Rating: 
Summary: No matter what level you are....
Review: ...this is a book for you. It gives you what all guitarist should know, such as basic music theories, some different styles of playing, or classical favorite pieces. Even if you already know these stuffs, this book is worth to buy. Frederick Noad is such a guitar idiot(in good meaning), so that he may have some other ideas for what you already know. For a beginner, this is a great book which leads you in a right direction to be a "good" guitarist, no matter what style you wanna play later. Again, even if you are somehow skilled player, this book gives you something you never knew before, or I'd say, basics you wanna always remind yourself of.
Rating: 
Summary: Complete Idiot's Guide as a fine Teaching Literature
Review: Although this book is clearly intended for self-help I was interested to read it for possible use with my students. I am familiar with Noad's books, having used his SOLO GUITAR PLAYING with great success for a number of years; but I was curious to see what this latest book might have to offer that was new or different. A glance through immediately revealed two major differences from his SOLO book. First, the scope is much wider, with the inclusion of popular styles such as Blues and Flamenco. In addition I found extensive use of guitar tablature as well as standard notation. Students find tablature very easy, and this enables them to play more advanced pieces at an earlier stage. Some teachers regard this as a crutch, bur Noad clearly wants to get students into interesting music as soon as possible. I found the choice of music most appealing, including the famous Anonymous Romance which is credited with drawing more people to the guitar than other single piece. In summary, I plan to use this book with students who wish to experiment with various styles to find where their major interest lies. I find the text clear and interesting. The sidebars with cartoons and information on "Guitar Gods" etc. are a bit overcute for my taste, but are actually quite informative. In contrast the hand drawings by Linda Trujillo are some of the best and clearest that I have seen in any music instruction book. My only regret is that a CD was not included. Nowadays most self-instruction books seem to have these, and I feel that the publishers would be well advised to include this in a future edition. Overall, a fine addition to the teaching literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Amended review
Review: An amendment to my review above. Mr. Noad was very kind to correspond with me to get specifics, and we managed to clear up some confusion -- in one piece, the side-by-side tab and notated version of a piece had different meanings attached to the numbers used, so while it was confusing, and the explanation for why this occurs was buried 30 pages back, it wasn't inaccurate. (There were still missing or mismarked notes in the piece, however.) Mr. Noad has said he will clear up the confusion and errors in the next edition.Again, let me emphasize that the writing is very engaging, and it gives one a good flavor of many different guitar styles. Mr. Noad knows his stuff, and can write about it well. But there are some fairly notable (ahem) musical typos that may confuse folks who start with a musical blank slate. If you use your common sense tho, you'll be fine. (And I can certainly prove that Mr. Noad cares about his readers!) The virtues of this edition far outweigh the drawbacks, and they have to sell out this edition so they can publish a much better second one -- but you don't want to wait until then to learn to play the guitar, do you? Carpe diem!
Rating: 
Summary: Not for beginners
Review: I bought this book along with my brand new guitar, and what did i learn? nothing...the book is not for a beginner, maybe it works as a reference book, but it doesn't teach how to play guitar...i don't have time to take lessons, i need to learn guitar by my own, and this book was not the one i needed, that takes me back to looking for a better book
Rating:
Summary: Forget about it!
Review: I confess: I'm an idiot and I want to play the guitar. This book seemed like the perfect solution, but alas, it was not to be. I now understand the dilemma: how does an experienced player & teacher really capture what it is to be a stone cold "idiot" beginner? This book is loaded with helpful information and clear drawings, but I could only get so far without someone to listen to or watch what I was doing and tell me "Yes, you're doing that correctly." I agree with the reviewer who advised that you use this book in conjunction with lessons from a teacher. I start my lessons next month...
Rating:
Summary: not really for idiots
Review: I confess: I'm an idiot and I want to play the guitar. This book seemed like the perfect solution, but alas, it was not to be. I now understand the dilemma: how does an experienced player & teacher really capture what it is to be a stone cold "idiot" beginner? This book is loaded with helpful information and clear drawings, but I could only get so far without someone to listen to or watch what I was doing and tell me "Yes, you're doing that correctly." I agree with the reviewer who advised that you use this book in conjunction with lessons from a teacher. I start my lessons next month...
Rating:
Summary: Fredrick Noad's Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Guitar
Review: I have had a fantasy about playing the guitar since childhood, but only recently as an adult took the plunge. I wanted to do more than simple "picking and grinning" so I rejected quite a few beginners' books before I came across Frederick Noad's Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Guitar. From the title I was not expecting much depth but found myself drawn in by the clear explanations and step-by-step approach. I particularly enjoyed the Spanish pieces and am currently working on the first part of "Romance." Since all the selections have guitar tablature as well as music notes, it has made it easy for me to dive in and play enjoyable songs before having all the notes memorized. Admittedly, I jump ahead and try to play more advanced music than I am really ready for, but what the heck - I love this book! I'm really learning to play the guitar!
Rating:
Summary: Fredrick Noad's Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Guitar
Review: I have had a fantasy about playing the guitar since childhood, but only recently as an adult took the plunge. I wanted to do more than simple "picking and grinning" so I rejected quite a few beginners' books before I came across Frederick Noad's Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing the Guitar. From the title I was not expecting much depth but found myself drawn in by the clear explanations and step-by-step approach. I particularly enjoyed the Spanish pieces and am currently working on the first part of "Romance." Since all the selections have guitar tablature as well as music notes, it has made it easy for me to dive in and play enjoyable songs before having all the notes memorized. Admittedly, I jump ahead and try to play more advanced music than I am really ready for, but what the heck - I love this book! I'm really learning to play the guitar!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for a beginner -as long as you have a teacher
Review: I started taking guitar lessons about 6 weeks ago; I bought this book two weeks ago, and I am glad I did. Why? THis is an excellent supplement to my teacher's instructions. Simple songs, chords, chord progressions, guitar music styles--it is all here. I was looking for something to supplement my studies w/the Hal Leonard book; this is an excellent source. Noad's instruction is clear and user-friendly. 5+stars.
Rating:
Summary: From baby steps to the fandango in 266 pages
Review: I'm a largely self-taught 50's "folkie" (i.e. full of bad habits and stalled at open string chords and simple pattern picking), so this book's orderly, logical yet rapid progression from first baby steps to fancy footwork in flamenco and classical techniques was perfect. I could skim past the stuff I already knew, while appreciating that it would be very helpful to the novice. It has good illustrations of the parts and nomenclature of various guitars, tells you how to buy a guitar, how to hold it, how to sit, how to position your hands. It quickly gets you playing basic chords, but keeps you working on technique--how to make rest and free strokes properly, how to count time and learn to read and play different rhythm structures, how to make barre chords without buzzing, or killing your fingers. Along the way, it shows you how to read tablature, and then how to read music notation, all the while, practicing simple familiar songs. The last half of the book is where it gets into more advanced techniques of folk and country picking styles, and an introduction to making some of the characteristic sounds of flamenco, finishing with brief treatments of Latin, blues and classical styles. A pretty full package, well done, well illustrated, at a pretty cheap price. With this book and 20 hours practice a week for the rest of your life...you too, could be a star.
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