25 guides

Guides

Harmony, scales, tunings and keys explained for guitar composers, each guide linked to the tool where you practice it.

Start hereWhy triads are important for guitar composersWhy every guitarist should master triads: they are the building blocks of chords, the key to voice leading, and the secret to unlocking the fretboard.
Read the guide

Chords & harmony

Minor triads: voicings & techniques

Learn minor triads on guitar: CAGED shapes, inversions, voice leading, and how to use them for emotional depth in songwriting and arrangement.

Practice in Chord finder →
Diminished triads: shapes, theory & application

Learn diminished triads on guitar: fretboard shapes, music theory, voice leading applications, and how to use them in jazz, classical, and modern songwriting.

Practice in Chord finder →
Dominant 7th chords & voice leading

Master dominant 7th chords: voicings, theory, blues applications, jazz voice leading, and tritone substitution. The most important chord type in popular music.

Practice in Harmonizer →
Guitar chord progressions guide

Learn the 20 most used chord progressions in pop, rock, jazz, blues, and folk. Understand roman numerals, common patterns, and how to use them in songwriting.

Practice in Chord progressions →

Scales

Beyond major: modes, jazz & world scalesExplore guitar scales beyond major and minor: modes, melodic minor, harmonic minor, whole tone, diminished, and world music scales with fretboard diagrams.Scales for jazz improvisationThe essential scales every jazz guitarist needs: dorian, mixolydian, altered, lydian dominant, diminished, whole tone. With fretboard diagrams and application tips.Bebop scales guideLearn bebop scales for jazz guitar: bebop dominant, bebop major, bebop minor, and bebop dorian. Chromatic passing tones that make your lines swing.Advanced pentatonic scalesAdvanced pentatonic techniques: connecting positions, hybrid scales, pentatonic substitutions, and modern applications for blues, rock, and fusion guitar.Symmetric scales: diminished, whole tone, augmentedMaster symmetric guitar scales: diminished (whole-half, half-whole), whole tone, and augmented. Unique intervallic patterns for jazz and fusion improvisation.Exotic scales for world musicExplore exotic scales from around the world: Japanese Hirajoshi, Indian Raga scales, Arabic Maqam, Hungarian Minor, Spanish Phrygian, and more with guitar diagrams.Scales for film & cinematic compositionDiscover scales used in film scoring: Lydian for wonder, Phrygian for tension, whole tone for dream sequences, and more cinematic scales for guitar composers.Practice all 134 scalesOpen scales →

Chords in every key

Diatonic triads and seventh chords, progressions and substitutions, with guitar voicings.

CGDAEBFB♭E♭A♭D♭G♭
TuningsAlternate tunings guide: Drop D, DADGAD, open tuningsComplete guide to guitar alternate tunings: Drop D, DADGAD, Open G, Open D, Drop C and more. Learn how each tuning changes chords, scales, and songwriting possibilities.Read the guide