Guitar Fretboard Workbook - 2nd Edition | Music Theory and Scale Training | Learn Chords, Scales and Improvisation | Beginner to Advanced Guitar Method

by Barrett Tagliarino (Composer)

(Musicians Institute Press). Navigate the guitar neck better than ever before with this easy-to-use book! Designed from Musicians Institute core curriculum programs, it covers essential concepts for players of every level, acoustic or electric. A hands-on guide to theory, it will help you learn to build any scale or chord on your own and unleash creativity. No music reading is required. This second edition has been thoroughly updated and includes new music examples.

Genres: Music, Reference, Nonfiction

80 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2003

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, after plugging away for 18 months on Barrett Tagliarino's Guitar Fretboard Workbook, I've completed exercise #59, the last in the book (except for a "final project" he leaves you with at the end), I can report on my experience with it. I would say that thanks to this book, my guitar-playing has improved more in the last 18 months than it has in any comparable period since I bought my Sigma acoustic guitar in 1977. Speaking for myself, Mr. Tagliarino's objective in writing this workbook—helping me gain much greater understanding and mastery of the guitar fretboard—has been achieved.

I'm a hobby guitarist who belongs in that vast category usually termed "intermediate". My training on the guitar consists of periods of instruction with four different private teachers for periods of between a month and a year each, and whatever I was able to pick up from those few people I've played music with over the years. In this I'm probably like the great majority of guitarists, and my knowledge of the instrument is accordingly patchy. Indeed, my knowledge of music theory is probably better than most guitarists at my level of ability due to the fact that I had a friend who shared a lot of what he was learning when studying composition, plus I just like theory of any kind and seek it out.

Still, did I know exactly what an F-sharp minor 11th chord was, and could I construct it from scratch? Did I know exactly how to use the terms "major", "minor", "augmented", and "diminished" in their various contexts? If I knew where the root note was on a string, could I quickly locate, say, the 6th for that scale? I can do those things now, and much else besides.

Of course, over the years I had learned to play many things up the neck of the guitar, and had learned many chords and some scales. But what this workbook does is to complete that knowledge gained piecemeal, render it systematic, and synthesize it into a unity.

As with any workbook, what you get out of it depends on what you're willing to put into it. The author makes use of a teaching technique that he has developed over years of personal instruction. It involves reading, writing, speaking, and playing. You not only do written exercises, but you speak out loud what you're learning, and you say it while you're playing it as well. This multi-channeled learning approach causes you to advance faster.

I took my time, and would recommend that you do the same. When I found the content of a chapter to be new or overwhelming, I would stay with it and keep playing the exercises. It's not about getting through the book, it's about mastering the material; so be willing to paddle slowly.

I suppose my dominant impression of this book is that it filled in gaps in my knowledge. I knew quite a few of the things the author was teaching, so I was able to move through those more quickly. But even within those things I thought I knew there were gaps. I feel I have a much more seamless, complete knowledge of the instrument.

Does that mean I play like Mark Knopfler now? No. But I have a greater calm and confidence in what I'm doing. And I'm able to do things like notice, in another guitar songbook, that a chord marked as diminished is actually a diminished 7th. Holy crumbs—I'm becoming a musician!

Dollar for dollar, this is the best money I've ever spent on guitar instruction.

[Zora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having picked the guitar up again, I noticed the books I own (and the instructional DVDs, mostly blues and Travis picking. Man, I have six years' worth of learning to do from those alone should I ever return to them) and decided to mention a few here. This is a thorough program that would acquaint someone with a serious approach to practice with the fretboard and help you grasp some music theory along the way if you're a bit weak in that area. I doubt I'll work the whole way through it (and there are so many free internet resources now, with access to the internet, I might learn these concepts other ways), but when I winnowed out my instructional guitar books and donated most to a library, I kept very few books, and this was one of them.

If you do have a structured practice routine with scales, intervals, pentatonic soloing to jam tracks or with a partner playing rhythm, and so on, a book to have. If you just noodle around on the guitar playing four-chord songs at the campfire, not a necessary part of your library.

[Narmin Isparzade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I started to read "Guitar Fretboard Workbook", I would usually search for the tabs of my favourite songs online and start playing. Then I would encounter a difficulty and in a frustration from trying to understand how I could play it correctly, put my guitar aside. I came to realize that learning guitar by myself on trial and error takes too much time and decreases my confidence in mastering the guitar. When I saw this book, I knew it was how I should be paving my way to guitar mastery.
A great program and exercise compilation for in-depth understanding and remembering notes, scales, five root shapes, whole/half steps, major/minor scales, pentatonic scales, triads, arpeggios, extensions, alterations, and modes. The book is intended for those who already have basic and pre-intermediate guitar knowledge; however, although I have taken a 6-week guitar course on coursera.org by Berklee College of Music, I still find some concepts explained in the workbook beyond my level, therefore in order to understand new lessons I refer to Youtube and guitar tutorial websites.

Overall, if you want to understand your fretboard well and know what you are playing at hand, Guitar Fretboard Workbook is a good book to check out but depending on your level prepare yourself to look for additional sources for the concepts explained in the book.

My favourite quote from the book: "Do you really understand what you are playing? What happens if you make a mistake? Chances are, you're like a lab rat learning the correct path through a maze: move the cheese, change the walls around, and you're lost."

[AP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This fretboard workbook probably works best for someone with patience & who needs to learn basic music theory. The detailed instruction on learning every note on the fretboard matters for guitarists who like to play solos.

The most useful part of the book comes from the patterns for finding the root.

I would argue that one can be a capable guitarist using other didactic methods outside of this book.

I am not interested in guitar solos. I consider myself a quick & dirty guitarist who plays a lot by ear. My goals on guitar include playing & writing songs. I'm interested in learning the various chord shapes & systems (such as CAGED) to play chord voicings with smooth voice leading. I also love playing funky rhythms & grooves, informed by cool chord voicings. More than halfway into the book, author finally discusses the chords, triads & tetrads, upper extensions. I had already lost interest in the book by then. I have been trying to slog through this book for a few years now & it has been a struggle to stay interested in the book. I learn the most about guitar from playing new songs, from playing in bands, & from experimenting & writing.

[Zevi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always preferred learning the guitar from magazines rather than books. It always seemed books were out dated and wanted to teach you boring songs from the 20s and rarely discussed any advanced soloing techniques. This book is pretty good for the advanced stuff, but to really learn the guitar you will need the book How to Become a Guitar Player from Hell by Jason Earls. Google the title to find out more.

[Mauro · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a very interesting book with approaches to how we see the fretboard, but if you really want to understand the music theory behind it you'll have to buy another book because on MY opinion the book lacks a lot information and sometimes gives you shortcuts of things that you can't really grasp what they are.

[Nehayat]

best

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end of the day, no matter how you attack it, learning the guitar fretboard is challenging. I find his strategy of memorizing the root shapes is a neat concept for helping to visualize the fretboard vertically and horizontally. Adds another perspective to the CAGED system. And the book teaches a variety of concepts pertaining to chords and scales too, well thought out.

[Amit Saini · Rating 5 out of 5]

The concept of workbooks is always better than the normal ones, this book is amazing but in my opinion this book is not for absolute beginners.

[Bluesshaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

MI always releases good material for learners. After struggling with a few other books, I happened upon this one. Boy, was I glad! Barrett Tagliarino structures the information effectively. Follow the instructions in the book, spend time mastering the lessons and you just might give yourself a chance at becoming a musician. I like the emphasis he places on developing sound fundamentals. I find this book far more cogent and lucid than most others in the market. I did not finish all the work in this book as I'm currently taking lessons. I believe learning from this book (prior to the lessons)was one major reason I was able to make rapid progress in my lessons. Once these classes are done, I plan to spend ample time mastering these exercises and completing the book. In the end, it's all cause and effect. How much you put into your guitar playing will determine how good you become.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book rocks! Hard to imagine a better introduction to the instrument. Builds a solid foundation for fretboard memorization, scales (theory and practice), chord construction, triads, arpeggios... simply put, going beyond the beginner's plateau of basic major and minor chords. I’d recommend going through the author's Guitar Reading Workbook at the same time, since the two books are complementary. Great stuff!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to learn the fretboard, this is the book you need. Covers roots, intervals, scales, chords.

[gekko100 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent, practical self-study book from MI