Essential Music Theory Every Guitar Player Should Know - Beginner Music Theory Lesson

Beginner/Intermediate Guitar Course:
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In this video, I’ll be going over the most important music theory for guitar players. This includes learning about how notes work, what intervals are, the major scale, chords in a key, and the difference between diatonic and non-diatonic. By the end of this guitar lesson, you will know all the music theory necessary to be able to start writing your own songs, inventing your own guitar riffs, improvising solos, and even playing guitar by ear.

If you have any questions along the way, please leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them. Thanks for watching!
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Chapters:
0:00 - Why guitarists don't learn music theory
0:42 - The musical alphabet (notes)
1:01 - Sharp & flat notes
1:35 - The BC & EF rule
2:30 - Octaves
2:56 - Half-steps & whole-steps
3:48 - Intervals
4:28 - The chromatic scale
4:55 - The major scale (the phone number trick)
6:08 - Solfège
6:24 - Other major scales
7:16 - Why do some chords sound good together?
10:55 - The major/minor formula
12:48 - What about chords in other keys?
13:48 - Minor keys (relative scales)
17:11 - Diatonic vs non-diatonic
18:34 - Lesson summary & closing thoughts
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Music Credits:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

#musictheory #guitarlesson #guitarchords #guitarscales

[neffeise]

I’ve been playing guitar for about 6 years now ( mostly learning a song, moving on to a new one and forgetting what I had previously learned). Boy has that changed … your lessons have completely shifted my thinking process behind playing a guitar. I’m no longer playing the guitar just to play, I’m learning how and why the instrument works, thank you so very much for the easy to digest content!

[kagenotatsumaki]

Man... I REALLY wish I had that phone number trick about 2 years ago when I started learning basic theory...

[juliangonzalez]

Many teachers seem to forget how confusing early learning of basic theory is/was. This is fantastic presentation of basics and easiest to understand that I have seen- surpassing even basic Beato videos for simplicity and introduction to subject. Very well done!

[hvanhat]

I have played for 15 years (self taught by manually learning songs individually) and I still was unable to improvise or even identify keys/chords without reference - your video is one of a long list I have watched and is BY FAR the most concise, logical, well structured and easy to understand guitar video I have ever seen.

Thank you so much for this

[Cuzzazbuzz]

Just picked guitar after many years away(pre-YouTube!) and learnt more in 10 mins than any time before..❤

[riccouchman]

Damn! You just enlightened my entire guitar playing experience in 5 minutes

[BradyHensley-uy]

I’ve tried to understand this from a few other teachers but you finally made it all click. Thank you. The self taught appreciate you immensely

[chesterburnett]

Andrew, I already knew everything in this video, yet I still watched most of it because I'm so impressed by your succinct, easy-to-understand teaching style. Keep 'em coming!

[DOutsiderHBK]

I have only ever commented on videos a handful of times, but wanted to make a point to say, "thank you!"--your video helped me make the connection to the major/minor keys and figuring out how it is determined that a chord is major or minor. I have tinkered with guitar and bass since I was 13 and had a *basic* understanding of music theory; now I am 40 and taking guitar lessons again to actually improve...they have helped, but your explanation has most definitely been my "ah ha!" moment I've been seeking. Now to put it into practice and make things second nature!

[francisgregoryku]

Went over a lot of popular music theory youtubers and series over the years and yours is my favorite. Especially your way of teaching how to play songs by ear. Very beginner friendly, thanks!

[krystofdostal]

I never wanted to learn theory because i thought i would be lost in it and didn't know where to start. I love your lessons and looking forward to learn more.

[delazzuro]

I`m a more senior player coming back into playing after a few years and I have to say your videos are superb!...ive watched hundreds of videos on youtube about guitars but have found yours the most informative and easiest to understand....Thank you.

[jiimyyy]

I've been playing music for over 15 or 17 years and was stagnant in my college days (maybe on my 7th or 9th year playing guitar) onwards. Didn't exactly stopped playing but more like I stopped learning new things and just resorted to stock knowledge and noodling on my free time. Back then I've always wanted to play outside notes which is a bit of a complex subject. For me it's a matter of dedication to time given that I missed on a lot of music theory. I can't understand intervals, how chords are made, how to utilize scales in solos and chord changes so on so forth. I came across this video and you good sir made such a refresher. I guess it's not too late for me to get back to my feet and work my ass off. Thank you!

[shivanibhargava]

accurate, wholesome and clearly explained so well.

[edwardlangdon]

Exactly the way I learned over thirty years ago, by numbers, not by the notes. If this was the only video online that taught theory there would be less confusion about music theory.

[mustangally]

Hey Andrew. As someone who is just starting out with guitar, I can't tell you how helpful your lessons have been. You're an excellent teacher and you make me excited to learn every day! Thank you so much and keep it up!

[nealcampbell]

Excellent lesson. You make it very easy to follow. I love the phone # analogy. Thanks for the lesson!

[Name-boox]

i just want to tell you that the way you teach really uses language that is friendly for beginners who want to learn music theory on the guitar. Maybe this is the first time I can understand the theory of music that is explained to you because of your very good way of teaching

[innerstell]

im getting into playing the guitar as i had the strings fixed and replaced, been there since i was a little kid and just this video alone makes me appreciate the beauty of the guitar so much more, you given an amazing video on music theory for me to learn and i truly want to start a band one day when i switch over to electric. thank you so much this video means a lot to me

[dhinasurya]

Awesome explanation. Top notch for a beginner like me who started guitar a month back. I feel like i know more now