When I was learning guitar one of my most valuable learning aids was a chord book. I had a Beatles songbook that didn’t have chord diagrams but it did have chord names above the music notation. So I had to turn to the chord book to learn how to finger the chords I wanted to play. It was a good way to do it because I memorized chords faster that way. Later on I got in Jazz Band in high school and had to learn all kinds of jazz chords on the guitar. Needless to say I used that chord book until the covers were falling off.
As I progressed on guitar I wanted to learn the various scales as well, so I bought a guitar scale book. I learned the most used guitar scales from that book as well as some theory about when to use them. My scales book became a well worn book as well.
I have experimented with different tunings on the guitar although I’ve never had a formal book or manual on the subject. I’ve read articles in major guitar magazines that have suggested various alternate guitar tunings and I’ve even recorded some songs using different tunings. I have to admit I tend to forget what the alternate tunings are because I don’t use them regularly.
Today I’m going to point you to a totally free website that has all these resources for you and more. The website is called chordbook.com and it has an interactive chord book with 28 different chord types for each root note. For instance, there are 28 different chord listings with E as the root. A few of them are Maj, Min, Maj7, Maj9, 7sus4 and there are many more. You pick the chord you want and the chordbook will show you where to play it as well as some inversions of the chord in case you find those easier to play. The chordbook will also play the chords for you to hear on either electric or acoustic guitar. It will show you the chord right handed or left handed and let you apply a capo as well.
Another really cool feature is the chord search. If you’re like me you write music in riffs and sometimes you’ll play a pattern or grip that you’re not sure which chord you’re playing. On chordbook.com you can drag dots to the places on the neck that you have your fingers and then do a chord search to find out exactly what chord you’re playing. It’s really a nice feature.
In addition to the chordbook there’s also a Guitar Scales page that will show you a bunch of common scales for the guitar. You just choose the key and scale type and it will show you where to play that scale. It’s quick and easy to use. Chordbook.com also throws in a Guitar Tuner that will show you how to tune to some very popular alternate tunings. The guitar tuner will strike each note repeatedly for you to tune to. If that’s not enough free stuff for you, then check out the Cafe which contains some backing tracks for you to try out your new tunings and scales with.
So check out Chordbook.com today. It’s really a valuable free resource for all guitarists.
This is a wonderful resource that will help us in learning guitar chords.Soloing over guitar chords is easy when we know how to use the minor pentatonic scale. Add spice and power to our solo’s with these simple but highly effective techniques.
this is good advice. I’ll agree with all of that.i read it && i really like the content of this blog, so do keep posting and keep the good work up.
enjoy blogging, thanks.
After learning some basic chords and playing for a while using those books/tools. I suggest learning how to build any type of chord or scale rather than looking up the chords without understanding how they are constructed. There are 5 CAGED scale/chord shapes for the guitar, which allow you to shift the shapes up or down to play in any key. It’s a much more comfortable feeling to understand the fretboard and how to build any chord or scale from scratch. And it’s not that hard!
Just my thoughts as a long time player and teacher!
Excellent point Will. Having a good grasp of guitar theory will take you much farther than a chordbook. The chordbook will get you started but a working knowledge of the way chords and scales are constructed on a guitar will make you great.
-Matt-
Great tips on how to play the guitar! I am launching a blog sometime in the new year for our music store and blogposts like yours gives me a great insight on what tips to impart to potential readers. Thanks for sharing!
my son is using this site… I must say it helps him a lot in learning thing all by himself aside from the lessons ai am teaching him..