Guitar Theory

[soulman101]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvHjLDHd2zs
Starts of basic to advanced, those who play might get something out of the video

[Omegstrat6]

Looks interesting. I've been playing guitar a while but only very recently started to look in any depth at music theory since beginning to try and learn keyboard. Will have to spend a bit of time going through it when I get chance.Thanks for posting-how is the new guitar btw?

[westcountryvillain]

Thanks for adding this Soulman, I'll look up the acoustic one he has done as I haven't advanced enough in my playing to warrant buying an electric guitar yet but that's the plan. I can understand the theory of keys, scales, circle of 5ths but translating that into chords and in particular how these guys know the shapes further up the fretboard when they are different to the ones we all start with isn't going well....

[Omegstrat6]

Thanks for adding this Soulman, I'll look up the acoustic one he has done as I haven't advanced enough in my playing to warrant buying an electric guitar yet but that's the plan. I can understand the theory of keys, scales, circle of 5ths but translating that into chords and in particular how these guys know the shapes further up the fretboard when they are different to the ones we all start with isn't going well....

I'm the other way around WCV! I know quite a few "moveable" chord shapes up and down the fretboard and generally know which chords go well together (mostly from learning a range of songs) but am still learning the theory for why they go together. I learnt one scale early on-the blues pentatonic funnily enough😀- but never progressed beyond that and you can't just play that all the time! Trying to learn keyboard has been quite helpful as I am learning more about music theory now but must be getting old as I'm finding some of it hard to grasp at times!

As for acoustic v electric, it is probably true that you will be a better electric guitar player if you learn on an acoustic first as they can be more unforgiving and highlighting your mistakes or problems in technique sort of forces you to correct them and improve but you do need an electric to play certain styles of music. If you have the money I would get one sooner than later because having both will greatly increase the variety of styles of music you can play -and if you get an amp like a Line6 with built in effects you'll have fun playing around with different sounds like distortion/delay etc. too.

[kettering_baggie]

I dabbled for years with a cheap acoustic guitar and it was only when I picked up an electric guitar did I realise how awful the acoustic was. Cheap acoustics often have high actions which make them more difficult to play and are harder on the ends of your fingers! A local guitar tutor recommends starting on an electric, as they usually have a lower action and therefore require much less finger pressure on the strings. We bought an Aria strat for my son to learn on and that was the instrument that I made great progress with. I subsequently bought a nice acoustic guitar when I knew what to look for!

The guitar tutor told me to throw away the teach yourself books and learn chord progressions, the quickest way to get to play some tunes. We then moved on to some music theory that expands one’s playing options. Learning to solo using the good old Minor Pentatonic scales was great and helped me to find my way around the fretboard. Picking up the bass guitar was even more helpful.

[westcountryvillain]

Which acoustic did you go for Ketts, I bought a cheap one obviously to start with and it does sound really nice but will upgrade at some point, I love the sound of them.

Like you I started with chord progressions then moved onto theory, I look forward to the day I can just improvise and play along.

[westcountryvillain]

I'm the other way around WCV! I know quite a few "moveable" chord shapes up and down the fretboard and generally know which chords go well together (mostly from learning a range of songs) but am still learning the theory for why they go together. I learnt one scale early on-the blues pentatonic funnily enough��- but never progressed beyond that and you can't just play that all the time! Trying to learn keyboard has been quite helpful as I am learning more about music theory now but must be getting old as I'm finding some of it hard to grasp at times!

As for acoustic v electric, it is probably true that you will be a better electric guitar player if you learn on an acoustic first as they can be more unforgiving and highlighting your mistakes or problems in technique sort of forces you to correct them and improve but you do need an electric to play certain styles of music. If you have the money I would get one sooner than later because having both will greatly increase the variety of styles of music you can play -and if you get an amp like a Line6 with built in effects you'll have fun playing around with different sounds like distortion/delay etc. too.

Cheers Omega - how did you learn the moveable chord shapes?

[soulman101]

Chees Omega - how did you learn the moveable chord shapes?

HI, if you look on You Tube video' for the caged system this will explain it all.
I learned from a book called Fretboard Logic, you can get it on E bay, I gave mine away to someone who was going to learn the guitar.
But after a week he gave up and sold the book on E bay ,which didn't please me.
Wish I kept now and sent on to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7phLwr-7EY

[Omegstrat6]

Cheers Omega - how did you learn the moveable chord shapes?

When I first started teaching myself I began with some old Harvey Vinson books which were mostly very 6Os based blues/rock but both his lead and rhythm guitar books I found useful. Tbh, as Kett's said, to learn moveable chord shapes on an electric is a lot easier because the action on them is much lower. Think most people find learning a "full" F chord in the first position with the first finger making a full Barre one of the most difficult to learn but you'll need this to be able to progress and it's a lot easier on an electric than acoustic as a rule.

Most moveable chords are exactly th e same shape as the ones you learn in the first position (so called "open" chords) only played higher up the fretboard only you need to make a Barre with your first finger to replace the open strings .

Common moveable chord shapes are the group of E (E, Em, E7, Em7 etc), A (A, Am,.A7, Am7) C (C,Cm, C7, Cm7,) and D.

With the E chord in the first position this is a shape that uses all 6 strings with the root note (E) being the open bottom (bass) string. Move it up one fret with the first finger laid across all 6 strings at the first fret and You get F. Move it up another and You get F sharp. Move it up another -3rd fret-you get G. Next one is A flat on 4th and then A at 5th fret, B flat at 6th and B at 7th and so on. You can do same with other E chords so Em shape at first fret is Fm, at 3rd fret is Gm and at 5th is Am.

Open E=
6th open
5th 2 fret
4th 2 fret
3rd Ist fret
2nd open
1st open

Becomes G when moved to 3rd fret with first finger making a barre across all strings at 3rd fret=

6th 3 fret
5th 5 fret
4th 5 fret
3rd 4 fret
2nd 3 fret
1st 3 fret


You can do the same with an open A chord which is played on 5 strings (the bottom string is not played).The root note is the open 5th string (A). Play it at first fret with first finger making a Barre across all strings at first fret and it's B flat, at 2nd it is B, at 3rd C, 4th D flat and 5th it is D. The root note remains on 5th string for all and bottom string is not played. Again, this applies to other A group chords like A7, Am etc.

A chord=
6th not played
5th open
4th 2 fret
3rd 2 fret
2nd 2 fret
1st open

Becomes C when played at 3rd fret with Barre across all strings at 3rd fret=
6th not played
5th 3 fret
4th 5fret
3rd 5 fret
2nd 5 fret
1st 3 fret


The C open shape chord with its root on the 3rd fret of 5th string (C) when played in open position can also be moved up the neck in the same way although this is a little harder as you have to use your pinky to play the root note on the 5th string when you Barre the shape. I find it useful to play flat at third fret as an alternative to the A shape E flat on 6th fret sometimes.

The above are all full Barre chords but in many genres like soul or ska you only play top 3 or 4 strings so no need for a Barre. Other moveable shapes include augmented chords and inversions but the above are the basic ones you might find helpful to get started and should be easy enough to look up in boxed/caged chord format.

Hope this isn't teaching you to suck eggs and is of some help.

[Omegstrat6]

-forgot to add that when playing an A shape chord further up the fretboard it is more common to use just your third finger to play the 4th, 3rd and 2nd strings by laying it across them all. It's a bit tricky at first and You will need to make sure your third finger does not "foul" the first string which is held down by the Barre of your first finger. You can try and play these strings with your 2nd, 3rd and pinky but persevere with just using your third finger to hold them all down as you'll then free up your pinky to use when you learn to play 5ths/6th notes on the 4th string for standard rock/shuffle rhythm.