chord

Guitar Chord Bible (Music Bibles)
$14.99
Simple, easy to follow layout and well explained format with fingering alternatives for every chord under the sun. I'm learning the acoustic guitar as a worship leader and this will come in very useful as I navigate chord charts and decipher new chords that come my way. I like that it's relatively small and is spiral bound also.

The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians (Instructional)
$14.95
I can't say enough positive things about this brief little book!

I read through the reviews here before buying figuring that I could use the Chord Wheel but the rest of the book would be unhelpful. So many people said the same thing. I absolutely disagree! The 12 pages in this brief book cover more material, more simply and clearly, than anything else I have ever come across.

Most books I have seen start with basics, and build on with excercises that I get lost in for lack of ability to see the big picture. What am I supposed to be learning? How does it all fit together? Why isn't this fun? I would have to practically earn a PhD in music before I would ever figure out how to be creative and actually enjoy playing music with most music instruction books.

THIS book, on the other hand, is invaluable.

The Chord Wheel itself, as everyone seems to agree, is really cool. Pick a key, play the chords within that chord family (found online or by looking them up in a separate chord reference guide) in any order or combination that appeals to you, and you sound good playing your instrument.

The 12 pages of text are OUTSTANDING. The first time I read through it, I couldn't understand it at all. The second time, it took some concentration but I managed to comprehend everything. The third time, I understood it with less effort and it made just a little more sense. After the third time through I started asking questions - what about minor keys? There are minor keys, right? I read more closely and it all started clicking. I may not be able to teach it to someone else just yet, but every time I read it, it makes more and more sense. The thing is, it's only twelve pages, so you can read it in a short time.

You don't have to master every concept to at least understand how it all fits together - and once you understand that, everything else is easier to learn. Chord progressions and analysis, circle of fifths, scales, modes - learn what that means here, and you'll have a strong conceptual foundation to get the most out of other music books - the ones I couldn't get through! I may revisit them, but there is enough here for me to work on (actually playing music, not reading and working through exercises), that I don't feel any urgency just now.

Just give the book a chance. Read through it more than once. If you don't get it, you will if you keep at it. It actually isn't all that hard, really, it is just that people like me with a minimal to zero musical background are naturally going to have a hard time building a conceptual framework for undestanding the language of music.

If you are looking for something to get you up and running, this is it! Combine it with chord reference charts or you won't be able to use it (if you can't play the chords!) but you can find that stuff online or at the library.

Qwik Tune Guitar Professor Chord Finder
$24.95
Keep in mind, for the price, you can't expect too much. However, it's a handy little tool that works rather well. It is obviously intended for beginners being that experienced musicians should know their chords. The tuner function is accurate & has a digital needle to allow up & down tuning which I find to be handy. The chord function will prove itself quite valuable for the beginner and takes up way less room than a chord book. It is also a great tool to use if you are learning how to transpose chords. Eventually, by studying the fingering patterns, You should be able to excel in your theory studies. If used right, you may find it to be a valuable learning/teaching tool. It comes with enough information to keep you playing for a long time. There are many bands that never play more than 5 chords their whole careers. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I find the pitch function to be a bit more annoying than useful. But that shouldn't stop you from ordering it. Between the chord function and tuner you get more than your money's worth. It feels cheap but for the price you can't go wrong. I would absolutely recommend this product to anyone from beginner on up. Once you've learned all your chords the tuner & pitch function (though annoying) will still be useful. I wish I had one when I started learning.

The Complete Book of Scales, Chords, Arpeggios and Cadences: Includes All the Major, Minor (Natural, Harmonic, Melodic) & Chromatic Scales - Plus Additional Instructions on Music Fundamentals
$8.50
First pages give handy explanations of how scales and chords are formed, so you can start from any note and construct the chords yourself.
Scales are easy to read, includes fingerings.
Great book to learn and practice the fundamentals.