Guitar Chords in Context: The Practical Guide to Chord Theory and Application (Learn Guitar Theory and Technique)

Finally! I understand the WHY of chords not just the HOW! Joseph Alexander is the modern Mel Bay of guitar instruction books. He writes the definitive books on jazz, rock and funk guitar playing, and how he is so prolific without regurgitating the same old material ,is a testament to his vast knowledge and his LOVE of guitar playing and music. GUITAR CHORDS IN CONTEXT PT ONE is ,for me, guitar harmony sunshine because it lifts the dense fog of effectively using chords on the guitar, clearly illuminating HOW, WHY and WHEN to play the RIGHT chords. I guess you could compare it to Ted Greene's seminal CHORD CHEMISTRY, but for non-guitar masters such as myself, Joe's GCICPO is better because it doesn't overwhelm you with page after page of complex, hard to finger chords. Instead it focuses on teaching you to learn how to use a fundamental knowledge of harmony to become your own, self-contained chord dictionary. Don't get me wrong, you can't just pick up GCICPO, flip through it, and in a couple of weeks be playing chords like Pat Metheny or Wes Montgomery. You do have to put significant effort into the learning the concepts and putting them into practice. But when a knowledgeable expert is also a good teacher AND loves their subject it shows, and Joseph Alexander is obviously that, an expert teacher who loves guitars and music. Pick up GUITAR CHORDS IN CONTEXT PART ONE, pick up your axe, and start making more beautiful music!

The is by far the BEST way to learn, construct, and understand how chords work. There are many chord books out there and in my experience, they are nothing more the an encyclopedia of chords. As a victim of these encyclopedias, I felt very overwhelmed and actually lost interest in the guitar. The reality is, this is by far the WORST way to learn guitar chords. If you are learning guitar chords and feel overwhelmed by learning chords from an encyclopedia, do yourself a favor, return it and by this book now! The book explains chords using intervals. For example, a Cmaj7 chord consists of the notes C - E - G - B and converted into intervals is R - 3 - 5 - 7. The book explains where these intervals are on the fretboard and how to change the Cmaj7 to a Cmin7 is as simple as lowering the 3rd a the 7th (from the maj7 example above) a 1/2 and there is your Cmin7. The book also shows the "grip" of the chords so you have a visual. Joseph also explains substitutions, dominant chords, minor 7 flat five, what chord tones can be omitted (I know I'm missing something). I have other learning material from Joseph and I must say his are the BEST learning materials I have come across. I look forward to going through part 2.

I've had this book for some time now. I really like how it explains chord construction. It is very comprehensive yet easy to understand. I find myself coming back to this book again and again to further my knowledge of chords and their alterations. As an amateur solo guitarist, I'm always looking for some "special chords" to add a little pizzazz to my song renditions. This book has been a big help.

I have been playing for years and there are so many things to learn and so many way to look at the fretboard, it can sometimes be overwhelming. I have now arrived at a point in my musical journey where I believe it is beneficial to learn every chord, within reason, with the root on each of the top three strings. A beginner would not need this, but a more advanced player would. It is helpful for improvisation and for comping. This book provides wonderfully. Just the first three pages already have me busy for about a week, but not is a stressy, overwhelmed way. Everything is clear and step by step. I will probably be buying all the books this author writes.

This book provides the next step for any guitar player who has learned the basics of chord construction for harmonizing the Major, Minor, Dom7, and Diminished chords built from the diatonic major scale. This book takes it to the next level for the rest of the chord types (7ths, 6ths, 9ths, and all the extensions). The concepts of this book do not rely on strict memorization. Instead, it teaches chords through memorizing intervals for common chord shapes. This method makes it infinitely easier to construct chords all over the guitar neck without having to rely on brute memorization. This is the trick that all advanced players know and it is taught very well in this book.

Well put together. Lots of great info. Chord voicings I use all of the time. One of the best guitar instruction books I have ever purchased.

Although I am only halfway through the book, I already feel like my understanding of chord construction and the fretboard has expanded immensely. Rather that simply give you a list of chords to memorize, Alexander explains the logic of how chords a constructed so you understand them as families of chords with roots on the 6th, 5th, and 4th strings. This is a great book for intermediate players who want to learn jazz (but find other approaches opaque) or for anyone who just wants to know the fretboard better. As with his other books, the pacing and incremental explanations are just right and do not require you to fill in gaps. Highly recommend!

I bought the Kindle version of this along with two other chord books from Joseph and found all three to be very useful, especially considering the low price. The other two I purchased (Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery and Voice Leading Jazz Guitar) further the concepts in this book, and for a total of $15 or so bucks there is a lot of very practical information that I'll be working into my playing for years to come. My only complaint is that the images are a little difficult to navigate on my phone's Kindle app, but that's a problem with the app and not with the book. I would absolutely recommend this and the other two books I mentioned to anyone looking to step up their game!

Amazing! The best chord book I have ever had! Thank you Joseph to explain things in a very understandable way!

Mr Alexander is to be congratulated for making the complex simple to understand.

Nel consueto linguaggio semplice e rigoroso, introduce un argomento complesso e lo rendere facile e piacevole da apprendere. Come tutta la serie di questi volumi, si tratta di un testo da studiare e conservare.

This is a very pedagogic and detailed book about Chords that covers what most beginning and itermediate players will need for quite a while. It is much of a "cover it all book" with instructions on how to apply chord theory to playing and also has full cover of audio files for all the examples one needs. A very good book!

この方の本はKindle Unlimitedでたくさん出ているので確認している人は多いと思う。 初心者は100のコード、100の練習の二冊をまずやるといいのですが、100のコードの途中でこの本が紹介されており、面白そうなので手を出してみました。 正直、基本の指の形を覚えた方が実践ではすぐに弾けるようになるので、やはり完全に初心者の時にはあまり意味がなかったです。 ただ、自分の弾いている音がルートから見て三度から13度の間のどれなのかを覚えるには、指の形を覚えるよりこの本を勉強した方が早いです。第六弦ルートから見て完全4度を重ねると短７度、さらに短３度、完全5度、オクターブであることはギターを解放弦で弾けば明らかなのですが、それをずらすことによって様々なコードを作る傘を作っておくと、普段は指癖で弾いているコードを間違えることが少なくなります。 同じように第五弦から見て第二弦が９度。半音下げればフラット9、上げればシャープ9。第一弦が完全５度。五度から二半音下げると 11度、あげると13度。 慣れてくれば、ルートから4弦目に９度、五弦目に13度が隠されていることが頭ではスムーズに考えられるようになる。それを弾けるようになるまでには訓練が必要。 最初のうちは耳ではなく目で覚えるのだが、訓練を終えたあと多くのロックギタリストがやるように有酸素運動で心拍数を150まで上げてドーパミンを出すと覚えるスピードが加速していく。これは本に書いてないので試していただきたい。 それぞれ基本のセブンスコードの上になかっているだけだということに気がつけば、理論的に何が可能であるかはすぐにわかるので、楽譜を書くのが気楽になります。この点、ピアノの楽譜の場合はコードから見ると自由度が高い分悩むことがあるのですが、ギターの場合それが起こりにくいこともわかります。 ギターコードでもトップノート（1番高い音）がどの音であるかを認識できるようになると、なぜルートが第４弦から第6弦まで変わるのかがテクニカルな理由に終始して音楽性が低くなるのを防ぐことができる。簡単だから第4弦ルートで、という考え方は高い声の人にはうまくいくことが多いが、声が低い人はやはりチグハグになってしまう。 基本的にコードを作り出す、ということはないのだが、よりスムーズなコードの移り方の中でも、トップノートの選択に余地を生ませるためには、勉強したい本だろう。 有名なロックを転調して弾いて、これじゃない、と思ってしまった人には必要になってくる本だと思われる。調を低くすると逆にコードが音が高くなるというポンポコリンから脱出するためには、100のコードと合わせて持っておくと、より納得しやすくなる。 実はギターという楽器は、声が低い人の方が練習をそれほどしないでも弾ける曲が多い。トップノートが開放弦でEだからだ。近年音が高くなり続けてきたポップスも、ギターという楽器に戻ればその基本は誰でも歌える音域に合わせて作ってあることがわかるようになる。 それはつまり、誰でも歌える、誰でも弾ける、それを目的にした楽器であるということだ。コードはドーパミンを毎日出せば基本的なところは三ヶ月で覚えられるようになる。（出さないと一生覚えられない可能性があることは言っておく）これが、子供がこの楽器を一瞬で弾けるようになるように錯覚する理由である。 現代のテクニカルな可能性と共に、楽器本来の目的を思い出すためにも、多くの人がギターに慣れ親しんで欲しいと思う。基本と応用、それが同時に詰まっているこの本は、楽譜が読めるのならば初心者の頃から持っていて欲しい本です。 100のコードと100の練習と共に持っていると安心でしょう。