Circle of Fifths for Guitar

By James Shipway

Boost your guitar fretboard and guitar theory skills, your memorization and recall of the notes on your guitar neck, your music theory for guitar understanding, your knowledge of chords and chord theory, your songwriting and composition skills ...and much more with the awesome power of the circle of fifths!

 

Many guitar players never have the circle of fifths explained to them in a way that makes sense, so they never learn to use this amazing, visual tool for musicians. If you want the circle of fifths made easy, without the confusion you experience with most guitar theory books, then this title, with its accompanying 45 minute downloadable Circle of Fifths Video Masterclass and bonus resources is exactly what you need.

 

In this book, I show you straightforward secrets or 'recipes' for using the circle of fifths chord wheel to:

• Learn your guitar fretboard and painlessly memorize all the notes on your guitar neck so that you never forget them (using a single easy chord shape!)
• Create guitar exercises for memorizing chord shapes, scale patterns, arpeggios, and licks, so that you can practice smarter and more efficiently than ever before and see greater progress
• Learn all the notes in every major scale and all the chords in every major and minor key so that you understand chord theory and chord progressions on a whole new level (essential knowledge for all musicians and songwriters)
• Understand, memorize and learn the songs you play more easily than ever before, and change key quickly and easily when you need to
• Work out the chords for a 12 bar blues or I-IV-V chord sequence in any key instantly using a simple 'one forward, one back' pattern
• Work out and memorize relative minors, I-VI-II-V, II-V-I, III-VI-II-V-I chord progressions, major scale 'tricks' and shortcuts, and more

With bite-sized lessons revealing crucial circle of fifths secrets, practical exercises, and quizzes to check your understanding, plus downloadable bonus content including a video masterclass, any guitar player can master what they need to know about the circle of fifths with this Circle of Fifths for Guitar book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Headstock Books
• Release date: Nov 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781914453618

James Shipway

James Shipway, born in Australia and raised in the UK is a professional guitarist and guitar teacher with over 25,000 hours of experience helping students of all ages and abilities reach their guitar-playing goals.  He's shared his knowledge with millions of guitarists worldwide via his YouTube channel and his online guitar academy, Total Guitar Lab as well as in his acclaimed 'No Bull' series of guitar books.  James first began playing guitar at 16. Self taught and with no prior musical education or experience, he still remembers very well how confusing guitar playing could be for a newbie. He brings this personal experience of struggling with adversity and confusion on guitar to everything he does, and his practical, , easy-to-use, 'BS free' approach to learning, playing and practicing guitar has gained him a legion of followers around the globe.  His recent book releases include: - Music Theory for Guitarists, Volumes 1 & 2 (Volume 3 coming soon!) - Barre Chords for Guitar - Blues Soloing for Guitar, Volumes 1 & 2 - The CAGED System for Guitar - Circle of Fifths for Guitar These books aim to boost a guitar players ability and confidence by breaking down and simplifying seemingly complex theory, techniques and styles.

Book preview

Circle of Fifths for Guitar

CIRCLE OF FIFTHS FOR GUITAR

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE FOR GUITARISTS: LEARN AND APPLY MUSIC THEORY, MASTER CHORD PROGRESSIONS AND BECOME A BETTER MUSICIAN

JAMES SHIPWAY

HEADSTOCK BOOKS

CONTENTS

Introduction

I. Circle of Fifths Basics

Lesson 1: Introducing the Circle of Fifths

Lesson 2: Going Round the Circle

Lesson 3: Learning the Circle of Fifths

II. Circle of Fifths Secrets

Secret 1: Learn Your Guitar Neck with One Easy ‘Grip’

Secret 2: Use the Circle of Fifths as a Powerful Practice Tool

Secret 3: Major Scale Tricks

Secret 4: Easily Find the Chords in Any Key

Secret 5: The Relative Minor Trick

Secret 6: I, IV and V Chord Tricks

Secret 7: Finding II-V-I Chord Sequences

Secret 8: Finding I-VI-II-V Chord Progressions

Secret 9: Finding III-VI-II-V-I Chord Progressions

Secret 10: The ‘Visual Formula’ for Circle of Fifth Chord Progressions

Final Words

Free Video Masterclass

Appendix 1- Notes on the Guitar Fretboard

Appendix 2 - Major Key Chord Families

Appendix 3 - Minor Key Chord Families

Appendix 4 - Common Scale Patterns

Appendix 5 - Key Signatures and the Circle of Fifths

The Circle of Fifths

Other Books by James Shipway

Academy and Courses

Circle of Fifths for Guitar

by James Shipway

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Published by Headstock Books

headstockbooks.com

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Copyright © James Shipway 2021

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All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise - without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by the United Kingdom copyright law. For permission requests, contact: [e-mail]

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Book Cover Design by ebooklaunch.com

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Paperback ISBN: 978-1-914453-60-1

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-914453-62-5 / 978-1-914453-63-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-914453-61-8

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Circle of Fifths for Guitar!

I still remember when a gifted teacher at music college introduced us to the circle of fifths.

To say it was mind blowing is an understatement!

Suddenly, almost everything I knew about music took on a whole new dimension. I could see why things worked, why they sounded good, and being able to spot many of the ‘formulas’ which make up so much of the music we hear made learning and remembering new songs so much easier.

I wrote this book in the hope of giving you those same ‘aha’ moments that lesson gave me, so that you too can learn to use the amazing power of the circle of fifths!

How To Get Awesome Results with This Book

This book can do wonderful things for your playing and musicianship ...if you use it the right way.

I’d suggest following these guidelines:

1. Go through the lessons in order

This way, the easier concepts covered first will help you get familiar with using the circle of fifths before you tackle the more complex ideas later

2. Don’t be in a rush!

It’s not about reaching the end of this book, it’s about what you discover along the way. Go through each lesson slowly and at your own pace so that you can absorb everything I show you

3. Make it practical

This doesn’t have to be one of those ‘dry’ theory books which you’ll quickly lose interest in. Use it as a practical guide for learning how to apply the circle of fifths to your instrument. Throughout the book I’ll be encouraging you to play as many of the examples as you can on your guitar so that you can hear what they sound like. Doing this will help you retain the knowledge and gain a much deeper understanding of each concept. For some examples I give you chord shapes to use. These are optional, feel free to use different chord shapes to the ones shown if you prefer

4. Read my first Theory for Guitarists book!

I’m assuming you understand the theory basics taught in ‘No Bull Music Theory for Guitarists’. I’m referring to the first in the series of my three books on guitar theory. In this book, I’ll be using terms like ‘I-IV-V’, ‘relative minor ’ and others, without explaining them in great detail. So, make sure you’ve got the basics down, and anything you don’t understand, refer back to it in my first theory book.

5. Do the Quick Quiz questions

To help you check your understanding, I’ll be testing you with some ‘Quick Quiz’ questions along the way. Work through every quiz and check your answers alongside those I give you. It’s the best way to make sure you understand everything

6.

Reviews for Circle of Fifths for Guitar

[Jim Blain · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The info was well organized and easy to understand for a beginner like me. I would recommend this book for understanding chord families and keys. Great job James!