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Chord Chemistry

Jam10Jam10 Posts: 654
edited October 2008 in Musicians and Gearheads
I want to get into complex chords to add some flavour and variety to my playing so I asked my guitar instructor if there were any books he recommended and he said to get....Chord Chemistry by Ted Greene.
Has anybody used this book before or know much about it. I read some reviews online about it and it sounds really good but I really like the input and advice I get from this board so I thought I would ask here before buying it.
Are there any other chord books that you guys/girls recommend buying that are really good and easy to read and understand?

Thanks
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Piper At The GatesPiper At The Gates Posts: 460
    Mel Bay's Complete Book Of Guitar Chords. It has been around forever. I am not familiar with Chord Chemistry but I know Ted Greene's books are always very good.
  • who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    I forgot all about Chord Chemistry!
    I've had that book for years but I haven't really opened it for a long time.

    It DOES have as many chord combos as you could ever want. It might be a little much as it's full of different combos of fingerings and 7ths and #9ths/flat 5ths with a 13th.
    It may be a bit overwhelming and it's more for visual people but it has years and years of work in it.
    It has a lot of chord substitutions and diagrams, too.

    It also goes into the structure formula behind chord. Very complete book and you may end up going back to the Mel Bay book as a starter for that.

    You would do well with learning the notes on the fretboard to get into more complex chords because they're dealing with augmented and diminished and 5ths and 6ths and 11ths and 13ths and on and on. If you know what the fretted note is, and you know the different formulas (Haha formulae! My science background FINALLY pays off!) for chords you're much freer to find altered chords on the fly, too.

    I don't know how deep your musical knowledge is, but there's a reason why this is one of the best selling guitar books ever:

    http://www.amazon.com/Mel-Bay-Guitar-Chords/dp/0786629134/ref=pd_sim_b_1/105-1724174-2769261

    The Mel Bay book is a great "get you going" book, and the Chord Chemistry book is like the final destination.

    Ted Greene was an amazing guitarist, too! RIP for a laid back and great guy.

    Here's a little lesson from him:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlrpMgoP_uc

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEvN7QtqDK4&feature=related

    His book "Modern Chord Progressions" is great, too! Might as well get both of them! You will eventually so you might as well do it now! :D
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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  • chorduroychorduroy Posts: 72
    The Mel Bay book of chords is a great book. It covers pretty much any chord you can think of.... I also in the past year or so came across a pretty cool interactive and free website called...www.chordbook.com...I'm sure some of you have seen it before - for those that have not, I'd highly recommend checking it out You could spend hours on the site learning chords, creating your own chords, etc.. - the site even has a tuner as well.
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