Let's face it, Mel Bay has added a lot to the field of music resources over the years. I've found their publications, for the most part, to be exceptional additions to my music library.

But with Glossary of Guitar Terms by Collin Bay, the publisher seems to be grasping for pennies.

The book provides a labeled map of an electric and an acoustic guitar. That's one page. It offers a roughly illustrated lexicon of words and phrases associated with the guitar -- entries such as "accent," "alternate picking," "capo," "fingerstyle," "lyrics," "pentatonic scale," "power trio," "singer-songwriter" and "strumming." That's seven pages -- most of the definitions are quite short and very basic. And, there's probably the most useful page for a beginning guitarist, a guitar fingerboard chart.

That's it. Nine pages of elementary-level information. Mel Bay's asking price? $6.99. That's, what, 77 cents a page?

Let me give you a tip: You can find much more detailed glossaries online for free. Want it in book form? Hit print and buy a binder for less than a dollar. There, I just saved you six bucks.

If we ever meet, buy me a Coke and we'll call it square.