Progressive Guitar Chords: For Beginner To Advanced Guitarists

This is one of the few chord books worthy of space on my shelves. Most just lay out page after page of the same shapes in all keys, expecting you to either memorize all of that information out of context or refer to it on an ongoing basis. Not very practical and not very useful in the moment of musical expression. This one helps you learn how to structure a chord shape by indicating which notes of the chord are what degrees, and it shows you how each moveable shape is derived. There's also a fairly comprehensive (albeit brief) section on basic music theory and a few useful appendices. Coupled with a bit of fretboard knowledge and maybe a little ear training, this is a great resource that can be instrumental (pardon the pun) in enabling you to construct your own chord voicings, avoiding the tedium of flipping through page after page of a lesser book in confusion. Eventually, you won't even need a chord book and you can give your copy away to someone who does. But you'll probably want to replace it 20 years later so you have one on hand to show your students when they ask about good chord books... Speaking of which, it always helps to have a good teacher to help put it all together, regardless of how much reference material you have. This book is much more useful than just a collection of pictures and fingering diagrams that you have to learn by rote. Highly recommended.

I bought this book when I started learning guitar. I only used it occasionally to find open chords when that was all I played. This book probably sat on the book shelf and eventually storage in the basement (where it got water damaged)for about 2 to 3 years. For much of that time I didn't play the guitar. But then I got back into it. Occasionally I picked up this book and started looking at the chords. Also I would read the back where it talks about keys and chord construction. I was getting very frustrated trying to finds songs with just the chords I new. Soon I realized to my dismay (at first) that I would have to use bar chords. So I started to play the songs I previously played with open chords in bar chord form. Suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks. I now started to understand why the string notes (EADGBe) were chosen the way they are. Also it occurred to me that most rock songs use the same basic pattern of root notes regardless of how the song sounds or what key it's in. Another thing I realized is that a chord is the same regardless of the different fingerings used by the folks who transcribe music. A major chord is simply 3 notes played together it does't really matter where you get the notes from as long as you play them. So if you hate playing the open G because of the fingering and difficulty in switching between it and other chords, don't, just play the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings open, that is a g chord just don't play any of the other strings and you will be ok. Also you can play the first string if you put your finger on the 3rd fret of it. This book has helped me realize that playing complex chords doesn't make you a great guitarist. Making the right sounds come out of the guitar is the key to it all. You will sound better if you use the simplest possible chord forms for your playing ability and concentrate on the other aspects such as timing etc. Another big advantage of bar chords is the ability to stop the chord by simply releasing pressure on the strings as opposed to having to drop your pick hand on the strings to get the muted effect. I was in heaven the first time I played a B bar chord (in the open A form) and started muting and playing the chord alternately. Just play a bar chord in the E form anywhere on the guitar and start moving your fingers to other places to see the sounds you can acquire. You will hear all the chords that are commonly used in music. I originally paid $15 for this book at the local music shop. At first I got little or no use out of this and began to think it was a waste of money. Now I look at this book almost every day and find myself just looking for different chord positions. It has essentially become my bible for guitar playing. If you decide to buy it don't get dissapointed if you don't use it much. Eventually it will become a necessary resource.

The Progressive guitar instruction series is excellent. I've studied the lead guitar and lead guitar riffs books, and I recently bought the slide guitar book.The best thing about the chord book is the organization by key. The book provides all chords for each key, in standard and bar chord configurations. The book also contains a nice, brief description of music theory and examples of some typical chord progressions. It's far better, and more comprehensive, than any other chord book I've seen (and as a result, of course, it won't fit in your case).