Chapter 1 Introduction 13
The Guitar 14
Suggestions For Buying A Guitar / Basic Equipment 15
A Short History Of The Guitar 16
Which Guitar For Which Body Height? 17
The Strings Of The Guitar 18
Tuning The Guitar 19
Holding The Guitar 20
The Right Hand (RH) 25
The First Sounds On The Guitar 26

Chapter 2 Tirando Stroke With The Thumb / Musical Basics 29
Accompaniment On Open Strings 31
Introduction To Musical Notation 33
From The Written Note On The Staff To The Guitar 36
Playing Open Strings With The Thumb 38
The Left Hand (LH) 44
Left Hand Position 44
Bodybuilding ForThe Left Hand 46
The Notes On The g String 47
Accents Within A Measure 49
The Notes On The b String 49
Simple Fingering Rule 50
The Upbeat 51
Tips For Daily Practicing 52
The Notes On The D-String 53
Keeping The Fingers Down On The Fingerboard 55
Scale Exercise 1 And 2 55
Syncopation 56
Simple Song Accompaniment 57
Rhythm, Tempo And Technique 60
The Notes On The A-String 61
The Pentatonic Scale 64

Chapter 3 First Song Accompaniment Using 6 Strings RH Playing Technique 65
The First Two Chords, E Minor And A Dominant 7th 66
Strumming Technique 67
The Tie 69
Rhythm With Syncopation 69
Two More Chords, A Minor And E Dominant 7th 7 70

Chapter 4 Basic Music Theorie 73
Whole Tones And Semitones 74
The Constructing Of Major Tonality 74
The C Major Scale 75
Rests 75
Stopping The Strings 76
Major And Minor Keys 77
The Notes On The E-String 78
The Sixteenth Note 79
Dotted Quarter Notes And Dotted Eight Notes 79
The Left Hand Pinky 80

Chapter 5 The Tirando Stroke 81
Two Opposite Directions Of Movement 82
The `Right Feeling` In The Fingers 82
The Tirando Stroke With The Index And Middle Fingers 83
Tone Development Exercises 84
Alternating i/rn Tirando Stroke 85
Alternating Stroke Exercises On Two Strings 85
Alternating Stroke Exercises On One String 87
The Notes On The (&String 88
The Note b On The (ä>String Using The Fourth Finger 91
Expanded Fingering Rule 91

Chapter 6 Playing Your First Chord 93
Simultaneous Playing With The Index, The Middle And Ring Finger (i-m-a) 94
Alternating The Thumb And The i-rn-a Stroke 95
Two Main Chords in C Major (C Major And G7) 96
Three Chord Changing Exercises 97

Chapter 7 Dynamics And Tonal Color 103
Playing Loud And Soft 104
Notes Below The Staff 105
Tonal Color 106

Chapter 8 More Basic Music Theory 109
From C Major To G Major 110
The Note F# On The (D, (9)- And @'-Strings 111
Alternating The Tirande And The m/a Stroke 112
Alternating m/a Stroke On Two Strings 113
Alternating m/a Stroke On One String 113

Chapter 9 The Two Note Alternating Stroke / New Keys 115
Tirando With The Thumb And Index Finger p-ii 116
Minor Tonality And The Keys Of A Minor 119
From A Minor To E Minor 119
From E Minor To B Minor 121
D Minor, The Relative Minor Of F Major 121
The Lowering Accidental: The Flat (h) 122
The Positions On The Guitar 124
All The # Notes In 1. Position 124
Two Names For The Same Note 125
Tirando With The Thumb / Middle Finger p-rT1 And The Thumb Ring Finger p-a 126
From G Major To D Major 128
From D Major To A Major 129
From A Major To E Major 130
Overview Of Keys Learned Up To This Point 130
From C Major To F Major 131
A New Value: The Triplet 136
The Half Position 136
The Change To Half Position 137

Chapter 10 Playing Chords With Three And Four Simultaneoug Notes 139
Two Chord Playing Studies 142
Arpeggiated Chords 143

Chapter 11 Furthering LH Technique 1 145
Stretching And Contracting The LH Fingers 146
Fingering With Two Or More Fingers Simultaneously 147
Strength And Flexibility Exercises For The Fourth Finger/ Finger Acrobatics 148
Playing In Sixths 150

Chapter 12 Arpeggios 151
Three Note Arpeggios With p-i-m 152
Left Hand Study / Arpeggio Exercises By M. Giuliani (op. 1 a) 157
Three Note Arpeggios With p-m-a And p-i-a 159
Four Note Arpeggios With p-i-m-a 160
The Six Basic Arpeggios 160
Practicing Arpeggios 161
More Elementary Arpeggio Patterns 165
Arpeggios Containing Chords 167
The Relationship Between Arpeggios And Chords 168
Chordal Study 168

Chapter 13 Short Introduction To Bar Technique 171
The Half Bar 172
The F Major Chord 173
The A Major Chord With The Half Bar 174

Chapter 14 Short Harmony Lesson / Chord Construction 175
The Interval 176
TheThree Män MajorChordsAnd TheirGuitarTabulature Diagrams In The Most Important Guitar Keys - 178
Major And Minor Triads 179
The Harmonic Minor Scale 179
The Three Main Minor ChordsAnd Their GuitarTabulature Diagrams In The Most Important Guitar Keys - 180
The Dominant Seventh Chord 181
Important Dominant Seventh Chords In Different Positions 181
The Neighboring Chords (Triads) In Major Keys 182

Chapter 15 Song Accompaniment Using Various RH Patterns 183
Songs In 3/4 And 6/8 Time 184
Songs In 2/4 And 4/4 Time 188

Chapter 16 Furthering LH Technique 11 / Playing In 11. Position 195
Two Fundamental Finger Combinations: 1-2-4 And 1-3-4 196
Changing Positions 200
Tempo Indications 204

Chapter 17 Arpeggio Etudes And Solo Pieces 205

Chapter 18 Playing Two Notes Simultaneously 213
Dampening The Bass Strings 216
Songs And Dances With Open String Accompaniment 217
Songs And Solo Pieces With Fingered Bass Note Accompaniment 220
Playing Two Notes Simultaneously In Arpeggios 225

Chapter 19 Chamber Music 227

Chapter 20 Four Advanced Solo Pieces From Different Musical Periods 233

Appendix 241
Song Accompaniment With Strumming 242
Christmas Songs For Beginners 245
Christmas Songs For Advanced Students 246
Tuning With A Tuning Fork 248
Changing Strings 249
Playing With Your Fingernails - A Short Introduction 250
Alphabetical Listing Of Musical Pieces And Songs 252