The Practical Guide to Modern Music Theory for Guitarists: The complete guide to music theory from a guitarist's point of view (Learn Guitar Theory and Technique)

Extremely helpful, I’m working through it and I think it’s excellent. It’s great to play along with the examples. I also received the audio tracks of another book by mistake and they fixed this issue ASAP. I’m quite pleased with this book and the customer service.

I'm in my 60's, and I've been playing guitar and other stringed instruments (mandolin, fiddle, banjo) for most of my life. I've always depended on my ear, which is pretty good, and on the bits of theory I'd pick up here and there. Mostly I've played out of patterns, major scales, and minor pentatonic scales. A lot of guitar can be played out of patterns, but I've always felt I was missing a whole world of possible sounds and expressions, and decided to do something about it. I began buying books on various aspects of guitar playing, mostly tending toward jazz chords, arpeggios, extensions, and that sort of thing. I've found a few books worth studying, but this one, The Practical Guide to Modern Music Theory for Guitarists, is definitely the one I'd be happy to refer any guitarist looking to better his/her playing abilities. Mr. Alexander begins the book with a fairly complete look at how music works--the major scale, minor scales, how chords are built, common chord progressions, and the like. I thought I knew most of this stuff, but he managed, with straightforward, clear expositions, to fill me in on details that I hadn't realized I hadn't known. The meat of the book, once the preliminaries are out of the way, focuses on modes and how they can be utilized; building chords on the individual degrees of each mode, soloing, and much more. There's much work to be done by the student here, but much to be gained. I've been working with the Dorian mode to begin, but I'll be utilizing the information in this well-written book for many months, at least. I feel like my playing has already benefitted from the studies presented here, though I've only begun. I can't recommend this book highly enough to my fellow guitarists.

I would give this book 4.5 stars if that was an option. It's very close to 5 stars except for a few minor flaws. They are so nit-picky they are not worth mentioning. The print version of the book is about 110 pages. A file of accompanying scales and solos is available for download from the publisher's web site that enhance the material. The book is laid out in a logical order, starting with the major scale, chord construction, and harmony. The concepts are explained well and are easy to understand. I started taking notes while I was reading the book but after a number of times writing go to page x, this is important, I gave up taking notes. After that modes are explained and the author has a chapter on the important modes and how they can be used to make your solos sound more interesting. This is a book I will keep handy. While the book is easy to understand, there are a lot of concepts and the number of them can be overwhelming. That is not a problem with the book - that is music theory. Hopefully with repetition and practice I can remember what I need to. Modern Music Theory for Guitarists won't make you a genius but if you want to go beyond what you've taught yourself from a web site or You Tube, this is a great place to start. I recommend this book.

As a beginning guitarist relying on YouTube "play along" videos and having no prior musical training, I began to notice certain patterns and commonalities in the construction of the songs that I was learning. The realization that that there must be more going on here than musical "magic", led me to searching for some reading material to shore up my so-obviously-lacking knowledge of music theory. Prior to stumbling upon Mr. Alexander's book, I purchased a couple of random general theory books that were a bit above my grade level, so to speak. These other books, with their keyboard illustrations, left me searching for something more guitar-centric. Mr. Alexander's book fits the criteria perfectly. The early chapters start with gentle introductions to "elementary" topics such as scales, the circle of fifths, etc so as to not discourage the student. I particularly appreciated the examples, which if followed along with, help to reinforce the topic by applying it via an exercise. The follow on chapters on chord construction and naming was illuminating and accessible, and then applying that knowledge in the subsequent chord progressions chapter led to several "a ha!" moments. Generally, I really appreciate the authors accessible writing style and examples. The second part of the book goes into the major scale and its modes. It turns out there is enough information here to keep a novice guitarist busy for a very long time. At this point I have been mostly focusing on trying to learn the minor pentatonic and blues scales, so I've haven't really been able to fully digest what's provided here. While it will take me a while to really internalize the Part 2, learning how the feel of a song is so defined by simply changing an interval or two within the scale is really fascinating... I was studying the chapter on the Phrygian mode while noodling around on the guitar when my wife walked into the room and says "Wow, you learned flamenco?". Well, no... not yet... but with Mr. Alexander's help I just might...

Having taken up the guitar after a 40+ year hiatus, and having had no formal training in music theory, I found this book to be extremely helpful. Among the scads of helpful information contained therein I found the discussions of scale construction and harmonization (e.g. why certain chords are played as minors within a major scale progression) to be of particular value to me. And using the accompanying audio files as backing tracks gives one valuable insight into the proper execution of various scales, intervals and chords. The lessons are well-written and easy to follow. Highly recommended for the casual player who wants to improve their skills and knowledge on a solid musical foundation.

This book is great at explaining what I didn’t understand and that’s music theory. I should have studied it better when I was younger and in school. I’ve purchased many of the Fundamental Changes books. Highly recommended.

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF). "Practical Guide" might be an excellent read for advanced musicians who already have some foundations in learning theory, but it is not an easy path down Theory Road. My review probably says more about me than about the book. But, dude, this is like learning how to speak a new language. "Practical Guide" seems written to impress graduates of the Berklee School of Music; it does not seem accessible to people who are learning guitar. I'm one year into teaching myself how to play the guitar, and part of that process has included learning the music theory I skipped in a lifetime of playing the piano. Learning theory not only helps me to understand the whys and the hows better, but it also makes learning and listening to music a more enriching and fun experience. Old and stale tunes take on a new dimension. Entire genres that were not appealing to me before are new and exciting. I strongly recommend studying music theory. However, "Practical Guide" is probably not the best place to start. I thought I was making good progress on Theory Road, until "Practical Guide" made it clear that even a guy with a Ph.D. is a complete neophyte when it comes to music theory. "Practical" seems more "barrier" than "basic." I conducted a little experiment to test my level of ignorance. My son is an aerospace engineer, Marine Corps captain who also happens to be an accomplished guitar player. Similarly, my son-in-law is a Japanese language translator who is also an accomplished pianist and guitar player with a couple of albums under his fingers. Also, my daughter is a former professional ballet dancer, not a musician but accomplished in choreographing and performing to music. I read excerpts from the book to each of them. The conclusion: While it seemed like I was reading English, it was mostly gibberish, too advanced. Relieved, that it wasn't just me; then again, concerned that my ignorance might be contagious... On the other hand, I have a friend with a professional musician daughter who graduated from the Berklee School of Music. "Practical Guide" seems basic to her, a substantial reinforcement of what she learned as a music scholar. For me, it's aspirational. Something else to consider: avoid the Kindle version. The music notes and associated text are too small and too much of a hassle to read and play. Kindle is excellent for turning pages, but if you want to engage with the material actively, get the print version.

Though I'm familiar with most of the material in the book, I bought it for review. It is quite practically written, step by step, so that guitarists who are less familiar with the relationship between scales, chords, modes, and other musical elements can gain a solid understanding - and start to apply the new realizations to their playing. The various ways to denote a scale, with numerical values plus sharps and flats, are spelled out, as well as the Roman numeral system for chords, and how this can be used for learning and transposing tunes. I would recommend it to students as well as more experienced players who need more grounding in music theory targeted to their instrument. Additional Note: This morning at breakfast I was delving more into the modal chapters, and received an insight about modal scales and intervallic spacing related to the underlying chord sequences that opened up some new musical ideas -- so grabbed a guitar and played through those ideas. Even as a fingerstyle guitarist who has been playing for decades, the clarity of the explanations in the book opened my eyes to something I should have put together on my own but hadn't about the obvious relationship between modal scales and harmonized scale chord sequences. Thanks!

Excellent! Really enjoyable. Joseph Alexander explains Music Theory in a clear and concise way. Maybe other authors do that too. I often asked myself "Fine, and now what?" What raises this book above others is that you can try the concepts and excercises against brilliant sounding backing tracks (by Quist). Believe me, every excercise sounds good and once you've got those in your fingers you start to play around using your new acoustic "tools". Time flies when you're having fun! If you want to improvise and play solos, try this book for extending your musical vocabulary and understand how it all works. After working with them several months, I can also warmly recommend two other books by the same author to fulfill what you need to improve on the guitars: - "Complete Technique for Modern Guitar" helps you improve your technical abilities - "the CAGED system and 100 licks for blues guitar" gets you moving around the fretboard and learning licks that you can "recycle" in different keys and speeds. So, back to this book: the past week I've been practising the "Dorian mode". My previous playing experience was many years of singing and accompanying on the accoustic guitar. I was able to fingerpick and knew all the chords in the first position and the usual barred chords. My soloing was pretty unsure and I wasn't really able to move around the fretboard. Thanks to the 3 books and backing tracks, my playing is constantly improving and I'm enjoying the journey. The nice thing is, there's a really good payoff between invested time and reaped results. For my abilities the books are perfect, but I would recommend them to guitarists with less and with more experience.

Eu gostei do livro pois contem uma guia concisa para quem esta comecando ou ja tem um pouco de pratica com o violão/guitarra. Achei ela bem estruturada e completa.

Possiedo altri libri dell'autore e ne apprezzo la chiarezza e l'immediatezza e, con questo, la mia ottima opinione viene confermata. Nel dettaglio, un ottimo manuale PRATICO di teoria per il chitarrista moderno, senza inutili orpelli, ma anzi, chiaro, immediato e semplice ma ricchissimo di contenuti. Pieno di esempi pratici, lick originali o ispirati ad altri famosi, affronta le scale, i modi, gli accordi, le relative armonizzazioni e molto altro mettendo subito in pratica con musica vera. Adatto sia la principiante che all'esperto, costituisce un ottimo metodo guida anche per l'insegnante di chitarra. Validissimo e consigliato. Bravo! I own other books of the author and I appreciate the clarity and immediacy and, with this, my good opinion is confirmed. In detail, an excellent manual of PRACTICAL theory for the modern guitarist, without unnecessary frills, but rather, clear, immediate and simple but rich in content. Full of practical examples,original licks and/or inspired by other famous it covers scales, modes, chords, harmonisations and more, putting into practice with some real music. Suitable for both the beginner and the expert, is also an excellent method for the guitar teacher. Valuable and recommended. Bravo!

As a semi professional musician, but new to guitar, I am now a huge fan of Fundamental changes and their methods to teaching the guitar. I've been religiously following the exercices with the added audio along with my guitar lessons and I'm starting to finally notice a significant progress in my playing. I like the fact that the book really encourages you to follow things in order and how clearly things are explained. I didn't have any issues understanding what with my musical background but the great thing about this book is that it starts from the beginning (I do admit to skipping that part as I didn't need it) in a clear and precise manner so you will have no problem mastering the theory side. One of my weak points is modes, I tend to just play/sing by ear without knowing what I'm actually doing. However, since starting this book I am starting to see the importance of not relying on just your musical ear and instinct, but actually knowing what you are playing and where you are going. Not to mention how its helping me with the fretboard and my dexterity. I hugely recommend this book, and any other by Fundamental changes. I'll be buying others along my guitar journey and have no doubt that they will be more than helpful!

Llevo tocando muchos años, pero siempre aprendiendo técnica y más “sobre la marcha”. Decidí que ya era hora de aprender algo más de los fundamentos teóricos, y este libro es perfecto para ello. Solo he leído unas 30 páginas (de unas 100 que tiene) y ya tengo claro que lo volvería a comprar.