Music Theory for Everyday Guitarists 2

About Music Theory for Everyday Guitarists 2

Sooner or later, most guitarists become curious about how their instrument works. Initially, the guitar can seem like a jumble of strings, frets, and rote memorization. As we progress, patterns start to emerge in chord shapes, scale patterns, and chord progressions. Those patterns don’t explain themselves, but even the most fundamental music theory knowledge can illuminate their logic and help you use them effectively. Getting to know the language of music transforms the way you see the guitar and opens up new avenues for your playing.

This two-part course will walk you through the essentials of music theory as it applies to the guitar. In Part One, which was offered in Winter 2022, students learned to find the notes on the fretboard and how to form basic chords and scales. In Part Two (Spring 2022), you’ll build on your chord and scale knowledge how chords function in a key, how the keys relate to each other, and how to transpose music from one key to another. We’ll focus on knowledge that applies to every guitarist, regardless of genre.

Each unit will present one building block of essential music theory. We’ll explore the concept both with guitar in hand and using our minds and musical logic alone. You’ll end each class with a few assignments (some guitar-in-hand, some written) to reinforce and practice applying your new knowledge.

Jump to Enrollment

What’s Needed

Materials

You need a guitar (any kind), paper, and pencil for this course.

You’ll probably want to print the lesson notes and written exercises for each class.

Playing experience

One year of playing experience (any genre) is recommended. We will explore many concepts with the guitar in hand. The course won’t demand fancy techniques or speed, but you will want to use logical fingerings for scales and chords.

Prior music theory knowledge

Part Two will build on the concepts of Part One, which was offered in Winter 2022. If you skipped Part One, make sure you know the notes on your guitar, how to play major scales, and how to build triads (three-note chords).

No music notation involved!

We'll refer to the musical alphabet using note names (A, B, C, etc.), but we won’t learn or use written music notation (that is, notes written on the staff). We’ll ignore it completely in the course, as most guitar styles don’t require it.
That said, if you already know music notation, you can apply and use that knowledge in all written exercises. In addition to writing out the note names for all the written exercises, transcribe everything to staff paper. All you’ll need in addition is plenty of staff paper.

Class Goals

Students will learn to construct organically (without charts and other references) the most common chords and scales that intermediate guitarists tend to encounter
Students will gain a solid understanding of the concept of keys and the circle of fifths
Students will become agile in both constructing the given chords and scales theoretically and in finding them on their instruments

Age Range

Adults

$179.00

When

The class will meet for ten weekly 60-min live online sessions on Sundays at 2:00 pm ET | 11:00 am PT | 19:00 UTC on the schedule below. The first session is on January 21.

Enrolled students receive lifetime access to the video recordings of the classes.

Jan

21st

2:00 PM - 2:45 PM EST