What is this musical instrument called the guitar? Where did it come from? What types of music can be played on it? What different types of guitars are available, and what’s the best instrument to buy? Before you even pluck a note, you’re faced with all of these questions, and more. But don’t worry. We’ll be with you every step of the way. In this first part of the site, we’ll answer all of these questions—and others—and then you’ll be ready to play your first notes.

Now we’re ready to play. First, we’ll establish a good playing position and find some chords with the left hand. In Chapter 6 we’ll bring in some right-hand variety, and after practicing this with a song we’ll move on to learning about broken chords, known as arpeggios.

So far, so good. We’ve learned and practiced some basic techniques for both hands. Now it’s time to learn how to read guitar tablature—the simplest method for notating (writing down) guitar music. This notation enables us to recognize notes quickly and easily. Then we can practice the new techniques by playing some familiar songs. After working on different time values, we add valuable new skills to our repertoire in Chapter 10—the left-hand hammer-on and pull-off.

Guitar tablature is fine, as long as we have music written that way. But if we want to read from “ordinary” scores or want to understand the rhythmic values of the notes, we have to learn how to read standard notation. This will be very important if we want to arrange our own guitar music. And we also have to understand a little bit of music theory: how scales are made and formed. We’ll also master the advanced technique of playing more than one melody part at the same time—an integral part of classical guitar technique.

All of us have our own favorite musical style, but most guitarists like to be at least conversant with different styles. You never know when you might have to accompany a hoedown or be called on to help out a Spanish dancer in need! But seriously, knowing different styles enables you to expand your technique—and eventually develop your own style. The chapters in this part of the site examine some of the most popular styles around, demystifying them and making them easy to learn.

You’re just about ready to leave the nest and take off on your own. But before you go there are a few more things I’d like to show you. Learning how to form chords will enable you to be a good allaround accompanist. Moving up the fingerboard will enable you to take full advantage of the guitar’s range. Some secrets that guitar virtuosos have learned over the years will also be revealed. And finally, as my last gift to you, I have two beautiful showpieces for you to learn to impress your family and friends—and yourself!