I don't think I've ever seen a book that addressed so many useful subjects for beginners.
--Stan Werbin, Elderly Instruments

Beginning Guitarist's Handbook, by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
50 Essential Questions and Answers
For Players of All Ages and Musical Interests

Published by String Letter Publishing and distributed to stores by Hal Leonard Publishing.

Order from Amazon, Powells Books, or your favorite bookstore.

EXCERPTS

More sample Q&A:

My family isn’t musical at all. Will this keep me from getting good at the guitar?

You are certainly not alone in asking this question. Many of us look enviously at families where music is like a birthright--where they jam and sing as naturally as breathing and where everyone starts playing an instrument as soon as they can hold one. There are some families like this, but the truth is, there are precious few, especially in a cultural environment that favors buying and consuming music over making it yourself. Many lifetime musicians come from parents whose only musical exposure comes in elevators and while they’re on hold on the phone.

To clear the way for learning the guitar, the first thing that you need to do is to let go of this idea of "getting good." If we measure success in music by the pleasure we get out of it rather than some external (and probably nonexistent) standard, we can all succeed with an instrument. The guitar is particularly good at offering rewards and satisfaction to players at any level, so there is no reason to think it is beyond your grasp, no matter how rhythmically or melodically challenged you believe you are.

After that, you need to find other people who are in the same boat. Group music classes are great for this, as are the music camps that are found these days all over the country. "One of the great experiences that we’ve had in the last 20 years," says Cathy Fink, "is teaching at so many of these music camps, where people get into an extremely welcoming atmosphere. They are hanging out with a whole bunch of people just like them--they find out that they’re not the only one whose family isn’t into music and hasn’t been playing all their lives—and there are often organized slow jams for people to play in." These jams, in which teachers lead students in long, slow versions of simple songs, calling out the chords as they go, "create a really nonthreatening atmosphere for making sounds with other people, but nobody is listening particularly to you."

If you have difficulty with the rhythmic aspects of music, Jessica Baron Turner suggests improving your skills through dance and drumming classes and then translating them to the guitar. If you struggle to carry a tune, you could isolate that skill in voice lessons or simply steer away from it; many great players have learned to make the guitar sing because their vocal cords wouldn’t do it.

"Nobody is born with a guitar in the hand and the golden voice," Carol McComb reminds us. "Even after people have become fairly accomplished musicians, they still have bad days, and they are still capable of missing even the simplest chord." So don’t underestimate yourself—you might be surprised by what you can accomplish even without Mozart’s genes or Von Trapp family values.

Where’s the best place to shop for a guitar--the local shop, the music superstore, pawnshops, the Internet?

For researching a guitar purchase, the Web is a useful tool; just about every manufacturer has extensive photos and specifications available at the click of a mouse. But as a shopping medium, it leaves a lot to be desired. You might be able to look at a picture of the instrument, but that’s not the same as seeing it in person and holding it and hearing it. Maybe you can download a sound sample, but that won’t tell you much of anything, because the sample is more a product of the player and the recording technique than an objective measure of the instrument itself--and it certainly won’t tell you what the guitar will sound and feel like strummed by your own fingers. Even if you have done hands-on investigation and decided on a maker and model, buying it on-line is a risky proposition, because there will be differences--sometimes significant ones--from one example to the next. Getting a good setup is an essential part of buying a guitar, too, and the on-line retailer leaves you to commission this work separately from a repairer who doesn’t have a vested interest in keeping you happy with that instrument.

So until the day comes when you can download a demo guitar from the Web, you should buy your instrument in the real-time, physical world. Your options in retail stores will vary considerably depending on where you live, but let’s take a look at what an ideal shop would be like, whether it’s a mom-and-pop outfit or a chain superstore. It would have a wide but carefully selected array of instruments, reasonable prices, knowledgeable salespeople who don’t start counting their commission when you walk in the door but who give you the time and space to think clearly, quiet rooms where you can play instruments as long as you like, a respectful attitude toward women shoppers and beginners of all ages, an active repair shop with a reputation for good warranty and nonwarranty service, and a teaching studio in case you want lessons. Sound utopian? A far cry from the Guitar Qwikee Mart in your town? Well, we all do the best we can with what we’ve got.

The point is, though, that the place you buy your guitar is very important. In fact, going to a good shop substantially increases the odds that you’ll wind up with an instrument that is right for you. Even if you know exactly what you want and can save a few bucks bargaining with the sharks across town, you may wind up spending the difference and more on "extras" like setup work and a new set of strings—things that the other shop would throw in for free. A relationship with a good music store will be valuable to you as long as you play the guitar--long after the "deal" you cut with the sharks is forgotten.

That’s not to say that good deals cannot be gotten from music stores, whether they be schooled with sharks or minnows. But when you are shopping in an environment where the salespeople are clueless or untrustworthy (or when you’re on the Web and essentially on your own), you’ve really got to know what you want, what you’re looking at, and what it’s worth. You’ve got to be able to spot the guitar with a neck that is at such a low angle that it will soon develop a permanent, unfixable buzz (a good shop will actually put a lemon like this right back into a box marked "Return to Sender"). You’ve got to have a clear enough sense of your own preferences that you won’t be talked into a different model that just happens to bring the sales guy a higher commission. In other words, a good music store allows you to relax and make your decision in an unhurried, unstressful, and confident fashion.

--Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

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