A step-by-step guide to using the fundamentals of music to unlock both the fretboard and your creativity.

Acoustic Guitar contributing editor Gretchen Menn covers everything guitarists need to know to identify the notes on the staff and where they fall on the fretboard, understand rhythmic notation, build scales and chords, and more—the tools that make it easier to learn and understand music!

“Many guitar players have an aversion to anything that smacks of music theory,” Gretchen Menn says. “My aim is to show you that having a basic understanding of the fundamentals will benefit you as a guitarist, a musician, and a creative soul.”