Learning Guitar for Dummies

 WORKS EVEN BETTER IF YOU'RE NOT A DUMMY
If you're thinking of taking up the guitar, and who hasn't, here's "GUITAR FOR DUMMIES" (Anchor Bay). A great disc that remains true to its title with the super easy to follow instructions of friendly, skilled, instructor Jon Chappell. You'll learn to form chords, fingerpick, strum and play songs in a variety of styles (rock, folk, blues, etc.) and, get this, all without having to bother with the nuisance of learning to read music.

No kiddng, you will be the center of attention and if not the life of the party at least be able to hold court in a corner of the room.

This disc works even better for non dummies!

 Would recommend ONLY for someone who has never attempted to play a guitar
I bought this book for my son who has never had a lesson but has been self teaching himself for a few years. The things I was disappointed about 1) the singing is so HORRIBLE it is almost impossible to watch. My son became frustrated with this alone and never wanted to continue...His exact words, "This is LAME." He wouldn't use it, so I decided to try to learn guitar to keep from wasting my money. 2) The descriptions on the cover are misleading and lead you to believe there is much more advanced instruction than is actually in it...there is little about much of it and then it is not what the instructor leads you to believe it is...for example the jazz chords are not actually what you expect to learn. 3) The instructor uses different fingering techniques than he instructs you to use, so learning it is very hard...part of the advantage of buying a dvd is WATCHING the instructor...which is totally useless if he is doing something different than he instructs you to do. Also it is hard to keep up with him as his fingering techniques allow him to change chords much more quickly and you are struggling to keep up. Being frustrated when you are trying to learn is NOT a good way to stay motivated. My son had to tell me it wasn't me it was the instructor. 4) my son knew ALL of the material in this DVD although he has never had a lesson. I would recommend this for a very early beginner who had no clue about chords or guitars at all. Otherwise, SAVE YOUR MONEY. I did learn a little. I am a complete idiot about guitars but knew a good bit of what was presented just from guitars being in my home. This is the most elementary information you can imagine.