We’ve always tried to approach music theory for guitar with a simple idea: it’s not supposed to be rocket science. Music theory should be simple and fun.
We at Guitar Noise have prided ourselves over the years on being able to give guitarists and other musicians the theory they need in a painless manner. Sometimes it’s like you’re not even aware that it is music theory at all but rather just stuff you knew but didn’t know how to explain! So if you want to get the easiest introduction possible to music theory or simply just brush up on the theory you already know, check out these lessons from some of our talented writers and teachers. The topics they cover range from basic overviews, such as The Musical Genome Theory trilogy of lessons to articles on specific topics, such as extended and altered chords.
So far our discussion on determining the key of a song has been biased towards major keys. Now let’s look at songs at what to do with songs in minor keys.
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One of the best ways to cement what you learn on guitar, believe it or not, is to learn some of the basics of a different instrument. Guitar Noise extends a hearty “welcome back” to Bruce Fleming, who takes some of the rudiments of music theory and shows how to apply it to the keyboard, enabling you to get started with making chords.
First-time Guitar Noise contributor Jimmy Crabtree details the workings of the Number System (also known to some as Nashville Numbers). This is a good reference to get you acquainted with the basics of the number system, which is used a lot in studio work.
At long last, Tom takes the mysteries out of chord substitution, giving you detailed and simple explanations that will make you wonder why you ever worried about it in the first place!
First time contributor Paul Andrews gives us a basic guide to key signatures, including how to recognize and (easily) memorize what you need to know about them.
Here’s Graham’s take on using a mathematical approach to learning the fretboard. And while he’ll be the first to say that this is not a replacement for theory and it won’t teach you the names of notes in scales or chords, but it does offer you a way of using theory without too much thought.
One of the more difficult tasks to learning the guitar is mastering the fretboard. Bruce presents us with one method, which employs simple memorization and your ability to quickly add small integers in your head. The first part of this article will present this method, and the second part will provide additional information to reinforce your learning of the fret board.
Tom has a gift of being able to explain complicated material in a very uncomplicated manner. After guiding us through the maze of extended chords in his last article, he returns to explain altered chords and does so in such a simple way that I wish I’d had him explain it to me many, many years ago!
Getting to the stage of playing advanced chords doesn’t really require learning hundreds of new chord shapes – it only demands that you can relate new chords to old ones in a logical way. By the time you’ve finished reading Tom’s latest article, you’ll be able to form any chord extension that you want!
In this lesson, Tom unravels some of the mysteries of chord progressions. We’ll learn about cadences, the natural harmonic series, chord extensions, secondary dominants and much more.
First time contributor Oleg gives us a great approach to looking at your guitar in terms of musical intervals. This is a terrific method to use for lead playing as well as sight reading and increasing your ability to take the music that’s in your head and bring it out of your guitar.
Bruce returns to Guitar Noise with his second piece, one on the fascinating topic of chord voicings. This is a great thing for those of you who play with other guitarists to read up on and put to practice.
Bruce was kind enough to write out this concise article, which spells out some of the basics of chord theory. He was even kinder to include all sorts of handy charts and diagrams that should help out any beginner wanting to tackle this subject.
Just the words augmented and diminished give us pause. Do we need a special degree or extra study to employ one of these chords? Not at all! Let’s examine these chords, how they’re formed and the functions they can serve. If you’re capable of counting to twelve, you’re capable of understanding and using these marvelous chords.
For anyone who has ever asked why do I need theory? Here is the answer. Music is a language that lets other musicians understand what you are talking about.
Peter Simms walks us through the basic steps of chord construction, which is a truly helpful thing to know when playing chord melodies, no? Learn all about major, minor and dominant chords in one easy lesson.
We at Guitar Noise have prided ourselves over the years on being able to give guitarists and other musicians the theory they need in a painless manner. Sometimes it’s like you’re not even aware that it is music theory at all but rather just stuff you knew but didn’t know how to explain! So if you want to get the easiest introduction possible to music theory or simply just brush up on the theory you already know, check out these lessons from some of our talented writers and teachers. The topics they cover range from basic overviews, such as The Musical Genome Theory trilogy of lessons to articles on specific topics, such as extended and altered chords.
