Theory for the Contemporary Guitarist: The Ultimate Guide to Music for Blues, Rock, and Jazz Guitarists

This book starts off with very basic guitar theory and ends with some pretty advanced worksheets. Much of what a guitarist needs to know is contained in this book. I love using this book to teach people theory, and almost ALWAYS yield great results. The key(!) to using this book is buying a book of blank manuscript paper along with it, and expanding the book worksheets to include all keys. A previous reviewer said that having the answers on the bottom of the page (upside down) is a fault, and I think it's a strength. It allows for seamless working/correcting of the studies. I love this book. I use it alongside William Leavitt's "Modern Method" books, and Ted Greene's "Chord Chemistry." If this book was $20, I would give it a 4.5 rating, due to the fact it lacks space to study all keys in each exercise. But it's TEN DOLLARS! $10!!! That's it!!! An inexpensive pool of wealth... 5 Stars!

This is a very helpful book that demands a decent (aka LARGE) amount of study time. Notice the title of this book starts with "Theory," and not "Practical Application," If you keep that in mind, you won't be disappointed. This book covers guitar specific sheet music theory and gets quite advanced. Be prepared to study this book in a methodical manner with constant reviewing to really learn the material in a thorough way. I love music and I really enjoy this book but I'm not very far into it yet and it's taking me a while to absorb the information contained on each page. The only reason I am not giving the book a 5 star rating is because I wish it had practical finger positioning for a guitarist who wishes to build chords from scratch. Yes, you may learn how to properly write a Dominant 7th chord on a piece of sheet music and how it relates to a Major, Minor or whatever, but what about the finger positioning? I guess that's what other books and guitar teachers are for. This is a great book for serious musicians.

this book is higher level than any other instructional book I've found. It's pretty good explaining things, but covers alot of stuff. My teacher suggested it because it is a good theory book. It's good. thanks, Ann