Learn Guitar Theory
A guided path from your first interval to advanced harmony — the right lessons, tools, and practice in the right order. Tick steps off as you go; your progress is saved on this device.
35 steps · 5 stages · about 7.5 hours of focused learning
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Tip: tap the circle on the left of a step to mark it done — that's what advances your progress. Tapping the step's title opens the lesson.
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Stage 1: First Steps
BeginnerStart here. Get the lay of the land — how the 12 keys relate, and the intervals every chord and scale is built from.
- 📖The Circle of FifthsReadOne diagram that maps how every key relates. The mental model everything else hangs on.10 min
- 🛠️Play with the CircleExploreClick around the interactive Circle on the home page — hear keys, see their chords and signatures.10 min
- 📖Understanding IntervalsReadThe 13 building blocks. Once you know intervals, chords and scales stop being memorisation.12 min
- 🎧Hear Your First IntervalsPracticeOpen the Ear Training trainer and run the Beginner interval preset. Theory you can hear sticks.10 min
- 🎧Count & Feel RhythmPracticeWatch the counting light up in time, then tap it back for a timing grade. The skill that makes playing sound tight.12 min
- 📖Practice Strategy for GuitaristsReadPractise the right way from day one — deliberate practice, session structure, spaced repetition, and a weekly plan.12 min
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Stage 2: Building Chords
BeginnerStack intervals into chords, flip them into inversions, and find the shapes on the fretboard.
- 📖How Chords Are BuiltReadTriads and 7th chords decoded — which intervals stack to make each quality, and why it sounds that way.12 min
- 📖Triads & InversionsReadThe three-note core of all harmony and how flipping the bass note opens up the neck.12 min
- 🛠️Explore the Chord VisualizerExploreSee voicings, notes, and notation for any chord — and identify a chord from notes you pick.12 min
- 🎮Test Yourself — GT GamePlayPlay the early levels of the GT Game to lock in note, interval, and chord basics.15 min
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Stage 3: Progressions & Harmony
IntermediateHow chords combine into the progressions behind real songs — and the functional logic that makes them work.
- 📖Chord ProgressionsReadRoman numerals, harmonic function, and the progressions powering thousands of songs.12 min
- 🛠️Build a ProgressionExploreUse the Progression Builder to assemble, play, and save a progression of your own.15 min
- 📖Functional HarmonyReadWhy V resolves to I, what makes a ii–V–I compelling, and how borrowed chords add colour.14 min
- 📖The Nashville Number SystemReadChart songs by number so a whole progression transposes to any key instantly.10 min
- 📖Blues TheoryReadDominant 7ths, the 12-bar form, and the blue note — the foundation of modern guitar.12 min
- 📖Blues TurnaroundsReadThe 12-bar form and the classic turnarounds that give the blues its swagger — with live audio.10 min
- 📖Voice LeadingReadKeep common tones and move each voice the smallest distance — hear the same chords jumpy vs. smooth.11 min
- 📖Rhythm Guitar & CompingReadTurn chords into a groove — strumming patterns, boom-chick, palm-muted chugging, the reggae skank and jazz comping, with live rhythms.13 min
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Stage 4: Scales, Modes & Lead
IntermediateMove from rhythm to lead — the scales, modes, and fretboard systems that let you solo anywhere.
- 📖The 7 Modes ExplainedReadIonian to Locrian — what each mode sounds like and when to reach for it.14 min
- 📖Pentatonic ScalesReadThe backbone of rock, blues, and country — all five boxes and the major/minor link.12 min
- 🛠️Explore the Scale VisualizerExploreSee any of 41 scales in CAGED, 3NPS, or box patterns — across tunings, with notation.15 min
- 📖ArpeggiosReadChords one note at a time — the bridge from rhythm to melodic lead playing.12 min
- 📖The CAGED SystemReadFive shapes that repeat up the neck so you can play any chord or scale in any position.14 min
- 📖Harmonic & Melodic MinorReadWhy minor keys have three scales — and the raised 7th that powers a real V–i cadence.12 min
- 📖Guitar Technique FundamentalsReadHammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, bends, vibrato, palm muting and picking — the moves that make lead lines sing, with live audio.14 min
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Stage 5: Putting It Together
AdvancedTie it all together — advanced harmony, a trained ear, and a real song you analyse and build yourself.
- 📖Modulation & Key ChangesReadPivot chords, moving to the dominant, and the dramatic key lift — with live before/after audio.14 min
- 📖Extended & Altered ChordsRead9ths, 11ths, 13ths and altered tensions — the colours of jazz, soul and funk, with live audio.12 min
- 📖The Jazz ii–V–IReadThe most important progression in jazz — major, minor, and the tritone substitution.12 min
- 📖Modal InterchangeReadBorrowing chords from a parallel mode — the minor iv, ♭VI and ♭VII behind so much great music.12 min
- 📖Chord SubstitutionsReadReharmonize: swap plain chords for richer ones — relative, secondary dominants, tritone sub, diminished.12 min
- 📖The Improvisation FrameworkReadTarget chord tones, build lines from arpeggios, and phrase with tension and release — over a ii–V–I and a blues, with live audio.16 min
- 🎧Train Chord-Quality EarsPracticeRun the Chord-Quality ear trainer through 7th chords. Hearing quality is a real-world superpower.12 min
- 📖Transcription MethodologyReadLearn music by ear from records — find the key, get the bass, outline the chords, then melody and rhythm, with a graded practice ladder.15 min
- 🛠️Analyse a Song in Song LabExploreDrop a progression into Song Lab, see its key and scale options, and build a tab of your own.20 min
- 🎮Reach GT Game Master TierPlayPush through the ear-training and applied-skill levels to earn the Master badge.20 min
Prefer to browse freely? Every lesson lives in the Knowledge Hub.