music theory

Latest about music theory

Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads
Have You Exhausted the Possibilities of Open Chords and Barre Chords? Here’s How to Make Your Progressions Sound More Interesting

By Patrick Brennan Published

Learn the art of ‘voice leading’ with examples inspired by Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and more

Lessons
Blues Hall of Fame inductee Charlie Musselwhite, guitar detail, performs onstage at Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine on January 17, 2023 in Malibu, California.
The Mixolydian Blues Scale Could Be the Most Useful Scale of All

By Guitar Player Staff Last updated

This scale reigns supreme as the chief source for carving those major/minor blues-based licks that sound so good over dominant 7th chords

Lessons
guitar fretboard mirrored image
Avoid Melodic Monotony and Predictability Using the Half-Whole Diminished Scale

By Chris Buono Published

Here’s how to create more effective lines by relating the “symmetrical diminished” scale’s recurring fretboard patterns to chords

Lessons
guitarist playing chord
Expand Your Melodic Vocabulary and Attain Superior Fretboard Awareness With 'Parallel Pentatonic Modal Vision'

By Chris Buono Published

Learn PPMV – an insightful mapping of the pentatonic scale’s multifaceted natural order

Lessons
Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid perform Parkpop festival, The Hague, Netherlands, 25 June 1989.
“Is the Music an Expression of Your State of Being, Or is it Something You're Just Taking On?” Vernon Reid Talks Jazz, Theory and the Spirit of the Blues

By Joe Gore Published

The Living Colour guitarist gets real in this interview from the GP archives.

Guitarists
Blues guitarist Walter Trout
Need to Add Some Spice to Your Melodies and Solos? This Lesson on Chromaticism Will Give You Food for Thought

By Scott Mercer Published

Learn how to use non-diatonic “outside” notes for tastier licks in jazz and other styles.

Lessons
Learning
Want to Branch Out with Some Jazz Fusion? Learn Oz Noy’s Harmonically Inventive “She’s Not There” Solo

By Mike Swickis Published

Retrace the jazz fusion master’s instrumental version of the Zombies’ 1964 classic here.

Lessons
Guitar prison
Break Out of Your Box with the CAGED System

By Tom Kolb Published

An introduction to the highly useful workings of this mysterious fretboard mapping theory.

Lessons
guitar player
Black Hole of Confusion or Wormhole to Enlightenment? The Unique Relationship Between the G and B Strings

By Chris Buono Published

The guitar fretboard is divided into two separate and similarly ordered universes. Here's how to make it work for you.

Lessons
Keb' Mo'
Acoustic Blues Musings, Part 2: Hip Tips and Tricks for Better Playing

By Jimmy Leslie Last updated

Add these helpful hints to your arsenal of blues moves.

Lessons
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