Customer Reviews

Mel Bay's Deluxe Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An educational book that's been in print since 1971 has gotta be good. This book basically taught me how to play guitar. I learned all of my chords and such from it. It's laid out very clearly with both diagrams and photos to show you how to make each chord. Definitely get this one.

I've owned this book for over ten years now. There are many great chord books out there but what sets this one apart from the others is the fact that it includes the actual intervals/notes along with the chord diagram. Most books leave this crucial info out. This way you learn excatly which intervals make up the chord. For example: it illustrates that a C major chord contains a root, a third and a five, and then goes on to illustrate that they are C, E, and G. C minor is Root, flat 3, and 5 which is C, E flat, and G.

With this info included you really learn why a chord is what it is and how intervals make up the chord, which is basically what chord theory is. Armed with this info you will soon discover that you also have a good foundation of Arpeggios! Kudos to Mel Bay and William Bay.

This book contains a vast collection of chords. It's a great encyclopedia for looking up a chord one might not know or for a beginner learning the major chords

If you are just starting guitar and need to know chords . . . well, I can recommend much better books than this. First and foremost, I suggest combining a good music theory method with Fretboard Logic by Bill Edwards so that you learn how chords are built in music and then see how they're structured on the fretboard and the (ahem) logic behind that. This book is nothing but a reference, and 40-60% of it is inaccurate. I picked this up over a decade ago and I'm just now coming around to a place where I actually needed it, since the basics that it gets right are taught in any other decent guitar method book. I opened it up again recently while studying 5 and 6 part chords only to find that the information is inaccurate.

Here are some examples:

Page 96. G7(b9) (or G7-9 as they write it). The FIRST grid shows, with the low E string being on the left:

(x)(2)(x)(1)(3)(1)

What's the problem? Those notes are B, Ab, D, and F. Put them in the right order and it's B, D, F, Ab. That makes that a B diminished 7. Now you can take a Bdim7 and substitute that over a G7b9, but there's nothing that discusses that fact. Nothing that says, "Hey, this isn't actually a G7(b9) like we say it is, but it still works!" You can't have a G chord without a G in it! A Bdim7 is no more a G7(b9) than an F major triad is a Dm7. The option of substitution does not make them synonymous. If you walked into any kind of professional or academic setting and someone asked you to play a G7(b9), but play a Bdim7 yet CALL it a G7(b9), you can kiss your credibility goodbye. And while we're here, how do you play a G7(b9)? Well, one way is you can play what's listed above, but actually add a G to it by leaving the 3rd string open or playing the 3rd fret on the 6th string. You won't find that listed, though (and based on the other chords they give in this book, its exclusion is NOT because if its difficult fingering shape). Look up any other dominant 7th, flat 9th chord and you'll find the exact same problem.

Example number two. Page 117. A9. (though as before, look up any other dominant 9th chord and you'll find the same issues). First of all, the BEST way to play an A9 chord is:

(5)(7)(5)(6)(5)(7)

Those notes are A, E, G, C#, E, and B. Write it out. A dominant 9th. It's a barre chord that is simply taking the A7 and using your pinky to add the 9th (B) on the first (high e) string. Couldn't be easier. But you will not find that option listed. What you do find are aimless and difficult finger blobs, with muted strings in the middle of the guitar, barres with the tip of your pinky or ring finger, and--guess what--some inaccurate chord spellings. I think my favorite is this one:

(x)(4)(5)(4)(5)(x)

That's a C#m7(b5). The notes for that chord are C#, E, G, and B. Do you SEE an A in there? I don't. Then it cannot be an A chord. This is simple music theory and it can easily confuse and misguide any beginner. It's amazing, because for the 10 different grids they give to play an A9, SIX OF THEM DON'T HAVE AN A IN THE CHORD SPELLING!!! Explain to me how this book has remained in print for 40 years, please.

I could easily keep going, but it's getting redundant now.

I picked this book up when I started guitar. How many other guitarists did the same thing? Thank goodness the prospect of trying and memorizing all these chords was a goal I quickly abandoned, because I'd have one screwed up chordal vocabulary.

Do yourself a big favor and skip this book. I haven't found a better chord encyclopedia, myself, because I haven't looked yet, but I may not end up needing one. First, by using the Fretboard Logic method combined with an understanding of music theory, I can usually build the chord I need myself. That should really be the only option that most or all guitarists need; nothing tops knowing your stuff over having to flip through a book. Second, we have the internet today with thousands of great guitar sites. One I like is jguitar.com. They have a chord lookup and a chord namer that are extremely useful (though still somewhat incomplete--an open-strummed guitar in standard tuning is, among a number of really bizarre chords, an E11; but if you use the chord namer on all open strings at jguitar.com, it will not list E11 as one of the names). Lastly, there are endless apps out there that let us carry our chord encyclopedias in our pockets.

My copy of Mel Bay's Deluxe Encyclopedia of Guitar Chords is going back on the shelf. Probably for good.

My teacher has the same book and he recommended I get it because of all the chords shown in the book - it's an excellent guide for beginners and am glad I got it.

Thank you, Amazon, it taught me almost all I ever needed to know about chords and inversions. Brilliant and clear. Recommended for every level of player.

I found this book to be clear and concise, it is the perfect reference book for the intermediate guitar player. Within the first few pages i learnt new chords. It is difficult for anybody to remember every chord they have ever learnt so this book is perfect to refer back to time and time again, it is more of a chord bible than an encyclepedia.

Been playing classical guitar day in and day out for 5 years now and this is one awesome book! Every cord in every formation you could dream of. although I have discovered some special cords which the book lacks to define :) I highly recommend this book for any new, experienced, or professional musician. I believe It will help you progress and appreciate sound in a whole new way, it has for me!

This book gets a four because all the information is there. It would be misinforming if I'd say that the book is anythign but a solid collection of most any chord you're ever going to come across while playing the guitar. However, the book's weakness is its format, which is cluttered and a little hard to read. I wish I could find the original chord book I had whcih accompanied the first guitar I bought years and years ago. It was a very simple book, with three chords to a page, three different positions for each chord (technically nine chords to a page) and it displayed the name of each not that was being played which was imperative to my learning how to play lead.

Sorry to get nostalgic... but the big downside to this Mel Bay book is its clutter aesthetic. Other than that, no qualms. Get it and expand your chord vocabulary!