Customer Reviews

Music Theory for Guitarists: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask (Guitar Method)

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

There are many things to really like about this book. Music theory throughout the book is presented systematically from triads to seventh chords to altered chords and so forth. There are quizzes at the end of chapters to test yourself to make sure you really understand what was just presented in the chapter. There are ear training exercises in most chapters to develope your aural skills along the way. Graphics are professional and visually appealing. The diagrams really make the book easy to follow. Every critical chord group, scale, and mode is explained. The author gives advice on how the guitarist can apply scales over jazz changes and explains key centers and substitutions. Great book for beginning and intermediate level jazz guitarists.

I should start by stating that I am a beginning guitar student. So please take my review in the appropriate light. The book "Music Theory" is a unique addition to my quickly growing guitar library. It is broken into 13 chapters:

Chapter 1 - a detailed explanation of the fretboard. This was particularly useful for me, because it explained what every note on the fretboard was. Tuning and intonation are also briefly discussed. Everything in the book is also given in TAB as well as sheet music.

Chapter 2 - covers the basics of reading music including the treble clef, musical alphabet (A-G), accidentals (flats, sharps, naturals), rhythm, time signatures, note values, beams, dotted notes, chords (stacks, names, and frames), repeat signs, and tablature.

Chapter 3 - discusses the major/minor scales, key signatures, and the handy circle of fifths.

Chapter 4 - focuses on intervals (distance between two notes).

Chapter 5 - covers the major and minor triads (chords which are a third interval apart).

Chapter 6 - discusses harmonizing the major scale.

Chapter 7 - a study of chord construction - both in theory and on the fretboard, covering major, minor, power, suspended, sixth, six/nine, seventh, extended, altered, slash, and poly chords.

Chapter 8 - discusses harmonizing the minor scale.

Chapter 9 - talks about key centers (something I must admit I haven't quite figured out yet).

Chapter 10 - covers the 12-bar blues progression, the major and minor pentatonic scales, and parallel pentatonic scales.

Chapter 11/12 - discusses modes, modal harmony, other scales, and chord/scale relationships.

Chapter 13 - covers chord substitutions and reharmonization.

My impression of the book is "Wow!" There is a tremendous amount of information in this book. As a beginner, I really benefitted from the first five chapters, but quickly lost my way as I pushed further ahead. But I fully expect that as I gain more experience, I will continue to consult this very valuable resource.

Written by Arthur Bradley, author of "Process of Elimination" - a cool erotic thriller that pits a martial artist against a world-class sniper.

As always, please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.

After 35 years of self taught guitar and knowing a fair amount about music theory, I found this book to be the clearest, most concise and comprehensive overview of theory I've ever read. This is "must have" for any guitarist who wants to move beyond groping the neck and develop an organized approach to your music.

I have been a musician all of my life, since the age of 4, and a guitarist for a decade, since the age of sixteen. I was in high school orchestra and took guitar lessons for a few years, but at no time during any of this did any of my instructors really help me understand music theory. I tried learning a few times by myself, but that always ended in frustration.

Then I found this book. "Music Theory for Guitarists" is the most in-depth, intuitive, and well thought out book on the subject that I have ever come across. After reading this book and completing the exercises in it, I now feel confident in my grasp of music theory in a way I thought would never happen.

This book deftly guides the reader through the journey from the most basic of basics to much more complex topics, such as chord substitution and reharmonization. It also includes an entire chapter on learning to find the key center of songs, which is an incredibly useful skill to have since you can't always tell by ear what key you are in.

Perhaps the most in depth part of this book...the author analyzes the major and minor scales, and all of their modes, in depth. He gives each scale and mode its own section, discussing the nuances of what sets each apart from the others, and giving ideas for how and when to apply it in real world situations. He also goes into detail about building and identifying chords and harmonizing the major and minor scales (a section that has completely reinvented the way I look at writing music.)

I cannot say enough about this book. It has opened my eyes to a subject I thought I was too "stupid" to grasp, and showed me that I was only unable to learn because it had never been presented to me correctly. If you have any weaknesses in your knowledge of music theory, I would strongly recommend that you take advantage of the goldmine of information found in this book. You will likely find yourself, as I have, seeing the language of music in a completely different light, and for the first time really seeing how all Western music is connected at the root.

If you are like me and have been searching for a music theory tool that is tailored for the guitarist, look no further. This is it. This book breaks down music theory in a simple, easy to understand fashion. It has taught me, so it must work!

This is truly a remarkable book. It covers a wide range of areas important to any musicial regardless of their instrument. I brought it obviously to improve my skill on the guitar, but I've learned so much more with regard to the theory behind music.
As a musician and student with Music as my Major in college, one of the most important chapters in the book for me was chapter# 4 (Intervals). I struggled with intervals constantly. But now I am becomming much better at identifying them. I had not seem this thing called "interval shapes" which is in chapter 4, and was not aware that being able to identify shapes would allow me to achieve the interval I was looking for. There is so much more to this book that I will tell you if you're a serious musician or even if you're not, this is the book for you; hands down!

The problem with this book is that while it does a good job of defining things, it doesn't provide the necessary context to explain why they matter. For example, there's a thorough treatment of different keys. But what exactly does it mean to say that a given song is in the Key of C versus the Key of A? The book doesn't provide the basic information about how different musical elements fit together. There's a Wheel of 5ths to show the order of flats and sharps. Great. How do I use that to inform my actual playing?

As someone with zero knowledge of music theory, there's still more that I need to know prior to being able to take advantage of this book. The title led me to believe that it included "Everything," i.e. those foundational pieces, but it really doesn't. Unless you already understand music theory, get a different book. This one may do a good job of taking your theory knowledge and applying it to guitar, but it comes up in short in teaching those basics in context.

I picked up this book in the hopes of learning how music works (example why do C, F & G chords go together?) and to understand how songs and music are composed. I am sorely disappointed. This book provides a ton of jargon heavy technical information. But it will tell you absolutely nothing about how to use this information. For example, it will describe the Circle of fifths, but give absolutely no explanation of what this means to you as a guitar player. Chapter after chapter, it quickly skims through topics such a scales and chord construction, but never bothers to answer the question - so what?

This book is more of a dictionary or short-hand reference of music theory than a tutorial.

I think the irony with many standard guitar methods, at least the better ones, is that they usually expect you to have a basic knowledge of music theory to allow the exercises to really sink in from the very beginning. Conversely, I think the irony with starting a music theory course or method is that it normally expects you to have already begun contextualizing the material on the instrument of your choice before you can even begin to make practical sense of the material and apply it. It seems very much like a Catch-22.

What Tom Kolb manages to do in the opening chapters of this book is quickly and thoroughly provide the vital concepts you need to really get going with both: a diagram of the fretboard with all of the notes on it (without the high register), a nice explanation of the different types of notation, the terms you need to begin to develop your musical language abilities, scales and key signatures, intervals, and triads (the most basic chord forms). He uses a bottom-up approach; however detailed or complex the material gets, he usually manages to apply it to the larger context. And I use the word "usually" because it's very apparent that music theory becomes an infinitely large topic the more you cover. The latter chapters contain some very heady concepts that require playing experience to contextualize.

This book is loaded with material, and can be challenging depending on how much you invest yourself in it. If you use a healthy balance of memorization and application all the way through, there is no doubt that you will benefit.

Ive reviewed alot of material on theory, and I really gained alot from this book. I dont have a guitar teacher, however, I do have a music theory instructor that I meet with weekly, and now that Ive completed a workbook in theory, and now reviewing with Music theory for guitarists, I feel that I am covering things as both review and newly applied to the guitar. There are great tips to understanding the guitar as well, which make me create my own music, and not just learn songs. Songs seem great for the once a year campfire, where everyone can sing along, but I play everyday, and without an audience. Sooner or later, youre going to discover that youre bored with other peoples songs, and youre ready to create your own music, of which this book gives you the keys to understanding this and take off on your own. Before this book, I was very frustrated with the fret board, now its user friendly in all positions.