Guitar Chords: Easy-to-Use, Easy-to-Carry, One Chord on Every Page

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This book aims to solve that issue by highlighting the common technique issues and basic theory around common chord progressions and strumming patterns. By identifying common issues like timing and fingering technique, it attempts to eliminate early issues and accelerate the learning process. Those who are already proficient in another instrument and transitioning to the guitar might not find this book useful as it really begins with the basics. That includes elementary music theory and extremely basic technique. Because the guitar was originally designed to play chords, there are countless chord variations on the instrument. There are a few ways to read music for guitar, including chord diagrams, tablature, and traditional music notation.

It offers a series of “short cuts” aimed at making the chords useful in performance. These aren’t really short cuts: while they’re more convenient ways of understanding the fretboard, they’re classic musical techniques that most advanced players are already using.Many beginners think there are only twelve chords for guitar. Some even think the musical alphabet ends at the letter G. That’s why this book is so helpful: identifying the first one hundred chords for guitar in a way that is accessible and useful for total beginners. The great thing about this book is that it assumes the reader has zero musical experience. It covers basic chord theory in language that is low on jargon and very easy to understand. The layout of the book is very helpful. It is divided into sections by root note, running from C to B. These sections have subsections for the main types of chords, with photos showing the chords and inversions for each. The layout of the book encourages rote learning, but it’s better for players to find comfortable ways of playing chords for themselves instead of simply copying what works for someone else.

Think about it: when you’re playing guitar, your hands are occupied. You want a book that can lay flat in front of you so you can read it while you’re playing. Helpfully, this book covers some optimal practice routines and goes in detail on different strumming patterns and approaches to strumming to help new guitar players become more confident with their playing. However, as a tool for learning various chord shapes, this could be very valuable. It’s not sheet music designed to be read and performed simultaneously: think of it more like a textbook for reading on the go. The alternate fingering positions listed are useful for noting inversions and subtle variations on chord voicings, and the number of chords is pretty comprehensive. I wouldn’t recommend this book to beginners just getting to grips with the instrument, however.

Most advanced guitar players know somewhere between 20 and 30 variations on each chord, at minimum, and this book offers a fantastic starting point for getting your chord vocabulary up to those towering numbers. Chord books also need to be easy to use. First and foremost, they are a learning tool, and should be useful while you’re playing your instrument. For the most part, that means spiral binding is the best sort for a chord book. Most brand new guitar players struggle with transitioning between chords and maintaining an even strumming pattern. It can take weeks, or months, of practice to get competent at strumming your way through songs. The book is also not spiral bound, so it refuses to lay flat on a table while you’re playing. Normally while I’m reading chords I’m playing guitar as well, and one, if not both, of my hands are occupied. The book needs a spare hand to keep it open, so it’s not easy to read while playing.

This book doesn’t stop at simple chords, however. It’s important for new guitar players to build good habits for technique and practice. However, some of the diagrams are confusingly numbered, and fingers next to each other don’t always land next to each other on the fretboard.If you’re wondering how there could possibly be 500 chords on the guitar, this is the book for you. Each section begins with the basic major chord and gets more complicated from there, running through inversions and extensions all the way up to sevenths, ninths, and thirteenths. However, for an intermediate guitarist looking to improve their chord vocabulary and make their chord extensions feel immediately useful, they’re a very effective tool.

Conveniently, the fingers in each chord diagram are numbered. This is very useful for beginners who may not intuitively understand where to place their fingers. You want to use a chord book that either shows you chords using the notation you understand, or that can teach you to read the notation you aren’t yet confident with. Most guitar players can read tablature (or tabs) very easily. Some chord charts require more practice to get to grips with. You also want to make sure your chord book is matched to your current level of experience and ability. A beginner who hasn’t yet mastered barre chords won’t find much joy in running through drop 2 and drop 3 inversions. Likewise, an advanced player with an extensive chord vocabulary won’t have much use for an introduction to the CAGED system. This book is very clearly aimed at players who are new to the instrument. It is not as comprehensive as it could be: it includes no information on how chords are built, and therefore encourages rote learning rather than deep understanding. The idea is simple: this book begins with the most basic chord theory to help you understand how and why guitar chords work. From there, memorizing 100 chords is easy. The more you understand, the less you have to remember.Does music theory feel arcane and irrelevant to the music you want to make? Then Guitar Chords in Context might be the right chord book for you.