The Way Music Works: A Step-by-step Guide to Using the Fundamentals of Music to Unlock the Fretboard & Your Creativity

Menn, Gretchen

ISBN 10: 1936604396 / ISBN 13: 9781936604395

Published by String Letter Pr, 2019

About this Item

46 pages. 11.75x8.75x0.50 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # __1936604396

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Way Music Works: A Step-by-step Guide to Using the Fundamentals of Music to Unlock the Fretboard & Your Creativity
• Publisher: String Letter Pr
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1936604396
• ISBN 13: 9781936604395
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.18 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

The Way Music Works by guitarist and educator Gretchen Menn is a practical music theory instruction book for acoustic and electric guitar players who want to understand how music connects to the fretboard. This step-by-step learning resource explains the fundamentals of melody, rhythm, and harmony in a way that applies to everyday playing, helping guitarists recognize notes on the staff, locate them on the fretboard, and use theory as a creative tool.

This instructional guitar book presents twelve progressive lessons that guide players through the essential building blocks of music. Written in standard notation and guitar TAB, the material makes theoretical concepts accessible while remaining practical for real playing situations. Topics include identifying pitches on the fretboard, understanding rhythmic notation, interpreting time signatures, building major and minor scales, and constructing chords used in real music.

To support learning, the book also includes approximately three hours of companion video instruction taught by the author. These lessons expand on the printed material and demonstrate how each concept sounds and feels on the instrument. Access is provided through a unique code inside the book, allowing the videos to be streamed online or downloaded for flexible practice.

Players explore melodic concepts such as naming notes on the staff and fretboard, building major and minor scales, and understanding key signatures. Rhythmic instruction covers note and rest values, time signatures, triplets, and applying rhythm in musical context. Harmonic lessons introduce intervals, triads, seventh chords, and the foundations of chord progressions found throughout modern music.

Whether used for self-study, private lessons, or guitar instruction, The Way Music Works helps players move beyond memorization and understand the logic behind the music they play.