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

The book starts at a very basic level - the musical alphabet - which I knew from band in high school, but was still helpful as I proceeded through the book. It lays out everything in clear, easy to understand language and is envouraging without being condescending at every step. Just bought the next two in the series!

If you want to learn music theory simply and efficiently - and every guitar player should - this is a fantastic starting point. No nonsense, everything explained with clarity and examples. I’ve been playing “campfire guitar” for years and finally decided to study the instrument with some depth. This book has been a HUGE help. Take your time with it - don’t breeze through it, even if you think you already “know” what he’s talking about. Pay attention, take the quizzes, go through it time and time again until you know it inside and out, and you WILL reap great benefits!

Great book that delivers straight to the point. Already learning a lot.

The book is laid out in a way that starts with basics and builds up from each chapter. for me it is very understandable and very good resource to have when I need a reference for my guitar learning journey. The digital version is a plus, I highly recommend this for newer guitar players.

This book covers essential music theory in a very simple manner. Even though I already knew some theory, this book is teaching me key points and their application to the guitar. I like that the book has tests. Only negative is that the author treats you like a child. Updating my review! Upgraded to five stars. This really is a great book. I have started Volume II and decided to go back through Volume I first. The way James describes how the chords of a given key are built and result in either a major or minor chord is wonderful. I've not seen this in any other theory book. I've studied theory for a while but this book has begun to bring it together for me. I lay awake traversing keys and intervals, think, "ok, that's why it's a minor interval" and stuff like that. To save my hands and back, I use an app to manage my practicing, five minutes on , one minute off for an hour plus a day. I study the theory in my one minutes off, so about 5-10 minutes a day. These books are my main resource.

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!

This book was about at straight forward as you could hope for with a nice approach to the information. It had nice small tests after each chapter to check and see if I was retaining what I had read and it put the info in direct language which meant I did not have to read a lot of the writers thoughts and theory's just the info on music theory I was trying to learn. Also the language he used was direct and just the facts! I use both the Audible and Kindle version because of a learning disability I haver had all my life and my only disappointment was only book 1 is available in Audible. I sent an email asking about time frame of other 2 book to be put on Audible but have not heard back from him. I hope he replies because if not it would be the only negative in an otherwise wonderful transition.

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.

Excellent book which is written well in encouraging bite sized chunks. Not quite finished book one but have already had lots of light bulb moments which ties the theory to practical application. Didn’t think I would ever be enthusiastic about music theory but it’s actually really useful. Would certainly recommend this book for any guitarist wanting to understand music theory is an easy to digest way.

James Shipway, einer der aktuell begabtesten Online Gitarrenlehrer aus England bringt hier mit seinem ersten Buch eine ausgezeichnete Ergänzung zu seinen Online Kursen. Sehr zu empfehlen sind auch seine Gratis "You Tube Lessons. welche für Rock, Blues und allgemeine Musik Theorie und Praxis sehr viel guten und nützlichen Inhalt liefern. Ich habe vor zwei Jahren einen Einzelkurs bei Ihm erstanden und war sehr zufrieden mit meinem Vorschritt. Daher bin ich nun im Total Guitar Lab ein begeisterter Kunde und werde dieses Buch nutzen um auch Unterwegs, und Offline von seinem Wissen und seiner genialen Methode der Wissensvermittlung profitieren. No Bull Music Theory gibt es auch als Online Course im TGL wie viele weitere Kurse für Einsteiger, Semi's und Profi's. Perfekt für mich um mich Stück für Stück weiter zu entwickeln. Wann und Wo ich gerade Zeit dafür habe. Das James Englisch spricht ist denke ich klar, aber für jeden mit etwas Schulenglisch und Sprachpraxiserfahrung absolut verständlich. Eigentlich eine Geniale Übung auch das Englisch wieder aufzufrischen und zu trainieren. Weiter So James, Ich freue mich auf deine anderen Kurse in Buchform. Thank You James, great job! Stay tuned and we see you in the next module!

must have book for all the guitarists who wants to understand music theory in detail yet in Layman terms! Thank you James. :)

Amazing Book that helps you to learn in a few hours with fun, what has taken me years of reading and guitar lessons. ABSOLUTELY RECOMMENABLE!

Great tool for learning fundamentals and understanding guitar and music in general. If I had this as a young man, I believe it would have helped save me some time and pain.