Do you love sitting at home playing guitar, but find yourself playing the same old things over and over without making much progress? When other musicians invite you to jam, do you worry that you won't be able to keep up?
Are you a veteran guitarist who has played for years, but you're embarrassed to admit you have no idea what you're doing?
If you want to take your guitar playing to the next level, compose songs like you hear on the radio, and improvise your own music, then you need Fretboard Theory.
Fretboard Theory by Desi Serna teaches music theory for guitar including scales, chords, progressions, modes, song composition, and more. The hands-on approach to theory shows you how music "works" on the guitar fretboard by visualizing shapes and patterns and how they connect to make music.
Lessons include:
Volume I
* Learn pentatonic and major scale patterns as used to play melodies, riffs, solos, and bass lines
* Move beyond basic chords and common barre chords by playing the types of chord inversions and chord voicings used by music's most famous players
* Chart guitar chord progressions and play by numbers like the pros
* Identify correct scales to play over chords and progressions so you can improvise at will
* Create new sounds with music modes and get to know Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian
* Add variety to your playing by using intervals such as thirds, fourths, and sixths
* Increase your chord vocabulary by using added chord tones and extensions to play chord types such as major 7, minor 7, sus2, sus4, add9, and more
* Learn how all the different aspects of music fit together to make a great song
* See how theory relates to popular styles of music and familiar songs
Volume II
* Gain new perspective on keys and tonalities so that you have total control over the music you play
* Get to know scale formulas and new number systems so you know music from the inside out
* Push to and resolve on chords using dominant function and voice leading
* Change keys, borrow chords, and mix modes in order to add more variety to your chord progressions
* Get jazzy by using chromatic, diminished, and augmented passing chords
* Become a more proficient lead guitarist by narrowing your focus to the scale patterns preferred by the pros
* Make your lead lines more melodic and give them more direction with chord tone soloing
* Create new sounds and new chord progressions with the harmonic minor scale
* Add more depth and dimension to your playing by using pedal point and pedal tones
Requirements: Not for beginners. Recommended for intermediate level players on up.
Fretboard Theory Volumes I + II Combined
This particular listing is for both volumes in the Fretboard Theory series, I and II. You get one book with the entire contents of both volumes inside. The price for this combination bundle is 25% less than purchasing the two volumes separately.
Online Audio, Backing Tracks, Song Lessons and Tabs
Hours of free online audio instruction and song learning videos are available to supplement the book. Free tabs and play-along backing tracks are available too. Follow the instructions in the book to access these free resources.
Video
Fretboard Theory and Fretboard Theory Volume II are also available as a 33-hour video series that is sold separately on the author's GuitarMusicTheory.com website. Visit the website and sign up for email lessons to sample the footage.
About the Author: Hailed as a "music-theory expert" by Rolling Stone magazine, guitarist Desi Serna is the author of the very popular Fretboard Theory line of guitar instructional material as well as Guitar Theory For Dummies and Guitar Rhythm and Technique For Dummies. He is known for his practical, hands-on approach to music teaching, with a focus on the guitar fretboard and emphasis on popular songs. Desi honed his craft through decades of teaching, performing, and publishing. He's online everyday managing his GuitarMusicTheory.com website and messaging with his customers.
