So I've played guitar for a long time and never really sat down and learnt scales and theory as I properly should have. Recently I wanted to change this and learnt all the 'positions' of C major. That sent me down the the rabbit hole of realising that these are all modes and are used with the appropriate chord, etc, in the way that they are.

I then was searching other things to learn and I'm just a bit generally overwhelmed, not by the amount, but by the best order in which to do things.

I know the notes on E and A, I have a decent idea of where octaves are, but having learnt modes before anything else feels like I'm sort of jumping ahead.

Could someone give me, it can be simple, an order of the wisest way to learn things?

Hello everyone. I'm a guitarist, I've been playing for 30 years (there goes my age!). Recently, I added a section to study harmony in one of my personal study tool (I'm also a developer) and, before expanding it, I'd like to hear the opinion of people who understand more about music theory than I do.

What the section does today:

- Chords in a key, as triads or seventh chords (we call them tetrads here), each with its degree in the key

- Tap a chord to see its function (tonic, subdominant, dominant), its notes and intervals, and some positions on the guitar neck that you can play back

- 17 chord progressions (essentials, jazz, pop) to practice and solidify learning

What I would like to know:

1. Names. In Brazil, this topic is called "campo harmônico" (literally "harmonic field"), and I translated it literally: the tab is labelled "Field" and the four-note chords are "Tetrads". I suspect neither is what an English speaker expects. What would you call them?
2. Function. We learn three functions: tonic, subdominant, and dominant, and each degree gets one. Is that how you would label them, or is "predominant" the word people are looking for?
3. What should come next? My plan is to focus on harmony and arrangement before scales and solos: inversions and bass movement first, then borrowed chords. Does this order make sense for someone who is learning?
4. When you study harmony, do you use any apps, or is it paper and YouTube?

English is not my native language: I wrote this text in Portuguese and used a translator tool to assist in the translation. Constructive criticism is welcome.

My personal study tool

In this lesson, I take a closer look at one of Joe Satriani’s most beautiful songs, 'Always With Me, Always With You,' and uncover the surprisingly simple harmonic ideas underneath it.

What sounds like a complicated progression is actually built around a simple I–IV–V progression. The magic comes from what Joe does with those chords — using voice leading, chord extensions, and melodic movement to create a much richer sound.

I'll break down the chords and show you how these ideas work, then I'll improvise a short
I–IV–V example, adding colour to the basic chords, so you can hear how dramatically you can change the character of a simple progression. Be sure to experiment!

Lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0HBkKNWs_w&list=PLIb-QWoMzfdiPAK7z1BeTPi1mdjw317sJ&index=10

Im Dorin, a student from Moldova. My main goal with this site is to make the connections between concepts feel as easy to understand as possible, and to give the necessary tools so players of any level can improvise and solo.
I plan to add many more pages and features, but i just want to test the waters first and see what do people want the most. So, i would really appreciate constructive feedback and i will do my best to put it to good use!

https://zarlino.co

I have seen a bunch of apps/sites to help learn the theory but didn’t find one that met all my needs. I’ve self taught myself mostly for 30 years. I have a teacher now who’s helping me learn all the foundational stuff I’ve missed out on. This includes memorizing the notes that make up a chord, reading sheet music, learning the names for the scale degrees, memorizing the fretboard, etc. Used Claude to whip up this site and mostly just use it when I have a quick bit of time between other things I’m doing. Don’t look at it as a teacher or tutor, but as a tool like flash cards. Let me know what you think.

https://guitartheorytrainer.com

I have been jamming on the following 2 youtube videos one

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MULjBbYtC8&list=PLI5vxOjlURWA&index=5 in A minor
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLQ7C7aoAW8&list=PLI5vxOjlURWA&index=6 in B minor

I did both for an hour or so each and I am not sure if its related to my taste in music but:

Number 1: looks much easier for me to play as far as rhythm etc. I also enjoy it more

Number 2: seems a bit more difficult-not sure whether it is because it is slow or whether its more bluesy and I usually dont listen to blues- it sounds more clumsy when i do stuff on it.

Number 1: Changes bertween chords seem much mroe natural when I do them ans it kinda flows better

Number 2: Changes are a bit more clumsy and sometimes it doesnt sound as good.

If you try lsitening to both thingss, do you think that the things im saying make sense?
Can it be related to my taste of music and my feeling towards blues?
Is it all in my head?

Also another question:
I am trying to make sense of lets say two A minor shapes and connect them- is my process kinda in the right direction- I play around the scale and try to do different things:

- play triads around it,

- just try to end my phrase on the next chord (not necessarily playing a triad)

- for example in Aminor scale I practice going up to A from G so i remember that its one whole step away etc

I am not following necessarily one route each time- i am experimenting while trying to learn the scale at the same time- is that helpful or i should focus on one thing first

Do you have Any other advice on how else i can practice would be helpful.

It’s called Chords of Awakening — a fantasy tower-defense game where your guitar is your weapon. You hear what the enemies play, figure it out by ear, and play it on the fretboard to attack them.

The goal is to build real musicianship without it feeling like you’re sitting down to do ear-training exercises. You just play the game, and the skills you’re trying to develop are built into the gameplay.

It’s in beta now if anyone wants to try it:
https://chordsofawakening.com

I’d love to hear what you think.

I look up a d minor pentatonic scale and see 5 different picture that show different things and I’m just so confused as to what I’m even looking at or where I’m supposed to start can someone explain (ik it’s a guitar sub but I also want to ask if guitar and bass music theory are the same when it comes to scales) but yes I am asking about guitar scales mainly

Hey guys, can you give me some suggestions/ideas where I can go from this ??

Gmaj7#11 - Em6/9 - Gmaj7#11 - Em6/9- F#m11 - Bmadd9 - Bdim7- Db7b9 - Gmaj7#11 - Em6/9 - Gmaj7#11 - Em6/9- F#m11 - Bmadd9 - Bdim7 - Db7b9 (А1 part )

C7sus2 - Bm(maj7) - Bb - C7sus2 - Bm(maj7) - Bb - C7sus2 - Bm(maj7) - Bb- F - Fmaj7#11 - F - Fmaj7#11 -D#dim7 - B7b9 - Emadd9 ( B1 part )

Gmaj7#11 - Em6/9 - Gmaj7#11 - Em6/9- F#m11 - Bmadd9 - Bdim7- Db7b9 - Gmaj7#11 - Em6/9 - Gmaj7#11 - Em6/9- F#m11 - Bmadd9 - Bdim7 - Db7b9 (А2 part )

C7sus2 - Bm(maj7) - Bb - C7sus2 - Bm(maj7) - Bb - C7sus2 - Bm(maj7) - Bb- F - Fmaj7#11 - F - Fmaj7#11 -D#dim7 - B7b9 ( B2 part )

this is the harmony so far written in A-B parts, I wanna have a C part, but just idk where to go…
It’s partly inspired by Hurt by NIN…

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Cheers.

https://youtu.be/ONJT04VNQKQ?si=bph7acT2e7x4SZQh

There's a floaty sound to the harmony of this song that I've struggled to pin down for a while now. Working it out is complicated by the fact that the bass is hard to hear at times (and that's the only backing harmony in places), and Uli Jon Roth is tuned down a half step. I think it's either Db Major or Ab Major, but I suspect there's some type of minor IV chord movement happening that produces a unique quality. I want to figure out what scales he's playing out of though because I love this sound.

Any insight is appreciated.

I found this song and love it! I’m going to have it as my wedding guests dance song but would love to be able to play it too.

I’m a bit of a noob

If anyone can help me out with knowing what the chords are that would be awesome, can’t find it anywhere.

I’ll figure out the strumming just need to know what they chords are.

Thank you!!!!!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wvMuX7zlh5I

Hey music Reddit fam! Hope this is allowed I have been trying to learn this song “It be’s that way.” By “Curly Myrick. I believe is in key of C# on guitar. I am not entirely confident. The chords I jam around are the C# and F# pentatonics but I am trying to take it further :s
It sounds okish and close when I play F#sus4 down to a C#m7 but I will be honest I can’t play by ear that well :s

I gave you a primal way to see that the harmonics are everywhere and an easy way to experience them. Check my profile for the vid.

hey what's up guys. Josh Siegel here. I'm a Berklee alum and instructor that teaches a live program called Broadcast Guitar. I'll be on Zoom 2x a week doing a deep dive on a Song of the Week, showing how I use music theory to arrange songs for instrumental guitar. I've had students describe it as "how to play the guitar like a piano" because I always aim to convey the chords and melody at the same time. I also get into how to solo and write riffs, etc.

Broadcast Guitar is a drop-in format, and I tell students that it's like a gym class, tune in for as many classes as fit your weekly schedule and take away what's relevant to where you're at on the guitar. I also record and archive the classes at the end of each week so that folks can catch up and review on their own time. I do a 50-minute live class (just me on screen while you play along) + 10 min Q&A at the end for folks that want to hop on and chat the topics.

I'm based out of Chicago and do the live classes Mondays and Thursdays 7:30pm Central, then I archive the class on Fridays so that folks can review and catch up on their own schedule. The upcoming round will be all of October and November.

A lot of the guitarists I work with are musicians I've met through Reddit and would be happy to have you join in for a free 8-week round of classes to hang with the club. It's also a good way to add some more structure to your month, as we use the final class of each month to review member videos. A good excuse to polish up something you're working on!

Feel free to check out examples here: www.youtube.com/@broadcastguitar

I'm also "Josh Siegel Guitar" on Google for reviews, etc.

I do a 5-min intro Zoom with all new guitarists so that we can meet and chat before jumping in and get an idea of where you're at on the instrument.

Email: [josh@broadcastguitar.com](mailto:josh@broadcastguitar.com)

Thanks! -Josh

I’ve been playing music (guitar and bass) for over 40 years, and have learned everything by ear. My ear knows what sounds good and where to find it, and when I look into theory, I then understand why what I played worked. (“Oh! That’s the E minor pentatonic! No wonder it sounds like Sabbath!”)

But I run into an issue commonly where I play something, but I don’t know what it is.

All the tools I have found work the opposite way: define a chord progression or whatever, and here’s how you find the key.

But I’m usually looking at the issue from the other direction.

Right now I have a “weird” two-chord progression. The first chord consists of an open E, B on the a string, and F# on the d string. The second chord is the inverse of that, sort of, with the open E, D on the a string, and F on the d string.

I’m playing these chords by plucking each note individually and letting them ring. So E B F#, and E D F.

So… what are these chords? Defining two of the chords will help me identify the third chord I should use, but I don’t understand how to identify/name these chords?

Also, there is a nice little half-step tension thing happening if I accentuate the F#-F notes, that I want to lean in to more at the bridge of the song. So if I can identify that third chord that goes with my first two chords, I can tie that into the bridge, too.

Does any of this make sense to anyone?

tldr: How do I place my fingers randomly on the neck and identify what chord that is? Is there an app for this? Everything I have found works the “other way”, and has you specify the key/chord and tells you what notes it consists of. I need something that does the opposite.

UPDATE: On top of being completely wrong on the second chord (should be E open, E octave on the A string, G on the D string… otherwise an E chord), y’all are right: I just need to power through and internalize the basics of theory and CAGED, and then what I’m doing will make musical sense, not just make sense to my ears.

Thanks for the feedback!!!

Looking for examples of songs that switch feel completely. I know of some that use the same motif when switching into 6/8 but cannot think of any that introduce an entirely new 6/8 section say from 4/4.

I wanna cover this song called “Cigarette butt” by Bubble tea and cigarettes, and I don’t know how to find the root or key that this song is played in and I don’t know how to find that out, any help is highly appreciated!

I wanna cover this song called “Cigarette butt” by Bubble tea and cigarettes, and I don’t know how to find the root or key that this song is played in and I don’t know how to find that out, any help is highly appreciated!

So i found out that there are some fingerpicking patterns that you can use on folk songs

Such as the ones from here https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/folk-fingerstyle-patterns-part-2-fo-102

Wondering which one (it doesnt have to be one from the lesson above) can i use for this folk song if i wanna try to practice it. > Song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLmyheRGiIQ
The song is in 4/4 but i cant make a pattern on top of my head. I would appreciate ideas so i can get my ear accustomed

I have been playing the guitar for 30 years and I am also a second-year sociology student. I found a method like the one in the video for memorizing scales. What do you think?Visual Memory

One rule. Take a close-position triad on three adjacent strings. To build the next diatonic chord (the one a third away), hold the root or the fifth of the chord you're on: that note stays where it is and becomes the third of the new one. Chords a third apart share two notes out of three, so only one note actually moves (the two that stay keep the same string and the same fret, though you may have to re-finger them to reach the one that moves). And all three still end up with a new job.

Which of the two you hold is what chooses the direction. From C on strings 4-3-2, frets 10-9-8: hold the root and you land on Am at 10-9-10, hold the fifth and you land on Em at 9-9-8. One step each way along the cycle of thirds.

The third is the point. It's the only ambiguous degree, three chords in a key have a major third and four a minor one. Getting it handed to you removes the one decision that makes you stop and think.

Back and forth from the tonic gives you all seven degrees in one stretch of neck, without ever leaving the key. Always holding the same one instead, always the root or always the fifth, walks you up to the next tonic, one inversion along. Three of those and you've covered a full octave and all three inversions.

Interactive page: https://triade.training/en/
Pick a key, click, watch which finger stays. Free, no ads, no signup, nothing tracked. CC BY.

Many guitar players learn the minor pentatonic scale and use it over an entire 12-bar blues.
But what happens when you start listening to the chords underneath your solo?

In this lesson, we'll explore why the blues isn't just one pentatonic scale — and how moving between major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, and chord tones can make your blues playing sound much more musical.

We'll also delve into moving between major and minor sounds over the SAME chord.

It's time to get the blues!

Lesson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEtGrlQiHl4&list=PLIb-QWoMzfdixDZVq76vGTehxD0f0Mzek&index=14

Hey y'all! I'll answer any music theory questions you have in exchange for you knowing that I'm trying to build an online lessons studio! I am a jazz guitar player from the UNT college of music and I've been playing and learning this instrument for 19 years! Consider this a free way to get info out of me hahah

The few chords in the beginning of this. I can’t figure out what he is playing.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2iZ_YNO59x/?stkn=ZmllYTU4N2NhcDAx

Okay so I searched around on here and couldnt really find what Im looking for...

So I play guitar in a band with another guitarist. Im trying to get out of doubling, playing octave above, or playing different voicings of chords. Ill play lines in unison, up octave, or in 3rds. Ill arpeggiate different voicings when hes strumming chords. I do backbeat chord stabs to accent the 2 &4. Ill play solo sections when it applies. But i still feel theres some esoteric aspects im missing. What other options do we have for composition?