5.0 out of 5 stars
There’s a reason for those 5 star reviews!
Readers may note that in virtually every reviewer comment, this book received 5 stars and even in the case of one lone ‘4′ star review [the first one back in 2000], the reviewer…

Since playing classical guitar for a few years and recently picking up an electric I’ve been diving into really “getting it” as far as a path for learning and understanding the big picture of what’s involved in playing the electric guitar. It’s truly a different instrument than the acoustic, and a practice regimen is a difficult challenge to plan. This book, while serving as a great practice reference will give every electric/rock guitarist a complete explanation as well as instruction on the full array of “elements” that will make up your skills not just as a player of a guitar but someone who can work towards “owning” the instrument. From scales, chords, soloing and rhythm, this gives such a clear overview of the art of electric guitar that only now after reading this cover to cover have I found a new inspiration and clear direction on what I need to do to “get there”. “There” being the goal of playing with other musicians and improvising knowledgeably.

If you’re looking for a book to help make you feel comfortable that you’re studying the right things, get this, read it cover to cover and then go from there. Outstanding, a must have. I wish this was the first book I bought on electric. While at first the book will seem rough around the edges from a design and editing standpoint, it will soon become obvious that this is truly a labor of love for the author.

I will add though, that this book should function as the center of the wheel of your quest to learn. Perfect compliments to this volume, for the self taught guitarist, would be a good scales book such as the “Guitar Grimoire Exercise Book”, a book on chords and chord theory such as “Chord Chemistry”, a method book, in my case classical is enjoyable for learning to read and play music so I’m working out of Noad’s “Solo Guitar Playing”, and any songbooks you would like to work on songs out of. Another outstanding book I’ve found indespensable, as have many others is Denyer’s “The Guitar Handbook”, it’s truly a guitar encyclopedia, and explains clearly a heavy amount of theory and technique.

Hopefully this is helpful, I felt compelled to write this review to save those following a similar path as I am the trouble of unecessary purchases or a difficulty finding laser focus on their self taught direction. Good luck!

I bought this book over 12 years ago after growing frustrated with what my local guitar instructors were teaching me. For the price of one weekly guitar lesson I got this great book that opened up many doors. I never took another personal guitar lesson again. I gained so much from this book that I felt compelled to write this review all these years later since it has been just that important to me. This book is an outstanding beginner-to-intermediate learning system. The fundamentals are clearly described and everything is very easy to understand. This book can easily take an absolute beginner and help them get really good much faster than any other book I have ever seen. The book aims to get you familiar with your guitar and able to play up and down the neck using runs taken from the Pentatonic scale which is the backbone of Rock guitar. This book will help you get past the beginner level and very solidly into the intermediate playing level and does so in the clearest and easiest way. This is THE must-have book if you want to learn to play guitar in the most efficient manner. This book provides a very solid foundation to build your advanced musical skills onto. I highly recommend it!

5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best of the Best
This book was recommended to me by a guitar virtuoso with over 25 years of experience. I had tried many, many other books, teachers, and on-line lessons.

5.0 out of 5 stars
A Guitar Book That Stands The Test Of Time
Well, it’s been 23-24 years now, since I’ve been playing guitar, and this book was there with me in those first few years of learning this instrument.

5.0 out of 5 stars
the holy bible of guitar
i picked this book up almost 20 yrs ago that’s hard to believe, and i’m living proof this book really works if you apply yourself to it (…).

5.0 out of 5 stars
The Heavy Guitar Bible
I have been playing guitar for about 15 years and I have never found a guitar instruction guide that is as good as this one.