Top 5 Books For Guitar Players!

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Progress to an advanced level of guitar playing - bulletproofguitarplayer.com Here are my top 5 books for guitar players! If you have suggestions for other books I should check out, please leave a comment below.
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[@robertogalvez2423]

Thanks for mentioning William Leavitt's book. It also helps in developing technique since it is quite progressive, and it teaches chords and scales while you learn sight reading.

[@basicsforbaroqueimprovisation]

Great material and presentation Ross - Thank you for sharing !

[@starluxstudio619]

I tore the ligaments in my left hand. Couldn’t play for about 3 months. However my hand doctor was Ted Greene’s brother wife. When I told her I was a guitarist she told me some cool stories.

[@RossCampbellGuitarist]

Wow that's cool!

[@tim8602]

This was so helpful thanks!

[@lu12347]

Great choices - I just would add the the advancing guitarist- Mick Goodricth

[@samdewalt1]

Thank you for your advice. I’m a woodwind and brass player that has recently picked up guitar. It’s a whole mother monster, but has greatly changed my ear. Guitar has awaken things I never thought of from playing a single note instrument.

[@jessejordan8116]

Super useful. Also quite proud I already own two of your recommended books.

[@kidpoker9408]

following my two books would not only give u a excellent grasp of the fretboard but would give you deeper theory knowledge and also help immensely with training your ear as well the key is patience and taking your time with the method if it takes you a year or more to complete the two books the better

[@richsackett3423]

Thank you for talking about the Ted Greene book. I think you've inspired me to dig mine out and take another whack at it.

[@dennie-leigh8338]

Great vid dude, these books will be on my Christmas list for sure 👍

[@Terribleguitarist89]

"The Guitar Grimoire" series, "Arpeggio and Scale Resources" and "Chord Chemistry" books are my favorites. They're truly books you'll never fully "grow out of" as you'll always pull out new information when you reread them.

[@IdentifiantDeCatacombe]

Thanks for the recommendations! I've been searching for so long after books to use but there are just so many books I could not chose any of them because I didn't know what would be the best.

[@celeryshredder]

Really good choices and commentary on them. :)

[@TheElvisguitar]

Do another video like this! Recomending ways to learn. Books, DVDs or artist to listen to. Or subjects that you think may be beneficial to us. Maybe composition or music analysis.

[@stefanmitrovic973]

hey ,if anyone else wants to discover guitar course online try Grathaw Guitar Playing Expert ( search on google ) ? Ive heard some incredible things about it and my mate got cool success with it.

[@foodlifeetc.8566]

Thanks for the video content! Sorry for chiming in, I would appreciate your opinion. Have you tried - Riddleagan Blossoming Solo Remedy (google it)? It is an awesome one of a kind product for mastering guitar scales minus the normal expense. Ive heard some awesome things about it and my m8 finally got amazing results with it.

[@jhoncanole2979]

I discovered this video on Worship Fixer Formula - there plenty more great videos there that should help you

[@suchmaiden]

Great video! Subscribed :)

[@Mr-Safology]

great video☺☺

[@FIGSANE]

I have a copy of the Berklee book from when I was at community college I'm going to trust that the other book suggestions are good as well This was extremely helpful dude 👌👌👌

[@marianskacel2286]

Great. thank you

[@24-7Guitars]

Great choices! I have most of your suggested books. Just missing chord chemistry. Well done, nice channel brother.

[@seanandben]

A lot of my students like The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer. It's a very good book for beginners, as apart from chords, scales and theory etc, it teaches about equipment, recording, and other aspects of guitar playing, and it's very well laid out. The Mickey Baker books are great for intermediate/advanced players, and I've found his chord sections very useful.

[@applemanuk]

I once owned the Ted Green Chord Chemistry book as a guitar teacher many years ago recommended it to me. I wish I still had it as it’s one of those invaluable books with some stuff you will never learn, but other priceless chord and triad shapes that really test you. One of the best for sure.

[@dww613]

Very useful - thanks

[@RossCampbellGuitarist]

Glad it was helpful!

[@alexisprojects]

Not specific to guitar, but Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory: A Complete Self Study Course. It comes with CDs and incorporates ear training as well. Since it's a workbook, I believe it's more effective than just reading about music theory since you have to write it down. There's an answer key in the back as well to check your work. I tried to do a page a day roughly. Took several months to get through it, but it's more than enough to send anyone on their way. I cannot say enough good things about it if you're looking to learn to sight read.

[@ironpirites]

Interesting. I'll have to check some of the titles out. I have Chord Chemistry and would recommend Modern Chord Progressions by the same author (Ted Greene). It's written in the same style as Chord Chemistry with huge numbers of progressions. I learned to sight read using Tommy Tedesco's For Guitar Players Only but I haven't worked my way through the whole book. The Tedesco book approaches sight reading by teaching each string rather than by fretboard positions as many sight reading books do. I think it is a superior way of going about it that gets the left hand moving fluidly along the fretboard.

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

Ted Greene was a genius. Tommy Tedesco's book is great for learning sight-reading as he pushes you very quickly into the higher positions. (I don't know whether it's coincidence, or more a case of great minds thinking alike, but Tommy's approach is very close to the "unitar" concept of Mick Goodrick.)

[@brinepacer]

Baby Ross! Opening lick is tight.

[@RhysGilchrist]

Nice one, Ross! That Frank Gambale one sounds like it'd be worth a look.

[@RossCampbellGuitarist]

Thanks Rhys! Yeah it's definitely a good resource for the improviser

[@MrSouzy]

Hi Ross great video. I am working through the William Levitt book one at the moment. I can play clarinet and piano already so I understand quite a bit of music theory. I am enjoying going through the book but I feel that it would be good to supplement it with something as well. Can you recommend any other books aimed at beginners which I could use in parallel to it ?

[@Mrius86]

The Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrick is my personal favourite. But most guitarists don't really want to learn about the real fundamental stuff, they just want something they can agree with.

[@TigerWill]

I buyed a book that is a complete step by step guide for beginner guitar, and even has sweep picking, sight reading and even thoughts of the author about what to do after learning

[@GlennMichaelThompson]

Books are a great way to study and get the information one needs without resorting to the high cost of attending a music college or university.... if you've the self-discipline to stick to a decent schedule. A good private teacher would help a lot as well, just to keep you on track. Some of my favourite books are those written by Joe Diorio... any & all of them. They include "Fusion", Intervallic Designs, Jazz Structures for the New Millennium, Giant Steps, Jazz Blues Styles, and his 2 available DVD's are all worthwhile. Jon Damian's The Guitarist's Guide to Composing and Improvising; and I could go on but I'll leave you with just 1 more for now - The Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrick. These last 2 are full of concepts which can expand one's playing to knowing harmony, melody, counterpoint and thinking outside of the box. Surely books that will help over a lifetime of being/becoming a better musician. Great video and topic. Cheers from Canada!

[@lynnd6422]

I second those suggestions and I'd add the Leon White books, "Styles for the Studio" and "Sight to Sound," then the "Johnny Smith Method for Guitar." They're great additions to a guitarist's library.

[@sidneyrichard5319]

Just found your channel. Sweet playing at the beginning. Bending up that b5 at the end behind the nut, nice touch. And I like the topic. Something caught my eye, though... I have a bit of a problem with the Frank Gambale book, which is: where the hell is the melodic minor scale? Holdsworth's video, which was my source years ago, makes it really simple: you have basically* got six different scales: major, melodic minor (jazz minor), harmonic major and harmonic minor, plus whole-tone and diminished. Each of the first four have seven modes, the whole tone has one, and the diminished two. There are plenty of modes - 28, not counting the diminished scale - and some get used more than others, obviously. Frank's happy to treat, say, lydian dominant and altered dominant as two different scales, from the look of the contents page, at least: not only does he not point out they're just two modes of melodic minor, he doesn't even seem to list MM itself as a useful scale, and that seems kind of blinkered to me. I don't get it. I mean, if you know you're learning the modes of a scale, you can connect the dots a lot quicker. So to speak. I'm sure you know that there are even more ways to play over a given chord than even Frank lists. I could rattle off a list of concepts to play over a resolving dominant chord (of which I can actually use only a handful, obviously), and I can see the sense of not wanting to confuse people... but that contents page really surprises me. And not in a good way. The Ted Greene and Mark Levine books are great choices, though. And, yup, skipping to the back to work through all those blues variations was how I got into Chord Chemistry. And I remember seeing the Guthrie Govan book come out, but I'd already got quite a lot of the content from his columns in Guitar Techniques, which is where I first came across him. Even then he came across as pretty awesome, and that's without seeing him play. Shaun Baxter was another GT guy who put out a rather cool book on unusual techniques. He's pretty damn amazing. One book I'd really recommend is The Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrick. It's the kind of book, like Chord Chemistry, that you can have lying around and return to every so often for inspiration. Anyway Ross, great video. I really enjoyed your enthusiasm. All the best. *Other scales are available, but most of the widely available sounds in Western music are here, plus... let's just say the harmonic major and its modes are a little unusual. But all of the melodic minor modes are widely used. The Thunderbirds intro wouldn't be the same without those maj7#5 chords to build tension. And melodic minor over a dorian vamp can sound very cool when done right.

[@Soberan]

Oh, and the Bergonzi's books Inside Improvisation series are for all musicians interested in improv, not specifically guitar but also applicable to it, and they will send your head spinning, great stuff!

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

Bergonzi is great (especially Volumes 1-3)! Bert Ligon's "Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony" is also a must-have.

[@rantan1012]

Is creative guitar for acoustic too

[@kidpoker9408]

modern method book 2 written by me harmonize the natural minor, harmonic minor and mel minor scales in the same way you did the major scale

[@BluesPower74]

Ross you probably have the Mickey Baker Jazz guitar book, but that's what Robben Ford used to get his grounding in chords. Excellent book!

[@RossCampbellGuitarist]

Thanks for the recommendation Steve - I hadn't heard of that one before but I've always loved Robben's chord voicings so I'll absolutely check it out!

[@Soberan]

Good vid, thanks. I undusted my copy of Frank Gambale's after watching it. Check out also Guitar Compendium by Howard Roberts, 3 volumes, published by Advance Music.

[@ChrisFinnell]

Would you recommend going through these books 1 at a time?

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

I come a bit late to the feast, but I think that the Joe Diorio books are worthy of an honourable mention!

[@grammaticalerorr4654]

I recommend Modern Method For Electric Guitar vol 1-3 by Berklee

[@patriciomartinotti5694]

it's on the video

[@DJClassicAuto]

I bought my copy of Chord Chemistry in 1973 and I still pick it up on a fairly regular basis. The cover photo on mine is different, with Ted having this big bushy afro thing going on, but the book is same. If one uses that book to go through The Real Book, that would make for a pretty good foundation.

[@CosmicHobo2]

Loved the little piece at the beginning. Has anybody managed to transcribe it? Few notes I can't seem to get.

[@emlyngriffith5846]

You didn’t mention “Play in a day” by Bert Weedon which I started on back in 1963! But thanks for mentioning Ted Greene….his books are really challenging but worth the effort, especially as you say, the jazz/blues progressions…(and all his arrangements are available for free on KZbin). Also I’ve recently found all the books by Ted’s student, Tim Lerch, have taught me a lot. 👍🍷

[@kidpoker9408]

dummies series are great , especially the theory book

[@Jazzadrin]

Best guitar books are Blues You Can Use and Metal Lead/Rhythm Guitar vol. 1 & 2

[@idmarc]

the advancing guitarist Mick Goodrick, takes a couple of lifetimes to absorb. good luck!!

[@Soberan]

Super-dense, I wouldn't advise it unless you are an advanced player already.

[@motoputz3201]

6:10 one of the most humble human beings ever, he absolutely "LOVED" playing guitar

[@isaaharel3395]

I recommend the real easy ear training book and berklee ear training duets and trios

[@carlosandreslacruz5498]

Amazon video! What amp is that?

[@UnitedEffect]

The Ted Greene Archives has a brilliant website and KZbin channel worth checking out. I have to recommend any and all books and educational material by Joe Diorio... many of his volumes are from a group of stuff he's called The Right Brain Guitarist. Anything Joe Diorio put out is worth working on. Also, The Advancing Guitarist book by Mick Goodrick is full of incredible concepts and ideas that no guitarist should be without. There's a ton of other stuff I could suggest, but maybe some other time. Cheers.

[@accentontheoff]

Hi there. Any reccos for someone who is at a basic level, potentially verging on intermediate. Something with examples if possible. I have lots of gaps in my knowledge that I need to fix before moving up. Thanks.

[@jackelshaw7331]

I have that sight reading book and I find sight reading the chords is really hard!

[@gary8396]

Jac Kelshaw sight reading is hard mate. As Ross says it separates the guitarists from musicians

[@AsdeEspadas.Fernando]

I followed your recomendations and got guthrie govan, gambale, and ted greene (also got satriani classes book). Im following them with a teacher and its great!!

[@RossCampbellGuitarist]

Ah good to hear! :)

[@AsdeEspadas.Fernando]

@@RossCampbellGuitarist yeah...still ted greene s books are very dificult..how did you manage to incorporate those chords? Did you played teds progressions and wrote down your favorite chords or something else?

[@princepratapsingh8421]

Wow man your book are great and I am really impressed!!! I also found another source useful to play guitar DVD which is "Renskarter Instant Guitar Report". You can google it to know more!

[@jessatkinsguitar]

Great books. All of them. But gotta say. “The advancing guitarist” is still the greatest.

[@Superanimewuver]

hii, this video was soo helpful :) i got a guitar 1 year ago and have been trying to play it (from YT vids, cant really afford a teacher right now) but im finding it surprisingly hard! it just doesnt sound "right" when i play. i think i will purchase the last book you mentioned. but do you have anytips for me as a beginner? did you find it hard when you started playing?

[@RossCampbellGuitarist]

Hi Priscilla, I'm glad you found the video useful! As for tips, if you can't afford a teacher right now you should set yourself goals on a weekly basis. Something simple to start with for example 'memorise this chord shape' or 'play this scale at this tempo'. This will give you something to focus on every week rather than just simply learning a new idea here and there and never really developing it further. Everyone finds it a bit frustrating at first but I was fortunate enough to have the help of a teacher early on - if you can't afford lessons on a weekly basis there are loads of great lesson packages online for beginners that may be more affordable for you. Check out 'TrueFire' and 'The Guitar and Music Institute' - both are tuition websites full of content for players of all skill levels. Hope that helps, if you are struggling with anything in particular let me know and I may be able to make a video lesson about it for my channel!

[@kidpoker9408]

beginners Hal Lenoard, v123 william Levitt 123 modern method, inter guitar fretboard workbook barrett Tagliarino , modern method Frank frank vignola, 52 Week Guitar Aeorobics, Reading Music for Guitarists David Oates only book ive found that teaches all positions most books only teach open to 4rth pos. Advanced The advancing Guitarists. And if you have completed all these books congratulations your probably dead, well or at least pretty old unless your obsessed and play 5 hours a day. but yea patience is a virtue.

[@pumpkinheadjrb]

Took a guitar class in college using the Berkley vol 1. It was an extreme waste of money considering all I really needed was the book itself.

[@kidpoker9408]

the advancing guitarist is considered the best guitar book ever written but like ive saids its for advancing guitarists

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

Even beginners are advancing guitarists!

[@isaaharel3395]

I love advancing guitarist I learn so much on the first chapter

[@barryo5158]

Source?

[@saikat93ify]

Can someone please suggest me some books which has nice fingerstyle music for acoustic guitar (ideally in standard tuning) ? I'm not much interested in learning fancy technique, would just love to have a lot of melodies under my belt :)

[@Eid_Ali]

The guitar Grimoire and its workbook

[@aeksinsang932]

Frank’s two levels are a goldmine

[@KookyCloud]

Thank for the suggestions man. I can vouch for Chord Chemistry and Berklee press. Unfortunately, No book substitute a good teacher. There some shortcuts and obvious shit that my vocal teacher tells me, that no book that I read (and I have lot of music books with me) teach. My teacher also agrees that music literature are not that easy to follow.

[@alohalala2965]

what is the best beginner guitar book today?

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

Probably a classical guitar book. "Tune-a-Day" Volume 1 is pretty good. Once you've done that, then William Leavitt's "Modern Method".

[@DipAxom]

can you please share the links of Books to buy Online ?

[@kidpoker9408]

the pirtate bay .org ;)

[@Lucas_Aaron]

No Mel Bays?

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

Bret Willmott deserves a mention!

[@sureshhirawat]

Watch this at2x

[@fred306801]

So, The Roy Clark's, Big Note Guitar Book , did not make the list.

[@musicmooni1956]

You should send the linnks ok these books...

[@BTL400]

just type the name of the book on amazon or vk

[@thomaswalkerjr.7935]

I notice you said nothing about Hal Leonard's Guitar method which is a pretty good book for beginners and intermediates

[@JeanClaudePeeters]

Then maybe it's not in his top 5 favourite books?

[@vinlander8484]

Alfred's is much better, I have both.

[@mr.yellowstrat3352]

Shouldn't you be reading your defense against the dark arts books? Haha jk great vid

[@lostfrequency89]

Conor Harrison haarry pot her

[@alejarivas]

Cheers for the Video clip! Excuse me for the intrusion, I would appreciate your opinion. Have you tried - Riddleagan Skillful Playing Remedy (Sure I saw it on Google)? It is a good exclusive guide for learning complex guitar chords and become a pro minus the headache. Ive heard some extraordinary things about it and my GF at very last got excellent success with it.

[@kidpoker9408]

heres a modern book method written by me harmonize the major scale, starting with c using 3rds both minor and major across adj strings then do alternate strings then do all the other intervals in the key of C and then go on to all the other natural keys D E F G A and B

[@julitaa_1457]

hey ,if anyone else wants to uncover how to learn to play guitar online try Grathaw Guitar Playing Expert (should be on google have a look ) ? Ive heard some decent things about it and my neighbor got excellent results with it.

[@shaymiantewhau3014]

If you learn all the notes of the guitar and how to build chords, is there any point of a chord book? (BTW I'm not saying i know all the chords)

[@seanandben]

Ted Greene is a monster! A walking, talking, playing encyclopedia.

[@GeorgeSPAMTindle]

Two further books I'd advise are 'For Guitar Players Only' by Tommy Tedesco, which is a fairly advanced book with a good narrative text where Tommy talks about his motivations and career, and 'Mickey Baker's Guide to Jazz Guitar', which has the best introduction that I have ever read in any book. Mickey Baker's introduction in a nutshell: This book is not for beginners, if you practice for two hours a day it will take you two years to work your way through this book, and my favourite part 'Here are the 26 chords which you need to learn right away before you go any further into this book'.

[@LionHeartNet]

Kudos for the Video clip! Sorry for the intrusion, I would appreciate your thoughts. Have you ever tried - Riddleagan Skillful Playing Remedy (do a google search)? It is an awesome one off guide for learning complex guitar chords and become a pro minus the headache. Ive heard some pretty good things about it and my close friend Aubrey after a lifetime of fighting got excellent success with it.

[@kidpoker9408]

learn to sing to you dont have to be good at singing just sing use your voice, will help with ear training oh

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

It's worth working your way through a basic book that teaches sight-singing via tonic sol-fa/solfege.

[@kidpoker9408]

@@Khayyam-vg9fw i think harmonizing the major scale isnt taught enough they only teach the basic chords check out mastering fretboard harmony they have you harmonize the scales in each interval on adj strings then skipping strings. of course u can do it on one string which is amazing for visualization and ear training, spellings of the intervals is crucial as well all of the spellings ie p5 abouve C is G p5 above C# is G# then u get double flats and sharps depending on the key is alot of work. great thing to is when you make a mistake on the fretboard your out of key and you hear the dissonance but yea every interval in every key on the adj strings and skipping yikes main thing is to take your time do a key a month an interval a month well actually thats probably to slow id be dead by the time im finished but u get my drift and thats only the major scale

[@Khayyam-vg9fw]

@@kidpoker9408 Yeah, true, The first thing to understand is that the seven diatonic scale-degrees of C major (the "white notes" on the piano keyboard) are to be operated upon. The most natural key is C major, where no note is inflected: the sharpest key is C sharp major, where every scale-degree has been raised a semitone; the flattest key is C flat major, where every scale-degree has been lowered a semitone. The Circle of Fifths is the great skeleton key that unlocks all of the other keys. Clockwise (and the Circle resembles a clockface), 1 o'clock represents one sharp (G major), 2 o'clock represents 2 sharps (D major)... [{FCG-DAEB} is the pattern of sharps] Anticlockwise, 11 o'clock [12-1] represents one flat (F major), 10 o'clock [12-2] represents two flats (Bb major)... [{BEAD-GCF} is the pattern of flats]

[@paulkamau1806]

Cheers for the Video! Forgive me for butting in, I would appreciate your initial thoughts. Have you heard the talk about - Riddleagan Skillful Playing Remedy (erm, check it on google should be there)? It is a smashing one of a kind guide for learning complex guitar chords and become a pro minus the hard work. Ive heard some decent things about it and my best friend Jordan got great success with it.

[@fabian8813]

Excellent Video! Excuse me for butting in, I would appreciate your opinion. Have you researched - Riddleagan Skillful Playing Remedy (Sure I saw it on Google)? It is an awesome one of a kind guide for learning complex guitar chords and become a pro without the normal expense. Ive heard some incredible things about it and my close friend Aubrey at last got excellent success with it.

[@Eid_Ali]

I would add Guitar Fretboard workbook by Barret Tagliarino. An amazing book for learning the fretboard and CAGED system. Also The guitar Grimoire, awesome reference book for scales and modes (it comes in various editions for various purposes, chord progressions, chords and voicing etc). I can also add Chord, Scale & Arpeggio Finder by Hal Leonard, a good chord and scale reference), and last but not least, Alfred's Essentials of Music theory. Really must have to understand basic music theory and reading music.

[@alal6964]

He looks like harry potter

[@solomonisraelsunkavalli9605]

U can get these books for free in pdfdrive

[@ejtonefan]

bad advice!

[@user-hf2bp3qq8w]

Haha you speak like a viking .. no hate just tease

[@GeorgeSPAMTindle]

As Ross is a red-haired Scottish man he will undoubtedly have plenty of Viking genes in his DNA.

[@HeavyGee84]

back up off the camera maaaaaaaaaaang. all that up close face action

[@cognoscenticycles4351]

I bought Chord Chemistry by Ted Greene when it first came out. It was recommended as the definitive "chord bible" and indeed it is! Going through that many chords is a superb exercise in not only comprehending just how many choices you have, but also the vast number of options that exist on the fingerboard for players of every genre. Songwriters can relish in an unending number of unusual voicings to spice up over used chord couplings.