No Bull Music Theory for Guitarists, Volume 1 by James Shipway

Written in an easy to understand way. I am very pleased with my purchase and would recommend this book to anyone wanting to set out on a quest to understand the basic constructs of music theory.

A great starting book for guitar theory. I've been playing a long time and found things I didn't know. Very helpful.

This is really helping me connect the dots!

This book doesn't go into that much. If you're serious about understanding music theory your will have to go deeper. I was going to give it three stars, but the tablature, which I don't use, will probably be helpful for some players.

I use this book to teach basic music theory to a beginner guitar player who is 15 yrs old. I’m 70 and have played and studied music for years. His attention span is extremely short I soon ,learned. So this book brief approach fit well for todays youth! I discuss a chapter each session and give him a copy of the lesson and then show him how to apply it to the guitar. I am pleased with his learning pace so far. So I recommend this book for all beginner guitar players who have no music background.

I have several hundred dollars in Guitar Theory books that are collecting dust because either they were laden with music theory terminology that would put me to sleep or turn me off from the guitar totally. Several were like the Guitar Grimoire I own all of them which are super difficult to understand unless you have had several hundred hours of theory classes. I purchased this book because I was like what the hell let me give this a go again and really test this book to see if it was "NO BULL". I received the first volume and right out the gate within the first few pages my jaw hit the floor and many doors opened with the other theory books I own. I could not put this book down and found myself reaching for the guitar every time I turned the page. I always dodged learning the fret notes but this book made me want to learn them because if you really read into this book once you know the seven base notes of the guitar, the flood gates open. I am serious about this book, I usually don't write reviews but this was a big exception because this book is no joke James the author breaks the terminology in chunks so you can absorb and understand it in context. I don't know how many books I own that teaches you stuff but doesn't tell you how to apply it in a real world setting. This book does that and more. I was so happy with volume 1, I purchase volumes 2 & 3. Holy cow I have learned more in a week then I have learned throughout playing the guitar for over 20 years. James also has little quizzes at the end of each chapter where you can test how much you retained. I keep going back to certain chapters because I want to solidify a deeper understanding so I can start creating my own music and not playing other artists guitar parts.

I'm an intermediate player. I need more foundation in theory to advance. Theory is all over the internet, and I was wasting time bouncing around trying to find something between an Associates degrees and $150/year web subscriptions to guitar lesson sites. I stumbled on James' book during a web search on guitar theory and downloaded it to my iPad via the Kindle app. Now I have everything in one place in front of me. It's easy to follow. The price is ridiculously low. I highly recommend the book for those in need of a theory reference source.

I have looked long and hard for a music theory book or online class that I could understand. That taught in a progressive manner building upon prior concepts AND would quiz my understanding. I’ve purchased many a book and many an online class. All started out simply enough, but then moved so rapidly or jumped to concepts I didn’t grasp so quickly that I would always end up frustrated. This is the first and ONLY book I have found that presents the information in understandable bites and then quizzes you to test your understanding. I highly recommend this book….so much so that I have shown it to two of my guitar teachers and they think it is fabulous as well and will be recommending it to other students of theirs. I have enjoyed his first book so much that I have already purchased ALL of his other books as well. Do yourself a favor if you are wanting to learn music theory particularly as it pertains to guitar and buy this book. I know this sounds like high praise and so therefore perhaps hype from a friend or student of his, but I promise you all of this is true. I just stumbled upon his books in my never ending search and I am very glad I did!