Need a Good Book

I just got dusty old acoustic guitar I found and I need a good book to get started, i cant really take lessons or anything so I need something that will teach me all the basics.
Im into rock music and some heavy metal, so what kind of guitar would you suggest i get, (just to start out with)

First of all, are you wanting to learn to read music? . . . or just the basics of guitar?

Hmmm, both I suppose.

Ok dude, if you want to learn to read notation as well as play guitar, then a great book to start with would be Scales and Modes: In the Beginning. This book has all the scales and their modal inversions laid out especially for guitar. Everything is written out in tab and in standard notation. The ISBN # is 0-89898-151-4.

Also, you'll probably want to get a book that names and lists all the chords. Any old chord dictionary will do.

And finally, if you're just starting out, you should pick up one of those self-paced guitar course books by Hal Leonard. I don't know any by name, but you'll be sure to find them at any music store. It'll have you playing stupid crap like 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star', but it's all just to build your dexterity and knowledge of the instrument.

Now I realize all this costs money, but it'll be money well spent. The books on modes and chords will be valuble references years from now.

About the guitar thing - since you'll be moving on to bigger and better things once you get established in the instrument and discover your style, I recommend you just get yourself a cheap electric guitar and amp. Try to spend as little as possible on these two ( < $200 ), because you'll be wanting to replace them within a year. I started out with a $80 Fender Mexican-Standard Strat and corresponding amp. It was a great rig to learn on but wasn't good for much more.

P.S. Don't let those guys at the music store talk you into buying more than you need.

Ok, hope all that was comprehensible as well as helpful. Take it easy.

Just do a search on Free Guitar lessons. use http://www.dogpile.com

http://www.digevent.com/events/consumer/music/guitar_mania/index.asp look under show archives - live lessons fri 7pm EST


http://guitar.about.com/musicperform/guitar/library/blguitarlessonarchive.htm has theory and technique

http://www.wholenote.com/main.asp more lessons

http://www.zentao.com/guitar/guitar-site.html some of the most understandable lessons

Wholnote is a cool place to start.

Yes, you could find most of what you want on the internet, but most of it's probably jacked up.

And why spend all that time straining your eyes staring at the screen trying to decipher their tab written in unicode?

Plus, the time that you spend trying to find all that stuff, along with the paper and ink you use up printing it out, will most likely add up to the cost of the books that you would have gotten in the first place.

. . . just some thoughts.

Right, people dont learn anything from computers besides how to use them, i will stick to books.

Well, you can learn a lot of little licks and chords off the web, like at GuitarTricks, but I definitely don't recommend it as a primary source of learning.

IMO a good teacher and a book of your choice is the way to go. As far as a starting guitar I'd go with a Std. Strat or a Std. Epi LP to start, depending on what tone you are after.
I'm sure some more ideas wil come our way! Post away guys!