Essential Guitar Lessons: Including Basic Music Theory, Keyboard & Songwriting

The importance of guitar players (and players of any musical instrument) to understand basic music theory cannot be overstated. It is virtually impossible to make advancements without this knowledge. While some musicians demonstrate a decided degree of creativity and musical sophistication without clearly understanding music theory, they are the exception rather than the rule. After more than four decades of playing, studying, songwriting, and teaching music, I am more convinced than ever that every guitarist should learn ... Read More

The importance of guitar players (and players of any musical instrument) to understand basic music theory cannot be overstated. It is virtually impossible to make advancements without this knowledge. While some musicians demonstrate a decided degree of creativity and musical sophistication without clearly understanding music theory, they are the exception rather than the rule. After more than four decades of playing, studying, songwriting, and teaching music, I am more convinced than ever that every guitarist should learn basic music theory, the theory of chord construction, scales, and basic keyboard. Even those relatively few, naturally gifted musicians with intuitive talent can enhance their abilities with this knowledge. Unfortunately, because beginners are generally very anxious to get on with playing songs, all too often they neglect to learn basic music theory or even proper guitar technique. This negligence ultimately inhibits their ability to play-at least correctly-the very songs they are so anxious to play in the first place. It also inhibits their ability to play by ear, jam with others, and write songs. Thus, learning basic music theory, chord construction, and proper technique must not be avoided. To better facilitate learning music theory and chord construction, it is essential to have at least a basic understanding of the keyboard. One need not master the keyboard, but understanding its rudimentary construction makes understanding scales and chord structures easier and, thus, learning the guitar easier. Because students are better motivated if they learn songs early in their musical education, several songs are interspersed throughout the various lessons, with a rather large selection of songs in multiple genres and formats. Beyond guitar chords and scales, the student receives lessons in basic music theory, the theory of chord construction, tablature, notation, playing by ear, finger picking, double stops, songwriting technique, and more. Read Less