Theory Books - Vai style!

[Balex the Shizzle]

Rite, ive been tryin to learn some theory n stuff for ages, but now i want to buy some books as i actualyl have some money lol!

can anyone reccomend any books, i was looking at the berklee press ones, but i cant find them on a UK site and i dont know whcih ones.

i want to learn from the start about theory, but i want it to go as deep as modes and why they work etc, and i think i want to learn to read music scores and put them straight onto guitar n stuff.

cud you point me to a few books please, preferably on a UK site with UK delivery cos i'll get em off there.

thanks a lot,
alex

[Optiquest]

The berklee book(s) might be a little intense if you've never studied theory before. I suggest 'Mel Bay's Guitar Method Grade 1' or something like that, it has a blue cover. And get a teacher who will teacher you theory, and not just tabs. Good luck!

[Balex the Shizzle]

ive had a look at theory before, and i get the hang of bits, i do actually want something in depth to have a go at first. if i dont understand any of it (but im sure i will work through it slowly) i will get a simpler book, but i want something that will explain a lot. idont know, if any of you have any more sugesstions, but i definitly want to know about all of the I II III IV V II etc stuff and modes.

[theox]

ive had a look at theory before, and i get the hang of bits, i do actually want something in depth to have a go at first. if i dont understand any of it (but im sure i will work through it slowly) i will get a simpler book, but i want something that will explain a lot. idont know, if any of you have any more sugesstions, but i definitly want to know about all of the I II III IV V II etc stuff and modes.

I've learned all that on the internet. Check out http://www.ibreathemusic.com for example. There is a lot of useful articles, from basic to advanced.

[Balex the Shizzle]

ive been lookin on lots of sites like that, but i really watn a book so i can refer to it any time n take it with me to places n stuff.

any other reccomendations for books, i also want a book to teach me how ot sight read form music scores and put that straight onto my guitar.

[UVMan]

Berklee Series

A Modern Method For Guitar vol. 1, 2, 3 by William Leavitt

these books are really good, the same author has a book for sight reading too. I´ve used those books and I´ve learned alot.

[miker]

"Chord Chemistry" by Ted Greene

[Optiquest]

Can you sight read in the first position? Get the berkelee book. If not get the blue mel bay book, the berkelee book jumps right in from sight reading and only has 2 pages that are more of a review on the first position. The mel bay book has 1 page for each string, and a few short songs that add each string as you learn them, once you master that, get the berkelee book. (I know your just like every other guitarist out there(including me) who thinks that they can handle everything, but trust me, you'll be wasting your time otherwise) Hope this helps.

[Balex the Shizzle]

first position?
waht do you mean by that. i can tell the notes from sight reading as i used to play piano, tho it takes me a short while to work out, but i cant automatically work out how to play it on guitar. if i knew where 'middle c' was, i would be able to do it, painstakingly slowly at first admittedly lol

i think i'll try to track down the berklee books from my library so i can see if it would help.

[Optiquest]

First position is pretty much the 3rd fret and up(or a little further if you get some weird chords) and is covered on http://www.cyberfret.com/reading/index.php

Get a teacher too.

[Knyq]

"Chord Chemistry" by Ted Greene

i have that book. i havent gone thru it yet, but it looks very good. i remember seein somewhere on the site that steve recommends it. then i saw it at sam ash and had to have it.

[Optiquest]

"Chord Chemistry" by Ted Greene

i have that book. i havent gone thru it yet, but it looks very good. i remember seein somewhere on the site that steve recommends it. then i saw it at sam ash and had to have it.

It's in Little Black Dots under the Martian Love Secrets section, first lesson.

[Balex the Shizzle]

thanks a lot about that 1st position thing, i get wht u mean by it now
and thanks for the links.

[Mr_Guitarman]

first position?
waht do you mean by that. i can tell the notes from sight reading as i used to play piano, tho it takes me a short while to work out, but i cant automatically work out how to play it on guitar. if i knew where 'middle c' was, i would be able to do it, painstakingly slowly at first admittedly lol

i think i'll try to track down the berklee books from my library so i can see if it would help.

The problem with guitar is that middle C as it sounds on piano(an octave higher then it is for guitar) is in at least 5 different places. So to sight read guitar stuff you have to learn to play in positions( a four fret range on all six string like a box the position is named by the fret it starts on.) or it will be strange beacuse of all the ways to play a piticular note in a passage. It is easyer to stay in a position to sight read becasue when you move your had to much you can start to get lost. I tried to explain this to a pianist friend of mind and he couldn't trully understand it until I told him my guitar has 144 different places to sound while his piano which has a wider range then guitar has much less.