Guitar Chord Guru: The Chord Book - Your Guide for Success!

This book, along with the Scale Guru by the same author, are the two books that I learned to play guitar from some 20 years ago. I thought I had lost them and so I repurchased them used at a really low price, just to have in my library. These books lay out pattern recognition for the guitar and smoothly attach those patterns to the important underlying music theory that supports the patterns.

The methods in this book are straight forward and logical, they will teach you to play Chords in most all positions and transpose then to various keys. Chord progressions are discussed thoroughly enough, whilst the theory is a little "light", it covers the major topics well and puts them into practice. If you want more theory, there are better, albeit more boring books to be had.Chord diagrams are plentiful, and how to play their inversions, sus', diminished, augmented and add 5,7,9,11,13 chords are all covered. I especially liked the the 5th and 6th string root note method Karl demonstrates to locate chords on the fret board.This is a great companion book to his "Guitar Scale Guru". You should be able to combine your scales with these chord progression and knowledge to make music satisfying. This book is great for beginners, although, it may seem intimidating at first, or for seasoned players who want to brush up on some chord theory at a leisurely pace.Highly recommended.

I've had several copies and continually give them all away as gifts. It has very basic, practical information but quickly builds to music theory. Info is presented in easily-understood cartoons and graphics with minimal text. It has a 1970's feel to it.Regardless of how great the material is, the recent printing uses much thinner paper stock. This is a mistake since this book is one you'll want to go back to now and again over the years. It needs to stand the wear and tear of years and the recent printing falls short..

It covers all the basics and even then some

What can I say? Guitar Chord Guru is easily the best book I own on chord theory and when used with its sister publication, Guitar Scale Guru, you have a system that can't be beaten. In my opinion, the best thing about these books are the ease of understanding and how easy it is to gain a working knowledge of Chord and Scale Theory (Guitar Scale Guru). Books like these truly open the guitar up so much more, because once one gets the information under his/her fingers, confidence kicks in and carries us the rest of the way so long as we practice daily and continue to pour as much of ourselves into our instrument and learning as possible.

A well skilled soloist, needs to know their scales. The author maps out the fret board and tackles each note's family of scales.

If you play guitar, or are planning to learn; buy this book. I have been playing most of my life and this could have saved me at least a year or two just learning how chords are formed.

New guitar player some of the concepts are pretty advanced but it's a good overview of understanding some of the basics as well.

Excellent

Very comprehensive, recommended.