There's guitar tutors and there's GUITAR TUTORS and most of them, in my humble opinion, aren't worth the paper they're written on. I did a brief survey recently and the results were pretty appalling.

One spent the first dozen or so pages instructing the user how to sit, how to hold a guitar, how to use a plectrum and, if electric, how to plug it in. Then hey presto, how to play a simple chord of A major, followed by D major and E major. Nothing about what the notes of a fretboard are, nothing about how to build scales, and most importantly, nothing about how to learn to think for yourself. I suppose if a person just wants to learn a few chord shapes and hack out a tune from the chords shown on a piece of paper it might do the job, but that person will never learn to play a guitar.

With the tutor I've put together you start from the basics, learning the tuning of a guitar, the note produced by each string as you work your way up the fretboard, then how to play scales in any key and then how to build chords starting with the simple ones and gradually getting more complex. Pictured right is the first page after the Introduction which shows all the relevant notes produced by each of the six strings up through the fretboard, and highlighted the positions on the strings for checking the guitar is in tune. It's the basis of everything you do, know it off by heart and you're halfway there. Don't get me wrong, it involves a lot of work. Your fingertips will be sore, you'll be trying to stretch the fingers of your left hand into positions you'll think they were never designed for and you'll stretch your patience to breaking point, but you'll get there.

I titled the tutor "The Agony & The Ecstasy of Learning to Play the Guitar", and that pretty well sums it up! My advice is (and always has been) don't try to do too much at a time, learn a little and let that knowledge soak in before moving on.

The picture right shows my old buddy which I bought in 1980. It's a Gibson RD Artist and when I bought it, it was guaranteed for life. It was one of the first Gibson models to incorporate active electronics and, with it's humbucker pickups, it's a real mean machine. I've left strict instructions that it's to be buried with me because I'd never change it. I knew it was meant for me from the moment I first picked it up, and I've had a few guitars since I started playing, Hofners, Fenders, Gibsons and Gretches to name but a few!

Feeling comfortable with the instrument is essential, never settle for an "it'll do" attitude. As I say in the beginning of the tutor, "You don't have to take out a second mortgage, just don't go to a Car Boot Sale."  I'm churning the tutor out for a fiver and anyone interested in getting their hands on one, contact me at mikeaguitarman@blueyonder.co.uk