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?
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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.
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.
That was 2nd hand £3.36 delivered on eBay, or £197.19 (plus £2.79 delivery) new on Amazon.
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.
The Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar by George Van Eps is excellent too and starts from triads.
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'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.
My copy had become rather battered about ten years ago, so I replaced it with a used reprint via ebay.
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.