This is a guide to help my Patrons decide what to watch and in what order. My ultimate goal is to help you understand how music theory works, how it maps on to the guitar, and how to actually use it to write music and interact with other musicians. With that in mind, here is my recommended lesson plan:
Please note:
There are thousands of websites where you can learn HOW to play guitar. My school is more about learning how to apply music theory to the guitar to make music. If you’re a complete beginner, I recommend coming back later. If you can play a few chords and pick a scale, you’ll do just fine here.
Start here and continue down the page:
Music Theory for Guitar:
If you’re new to Music Theory and/or your guitar skills are in the beginner category, this series is a great starting point.
Wondering how to set goals and how to practice? Trying to figure out what kind of musician you want to be? Watch a few Practice Thoughts.
Community Challenges are writing exercises to help you get into a regular habit of making music. I strongly recommend getting involved once you get through Music Theory for Guitar and the first few Music Theory Monday lessons.
Have a question? Comment on the most recent Office Hours
If you’re already familiar with the concepts in Music Theory for Guitar, you can move straight on to Music Theory Monday (scroll down) or check out these lessons on your way there:
CAGED Basics II starts to show how the pentatonic scales overlay on top of the CAGED Shapes.
You may also enjoy an old segment called Patron Questions. These types of questions are now being answered live in my weekly Office Hours
Need encouragement? Check out Practice Thoughts
The Music Theory Monday series is all about understanding and using music theory to make music.
MTM |02 is out of sequence from the rest of these videos, so you’re welcome to skip it and come back later! But click here if you wanna watch it.
MTM | 02 is an overview lesson about soloing using the CAGED System. If that sounds interesting, you can watch my CAGED Soloing series below. If these lessons are overwhelming or confusing, watch Music Theory Monday 17, 18, & 19 about Melody Making first, then these lessons will make much more sense. But I recommend watching all of Music Theory Monday for maximum comprehension.
MTM | 03: Major Key 7 Chords, In Order
Once you understand chords in a key and 7th chords, you’re free to explore the Rubik’s Cube Series, which is all about being able to take each CAGED Shape and morph it into Major, Minor, Diminished, Major 7, Dominant 7, Half Diminished, and Fully Diminished.
You may also enjoy this video about how to make chords in open D tuning
MTM | 16: Why Pentatonic? Part 2
Here is a similar lesson if you want more perspective
You’ve watched a lot of lessons, here are a few lessons to help you start to write your own music
Here is a series on using GarageBand. These skills should mostly translate to other recording softwares as well
Here is mini series on Bass Guitar that will make sense at this point and help with songwriting too