Table Of ContentThe Ultimate
Guitar Chords
Scales & Arpeggios
Handbook
For Beginners & Up
New Edition with 30 Bonus Lessons!
Learn 100s of the Most Useful Guitar Chords!
Improve Your Guitar-Playing Technique!
Master Practical Music Theory Knowledge!
Here is a list of some of the Great
Guitar Concepts and Techniques
that you will learn in this book:
How to Play All the Most Useful Chords Strumming
Major Chords Music Theory Essentials Learning
Notes of the Fretboard Technique-Building Exercises
Minor Chords Power Chords Blues Scales &
Licks Barre Chords Major & Minor Scales
Arpeggios Dominant 7th Chords Blues Chords
Rock Chords Jazz Chords Minor 7th Chords
Video Lessons Chord Inversions Picking
and Many More Musical Ideas for Beginners and Up!
How the Book & Streaming Videos Work
As a guitar teacher and music theory professor for over twenty-
five years, I have wanted to help beginner, intermediate, and
advanced guitarists succeed in building their chord-playing
technique, exploring their creativity, and getting a handle on the
practical aspects of music theory. This book takes an integrated
approach, where you will learn guitar chords and scales and
how to use them in a musical context. Interwoven with the chord
and scale material you will learn music theory, practical guitar
licks, the notes of the fretboard, and chord progressions that put
what you learn into a musical context. You will be able to apply
all of these ideas to your playing and song writing. There are
free, streaming video lessons that correspond to the material
presented in the book. These video lessons illuminate some of
the key concepts and demonstrate a lot of techniques.
This book and streaming video course makes playing the guitar
and mastering technique fun, easy, interactive, and engaging. It
follows a step-by-step lesson format for learning the most useful
concepts in guitar playing: going from easy beginner ideas to
more advanced concepts. These techniques and ideas will
greatly improve your playing! The primary focus of the book is
guitar chords and the most practical guitar scale concepts.
Each section of the book builds on the previous one in a clear
and easy-to-understand manner with bite-sized lessons that you
can work on daily or every few days. This way, you will see
steady improvement in your playing. No music reading is
necessary. I walk you through how to play each element,
starting with easy ones, at the beginning of the book, and
advancing, little by little, as you master new concepts and
techniques. There are also corresponding free, streaming video
lessons that help to demonstrate key concepts that we cover.
Throughout the book, I will teach you a new concept, like C and
G major chords. Then, in a following lesson, we will play them in
a musical context, so that you put them into practice right away.
If you have always wanted to expand your knowledge and
proficiency of guitar chord playing, creativity, and technique,
then this book is for you. Let’s get started on this exciting
musical journey together!
Table of Contents
Page Section 1: Beginner Level: Chords
6: Lessons 1-2: Parts of the Guitar & Guitar String Numbers
7: Lessons 3-4: What are Chords? & Chord Diagrams
8: Lessons 5-6: Left-Hand Finger Numbers & Left-Hand Technique
9: Lessons 7-8: Finger Exercises for the Left Hand
10: Lessons 9-10: Right-Hand Technique
11: Lessons 11-12: Strumming Basics
12: Lessons 13-15: Very Easy Chords: G & C Major + E Minor
13: Lessons 16-17: Very Easy Chords: A Minor & Tablature Basics
14: Lessons 18-20: Playing Easy Chords
15: Lesson 21: Music Theory: What are Intervals?
16: Lessons 22-24: Playing & Listening to Intervals
17: Lessons 25-26: Music Theory: What is a Major Chord?
18: Lessons 27-29: Music Theory: What is a Minor Chord?
19: Lessons 30-32: Note Order of Chords + E Minor & E Major
20: Lessons 33-34: Down & Up Strumming + Beats & Measures
21: Lessons 35-37: A Major & A Minor Chords
22: Lessons 38-40: Hints on Chord Playing
23: Lessons 41-43: Minor Chord Progressions + Learning New Chords
24: Lessons 44-45: Whole & Half Steps + Guitar Secrets
25: Lessons 46-48: D & G Major Chords + Major Thirds
26: Lessons 49-51: C Major & Chord Progressions
27: Lessons 52-53: Minor Thirds & D Minor
28: Lessons 54-56: C Minor, G Minor & Chord Progressions
29: Lessons 57-59: Learning the Guitar Neck: The High-E String
30: Lessons 60-61: Good Practice Habits + F & G Minor
31: Lessons 62-63: The Structure of Major & Minor Chords
32: Lessons 64-67: Notes of the Major Chords
33: Lessons 68-70: Learning the Guitar Neck: The B String
34: Lessons 71-73: B & C Minor + Chord Progressions
35: Lessons 74-75: Chord Progressions & Practice Tips
36: Lessons 76-78: B, C & F Major
37: Lessons 79-81: Learning the Guitar Neck: The G String
38: Lessons 82-85: Notes of the Minor Chords
39: Lessons 86-87: Review of the Major Chords
40: Lessons 88-89: Review of the Major & Minor Chords
41: Lessons 90-91: Review of the Minor Chords
42: Lessons 92-94: Learning the Guitar Neck: The D String
43: Lessons 95-96: Dominant 7th Chords
44: Lessons 97-99: A7, D7 & E7
45: Lessons 100-102: Dominant 7th Chord Progressions
46: Lessons 103-105: C7 & G7 + Chord Progressions
47: Lessons 106-108: Minor 7th Chords + Am7 & Dm7
48: Lessons 109-111: Em7 & Chord Progressions
49: Lessons 112-114: Fm7 & Gm7 + Chord Progressions
50: Lessons 115-117: Suspended (Sus2 & Sus4) Chords
51: Lessons 118-120: Suspended Chord Progressions
52: Lessons 121-123: Strumming Patterns
53: Lessons 124: Guitar Hints: Listening to New Music
Section 2: More Advanced Chords + Scales
54: Lessons 125-126: Power Chords
55: Lessons 127-129: Moving Around the Guitar Neck with Power Chords
56: Lessons 130-132: Learning the Notes of the Guitar Neck: Low-E String
57: Lesson 133: A Few Words About Scales: A Starting Point
58: Lessons 134-135: Introduction to the Major Scale
59: Lessons 136-137: C Major Scale in Open Position
60: Lessons 138-139: Kinesthetics of Guitar Playing + C Major, Part 2
61: Lessons 140-142: C Major Scale, Part 3
62: Lessons 143-145: C Major Scale Licks
63: Lesson 146: Alternate Picking
64: Lessons 147-149: Alternate Picking Exercises
65: Lessons 150-152: Coordinating Both Hands
66: Lessons 153-155: More C Major Scale Licks
67: Lesson 156: Metronomes
68: Lessons 157-158: What are Chord Progressions?
69: Lessons 159-160: I, IV, V & ii, V, I Chord Progressions
70: Lessons 161-162: i, iv, v Chord Progressions in Minor
71: Lessons 163-164: Chord Inversions
72: Lessons 165-166: Movable 3-Note Major Chords: C Major
73: Lessons 167-168: Movable 3-Note Minor Chords: C Minor
74: Lessons 169-170: Chord Progressions in C Major & Minor
75: Lessons 171-172: Movable 3-Note Major Chords: D Major
76: Lessons 173-174: Movable 3-Note Minor Chords: D Minor
77: Lessons 175-176: I, IV, V, I in D Major & Minor
78: Lessons 177-179: Root-Position Movable 3-Note Chords: C, E & A
79: Lessons 180-181: Playing C & D Major + Guitar Secrets
80: Lessons 182-183: C Major & Minor 3-Note Arpeggios
81: Lessons 184-185: D Major & Minor 3-Note Arpeggios
82: Lessons 186-188: Learning the Notes of the Guitar Neck: A String
83: Lessons 189-190: A Minor Scale: Introduction
84: Lessons 191-192: Relative Major & Minor Scales
85: Lessons 193-195: Open-Position A Minor Scale
86: Lessons 196-198: A Minor Scale: Putting It All Together
87: Lessons 199-201: A Minor Scale Licks
88: Lessons 202-203: Major Barre Chords
89: Lessons 204-205: Chord Progressions with Major Barre Chords
90: Lessons 206-207: Minor Barre Chords
91: Lessons 208-209: Chord Progressions with Minor Barre Chords
92: Lessons 210-211: Dominant 7th Barre Chords
93: Lessons 212-213: Chord Progressions with 7th Barre Chords
94: Lessons 214-215: Minor Seventh Barre Chords
95: Lessons 216-217: Chord Progressions with Minor 7th Barre Chords
96: Lessons 218-219: Major 7th Barre Chords
97: Lessons 220-221: Chord Progressions with Major 7th Barre Chords
98: Lessons 222-223: E Minor Pentatonic Scale
99: Lessons 224-226: E Minor Pentatonic Scale Licks
100: Lessons 227-229: Minor Pentatonic Warm-ups
101: Lessons 230-232: Technique-Building Exercises
102: Lessons 233-234: A Minor Pentatonic Scale Overview
103: Lessons 235-236: A Minor Pentatonic Licks
104: Lessons 237-240: Movable Dominant 7th Chords
Bonus Lessons:
105: Bonus Lessons 241-244: Movable Minor 7th Chords
106: Bonus Lessons 245-248: Movable Major 7th Chords
107: Bonus Lessons: 249-251: Technique-Building Exercises
108: Bonus Lessons: 252-254: C Major Scale from the 5th String
109: Bonus Lessons: 255-256: Major Scale from the 6th String
110: Bonus Lessons: 257-259: Movable Diminished & Augmented Chords
111: Bonus Lessons: 260-261: A & D Minor Scales
112: Bonus Lessons: 262-264: 9th Chords
113: Bonus Lessons: 265-266: Movable Major Arpeggios
114: Bonus Lessons: 267-268: Movable Minor Arpeggios
115: Bonus Lessons: 269-270: Movable Dominant 7th Arpeggios
116: Bonus Lessons: 271-272: Movable Minor 7th Arpeggios
117: Bonus Lessons: 273-274: Movable Major 7th Arpeggios
118: Where to Go From Here & About the Author
119: Further Reading
122: Becoming the Guitarist of Your Dreams!
The Streaming Video Lessons
Video Video
There are 20 streaming video lessons that correspond to the
materials presented in this book. All of these streaming videos are
free and available at all times. To access the videos, click on the
blue link or go to SteeplechaseMusic.com and click on the link for
Guitar Books at top of the Home Page. Then, on the Guitar Books
Page, click on the cover image for this book: The Ultimate Guitar
Chords, Scales, Arpeggios Handbook. On the webpage for The
Ultimate Guitar Chords, Scales Arpeggios Handbook, you will see a
link / image for the video lessons. Click on the link for access.
Table of Contents for the Video Lessons
#1: Parts of the Guitar #11: F & G Minor Chords
#2: Left-Hand Technique #12: B String Notes
#3: Strumming Basics #13: B & C Minor Chords
#4: Easy Chords #14: B & C Major Chords
#5: Intervals #15: A7, D7 & E7 Chords
#6: Beats #16: Minor 7th Chords
#7: A Major & Minor Chords #17: Power Chords
#8: Whole & Half Steps #18: Low-E String Notes
#9: D Minor & Major Chords #19: C Major Scale
#10: High-E String Notes #20: Alternate Picking
Section 1: Beginner Level: Chords
Lesson #1: Parts of the Guitar
In this first lesson, we are going to learn the basic parts of the
guitar. Take a few moments and identify these parts on your own
guitar. Click on the Blue Link for Video #1: Video #1 Link
Head
Video Video
Tuners
Nut
Neck
Frets
Pickguard
Sound Hole
Pickup
Bridge
Body
Lesson #2: The Guitar String Numbers
The guitar string numbers go from 1
6 5 4 3 2 1
to 6 from thinest to thickest string.
E A D G B E
The thinnest string (the High E) is
string 1. The thickest string is string
6 (the Low E). The “high” in High E
string means highest sound, not
highest position from the floor.
The illustrations to the left and below
demonstration this organization.
6
1
6
Lesson #3: What are chords?
In music, chords are two or more notes played at the same
time. They give harmonic color to songs and pieces of music.
Along with melody and rhythm, they are among the basic
building blocks of music.
For guitar, chords come in many shapes and sizes: from two-
note power chords to six-note barre chords to chords that use
open strings, and much much more.
As a listening exercise, when you hear a song on the radio,
your computer, device, etc., try to pick out the guitar chords in
the song’s arrangement. (As a hint, guitar chords are often
strummed. So listen for that sound in the song.)
Lesson #4: How to Read Guitar Chord Diagrams
One of the most common and practical ways to read chords for
the guitar is the chord diagram (also known as a chord chart). It
is a graphic representation of the guitar neck and the left-hand
fingers. In this book, we are going to use a combination of
chord diagrams, tablature, photos, and standard notation.
Below is a chart on how to read chord
diagrams for the guitar. Take a few
moments to familiarize yourself with
the format. You are going to see a lot
of these in this book and in your
guitar playing. To the right is a photo
of the chord indicated in the diagram.
Open string Finger Number Strings (high to low):
High E
B
G
D
A
Low E
Don’t play Frets Fret Number
this string
7
Lesson #5: What are the Left-Hand Finger
Numbers on the Guitar?
To the left is an illustration that
demonstrates the finger numbers
3 2 for the left hand on the guitar.
1
4
Finger #1 is the index finger.
Finger #2 is the middle finger.
Finger #3 is the ring finger.
Finger #4 is the pinky.
(The thumb is not often used.
When it is, a “T” is written.)
Lesson #6: Left-Hand Position & Technique for Chords
Click on the Blue Link for Video #2: Video #2 Link
Video Video
For most of your guitar playing you are going to want to play the
guitar notes with the tips of your left-hand fingers. (By the way, this is
called “fretting” the notes.) This technique will create the best guitar
tone and diminish any string buzzing.
For the majority of your fretted notes, you should bring your left-hand
thumb down so that it roughly lines up, on the back side of the guitar
neck with your index finger. Bringing your thumb down on the back of
the guitar neck will also make stretches from one note to the next a lot
easier to play. Depending on the size of your hands and the size of
the stretch, especially for big stretches, it’s a good idea to tilt the
guitar head up a bit (toward the ceiling); this will give you better
leverage and angle on the guitar neck.
For some fretted notes, you will need to use a moderate amount of
hand strength to make the notes sound. Take your time and find the
right position for your hand shape.
Below are two illustrations of left-hand technique.
8
Lesson #7: Finger Exercise #1 for the Left Hand
This is a left-hand finger exercise that will improve your finger
coordination, muscle memory, and your kinesthetic sense of the
guitar fretboard. Your kinesthetic sense for guitar playing is your
awareness of the hand and finger position on the guitar, whether for
the neck (left hand) or picking or plucking (with the right hand).
1: Start this exercise by locating the first fret of the first string (the
High-E String: the thinnest string). Now, place the tip of your left-
hand index finger (finger #1) on the first fret of the first string. Now,
lift your index finger off of the fret. Repeat this process of placing
the index finger on the fret and taking it off the fret five times.
2: Next, locate the first fret of the second string (the B String: the
second thinnest string on your guitar). Now, place the tip of your
left-hand index finger (finger #1) on the first fret of the second
string. Then, lift it off the fret. Please repeat this process five times.
3: Finally, practice this technique of placing the index finger and
removing it on the first frets of the remaining four strings.
Lesson #8: Finger Exercise #2 for the Left Hand
In these exercises, we are going to work on the coordination for
the second and third fingers in the left hand. Fingers two and three
are your middle and ring fingers, respectively.
Start by placing your second finger (middle finger) on the second
fret of the third string. Then, lift it off. Repeat this process five times
and bring your attention to the feeling in your hands. Repeat this
process on the second fret of the other strings. Once you have this
down, practice the same concept with the third finger (ring finger)
on the third fret on all of the strings, starting with the first string.
As best as you can, little by little, try mainly to use your sense of
touch (kinesthetic) and hearing, rather than your eyes. With these
exercises, it’s okay to use your eyes to check your position;
however, eventually, you will mainly be using your kinesthetic
sense and your hearing, rather than your eyesight. As you progress
with your guitar playing, the movement of your hands will be too
fluid and complex for your eyes to accurately follow without a lot of
effort. This effort to see what is going on will take away focus and
energy on your actual playing. Also, it will cause you to develop a
bad habit of peering down into the fretboard, which is not good for
your posture or overall musicality.
9
Lesson #9: Right-Hand Technique: Holding a Pick
The next lesson that we are going to look at
1
is how to hold the guitar pick. Even though all
of the chords, scales, and licks in this book
can be played with a right-hand finger style
approach, a large percentage of all guitar
players use some type of guitar pick.
Before we get into how to hold the guitar
pick, I would like to mention that you should
experiment with the shape and the thickness
of the guitar pick that you use in your playing.
2
There are many different types of guitar picks
out there in the world. Most of them cost
under a dollar. It’s a good idea to go to a local
music store or online and buy a few different
types. You might be surprised at what a
difference a slight change in the pick’s
material and shape make in your playing.
Have Fun!
3
There are a three easy steps to holding a
guitar pick: 1. Place the pick on the nail of
your right-hand index finger. 2. Slide the pick
to the left side of your index finger. 3. Gently
place your thumb on the guitar pick. Please
see the illustrations to the left on this page.
Lesson #10: Right-Hand Technique:
Strumming with the Right-Hand Fingers
Click the Blue Link for Video #3: Video #3 Link
Video Video
Strumming with the fingers is a very easy and natural guitar
technique. There are many ways to strum with your fingers. You
can gently brush the strings using your right-hand fingernails;
this is done with a downward motion. You can also use the tips
of your right-hand thumb, index, and middle fingers, or just
your right-hand thumb and index fingers; these, like the first
technique described, are done with a relaxed right-hand wrist.
Please take a moment to go to SteeplechaseMusic.com and
look at video #3. Strumming with the fingers is much easier to
understand visually. One last thing, strumming with your fingers
is part of the art of playing the guitar; slightly moving the
strumming location and angle on the string will change the tone
a great deal. Have fun exploring this wonderful technique!
10
