The Guitarist Big Black Book

Digital Edition

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may only be reproduced for personal use and may not be otherwise reproduced and/or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher. ISBN 978-0-692-78563-8 © Copyright 2017 Best Music Stuff LLC & TrueFire Edited by Allan Portera Printed in the United States, 2017 Best Music Stuff PO Box 471 Oceanport, NJ 07757 BestMusicStuff.com TrueFire 2500 Emerson Avenue South, St Petersburg, FL 33712 TrueFire.com ORDER THE PRINT VERSION FROM BEST MUSIC STUFF Purchase a full printed, spiral bound version of The BigBlack Book from Best Music Stuff (bestmusicstuff.com).

FOREWORD // Thanks for downloading TrueFire’s free digital version of The Guitarist’s Big Black Book! Anyone playing and/or teaching guitar needs staff paper, blank tab, chord grids, scale grids, and fretboard diagrams to chart their lessons and musical ideas. You can find books with some combination of these blank charts and grids, but you � won’t find one with all of them organized in a practical way. That’s why we chose to design our own. The chart designs, layout, and organization of The Guitarist's Big Black Book � have been optimized for the practicing guitarist. For reference purposes, we also included a 15-page Reference Guide of chords and scales you must know to play a variety of musical styles. Feel free to print this book out however you wish — print out the whole book as designed, print individual pages, or re-order the pages and design your own version. You can also purchase a full printed, spiral bound version of The � BigBlack Book from our good friends at Best Music Stuff (bestmusicstuff.com). If you’re not yet registered as a TrueFire student, please do so by visiting truefire.com — registration is free, quick, and you’ll get 30 days of All Access to 25,000 video guitar lessons! Practice smart. Play hard.

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THE ESSENTIAL REFERENCE GUIDE // Every style of music has its own vocabulary of open position and moveable chords. While many chords are common to a variety of styles, each style also requires a few go-to chords that you won’t usually find in other styles. We organized the chords on the following pages by style to make it easier to reference and learn quickly. Of course there are hundreds of other chords and you will learn many of them as you delve into more sophisticated harmonies and songs. However, whether you’re a beginner or a pro, the chords featured in this section are used to play literally thousands of popular songs. We’ve also included the most commonly used scales and modes in this reference section. Like the chords, there are many other scales, modes and fingerings you will learn as you progress, but these are some of the most essential. If you’re new to moveable chords, please review the fretboard diagram on the following page. This is your key to being able to play any moveable chord, anywhere on the neck, in any key. Practice smart. Play hard.

HOW TO READ THE DIAGRAMS // The dots on the fretboard with numbers in them represent where you put your fingers. The numbers dictate which finger goes where. If a string has an X above it – that means you do not play that string. If it has an O above it – that means you play that string open. The white dots with black numbers in them represent the “root” notes of the chord or scale where applicable.  Any chords that have an arched line that connects two strings indicates that you “barre” or hold your finger down across all of the strings between those.

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E

A D G B

E

FRETBOARD //

1

F

A B

D E

G A

C

F

2

F G

B

E

A

C D

F G

Knowing the notes on the fretboard is important for many reasons. Scales and chords have their “root” notes on different strings in various places on the neck, so being able to quickly identify what note is where is a crucial skill.

3

G

C

F

A B

D

G

4

G A

C D

F G

B

D E

G A

5

A

D

G

C

E

A

6

A B

D E

G A

C D

F

A B

7

B

E

A

D

F G

B

8

C

F

A B

D E

G

C

9

C D

F G

B

E

G A

C D

10

D

G

C

F

A

D

11

D E

G A

C D

F G

A B

D E

12

E

A

D

G

B

E

"Moveable" chords and scales are shapes that can be played anywhere on the neck using the same fingering. The letter name of the chord or scale changes depending on where you play it based on the "Root" note. Use the fretboard chart as a reference until you get the positions of the notes in your memory. As an example of how to use a moveable chord with this chart; If I am playing a Major 7 chord with the root note on the 5th string, if I play that chord with the root note on the 7th fret, that would make it an E Major 7. If I move it up to the 8th fret it becomes an F Major 7 -- because the root note (the note on the 5th string) is now "F". This works with all moveable chords and scales, so knowing where your root is and understanding where notes on the fretboard can be found is a powerful concept to have in your guitar toolbox.

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BEGINNER CHORDS E

A

D

1 2 3

1

2 1 3

E minor

1

2

2

3

D7

1

C 1

2 3

A minor

1 2

G

3

A7

F

1 2

2 3

1 1 2

3

2

3 3

BARRE CHORDS Major

minor

1

1

1

Dom 7th

1

1

minor 7th

1

2

1

1

1

1

2

3 4

3 4

Major

minor

1

1

2 3

3

1

3

Dom 7th

1

1

4

minor 7th

1

1

1

2 3

Major 7th

3

3 4

Major 7th

1

1 2

2 3

4

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3

3

4

BLUES CHORDS 7th

7th

9th

7th

13th

1 1

1

1

1

2

3

2

3

2

2

2

3

1

1 3

3

3 4

4

4

9th

1

7th

2

minor 7th

1

1

1

1 4 4

3

minor 7th

1

minor 9th

1

1

2 3

3

3

4

2

3

3

JAZZ CHORDS Major 7th

7th

minor 7th

13th

9th 1

1

1

2

2

3

3

2

3

1

3

3

4

3 4

3

2

2 4

Major 7th

1

1

7th

minor 7th

1

1

1

1 2

2 3

minor 7b5

4

3

4

3

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1

1

2 3

Diminished 7th

4

2 3

4

ROCK CHORDS Power Chord

Power Chord

minor

1

1

1

1

Major

Power Chord

1

1

1

2 3

3 4

3 4

3

3 4

Major

minor

1

1

1

Major

1 1

1

1 1 1

3

2

3 4

3

sus 2

1

1 2

3

7th #9

3 4

4

COUNTRY CHORDS C

C7 1 3

E 1

1

2

4

3

E7

E minor

2

1 2

3

3

F

G

1 2

minor 1

2

3

D7

1

2

2 3

D

1 1 2 3 3

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1

2 2

3

COUNTRY CHORDS Continued G7

A

A7

A minor

1

B

1 2 1 3

2

2

3

2 3

1

3 2 3 4

SINGER SONGWRITER G

C add9

D

1

1 2

3 4

Em add9

D sus4

1 3 4

2

2

1

1 3 4

3

E

D sus2

3

F#m11

A sus4

A sus 2

3 4

1 2

1 2

1 2 3

4

2 3

2

3

F

F add9

2

2

2 3

A m11 1

1

1 1 3

D m6

4

B sus4

1 2

1 4 3 4

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MAJOR PENTATONIC SCALE 5th String Root

6th String Root

1 1 1

2 2

3

4 4 4 4 4

2

2 2

1 1

4 4 4 4 4 4

2 2

MINOR PENTATONIC SCALE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1 1 1

3 3 3

5th String Root

4 4

4

1 2 1 1 1 1

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4 4 3 3

4 4

BLUES SCALE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1 1 1

5th String Root

3 3 3

2

1

4 4 4

3 3

1 1 1 1 1

4

2

4

3 3 4 4

COMPOSITE BLUES SCALE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1

1 2 2 2 2 1

3 3

3 4 4 4 4 3

5th String Root

4 4

1 1 1

4

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2 1 2 2 1 1

2 3

4 3 4 4 3 3

4 4

4 4

MAJOR SCALE (IONIAN) 6th String Root

1 1 1 1

1 1 2 2 2 2

5th String Root

3 3 4 4 4 4

4 4 1 1 1 1

1 1 2 2 2 2

3 2

4 4

4 4 4 4

DORIAN MODE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1

1 1 2 2 2 2

5th String Root

2 2 4 4 4 3

1

4 4

1 1 1 1 1

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2 2 2 2

4 4

2 2 4 4 3 3

PHRYGIAN MODE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1 1 1

5th String Root

2 2 2 3 3

4 4 1 1 1 1

4 4 4 4

2

1 1 3 3 2 2

2 2 4 4 4 4

4 4

LYDIAN MODE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1 1 1

3 2 2 2

3 3 4 4 4 4

5th String Root

4

4

1 1

1 1

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1 1 2 2 2 2

3 3 4 4 4 4

4 4

MIXOLYDIAN MODE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1

1 1 2 2 2 2

5th String Root

3 2

4 4

4 4 4 4

1 1 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

2 2

4 4 4 4 4

3

NATURAL MINOR (AEOLIAN) 6th String Root

1 1 1 1 1

1 2 2 2 2

5th String Root

2 2

4 4 4 4

3 3

2 2

1 1 1 1 1 1

2

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2 3 3

4 4 4

4 4 4

LOCRIAN MODE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1 1 1

3 3 2 2

5th String Root

2 2 4 4 4 4

4 4

1 1 1 1 1

3 3 4 4 4 4

3 2 2 2

1

4 4

HARMONIC MINOR 6th String Root

1

3

1 1 1 1 1

2 2 2 2

5th String Root

3 4 4 3 3

4 4

1 1 1 1 1 1

2

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3 2 2 2 2

4 3 3 4

4 4

MELODIC MINOR SCALE 6th String Root

1 1 2 2 2 2

1 1 1 1

2

5th String Root

4 4

3 4 4 4

3

1

1 1

2

2 2 2 2

1 1 1

4 4

3 4 4

3

4

DIMINISHED SCALE 6th String Root

1 1 1 1

2 3 2 1 1

3 2

5th String Root

4 4 4 4 3

1 1 1 4 4

1 1

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3 2 3 2 1

4 4 4 3 2

4 4

4

AUGMENTED SCALE 6th String Root

1

1

2 2

2 2 2

3 3

1

5th String Root

3 3 4

1 1 4

1 1 1

4

2

2 2 2

3 3

3 3

4 4

2

WHOLE TONE SCALE 6th String Root

1 2

1 1 1 1

2 2

2

1

2 4

2

4

4

4 4

4 5th String Root

1 1 2

1 1 1 1

2 2

2

2 2 4

4 4

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4 4

4

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