Guitar book(s) - which is your go-to favourite

CoolCat

Relatively new to this forum so not sure if this topic has been discussed before.

There are countless books on guitars, guitarists and music theory. I have only ever had one such book which I bought many years ago and it is; The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer (revised edition 1992). The reason why I've kept with this book is that in my view it covers everything that a guitarist (whether they are a beginner or professional) would need.

So which is your go-to favourite and why?

Whistler

Mark Levine's The Jazz Theory Book is the one book that I can always come back to and find something extra to work on. Being spiral bound is an added, very practical, bonus.

BillDL

The Guitar Book, Handbook for Electric and Acoustic Guitarists by Tom Wheeler
ISBN 13: 9780354046831
ISBN 10: 0354046837
Publisher: Macdonald Futura, 1981

This was a thick paperback book with a black cover showing a close up of somebody playing a black Strat with maple fingerboard.  Every time I went out on my lunch break as a spotty git in my late teens I would go and lurk around a guitar shop or the guitar related section of the large bookshop in the city.  This book kept catching my eye, but it was quite expensive.  It was a goldmine of information for a budding young guitarist like me.  For some reason I kept gravitating back to the photo of the early 70s Gibson L6S Midnight Special in natural.  I eventually did manage to buy one a couple of decades later but I actually wasn't too enamoured by it and traded it quite quickly for an amp and a cheaper guitar, but I'm not blaming Tom Wheeler for that.  I hadn't looked at it for years until fairly recently when found it in a plastic storage tote in my loft and read through it again.  It immediately produced a very strong feeling of nonstalgia as I remembered looking at it wondering when I would have the money to buy it.

Hootsmon

^This one is KING

Oops my mistake......Ralph Denyer book is what I meant....The Guitar Handbook

personalnadir

Hootsmon said:

^This one is KING

Oops my mistake......Ralph Denyer book is what I meant....The Guitar Handbook

That was 2nd hand £3.36 delivered on eBay, or £197.19 (plus £2.79 delivery) new on Amazon.

Blueingreen

There are a few I could nominate but the one that tends to come to mind first when I think about useful books is Maiden Voyage Guitar Voicings by Mike Di Liddo.  Covers its subject with no fat, just practical examples of what you need to know.  One of the few guitar related books I worked through (very nearly) in its entirety.  Cue up an iReal Pro file at a slow tempo and just play along.  Gradually increase the tempo.

steven70

"Lead Guitar" by Harvey Vinson...it has all 5 blues scales, pictures of Hendrix and he recommends "playing stoned" in the appendix - what more do you need?

Edit - seriously, I'll add 'How To Write Songs on Guitar' by Rikky Rooksby, recommended by a few folks on here. It's not really a 'guitar theory' book as such, but an excellent source of inspiration.

guitarjack66

I'll add the Ralph Denyer one too. My guitar teacher advised me on that also. I am more of a 'visual' learner so videos are more my thing but Ralph seems to be on the money. Got mine cheaply,second hand on Amazon.

octatonic

Whistler said:

Mark Levine's The Jazz Theory Book is the one book that I can always come back to and find something extra to work on. Being spiral bound is an added, very practical, bonus.

This ^^^ but it can be pretty heavy.

The Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar by George Van Eps is excellent too and starts from triads.

Keefy

steven70 said:

"Lead Guitar" by Harvey Vinson...it has all 5 blues scales, pictures of Hendrix and he recommends "playing stoned" in the appendix - what more do you need?

Edit - seriously, I'll add 'How To Write Songs on Guitar' by Rikky Rooksby, recommended by a few folks on here. It's not really a 'guitar theory' book as such, but an excellent source of inspiration.

I taught myself from Harvey Vinson's 'Rhythm Guitar', then moved on to 'Lead Guitar'.

'Rhythm Guitar' taught me how to read rhythms, and to play all the most important chord types in any key - I fear no chord! I still consider myself a rhythm guitarist at heart . To me, rhythm guitar is the noble art.

BrizzleRocker

Zen Guitar by the sadly departed Philip Toshio Sudo. See https://www.zenguitar.com/index.html for more.

Tannin

I don't know if I've ever owned a guitar book (other than the odd one about actual guitars). I suppose my favourite go-to is Tommaso Zillio on the tube


 

jdgm

I wish I still had the Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer - the particular edition I had, had a pic of a Hendrix set-up.

Excellent book - I think I lent it to a pupil and never got it back.

Rhythm and Background Chords by Warren Nunes is also very useful if you can find it.

Philtre

This is where you learn all of the jazz chords.

joeW

Rather partial to ‘The advancing guitarist’ by Mick Goodrick - loads of material to dip into. Whilst not specifically a theory book - it does cover parts and is very much geared to guitar and it’s specific requirements 

pintspiller

I bought the Ralph Denyer book too (1988 or so) shortly after I began to learn. I still reference it (mostly to find out whether to lengthen or shorten strings when resetting intonation every couple of strong changes.

My copy had become rather battered about ten years ago, so I replaced it with a used reprint via ebay.

tanihhiavlt

joeW said:

Rather partial to ‘The advancing guitarist’ by Mick Goodrick - loads of material to dip into. Whilst not specifically a theory book - it does cover parts and is very much geared to guitar and it’s specific requirements 

Agreed. I think it's a prerequisite to Mark Levine's book. It gives sounds to so many of the words people hurry past to get to "the good stuff", to quote from Eric Roche "head, hands, heart" - a theory book feeds the head it does precious little for the others. all three need to progress equally or it ends up sounding pants.