Product Description

Guitarists of all levels will find a wealth of practical music knowledge in this special book and CD package. Veteran guitarist and author Tom Kolb dispels the mysteries of music theory using plain and simple terms and diagrams. The accompanying CD provides 94 tracks of music examples, scales, modes, chords, ear training, and much more!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1311 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 104 pages

Customer Reviews

Not What I Hoped
I am mostly an intuitive guitarist who actually does fairly well as a performer. I was hoping this was the book that would help me along, but it was not what I hoped. It's still pretty technical and fails to link riffs, patterns, and fretboard relationships into music that you can recognize and use. A few bits were OK, but it's back to doing what I do best- listening and playing along, and teaching myself.

Review by a beginner
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.

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

Music Theory for Guitarist
I found this book extremely helpful. For the first time, I learned about a visual pattern on the fretboard that allows me to play a mayor scale on any key. Switching to a blues scale simply ammounts to removing certain steps in the major scale. This is a great work.