I’d like to hear recommendations for a good beginning guitar book.
My plan is to learn James Taylor songs (and similar stuff), so I guess need something that has a “folk guitar” approach rather than a “classical guitar” approach.
They’re pretty much all the same. Like you said, it just depends on stlye. I worked at a music store for 3 years so I’ve seem a lot of music books. “Hal Leonard” puts out the majority of guitar stuff. If you are a beginner I would recommend something that has a CD with it, so you can hear wht you should be playing. Also, look at the front of the book and make sure there is an explanation of what fingers are what and how to play the chords. Good luck.
PS- The internet is a free way to do it as well…
I have several guitar instruction books, but the best one of the batch is The Complete Guitarist by Richard Chapman. I checked it out at the library before deciding I needed my own copy. It’s as comprehensive as any I’ve seen. Another close rival is The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer.
There are so many things to look for in such a book. Ease of understanding is the main feature of the Chapman book.
Lessons, lessons, lessons. I learned more in one year with a teacher than the previous four without.
coffeecat, that’s actually the advice I would give anyone else, too.
I’ve had zillions of music lessons as a kid and as a music major in college, but I want to see if I can learn guitar using my own diligence.
By the way, Zeldar, I looked up The Complete Guitarist on Amazon, and it was given great reviews. There is a new edition scheduled to come out in October.
Worth waiting for the new version. I’ll be checking to see what they’ve changed or added. The publisher (D&K) has another book by Chapman that’s more of a history of guitar, with the more noteworthy players in various genres. Makes a good companion book if that’s of interest.
Somebody suggested an online approach. There’s something to be said for that. I spent a month or so downloading entire websites and fixing the HTML to work from a centralized index page and using all sorts of supplementary sites’ info. There is a lot of good material online. Way more than you’d suspect if you haven’t already done some searching.
If you like, I could suggest a dozen or so sites where I’ve found some good stuff. Be aware that my interests are more in the jazz vein, but so many sites are going to crop up regardless of what your primary genre interest is.
The library probably has several you can look over and see if there’s one or two you’d most like to own. Personally, the best guitar books I’ve read (of the few I’ve read) are by Terry Burrows.
Don’t pay retail. There are massive amounts of guitar books at garage sales, libraries, goodwill, half.com, etc. Save up the money for something else, like accessories or (I can’t recommend this enough) a simple $10 electronic tuner.
You could always get the “Complete Works of Tom Petty”, but there is only gonna be two chords! 
(come on! somebody had to say it!)
Actual headline: “Church ends probe of Gay Bishop”
Ditto on the lessons suggestion.
I’ve got a lot of music background, so my situation may be a little different from yours, but I’ve been playing the guitar for maybe 5 years, and took a lesson for the first time a month or so ago. I’ve progressed more since that lesson than I had in the previous year or so.
I learned by going over and over through the “Complete Beatles” or whatever it’s called. Two books, containing every song the Beatles ever released (except, mysteriously, “Rock and Roll Music”), with chords diagrammed out.
Granted, the chords aren’t diagrammed out the way the Beatles played them, but going through all those songs and all those chords gave me the skill foundation I needed in order to become the incredibly limited, one-trick guitar player I am today.
jackelope, I’ve got the same set of books, and I also used those to learn to play.
There’s nothing like getting music for songs you know and like to help you to play. If you know what the song is supposed to sound like, it can go a long way to helping you know when you’re doing something right or wrong.