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)

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.

Excellent Book! I have worked with modes and applying practical music theory to my guitar playing for quite some time. I lived in Los Angeles for many years and decided not to go to GIT and understand why Joseph went on his own course. I have for many years. The concepts in this book will be challenging for any guitarist. Church modes are not easy to learn. Instructors will confuse you. You have to set out on a personal quest to learn and master them. (Its certainly worth it) Although, you will have to find new people to play with that can handle what you can do. I have many learning books and dvds and am becoming quite a fan of Joseph's books. This book is similar to to Frank Gambale's book 1 which i love but is confusing and leaves out some very important ideas that Joseph explains easily and clearly. (however read Joseph's book first and the work with gambale's). Tom Kolb has a couple of really good books one on modes, one on music theory for guitar (his music theory for guitar lacks practical application, but a great reference). Oh, Andrew Wasson's modes pdf also. (get all of these books) First buy Joseph's book and then buy all of the others. Your playing will become incredible. I have used a variety of authors and each one of the ones mentioned will give you some great ideas. I really like Joseph's explanations which are really lacking by other authors. I have felt of many authors: ("thanks for explaining to me that triads are are the building blocks of music, great for composing and soloing. But, how about some very detailed clear examples as to how to go about doing it?") A massive book could be written about how to compose with, solo and utilize triads. I think a couple of topics that i haven't seen anyone really address would be: a thorough book on writing melodies and soloing with intervals, triads, arpeggios, and inserting major/minor pentatonics, and arpeggios within the major scale and modes. This book touches on these ideas. But a follow up for using these ideas for CREATING COMPOSITIONS would be really what the world needs. Great book to get you started. Or, you can continue playing 145 blues (yawn).

I gave it four stars just because I haven’t used all that’s in it yet but based on the first part I know I’ll be impressed. I struggled with guitar music theory to the point I kind of gave up on playing. Recently I started fooling around on an old guitar and then I got this book. Wow, for the first time ever it all started to make sense and be fun! If you struggle too then you owe it to yourself to get this book and more of their series too.

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...