Learn
Theory and guitar topics with three depth levels, audio and interactive diagrams.
Music fundamentals
Notes, semitones, octaves, accidentals and musical language.
- EssentialNotes and pitchWhat a note is, the names of the seven natural notes, and how the octave repeats the same name higher or lower.
- EssentialWhole and half stepsThe half step is the smallest distance in Western music and equals one fret on the guitar; a whole step is two.
- AppliedAccidentals and enharmonicsSharps, flats and naturals raise or lower a note by a half step; two different names can sound the same.
- EssentialNotes on the fretboardHow to find any note on the guitar from the open strings, the fret markers and octave shapes.
Guitar anatomy and how it works
Parts, strings, frets, guitar types, posture and care.
- EssentialParts of the guitarBody, neck, headstock, nut, frets and bridge; what each part does and how it shapes the sound.
- EssentialHow to tune the guitarStandard tuning, how to tune with a tuner or by ear, and why you should always tune up to the note.
- AppliedAlternate tuningsDrop D, open tunings, DADGAD and lowered tunings; what they change, what they're for and how to switch without harming the guitar.
- EssentialThe capoHow a capo transposes the whole neck, how to work out the sounding key and how to place it well.
- EssentialPosture and careHow to sit or stand with the guitar without tension, how to plan practice to avoid injury and how to look after the instrument.
Intervals
Distances between notes, inversions, consonance and equivalences.
- EssentialWhat is an interval?The distance between two notes, measured in pitch and, depending on context, in harmonic relationship.
- AppliedInterval inversionMove the lower note up an octave and the interval inverts; the numbers add up to nine and the qualities swap.
- AppliedConsonance and dissonanceWhy some intervals sound stable and others ask for movement, and how music uses that tension.
- AppliedRecognizing intervals by earA practical method to identify intervals by their character, by singing them and by relating them to the tonic.
- AdvancedCompound intervalsIntervals larger than an octave, how they're named and why they're the key to the 9, 11 and 13 tensions.
Rhythm and meter
Pulse, note values, meters, subdivisions, syncopation and triplets.
- EssentialPulse and meterThe pulse is music's steady heartbeat; meter groups it into cycles of strong and weak beats.
- EssentialNote values and restsWhole, half, quarter, eighth and sixteenth notes, their rests and the dot; how each note's length is measured.
- AppliedSubdivisionsSplitting the beat into two, three or four equal parts so you can play eighths, triplets and sixteenths precisely.
- AppliedSyncopation and offbeatsHow shifting accents away from the strong beat gives a rhythm drive and groove.
- AdvancedOdd metersMeters of 5, 7 or 11 units that feel like uneven groups of twos and threes, and how to count them without getting lost.
Scales, modes and keys
Keys, signatures, scales, modes and how they relate.
- EssentialWhat is a scale?An ordered set of notes that starts from a tonic and follows a fixed pattern of whole and half steps.
- EssentialThe major scaleSeven notes in the pattern W W H W W W H, the yardstick for almost every other scale and chord.
- AppliedMinor scalesNatural, harmonic and melodic minor, why there are three of them and when to use each one.
- EssentialPentatonic scalesFive notes with no half steps, the guitar's go-to scale for improvising, in its major and minor forms.
- AppliedThe modesThe seven scales you get by playing the major scale from each of its degrees, and the note that gives each one its character.
- AppliedKeys and key signaturesWhat a key is, how to read a key signature, and how the circle of fifths organises the twelve major and minor keys.
Chord construction
Triads, seventh chords, inversions, extensions and voicings.
- EssentialTriadsThree-note chords stacked in thirds, and their four types, major, minor, diminished and augmented.
- EssentialOpen chordsFirst-position chords that mix open strings and fretted notes, the foundation of guitar accompaniment.
- AppliedSeventh chordsTriads with one more third on top, the five main types and the seventh chords of the major key.
- AppliedChord inversionsWhat happens when the lowest note of a chord isn't the root, and how to use slash chords to build bass lines.
- AdvancedExtensions and tensionsNinths, elevenths and thirteenths, how they're added to seventh chords and which tensions work over each chord type.
- AdvancedVoicings and voice leadingHow to spread a chord's notes across the fretboard, and how to connect chords by moving each voice as little as possible.
Functional harmony
Functions, cadences, progressions, secondary dominants and modulation.
- AppliedHarmonic functionsTonic, predominant and dominant, the three roles the chords of a key play, and the reason a progression feels like it's "going somewhere".
- EssentialChord progressionsThe most common chord formulas, written in roman numerals so you can play them in any key.
- AppliedCadencesThe formulas that end a phrase, authentic, plagal, half and deceptive, and the effect each one creates.
- AdvancedSecondary dominantsDominant chords that point to a degree of the key other than the tonic, adding chromatic colour without changing key.
- AdvancedModulationHow to change key within a piece, with a pivot chord, directly or through a common tone.
Modal and advanced harmony
Modal interchange, substitutions, chromaticism, symmetry and reharmonisation.
- AdvancedModal interchangeBorrowing chords from the parallel key, especially the minor, to darken or colour a major progression.
- AdvancedModal harmonyHow to build progressions and vamps that make a mode sound, avoiding the pull of the major or minor key.
- AdvancedSubstitutionsSwapping a chord for another that does the same job, from diatonic substitution to the tritone substitute and the backdoor.
Applying it to the fretboard
CAGED, per-string patterns, guide tones and connecting positions.
- AppliedThe CAGED systemFive open-chord shapes that, moved up the neck, cover the whole fretboard and link chords, arpeggios and scales.
- AppliedThree notes per stringScale fingerings with exactly three notes on every string; regular patterns for picking, legato and sequences.
- AppliedConnecting positionsHow to move from one position to another with slides, finger shifts and diagonal runs so you can use the whole neck.
- AdvancedGuide tonesThe third and seventh define each chord; on the neck they form lines that move by step from one chord to the next.
Playing technique
Picking, legato, bending, vibrato, slides, sweep, tapping, strumming and fingerstyle.
- EssentialThe fretting handWhere to place your fingers, how much pressure to use, where the thumb goes and how to build independence without tension.
- EssentialPicking techniqueHow to hold the pick, alternate picking, string crossings and building speed with a metronome without tension.
- EssentialStrummingThe pendulum motion, basic eighth- and sixteenth-note patterns, accents and muted strums.
- AppliedLegatoHammer-ons, pull-offs and slides; how to sound notes without picking them while keeping volume and control.
- AppliedBending and vibratoHow to push a string up to an exact pitch and how to bring a long note to life with vibrato, without straining your fingers.
- AppliedFingerstylePlaying with the fingers of your picking hand; p-i-m-a names, arpeggios, rest and free strokes, and alternating bass.
- AdvancedSweep pickingFast arpeggios with one pick motion per direction; syncing both hands and muting each note so it doesn't sound like a chord.
- AdvancedTappingFretting notes with a picking-hand finger to extend the reach of legato; mechanics, muting and applications.
Reading and writing music
Staff, tablature, chord symbols and diagrams.
- EssentialReading tablatureHow guitar tab works, what its numbers and symbols mean, and what information it leaves out.
- EssentialChord symbolsHow to read the chord symbols written over lyrics and lead sheets, from a plain major chord to tensions.
- AppliedReading the staffThe lines and spaces of the treble clef, ledger lines, and why the guitar sounds an octave lower than written.
Improvisation and composition
Phrasing, motifs, resolution, chord–scale relationships and building solos.
- AppliedPhrasingHow to turn loose notes into phrases with a beginning, a breath and an ending, the way you do when you speak.
- AppliedTarget tonesAim for chord tones on strong beats so your solo follows the harmony.
- AppliedMotifs and developmentA short idea, repeated and transformed, gives a solo or a melody its coherence.
- AdvancedChord-scale relationshipsWhich scale fits each chord type, and why some notes need careful handling.
- AppliedComposing a progression and a melodyA simple method for writing your first short piece, from key and chords to harmonic rhythm and melody.
Musical styles
Blues, rock, metal, jazz, funk, pop, flamenco, classical, folk and bossa nova.
- AppliedBluesThe twelve-bar form, dominant seventh chords, the blues scale and the shuffle feel.
- AppliedRock and metalPower chords, riffs, palm muting, distortion and the modes that colour rock and metal.
- AdvancedJazzSwing, seventh chords and extensions, the ii–V–I, comping with small voicings and improvising over changes.
- AppliedFunk and popMuted sixteenths, ninth chords and funk's "one"; diatonic progressions, hooks and clean arrangements in pop.
- AppliedFlamencoThe Andalusian cadence, the Phrygian mode, the twelve-beat cycle and flamenco guitar techniques.
- AppliedClassical and folkNylon- and steel-string guitar played with the fingers, with arpeggios, alternating bass, open tunings and several voices at once.
- AppliedBossa novaThe thumb-and-fingers pattern drawn from samba, seventh chords with tensions and chromatic voice leading.
Sound and gear
Physics of sound, pickups, amps, effects and signal chain.
- EssentialWhat is sound?A vibration that travels through the air as changes in pressure, and how the guitar produces and projects it.
- EssentialPitch and frequencyWhy a note sounds lower or higher, what a hertz is, and how the octave, the semitone and the reference pitch relate.
- AppliedHarmonics and timbreA note is the sum of many frequencies; their balance decides the timbre, and on guitar you can isolate some of them as natural harmonics.
- AppliedPickups and ampsHow the electric guitar turns vibration into a signal, what changes between single coils and humbuckers, and what each amp stage does.
- AppliedEffects and signal chainThe families of guitar effects, what each one does, and a common connection order you can use as a starting point.
- AppliedDelay and tempoHow to work out the delay time in milliseconds from the tempo, so echoes lock to quarters, eighths or dotted eighths.
Musical analysis
How melody, bass, harmony, rhythm and form relate.