[.ca] Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume One (ISBN 1890944521)

Not easy, but definitely worth it:
I think one would be fooling themselves if they thought this book is fun. Some things, like Music Theory on your instrument isn't easy. It's a challenge that many of us take on because we know that if we can understand our instrument through music theory we will be better able to express ourselves. Don't buy this book if you are looking for a quick fix, it's a course of study where you have to fill in 100 pages of exercises to make sure you have memorized how every frick'n chord is built on the guitar. It's one thing to understand music theory, it's another to have a working knowledge of it and be able to use it like you use the language that you speak. I bought this book many years ago. I kept the filled in book just so I can show people one of the steps I took to get to where I am today. If you are serious about learning then I would seriously check out Mr. Arnold's books - their not the typical U.S.A. guitar edu-tainment books, they're in a class by themselves. If your looking for something entertaining or a book that just gives you a general understanding of music theory then you won't like this book. I have many music books and guitar books on my shelves. Mr. Arnold's books are definitely written for someone who wants to study on their own but get the same sort of education you would receive at Berklee College of Music, NYU, Princeton, etc ... I like others have had multiple correspondences with Mr. Arnold. I was very impressed by his teaching skills and dedication to seeing me improve. If you don't understand something about this book or any of his books he's an email away, how much easier could it get? There is a huge database of questions people have asked. All you have to do is read it and you will have many doubts and questions answered. My recommendation is to check out the muse-eek website first. See for yourself what is involved. Their books are directly linked to amazon so you can go back and buy them if you want. I've noticed recently that they've added 100's of videos for many of their books. These are free mates, you just have to buy one book and your into a resource that is amazing. Sorry for the edu-commercial, I've just seen some of the reviews and thought I'd give you my two cents on this stuff.

Not for alternate tunings:
The theory is good, but it is best designed to be used in conjunction with a class. All of the answers and questions are based on Standard Guitar Tuning, not very helpful for people who play in alternate tunings.

Great Method for the serious minded:
I own this book and 1st Steps for a Beginning Guitarist and I find them both to be well written and aimed toward the serious beginning guitarist. I would say if you just want to learn a few chords, know what a scale is and have vague knowledge of chord construction then this is definately not the book to get. This book gives you a 100 pages or so of exercises where you have to fill in the answers to questions about how various chords are build. You have to fill in this information both on a staff and on a fretboard diagram. I've been working through this for a couple of weeks now and I'm on page 20 so you can see this isn't a quick study. What I'm finding though is I'm starting to see interval relationships by just looking at the guitar which makes my ability to tell someone what the 5th of any key is or other such interval knowledge. So one of the bi-products of this book is it teaches you how see interval and chord relationships on the fretboard so you can use the visual information to find answers to any music theory related question that you might encounter. For instance I've been downloading some information on the internet about playing a blues riff and it talked about playing a 5th to a 6th on the low E and A string. I knew instantly what that was and could move it around to other strings and it made me understand and learn the blues quicker. I think one of the best things about getting any of Mr. Arnold's books is it allows you to enter their member's area for free. This is an incredible resource filled with 100's of videos and MP3 files to help with various aspects of learning the guitar. Some of the resources are completed and some are still under construction. For instance The Music Theory Volume One book has videos on how to apply major triads to the guitar all over the neck. I've just started on this but it seems promising. I think it's going to help me directly apply the information I'm learning to the guitar fretboard in a musical way. Once again this is not easy, when I first watched the video I thought it was pretty overwhelming to learn the major triads all over the neck. I think the first video will probably take me a month to master. But I'm inspired to do this because Mr. Arnold shows in some of these videos how the major triad can be used as a music fill to sound like Jimi Hendrix. Since Hendrix is one of my idols this really made me want to learn the chords on the fretboard because I could see a direct application. So I guess what I'd like to convey is this book is hard, not a whole lot of fun to do the exercises but I'm learning something that seems to be really helping and for me that's the trade off. I don't mind working hard if I get something back in return. If you are like that too then this is a good book to get.

Disappointed:
I've read the good reviews here and thought I'll give this book a try. First of all, the quality of the book is pretty bad. It's almost impossible to read some of the diagrams. I wouldn't mind if it was a $5 book, but for over $30 I expected something different and much better quality. In addition, the buyer should be aware that this book very dull. It explains music theory in a very boring, straightforward way and will not let you practice any tunes while using it. It's just a workbook with many writing exercises, nothing more. It's probably good to the most serious students out there, but for me it will never be a pleasure to use this book as other books which actually teach you how to play between one theory to the other. I wouldn't recommend this book unless you are a really serious musician that is willing to spend much time on writing exercises.

A complete study of intervals and arpeggios:
I found this book to be a great investment. It took me about 2 months to work through the book but now I have a completely different understanding of the music theory and how it relates to my guitar. I also took advantage of the publishers website which is stock full of information and free downloadable information. Mr. Arnold also gives email support for his books so that was an added value. He didn't even mind if I was asking question not related to the book. A really great teacher!