FRETBOARD PhD: Master the Guitar Fretboard through Intervals Paperback – Illustrated, September 6, 2016

Terrific book, best I've seen. This is the book that finally made the CAGED system usable in everyday playing for me. It tamed the fretboard for me. The ground work that Mr. Mashhour gives you is built upon a solid understanding of how to use intervals in real time. I did have to get out some paper and work through what he was talking about... make no mistake, this book does require about a month of solid effort. But I am now playing in the CAGED shapes, and that represents a big breakthrough for me. (No, the equations another reviewer complained about are NOT required to be used, they are only there to show a mathematical basis for moving up and down various intervals. I didn't spend a whole lot of time on them, but they did give me a nudge toward the idea that, yes, I'm going to have to add and subtract using certain rules in order to understand intervals.)Also of great value was one of Mr. Mashhour's other books, "The LittleBig Guitar Scale Handbook". At first glance, the title makes you think it's just another book of scale patterns, but it is much more. There is a "Scale Tutorial" that covers the first 40 pages of the book, and it is very, very good. Then, of course, there are scale patterns, but they are organized around the CAGED system, and are presented in a very clear and concise manner. Plus, there is one section of patterns entitled "One Pattern, Multiple Modes" that has allowed me to now play modes... this after trying and failing to be able to play modes for the better part of two years. It's nice to find a book that makes the light bulbs come on!In summary, Mr. Mashhour's book presents an in-depth, yet concise study of the CAGED system and the use of intervals. What is presented here is a method of managing the fretboard that is stripped down to the core essentials, and that's what makes it simple enough to be used when you play.Update, 2 months later. After slowly and carefully going through Mr. Mashhour's presentation on intervals, I've build a solid foundation of knowledge of intervals, both on the fretboard and the staff. Once I had gone through all the examples in this book, I felt confident enough to use my new know-how to pursue many extra examples and practice building and identifying intervals (see musictheory.net for excellent apps to practice intervals). Using the basics of inversion and simple/compound intervals taught in the book, I've learned to handle complex intervals. Quite frankly, I didn't realize how little I knew! It all gets back to "qn" and "ql" as presented in the book. Intervals are the keys to understanding chords, and chords are the key to harmony, so I feel well prepared to go forward. I'll update again after I jump in depth into the CAGED system and it's application to the fretboard.

Excellent

First I will say that I have many books on music theory.But there are only a few that appoach theory as it applies to the guitar.In my opinion, this is not one of the better ones.This book takes a relatively simple topic & makes it very convoluted.When I saw pages of formulae such as "ql(#4 + b2) = ql(#4) + ql(b2) + b (carry step 2) + # (carry step 3) = # +b+b+#+0.", I almost blacked out!!!(Oh, and if you like line graphs, there are a few of those too!)After I recovered, I wanted to throw the book out the window.My apologies to the authors, but it seems to me that they went to great lengths to make a simple subject as complicated a possible.In general, Music Theory is not nearly as mystical as many "experts" have made it seem.On a side note, many instructors have diseminated irresponsibly incorrect infromation on the modes.With all that said, there are some good chapters in the book, but the same information can be found in many other publications.For books that offer a good visual approach to a more thourough knowledge of "user friendly" theory as applied to the guitar I suggest the following..."Fretboard Theory" volumes 1 & 2 by Desi Serna & any books on the topic by Don Latarski.I apologize if my critique seems harsh or offends anyone.God bless.