Learn Guitar Chords: Step-by-Step Video Tutorial

David D. ThomasDavid D. Thomas: I have had this book in its 1959 edition from my Dad but the pages were falling out. I bought this new identical one and appreciate the simplicity of its chord instructions. I only needed maybe 12 or 16 as I’m pretty limited as far as sharps and flats go. I wanted just the basics and all is good here.

Canada on Apr 19, 2023

Ariane E Alexander: There is one truth in music: there are no shortcuts. That being said, if you put in the time and methodically work your way through the technique, you can learn your way around the instrument much more effectively if you drill all the patterns - chords, scales, modes, etc. This is a nice collection of chords, and it's fun to try some of the more exotic ones (I have a whole new love of 9th chords now! I always wondered what the big deal was before!)

Highly recommend

United Kingdom on Oct 04, 2022

DK Danny Kwok: The text is bigger also picture of the chord

Canada on Sep 28, 2022

AA: Its a very nice book to learn chords.

Canada on Aug 11, 2022

Michael Chavers: I used this book to learn how to play the guitar some 45 years ago. I used it to teach myself how to play.
It's not hard to learn, you just have to keep at it everyday for three years, then you should be able to play in the dark seeing nothing but playing without messing up.

United States on May 01, 2021

J_Onyx: I rarely give any product 5 stars. This classic book desires it. I taught myse,f guitar when I was 12 years-old using Mel Bay; It was already a classic then. There were other superb chord books such as Chet Adkins (one of the best guitar masters ever). But Mel Bay's thin chord book was ahead of the rest. He simply got it right. He provided BOTH photos of a hand & fingers modeling each cord & an illustration of finger numbers showing each chord.
The result is students learn each chord & the illustrated finger number system simultaneously, which prepares you to be able to use the many other books that use only thefinger number system.
I was delighted The Bay book is still in print & it is unchanged. I just bought a copy to give to my 12 year-old grandson who bought himself a guitar with money he got from us for Christmas. I strongly reccomend this book!

United States on Jan 04, 2021

Somenath ChauhanSomenath Chauhan: The book is worth every rupee! It's the best selling basic guitar chord book for obvious reasons! I highly recommend going for it if you're new or somewhat familiar with the chord patterns. It has movable chord patterns plus a very important section at the end discussing numerous advanced chord formations with finger patterns and arrows to help you figure out why the changes are taking place!
I'm happy to say that I brought it for myself!!! I'm an intermediate learner and the very important "Modern Rhythm Chords" end section is really helping me!!!

India on Apr 06, 2018

oldsnoringrottie: As a chord reference book, I wish that the root notes in the chord diagrams would have a special symbol ie square while the other notes are circles.

Also, there is no documentation up front regarding movable chords and how to use them. (The book targets beginners - even shows a picture of a pick.) There are six chords in the back of the book that are listed as movable but almost all the chords in the book are movable.

I saw one negative review of the book because some of the chord diagrams are for sharp/flat notes (ex Gb) that a lot of players would never use. By not explaining movable chords, the reviewer probably didn't realize that the chord diagram could be used for any root note.

United States on Jul 13, 2017

Jimmy N.: Good chord book, but it has a lot of good chords missing. It only has one add9 chord and its not a practical one that can be used. It does have a lot of the basic chords with good diagrams on the proper way to place your fingers and how to hold your guitar if your a beginner. It's a bit large but it will fit in a guitar case. Overall it's a good chord book to have if you don't have anything else to use but there are better chord books out there.

United States on Aug 02, 2015

Jeff Bartelli: This book is fantastic for the simple fact that it shows the sheet music, chord diagram, and a photo of each chord. However, I have two complaints: first, the book does not present the chords in their respective keys. I wanted to learn the chord progressions for major and minor keys and this book does not provide that. Second, even though each chord has its sheet music equivalent, it never shows the chord in any particular key, so you're stuck with chords that have sharps and flats when they likely wouldn't in an actual piece of sheet music. However, if you're only try to learn chords without their respective keys, this is a great resource.

And the price is right.

United States on Apr 15, 2014