The complete illustrated book of the acoustic guitar: learning to play, chords, exercises, techniques, guitar history, famous players, great guitars

How to play the guitar. Buying your guitar ; Anatomy of the guitar ; Tuning the guitar ; Changing strings ; Guitar care ; Holding the guitar ; Basic left-hand technique ; Strumming with three chords ; More chords and strumming ; Syncopated strumming ; Seventh chords ; Guitar notation ; Using the fingers ; Simple fingerpicking patterns ; Using the thumb in fingerpicking ; Using a capo ; Playing tunes ; The C major scale and first position ; The major scales ; Introducing the blues ; The sixth shuffle ; Building a blues solo ; Advanced blues ; Barre chords ; More on barre chords ; Understanding keys ; Chord construction ; How to find any note ; How to transpose without a capo ; Left-hand embellishments ; Country picking ; Advanced country guitar ; Integrating a melody ; Altered tunings ; Drop D tunings ; Open tunings ; More open tunings ; DADGAD tuning ; Introducing jazz chords ; More jazz chords ; The 12-bar blues in jazz ; A dozen classic blues licks ; Double stopping ; Half-open chords ; Improvising with the major scale ; Advanced left-hand techniques ; Practice patterns ; Party tricks ; Slide guitar ; Classical guitar ; Further classical guitar techniques ; Gypsy jazz ; Latin jazz ; Flamenco ; The 12-string guitar

Chordfinder. Introduction ; Major chords ; Minor chords ; Seventh chords ; Minor seventh chords ; Major seventh chords ; Diminished seventh chords ; m7♭5 chords ; Dominant seventh jazz voicings ; Minor seventh jazz voicings ; Major seventh jazz voicings ; Suspended fourth ; Half-open chords ; Essential chords in open G ; Essential chords in open D ; Essential chords in open DADGAD

History of the guitar. Early ancestors of the guitar ; The five-course Baroque guitar ; The transitional guitar ; Early 19th-century guitars ; Arcas, Torres, Tárrega and beyond ; The flamenco guitar ; Pioneers of the steel-string guitar ; The guitar today

Directory of guitars. Early guitar-related instruments ; 16th- to 18th-century guitars ; 18th- and early 19th-century transitional guitars ; 18th- and early 19th-century six-string guitars ; 18th- and early 19th-century guitars ; 19th-century guitars ; 19th-century classical guitar makers ; 19th- and early 20th-century classical guitar makers ; 20th-century classical guitar makers ; Mid-20th-century classical guitars ; Late 20th- and early 21st-century classical guitars ; 20th-century flamenco guitars ; Late 20th- and early 21st-century flamenco guitars ; 20th-century flat-top steel-string guitars ; 20th- and 21st-century flat-top steel-string guitars ; 20th-century archtop guitars ; 20th-century gypsy guitars ; 19th- and 20th-century multi-string harp-guitars ; 20th-century guitars ; 20th-century resonator guitars ; 20th-century acoustic bass guitars ; 20th- and 21st-century acoustic bass guitars

Glossary.