Learning to Speak Guitar

Book excerpt: The guitar has existed in some form since 1546. In that time a lot has changed. Learning to Speak Guitar: A Luthier’s Thesaurus explores the one thing that remains mostly unchanged in the guitar industry—the language. Guitarists and guitar makers have specialized tools and methods for every aspect of the guitar except an effective and consistent way to discuss and manage things like tone-wood, humidity, noise, and driver’s seat phenomenon. This book is the missing tool that serves both sides of the bench by dispelling myths, sharing fresh perspectives, and bringing the guitar community together. Containing information not found in any other guitar book, Learning to Speak Guitar is an indispensable tool for all guitar lovers. This book has five sections, each containing specific topics and tools for handling musical language. The first section introduces the book, guitars, and lutherie. Section two focuses on the guitar as seen through aural, visual, and haptic experiences with the luthier’s views also considered. The third section addresses technical topics including the merits and mythology of tone-wood, the importance of flatness, and relative humidity for guitars while section four presents practical troubleshooting and discussion techniques. The last section is a complete thesaurus of guitar terms containing over 370 entries including guitar anatomy, colors, construction methods and materials, sounds and noises, woods, and repair techniques. The book closes with tables of the physical properties of guitar woods and metals, options for alternative guitar woods, and a 400 year chronology.