Guitar theory blog
Practical guides to the theory that matters on the neck, grouped by topic. Each topic opens with the guide to start with, and its lessons page sets out what to learn next.
Guitar Fretboard Lessons
Name any note on any string, without counting up from the nut.
CAGED System Guitar Lessons
Five open-chord shapes that map every major chord across the neck.
Guitar Interval Lessons
The distances between notes that every chord and scale is built from.
14 MAY 2026
Guitar Intervals: Seconds, Sixths and Sevenths ExplainedOnce the five core intervals are solid, the rest fill in fast. Here's how to find seconds, sixths and sevenths, mostly by counting back from the octave.
17 FEB 2026
Guitar Ear Training for Intermediate Players: The Practical MethodEar training isn't sight-singing exercises or an app you open once and forget. For guitarists, it's interval recognition — and you can train it directly on your instrument in ten minutes a day.
Pentatonic Scale Guitar Lessons
The five-note scale behind most rock and blues soloing, across the whole neck.
10 SEPT 2026
Blues Scale on Guitar: Formula, Positions and How to Use ItThe blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus one note, the flat fifth. Here's where it sits in all five positions, how to use it as a passing note, and three licks in A.
14 JUL 2026
How to Solo Over Chord Changes on Guitar (Chord Tone Soloing)When the chords move, the pentatonic box stops being enough. Here's how to find each chord's notes inside the shapes you know and land on them as the changes arrive.
24 MAR 2026
Major Pentatonic Scale on Guitar: Same Shapes, New RootYou already know the major pentatonic: it's the minor pentatonic with a different note as home. Here's how to find it in any key and when to use it.
13 JAN 2026
How to Break Out of the Pentatonic Box (And Actually Sound Musical)Stuck running the same five-fret box every time you solo? Here's the mental model that connects pentatonic positions, CAGED, and triads into a map of the entire neck.
Guitar Triad Lessons
Three-note chords that connect chord shapes, scales and solos.
24 SEPT 2026
Guitar Chord Progressions Explained: Keys, Numerals and Common PatternsMost songs share a handful of chord progressions. Learn the seven chords in a key and the Roman numerals that describe them, and you can play, transpose and write them.
27 AUG 2026
Guitar Arpeggios Explained: CAGED Arpeggio Shapes and How to Use ThemAn arpeggio is a chord played one note at a time. Learn them in the five CAGED shapes and every chord's notes are under your fingers anywhere on the neck.
28 APR 2026
Guitar Triads on All String Sets: Every Triad ShapeThe same triad lives on every set of three strings. Here are the C major shapes on all four, why two sets share shapes, and what each set sounds best for.
Guitar Scale Lessons
How scales are built and laid out on the neck, and which to learn first.
30 JUN 2026
Guitar Modes Explained: A Practical Guide to the 7 ModesThe modes are the major scale played from different notes. Here's what each one sounds like, the two worth learning first, and how to make them sound modal.
11 JUN 2026
Natural Minor Scale on Guitar: Formula, Shape and ChordsAdd two notes to the minor pentatonic and you have the natural minor, the scale behind most minor-key songs. Here's its formula, a shape to learn and the chords that go with it.
28 MAY 2026
Major Scale on Guitar: Formula, Shapes and How to Use ItThe major scale is the reference point for nearly everything in music theory. Here's its formula, a two-octave shape to learn first, and how to move it to any key.
Intermediate Guitar Lessons
A route through the theory for players who've stopped improving.