daisy Rock, Euphanon, LS, Gore-Tex, Harmony, Kyser, Larson Brothers, Martin, Maurer, Prairie State, Stahl, Vega, Washington Guitar Company

00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 4 6/29/10 11:35 AM This book is dedicated to all of the aspiring guitar players out Acknowledgments there. There are so many styles of guitar and so many fine play- Special thanks are due to Imee Curiel, Maureen Graney, ers that it’s easy to get discouraged. Remember that if you try to Katie Benoit, and Keith Wallman for guiding me through practice on a regular basis, you can do it. the Knack process. Thanks also go to Richard Colombo, Dan McIlhenny, and John Sabastinas at Artichoke Music; Dan Rhiger at Medicine Whistle Studios, who recorded the accompanying audio tracks; Terry Prohaska, who translated the music to Finale; and to our fine photographer Julie Keefe and photo editor John Klicker.

00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 5 6/29/10 11:35 AM Contents Introduction...... viii Chapter 6: Left-hand Basics D. . Chord ...... 54 Chapter 1: Introducing the Guitar A7 Chord...... 56 Basic ...... xii Changing Chords—D to A7...... 58 Acoustic Guitars...... 2 Practicing A7-D...... 60 Electric & Miscellaneous Guitars...... 4 Chord Changing Problems...... 62 Vintage & Travel Guitars...... 6 Warped Necks & Truss Rods...... 64 Important Guitar Parts...... 8 Chapter 7: Position of the Right Hand Chapter 2: Buying Guitars/First Steps Right Thumb or Pick...... 66 Hand Size & Nylon-string Guitars...... 10 Down & Up Strumming...... 68 Hand Size & Steel-string Guitars...... 12 Chord Changes & Strums...... 70 The Height of the Strings...... 14 Mixing It Up...... 72 Fingernails...... 16 More Mixing...... 74 Filing the Fingernails...... 18 Chapter 8: Tablature & Music Chapter 3: Guitar Gear The Tablature System...... 76 Picks...... 20 Reading Tablature...... 78 Thumb Picks & Fingerpicks...... 22 Reading Music...... 80 The Capo...... 24 Notes on the Guitar...... 82 Slides...... 26 Rhythms...... 84 Slides & Pick Guards ...... 28 Chords...... 86

Chapter 4: Care & Tuning Chapter 9: Strings & Our First Song Neck Size & Action...... 30 Chord Fingerings...... 88 Changing the Strings...... 32 String Thicknesses...... 90 Amplifiers...... 34 Strings of Different Materials...... 92 Guitar Cases & Guitar Stands...... 36 “Skip to My Lou”...... 94 Electronic Tuners...... 38 “Skip to My Lou,” Part II...... 96 Guitar Parts...... 40 The Simple G Chord ...... 98

Chapter 5: Holding the Guitar Chapter 10: First Three-chord Song Guitar Straps...... 42 Chord Changes ...... 100 Standing & Sitting...... 44 More Chord Practice...... 102 Left-hand Position...... 46 The Thumb-Index Strum...... 104 Right-hand Position...... 48 Another Strum ...... 106 Right-hand Pick Position...... 50 Pick-style Double Strum...... 108 Guitar Stands & Cleaning Cloths ...... 52 The “Crawdad Song”...... 110

00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 6 6/29/10 11:35 AM Chapter 11: The Right-hand Chapter 16: The Key of G Thumb & 3 Fingers, Together...... 112 Another Set of Chords...... 172 Thumb & 3 Fingers, Individually...... 114 Practical Capo Use...... 174 Learning a Melody...... 116 Capo at the 2nd Fret...... 176 Right-hand ...... 118 “Tell Old Bill”...... 178 Backwards Arpeggio...... 120 Strum for “Tell Old Bill”...... 180 The Forward-Backward Arpeggio...... 122 A New Strum...... 182 More Arpeggios...... 124 Chapter 17: Hammering On Chapter 12: C, F & Simple G7 Chords Hammering On...... 184 C, F, & G7 Chords...... 126 Hammering On Chords...... 186 Troubleshooting F...... 128 Hammering the G Chord...... 188 Practicing the Changes...... 130 A Minor Hammers...... 190 “Kumbaya” ...... 132 More A Minor Hammers...... 192 Strumming...... 134 Hammered Melody...... 194

Chapter 13: Waltz Time (3/4) Chapter 18: Advanced Hammering On Introducing the Waltz...... 136 Hammering Non-chord Notes...... 196 3/4 Strums ...... 138 A7 Hammers...... 198 Right-hand Variation...... 140 E Minor Hammers...... 200 3/4 Pick Playing...... 142 More E Minor Hammers ...... 202 “The Knack Waltz”...... 144 Hammering Plus...... 204 “The Knack Waltz, Part II”...... 146 Chapter 19: Fingerpicking Chapter 14: Introducing the Am Chord Right-hand Position...... 206 The Am Chord...... 148 The Basic Strum ...... 208 C, Am, F, G7 ...... 150 Fingerpicking in Action...... 210 Chord Progression in Action...... 152 Reversing the Order...... 212 Up & Down Picks...... 154 Fingerpicking Songs...... 214 Single a Simple Rock Melody ...... 156 Combining the Patterns...... 216 Create Your Own Melody...... 158 Chapter 20: Resources Chapter 15: Introducing the Capo Chord Diagrams...... 218 Introducing the Capo...... 160 Suggested Books & CDs ...... 224 More Capos...... 162 Suggested Videos & Web Sites...... 226 Various Capos...... 164 Partial & Third Hand Capos...... 166 Glossary...... 228 How to Use the Capo...... 168 Index...... 234 Two Guitars & the Capo...... 170

00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 7 6/29/10 11:35 AM I ntroduction

The guitar is the world’s most popular instrument. It is found today. In the early 1600s the round-backed , often with in its familiar six-string form in Africa, Asia, Europe, and in multiple strings, was even more popular than the guitar, North and South America. The instrument that most people especially at the English court. Some of these instruments are familiar with has six strings and metal bars called frets even had triple sets of strings. By that period, most guitars that run the length of the . In many parts of had gone from four strings to five strings. the world people play such instruments as ouds, banjos, or The lute was somewhat difficult to master due to its large , that are like members of the guitar’s extended number of strings, and the guitar achieved a broader base family. Some of these instruments have different numbers of popularity. Eventually the lute and its cousin the vihuela of strings, some lack frets, and some have shapes that are quite different from the guitar. The origins of the guitar go back to 2000 b.c. to a five-string

tion Assyrian instrument. Other guitar-like instruments appear in c Egyptian cave paintings dated to around 1300 b.c. The Greek kithara was a harp-like instrument held in the player’s lap, and supposedly the Romans spread the lyre through the

introdu Roman Empire. Another relative of the guitar is the rebab, a Persian instrument that dates to the tenth century and is still played in Iran and other Asian countries today. Some combination of the kithara and the Arabic lute brought the guitar to Spain, where it began to assume the shape that we know today. It wasn’t a simple process, though. The immediate ancestors of the guitar often had four strings, and later the strings became doubled, as in the construction of the . So the four-string guitar really had eight strings, and they were played as four double strings. In other words, the strings were in pairs, with the two strings in each pair positioned quite close to one another. A similar arrangement is found on the contemporary 12-string guitar (six pairs) or the mandolin (four pairs). During the course of its evolution, the guitar had to defeat some competitors to become the instrument that we know

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became virtually extinct, and the guitar became popular throughout Europe. By 1800 the lowest string was added to the guitar, and from that point forward the six-string guitar became the standard model favored by most guitarists. Over the years the bracing patterns used for the guitar, the shape of the guitar’s sound hole, the types of strings used on the various instruments, and amplification have created many changes in the way the guitar sounds, and in the techniques used to play it. The original gut strings, made from sheepgut, were replaced by nylon strings after World War II. Around 1880 steel-string guitars were made by Orville Gibson, among others, and they replaced their nylon-string brothers for players in the folk, country, and blues genres. Pioneer guitar and mandolin designer introduced guitars with f holes, instead of round holes. These were holes shaped like holes used in jazz gui- tars. The Gibson L5, in particular, was the favorite axe of many of the early jazz players. By the mid-1930s electric guitars were introduced into the world of the guitar. Prior to the invention of the pure elec- tric instrument, the same Lloyd Loar had experimented with putting pickups on f-hole guitars. made the first electric guitars, which were lap steel instruments rather than typical guitars, but by 1936 Gibson had introduced the founding father of as we know it today. pickups as standard fare on some of its f-hole models. Through his many public appearances, recordings, publica- Part of the evolution of the guitar has come about because tions, and master classes, Segovia brought the classical gui- of the work of specific musicians whose mastery of the tar from obscurity into its current role as an instrument used instrument has brought innovations in both playing tech- for solo recitals, chamber music, and orchestral works. niques and in the technology used by luthiers and guitar evolved through the early work of pioneering manufacturers. Although there have been many fine gui- guitarists Eddie Lang and Lonnie Johnson, and through tarists before and after him, Andres Segovia is considered Charlie Christian’s brilliant work with Benny Goodman and

ix

00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 9 6/29/10 11:35 AM on early bebop jam sessions. Since those days, such players The purpose of this book is to introduce you to the guitar. as Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass have expanded on this The accompanying audio tracks (www.knackbooks.com/ legacy. guitar) will enable you to hear all of the musical examples The history of flamenco, Spanish gypsy guitar, dates from that are printed in the book. The guitar can be an occasional such early masters as Ramón Montoya to the fiery playing fun pastime, or a lifetime pursuit. Whichever one it is for you, of Paco de Lucía. Rock and roll had its own set of monster it is our intention to help you enjoy it. players, with Jimi Hendrix perhaps being the most innova- By using this book you can started sampling the varied tive and fiery player of a line that includes Jeff Beck, Jimmy menu of guitar styles. What wonderful jazz players like Jim Page, Eddie Van Halen, and many, many others. Acoustic folk Hall or Pat Metheny, rock guitarists like Eddie Van Halen or and country guitar has showcased the talents of Doc Wat- Slash, or the many fine flamenco, blues, classical, or folk play- son, Mississippi John Hurt, John Fahey, Tony Rice, and Leo ers have in common is that they all start by mastering basic Kottke, and the great blues guitarists Charlie Patton, Blind guitar chords and by learning how to coordinate their left Blake, Robert Johnson, B. B. King, and Buddy Guy are among and right hands. those whose music has changed the playing techniques This book will provide you with the basic tools that will used in this idiom. enable you to choose what style of guitar is the one that tion

c As the phonograph, the radio, and the iPod have spread throughout the world, we now have guitarists active in every conceivable part of our planet. Guitarists in Vietnam and India have experimented with removing the frets from introdu their guitars, enabling them to play notes that utilize the scales that are common to their traditional music. There are several generations of guitarists all over Africa who have played both electric and not only in their own countries, but in worldwide tours. Such American gui- tarists as Bob Brozman, Ry Cooder, Henry Kaiser, David Lind- ley and Taj Mahal have toured throughout the world, and played with musicians from virtually everywhere. Some musicians have chosen to play the 12-string guitar, in the jazz world players have added a seventh, lower bass string to the instrument that enable players to play addi- tional bass lines, and several classical players are playing guitars with ten strings, in a sense returning the instrument to where it was before luthiers and players settled on the six-string format that most of them still use today.

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you will concentrate on as you develop some facility on the simple left- and right-hand techniques that will provide you c

instrument. The guitar is a very versatile instrument, and ulti- with years of fun. After you master the basics, we will lead tion mately your choice of musical style will be limited only by you on an exploration of a few techniques that will provide your imagination. the building blocks for those years of fun that await you. In this book we will be dealing with the basics—how Let’s get started! to find a guitar, how to hold it, and how to develop some

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00Knack_FM_Guitar_i-xi.indd 11 6/29/10 11:35 AM BASIC GUITARS This section will introduce you to the many varieties of guitars

A well-stocked music store will carry a wide variety of guitars. If you have chosen to start on an acoustic guitar, you have The kind of guitar that you want to purchase (or rent) is largely another choice to make. Do you wish to play a nylon-string dependent upon the sort of music that you prefer to play. guitar or a steel-string guitar? This choice is governed by First you need to decide whether you want to play an electric two factors: the sort of music that you want to play, and the or an acoustic guitar. If your budget is an important factor, strength of your left hand. Nylon-string guitars do not require then the decision is a simple one. Electric guitars require the as much left-hand pressure as steel-string guitars. Price is not use of an amplifier, which represents an additional expense. really a factor here, because in both categories, reasonably

Nylon-string Guitar Steel-string Guitar yone r eve r fo guitar k ac kn

• Nylon-string guitars have • Nylon-string guitars are ide- • The steel string guitar has blues, country, folk, and wide necks. If you have ally suited for playing clas- a narrower neck than its rock music. small hands, you may find sical and flamenco music. nylon-string cousin. playing a wide neck to be There are also a number of • Steel-string guitars are the awkward. guitarists who play jazz and • In order to play the steel- most popular kind of gui- bossa nova on nylon-string string guitar, you need to tars available, and are found • Nylon-string guitars are guitars. apply more pressure, espe- in almost every music store. almost always played with cially with your left hand. the right-hand fingers, • Music stores tend to carry without the use of picks. fewer nylon-string guitars • Steel-string guitars are than steel-string models. ideally suited for playing

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Track 1 od uci n

well-made good-sounding guitars are available for $200 or g

t

less. Nylon-string guitars are better for playing soft he G If you are not sure what you want, and you haven’t played ballads or classical guitar music. Steel-string gui- before, take along a friend or have the salesman play both tars are an essential tool if you are playing rock uitar sorts of guitars for you, so that you can hear the differences or blues music. Nylon-string guitars are virtually between the nylon- and steel-string instruments. Be sure never played with a flat pick or fingerpicks, while

that you buy your guitar at a store that can repair it. Other- ZOOM steel-string instruments can be played with or wise you’re in for a number of 1-800 calls, and some shipping without fingerpicks or flat picks. hassles.

Guitar with Cutaway Neck Cowboy Guitar

• Cutaway guitars have the players. Classical guitarists • Cowboy guitars are gener- • Recently the Martin body of the instrument cut do not use cutaway models. ally used more for decora- company has made some away so that the guitarist tion than for actual playing. cowboy guitars for fans of can access high notes. • Cutaway guitars are most Americana. often found in large music • Some music stores have dis- • The cutaway guitar makes it stores. plays of dozens of cowboy • If western movies ever easy to play notes high on guitars. Cowboy guitars come back, you can the guitar neck. have decorative western be sure there will be a motifs. great demand for these • Cutaway guitars are popu- instruments. lar with jazz and rock guitar

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01Knack_Guitar_xii-144.indd 1 6/29/10 11:38 AM A GcouSTIC uITARS Acoustic guitars are wonderful for solo playing, and can also be used in small bands There are dozens of excellent acoustic guitars. They come Twelve-string guitars are tuned just like the six-string in different body sizes, so whether you are tall or small, or models, except that three of the sets of strings are tuned an have large or small hands, you should be able to find a guitar octave apart. The 12-string requires considerable pressure in suitable for your body type. There is even a guitar company the left hand, and we don’t recommend it for beginners. called Daisy Rock that makes guitars designed for women to F-hole guitars are used in playing jazz rhythm guitar. They play. have a more contained sound, rather than featuring the

12-string Guitar Guitar with F Holes yone r eve r fo guitar k ac kn

• Leadbelly was known as the sexto. It is commonly used • F-hole guitars have a • In the 1920s, f-hole guitars king of the 12-string guitar. in norteno, the music of clipped, contained sound began to replace the banjo He died in 1949. southern Texas and north- that works especially well in in the rhythm sections of ern Mexico. jazz guitar. jazz combos. • Twelve-string guitars require tremendous pres- • During the 1960s, the • Early electric guitars were • Modern handmade f-hole sure in the left hand in 12-string was featured in f-hole guitars with pickups guitars are very expensive, order to finger chords. folk-rock music. The Byrds mounted on the face of the and a bit hard to find. popularized the . • The Mexican 12-string 12-string guitar. guitar is known as the bajo

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