Product Description

(Plenty in stock! Ignore the "1 used & new.") For intermediate to advanced guitar players. Download a FREE 25 page preview at http://Guitar-Music-Theory.com (copy and past this URL into your browser's address bar). Fretboard Theory by Desi Serna covers music theory from a guitarist's perspective including scales, chords, progressions, modes and more. Hands-on approach to theory gives you total command of the fretboard and music's most critical elements by visualizing shapes, patterns and how they connect. Content includes: How to learn and practice Pentatonic and Major scale patterns. Guitar CAGED chord inversions and arpeggio patterns. Chord progressions and playing by numbers (Nashville Number System). Roots, keys and applying scales. Understanding music modes and modal scales such as Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian. Playing and using intervals including thirds, fifths and sixths. Adding extensions such as "add 9," "suspended 4," and "major 7." Not only does Fretboard Theory teach music theory in a refreshing new manner, but it takes things a step farther by associating everything to your favorite songs. This is the ONLY GUITAR THEORY RESOURCE that includes important details to hundreds of popular songs. Pop, rock, acoustic, blues, metal and more! This new generation of guitar instruction is perfect whether you want to jam, compose or just understand the music you play better. For acoustic and electric guitar players. At 9x12 and 150 pages, Fretboard Theory includes twice the content of ordinary books. Taught by guitar theory teacher Desi Serna who has other guitar books and DVD programs available at Amazon.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #121561 in Books
• Published on: 2008
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• 150 pages

Customer Reviews

Good grasp on solid information
This is my first guitar learning book besides a Mel Bay book that one of my friends gave me a while ago. I am pleased with this book and I do find it helpful. I certainly have no regrets from buying it. I also like how the author gives a personal touch by sending and replying to e-mails. He also sends links to some extra materials that compliment the material in the book.
I just want to add that I do know music theory from my years playing sax, if that weighs on my review at all.

I'm sure that anyone who wants to get a solid hold on the basics of playing guitar without learning music theory will benefit greatly from this book. It covers the pentatonic patterns, CAGED chord patterns, arpeggio patterns, interval patterns, major scale patterns, and a few other things, and relates them to each other very well. The visuals are used very effectively to teach the relations. You don't need to sight read to learn from this book and you will not learn how to sight read from it. The emphasis is on patterns and shapes and relating them to songs as well as to each other. This is a very effective and simple way to learn the fretboard and it is done very well in this book. The author is very descriptive of how to apply what he is teaching to playing songs, and the song references are great if you are able to play by ear (because the music is not written in the book, and it would cost a fortune to buy all of the sheet music). The author also encourages the reader to contact him at the end of each chapter so I don't think you will have any problem getting answers to any questions you have.

The book sits very easily on my music stand thanks to the spiral binding, and the material is presented extremely well. I get the impression that the author put a lot of love into this creation.

This book is marketed very well here on Amazon because, as you can see, no reviewer has anything bad to say about it. However, I was a little mislead by the statement in the description "The ONLY BOOK IN THE WORLD that includes important details to hundreds of popular songs." The author does explain how to relate the material from the book to the songs listed (by title and artist) in the book, but I think the description goes a little overboard.

Overall - This is a keeper and a great resource for learning to use the fretboard in an effective and simple way. I wouldn't say it's going to make you a great player because only practice and constant learning can do that, but it's a good starting place and a good guide to the basics of the fretboard. I was looking for a guide to learning my way around the fretboard and this book put it together in a way I could see it, know it and use it.

For more in depth study I plan on getting a different book (maybe the Berklee Method) to learn the more complete and technical theory and practice of the guitar, but I also enjoy learning that type of stuff.

Very Practical with Tie Ins to Real Songs
I have several books that deal with the CAGED system on the fretboard,etc. I recently bought this book, and I must say that I think it is the best of the bunch. Nice and practical, it gets the reader down to work right away and leads them along in a logical progression through the various scales starting with the Pentatonic. Also includes a good discussion of the CAGED Chord System, modes, applying scales over song keys, chord progressions, etc.

Desi also adds nice little charts showing well known songs that use the scale or whatever he is teaching at the moment. This real world information is quite helpful, and I think also motivating when learning new material.

Definitely a worhwhile purchase.

Excellent Learning Tool
I purchased the e-version of the book.
The content is really good. If you want to learn music theory that is guitar based, this is a good choice. The CAGED system is outlined well. Good song references to help you make the connection that most other theory books leave out. For the price it is well worth it.
My only beef is that the e-version is set up for 9"x12" format which is not print friendly. Printing on "normal" paper leaves out page numbers and some important footnotes.
Desi, Fix that!