Chord Chemistry

I bought this book more than 25 years ago, and I still learn something new every time I pick it up! It's almost scary how good a grasp Ted has on the harmonic possibilities of the guitar - and he's willing to share what he knows if you're willing to put in the time playing the thousands of chord voicings shown, and listening to what your guitar tells you. After a handful of pages covering string relationships, chord charts, right hand technique, major scale structure, and chord formulas, you reach the section on essential chords and synonymns. Now the fun begins. Working with the A chord, you'll find about 250 chord voicings. It just gets better... page after page after page in the chord reference section, expanding those 250 essential chords into literally thousands of voicings. After that, well, you've only reached the halfway point! Ted goes on to cover ear training, chord motion and substitution, the dominant cycle (the circle of fifths), voice leading, constructing chord melodies, blues and rock progressions, and other ideas. I can't recommend this book strongly enough; there are several sections in the book that would be a bargain if that was the information in this! Every serious student of the guitar should own a copy. Enough said. Oh, and Ted's other books, Modern Chord Progressions (review) and Jazz Guitar Single Note Soling (review) are brilliant too.