Start building your library of guitar lesson books today with this top 15 list!
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You are reading: Books on guitar lessons for beginners
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In this free lesson you will learn…
- our top picks for beginner and intermediate guitar education
- what each of these books offers
- some of our favorite guitar book authors
- 4 Amazing Challenging Intermediate Guitar Lesson Books And Why We Love Them So Much
start building your library of guitar lesson books!
No matter what level of guitarist you are, it’s never a bad time to start picking out a selection of guitar lesson books.
Books are timeless as long as we stick with them, and below are our own selection of instruction manuals for your favorite instrument.
the benefits of guitar lesson books over online lessons
The best reason to find some effective guitar books is so you can mark them with notes!
Some e-reader apps may let you highlight text and take notes, but nothing beats the feel of pen and paper.
It has been proven time and time again that writing things down helps us remember; And with all this technology at our fingertips, it’s important to do things the old-fashioned way (sometimes).
pro tip: marking a book with your own notes helps personalize the knowledge you’re gaining as you read.
- this is important and as you progress as a guitarist you will often find yourself revisiting old concepts.
- make sure you keep some solid notes in your guitar lesson books.
Now, let’s jump into our list!
guitar lesson books for beginners
We’ve organized this list into beginner and intermediate sections to make it accessible to everyone.
Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself! if you’re confident in some beginner concepts, it’s okay to jump ahead and try to tackle something more complex.
These books cover key concepts that help shape us not only as guitarists, but also as musicians.
grab your reading glasses and dive in next.
guitar lesson book: guitar for beginners
You can’t have a list of instructional books without including the beginner series.
This book brand is known for writing detailed instruction manuals for just about everything under the sun, and their Guitar For Dummies book is no different.
- This book is packed with essential concepts, perfect for the beginning guitarist looking for a good foundation of knowledge.
- Another great aspect of these guitar lesson books is that they break everything down, from beginner concepts to specific styles of play and team selection.
This is a fantastic one-stop shop for the beginning guitarist.
you can get a copy of guitar for dummies by mark phillips here.
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guitar lesson book: hal leonard guitar method
Tried and true, Hal Leonard has been a staple in the world of music education since 1947!
his guitar method book is a fantastic read that takes you through everything you need to know to start playing the guitar.
- since hal leonard has multiple volumes for many of his instructional books, they take the liberty of packing them all together in packages to purchase.
- this could be a little more cash up front, but it ensures that no key concepts are missed.
hal leonard does an excellent job teaching guitar concepts effectively in this series.
You can pick up volumes 1, 2 and 3 here.
guitar lesson book: the chord wheel – jim fleser
Learning different chord progressions is extremely important, but even more important is being able to understand how chords work together.
- the chord wheel does an amazing job of teaching us the relationship between different chords, as well as how to write different chord progressions and improve your songwriting skills.
- there is also a section enormous on scales, as well as applying theory to improvisation.
jim fleser has made a visual representation of music theory with his chord wheel guitar lesson books, and this read is not to be missed! get a copy of the chord wheel here.
guitar aerobics – a 52 week, one lick a day program – troy nelson
Don’t let the name fool you, these guitar lesson books are perfect for beginning guitarists.
troy nelson presents us with a fantastic exercise regimen that will help us learn new concepts while perfecting our playing.
if you’re looking for a program that will move your performance forward at a very fast pace, this is the book for you!
As the title says, we only play one lick a day.
- The idea of this book is to master each lick before moving on to the next.
- Spending all day playing one thing may sound boring, but this kind of practice helps us to really work . the details of our game.
Get your copy of Guitar Aerobics here!
guitar lesson book: music theory for guitarists – tom kolb
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We know what you are thinking.
oh my god, that’s not music theory!
well don’t worry, this one won’t roast you too much.
music theory is something we should all understand.
While it’s not necessary to be a musician, understanding the language of music can help us become better writers and performers.
- The subtitle of this book is “everything you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask” and that sums it up nicely. Tom Kolb provides a detailed explanation of music theory that clears up confusion with ease.
- It’s hard to find guitar lesson books like these with such detailed explanations, so be sure to pick up your copy here!
guitar for beginners – nicolas carter
This is one of those guitar lesson books that is aimed at mastering the beginning concepts of the guitar.
- This book will lay a solid foundation of knowledge that you can learn from.
- It’s important to find guitar lesson books that are packed with knowledge that you can break down and understand. , and this one does exactly that!
- From the different types of guitars you can buy and play to tuning, playing chords, picking and strumming; this book covers it all!
Get your copy of Nicolas Carter’s Beginner Guitar Here.
the first 100 guitar chords – joseph alexander
This one is pretty straightforward and keeps it direct and to the point.
the point is this: you need to learn more chords!
This fantastic book by Joseph Alexander examines the chords you need to start maximizing your playing at the beginner level.
Having a good supply of chords at your fingertips is far more important than learning to shred lines right away, so make sure you grab your copy of the top 100 guitar chords here!
first 15 lessons – electric guitar
Another troy nelson installment, this book is fantastic as a new introduction to the guitar.
- The first 15 electric guitar lessons cover a host of important topics, including tuning, tab reading, reading timing, and of course, the fundamentals of playing.
- troy nelson’s guitar lesson books are phenomenal. and this one is no exception.
- One of the advantages of this book is the use of sample songs to get your fingers moving. There is no downtime on this book list!
Pick up your copy of the first 15 electric guitar lessons here.
guitar chords – easy to use, easy to carry – jake jackson
With a chord on each page, this little manual is especially helpful!
These types of guitar lesson books are great to have on hand and in your guitar case, making them ideal for jam sessions (one of the best places to learn!)
They don’t teach you how to play a chord, just what the finger position looks like. this is great because it forces us to experiment a bit to find the right sound.
We can’t stress enough how important it is to learn chords correctly, and neither does author Jake Jackson.
pick up your copy here.
how to read guitar tablature: a complete guide to reading guitar tablature and interpreting modern guitar techniques – joseph alexander
A much-needed read, this book combines learning to read tablature with modern guitar technique.
- Not only will you learn to read tablature effectively, but you’ll also improve your guitar playing in the process.
- This book also has free downloadable audio with the books. guitar lessons, available through the author’s website. fantastic!
pick up your copy here.
guitar for beginners: 4 guitar chord songs – adrian gavinson
Sometimes guitar lesson books with a narrow focus can be very beneficial to our playing.
adrian gavinson’s 4 chord guitar songs do one thing and they do it well: teach you how to play a selection of 4 chord songs. if you didn’t understand, just read the title.
- this book also gives us a brief overview of the guitar parts so we can hone our vocabulary (get it?)
- from pop classics to rock ballads and even holiday music , gavinson actually includes it for this one.
pick up your copy here.
download our lead guitar cheat sheet to make things easier
It can be confusing for guitarists to understand which scales work with which keys.
With this in mind, we created a cheat sheet; a key and scale finder that you can use over and over again.
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the first 50 songs you should play on acoustic guitar – hal leonard
everyone needs playlists, plain and simple.
- song lists are great because they give us quick access to a variety of different tunes in different styles that can quickly improve our playing.
- hal leonard gives us another great delivery with his first 50 song series of guitar lesson books.
This book uses many tried and true examples, such as “About a Girl” from Nirvana and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” from Green Day. these songs are relevant and easy to play, making this an ideal book for beginning guitarists!
get a copy here.
guitar lesson books for intermediate level
Let’s turn up the heat a bit.
We wanted to focus mainly on guitar lesson books for beginners, but we need challenges to keep learning effectively.
These guitar lesson books below focus on more of the finer details of guitar playing than the previous ones. get ready for some theory mixed with techniques for effective practice.
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the circle of fifths for guitarists – joseph alexander
a necessary evil, learning the circle of fifths raises our level in terms of how the musical keys work.
- The circle of fifths is known as one of the great secrets of music, and learning it effectively can open us up to all sorts of new musical avenues (especially if you’re an aspiring composer)
- This comprehensive instruction manual will teach you the basics of changing keys, understanding the relationship between major and minor scales, and much more!
pick up your copy of circle of fifths for guitarists here
chords for guitar: transposable chord forms using the caged system – gareth evans
The caged system is one of the most used (and most debated) chord systems by guitarists.
- this principle shows us how to use the same chord shapes we already know to play a variety of other chords of the same type.
- for example, our b minor chord can be moved to play the same minor chord shape in any other key.
pro tip: every guitarist should have some gear covering the caged system, as it can open up whole new worlds on the fretboard.
get a copy of this gem here.
practice less, play more – steve mastroianni
As we progress with our guitar playing, we will undoubtedly encounter obstacles in our learning process.
some musicians think it’s better to just practice until they get it right.
practice less, play more introduces us to the concept of effective practice.
We don’t need to spend endless hours practicing every day, we just need a few full hours of precise musical exercises – this book shows us how to make that happen.
pick up your copy of steve mastroianni’s ‘practice less, play more’ here.
simplified scales – scott harris
Ladders don’t have to be frustrating or difficult. in fact, with the right teacher, they can be fun to learn!
- scales made simple aids in learning and memorizing scales, as well as how to apply the theory we learn to other stringed instruments!
- this book will break down the musical modes with diagrams . for easy reference, helping you take your playing to the next level.
Get your copy of Simplified Scales by Scott Harris here.
what to do with all these guitar lesson books?
start building your library!
These guitar lesson books are packed with trusted resources to help propel your guitar playing for years to come.
Also, many of the amazon links we’ve included give you the option to read them on a kindle or e-reader device. this means you can take these good reads anywhere!
so what are you waiting for? start reading! here are some other honorable mentions before we wrap up:
- mastery of the fretboard
- guitar guides
- the first 100 jazz guitar chords
- the total jazz guitarist
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