Simple Guitar Theory

Simple Guitar Theory: The foundations every guitarist should know.

After 15+ years of teaching guitar I’ve been astounded by the amount of guitar players of all levels that don’t know their basic music theory. To give you a little background on me, I was terrified to basically find what I thought was a mathematical element to guitar when I first started learning. So much so (and much to my teachers distaste), I would avoid it at all costs. It seemed so confusing to me and felt like there was zero logic in it.

Years on from then when I started teaching and taking on students myself, I realised it was time to knuckle down and learn it in order to teach effectively. I knew students would inevitably have questions, so I definitely need to have the answers! The more I delved into music theory, the more the more enriched and confident my playing became.

I’ve made it no secret that I’m quite dyslexic in ways. I’ve always struggled with information intake, maths etc so I definitely feel like this was a major put off for me as well. With that in mind, what I’ve always been able to get on board with is simple logic, patterns and formulas which give instant results. Because of that, I feel like if I can get it AND I can even teach it, Anyone Can!

This system is designed around my approach to basic music theory and is meant to be a foundation of principles which all guitar players should have regardless of what genre they are in. It’s meant to keep you from second guessing and show you the logic which music theory is made up from. I’ve been teaching from this system for many years now, enriching my students playing step by step to great success. I’m happy to share it with you via this stress free, step by step series of modules to help you on your way to being a more confident guitar player. I hope this proves useful to you and helps you to achieve your musical goals.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

THE GUITAR FRETBOARD

Understand how the notes are laid out and start seeing the patterns across the neck.

MAJOR & MINOR SCALES

Understand how scales are constructed and how major and minor relate to one another.

OPEN CHORDS

Use the included reference sheet to learn and quickly find the essential open chord shapes.

BARRE CHORDS

Learn how barre chords are built and how to move them around the fretboard.

TRIADS & CHORD CONSTRUCTION

Understand what makes up a chord and how triads are constructed from scales.

TRIAD INVERSIONS

Learn how the same triad can be played in different positions across the guitar.

WORKING OUT CHORDS IN A KEY

Understand which chords belong together in each key.

DIMINISHED CHORDS

Understand how diminished chords are constructed and where they fit into the theory you've already learned.

MAJOR & MINOR 7TH CHORDS

Learn how seventh chords are constructed and how they relate to basic triads.

DOMINANT 7TH CHORDS

Understand how dominant seventh chords are constructed and how they function.

7TH CHORD SUBSTITUTIONS

Explore how different seventh chords can be used in place of one another.

SUSPENDED 2ND CHORDS

Understand how sus2 chords are constructed and how they differ from standard major and minor chords.

SUSPENDED 4TH CHORDS

Learn how sus4 chords work and how they differ from standard major and minor chords.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

24 STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO LESSONS

Over 3 hours of focused tuition, broken into individual lessons so you can work through the course at your own pace.

DOWNLOADABLE COURSE RESOURCES

PDF guides, chord diagrams, tabs and reference sheets designed to accompany the video lessons and keep for future reference.

A COMPLETE THEORY FOUNDATION

From understanding the fretboard and scales through to chord construction, triads, inversions, seventh chords and more — all taught as one connected system.

LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE

No deadlines, scheduled classes or subscriptions. Work through each lesson when it suits you and revisit anything whenever you need to.

FULL COURSE DOWNLOAD

The entire course is yours to download rather than being locked behind an online course platform.

BUILT FROM 15+ YEARS OF TEACHING

The same straightforward approach to theory I've developed and used with guitar students for over 15 years.

That's the version I'd use on Payhip. It matches the Squarespace page nicely without sounding like you've suddenly switched into sales-copy mode halfway through.