Are you a guitarist who wants to learn music theory? Personally, I was someone who wanted to understand theory for a long time, but just couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Until I discovered these 4 incredible books, that is! I’m excited to share these with you in the hopes that you’ll find them as useful as I did. Trust me, each book listed below has the power to change your theory-life.

Without further ado, here are the top 4 books I recommend for guitarists learning music theory!

I absolutely love Michael Miller’s Idiot’s Guides: Music Theory. Frankly, if you told me you could only afford to pick one book off this list, I’d have you go with this one. I’d have you go with this one any day of the week.

Michael Miller has a rare set of gifts. Not only is he someone who knows music theory inside and out, but he can write as well as anyone, managing to be informative yet easy to understand. He writes this book for total beginners to theory, which means that if you can’t so much as read a note, you’ll be totally fine following along.

Like most of the Idiot’s Guides that I’ve come across, this book (about 300 large pages long) covers a ton of ground. He organizes the text into six parts: tones, rhythms, tunes, accompanying, embellishing, and arranging.

I was new to theory when I read this book for the first time, and I can tell you that the first three parts alone are worth twice the price of this book. After reading through the early chapters a few times, the fundamentals of music theory finally clicked for me. I don’t doubt that you’ll have a similar experience

Finally, the biggest pro of this book is that Miller consistently goes above and beyond. Many books on music theory just state facts without going deeper.

On the contrary, Miller typically anticipates the reader’s questions. He won’t just write, “These three notes make an A-minor chord…memorize that!” Rather, he explains the underlying logic behind everything. Some writers don’t even know enough to do that!
 

Cons?

Obviously this book wouldn’t top my list if it had much in the way of cons. That said, one drawback of this book is that it doesn’t focus specifically on the guitar.

It is guitar-friendly (even featuring an amazing chord chart in the appendix), but it’s designed to cover music theory across many instruments. You might like this feature if you’re a multi-instrumentalist yourself. Otherwise, you might feel like you’re getting more info than you need at times.

The only other thing I’ll mention strikes a similar note: if you’re only in the market for the absolute basics of music theory, you may find that this book goes a bit too beyond that for your taste.

The concluding three sections of the book (accompanying, embellishing, and arranging) might not be awfully useful to you if you’re mostly just hoping to learn what makes up a C chord and why. However, if you do put in the time to understand the latter parts of this book, you certainly won’t regret it!

All told, I can’t imagine a book I’d recommend more highly for music theory. You can pick up Idiot’s Guides: Music Theory right here! You’ll be happy you did.

If you’re an adult looking to deepen your understanding of music theory, What Makes Music Work is just what you need!

This book is designed to be a self-study course for total beginners. However, it doesn’t read like a textbook; it reads more like the helpful study guide your clever classmate made out of a dense and boring book. Which is to say, you’ll find this book extremely reader friendly.

One of the best features of What Makes Music Work is that it includes a ton of exercises for you to do along the way. These exercises aren’t designed to stump you, but to reinforce the reading you’ve just done.

I admit, I’m normally the type of person who reads through a book like this cover to cover and skips anything you’re supposed to engage with directly. But in this case, each exercise seemed so well placed and useful that I forced myself to do them all. You should do the same!

The best part? Instead of flipping to the back of the book to find answers, you’ll always find them immediately following any given exercise. This book won’t feel like going to school again. Instead, it takes the best parts of getting an education and skips the stuff that made most of us dislike being in class.
 

Cons?

As I mentioned, this book is specifically written for adults taking on a bit of self-study. Every chapter is well-written and concise, but you’ll find that they’re also densely packed with information. As I said, the exercises throughout are amazingly helpful if you actually go through them.

However, if you’re looking for an uninterrupted reading experience, you might look elsewhere, as the questions do pop up frequently—the best and worst thing about them.

In order to get a firm grip on everything, you’ll probably need to do some re-reading here, some underlining there, and so forth. If that’s not really what you’re looking for, I’d go with a book more like Idiot’s Guide: Music Theory above, which is slightly easier and slower-paced.

Finally, if you’re looking for advanced topics in theory, you won’t find that here. This book is what it is: a course on the fundamentals. That noted, What Makes Music Work does what it sets out to do superbly well.

Honestly, I’m really grateful I came across this excellent primer on music theory. You can find it right here!

If you’re interested in learning music theory specifically as it relates to guitar, then you should pick up Idiot’s Guides: Guitar Theory. I only discovered this book a few weeks ago, but it’s definitely a book every guitarist should have on their wish list.

David Hodges is an experienced guitarist and educator. You can check out some of his work here. As you’ll see, his writing is down-to-earth and he completely understands our struggles with the guitar.

This book is great for visual learners. Hodges packs each chapter with chord charts, fretboard diagrams, tabs, and notation. He assumes you’re going in not knowing how to read music at all. That makes his book perfect for newcomers to theory, or those who are just a little rusty. I already knew how to read music going in, and I still found Idiot’s Guides: Guitar Theory to be incredibly helpful.

Lastly, you’re very likely to treasure the two appendices found at the end of the book. The first one includes various chord charts with useful annotations. These charts include common open chords, general barre shapes, obscure and complex chords, and everything in between.

The second appendix includes a bunch of scale charts: major and minor scales, pentatonic scales, blues scales, modes, etc. I’d say these appendices, taken together, more than justify this book’s price tag. You’ll refer to them often (if you’re smart!).
 

Cons?

The greatest con of this book is also its greatest strength. From the first page to the last, Idiot’s Guides: Guitar Theory is focused on music theory for guitarists. 

You won’t see illustrations of piano keys, nor will you find pointers on how to write for the human voice. If you’re looking to be a classical music aficionado, with the lexicon to discuss Bach, Mertz, and Liszt, you’re better off choosing a different book.

Similarly, if you’re a layperson who doesn’t play guitar, this book’s not for you. Many, many books teach music theory in general. What makes Hodges’ work so precious is that he totally caters to guitarists. He writes with us in mind, with a fretboard diagram on every other page.

As a guitarist, you really can’t do better than to get your hands on this book. You can find it right here, and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

If you’re the studious type, The Musician’s Guide to Theory and Analysis could be just what you’re looking for. When it comes to music theory, some of us want to learn as little of it as possible. In fact, many guitarists avoid it entirely. However, there are some folks out there, like me, who want to learn as much as they can, even if that means diving into the deep end.

I don’t want to mislead anyone. The Musician’s Guide is a genuine 800-page textbook. It’s clearly and brilliantly written, but also dense and packed with information. If you’re looking for light reading, look elsewhere. This one’s for ambitious guitarists who are prepared to hit the books big-time. You’ll definitely feel like a college student again if you go to sleep with this tome on your bedside table!

Any classical guitarists out there? This book is designed particularly for musicians in that tradition. All styles of music (including atonal music) are covered here, but there’s definitely a focus on the Western concert tradition.

That said, any guitarist would hugely benefit from studying these pages. After all, if you master a textbook like this, you’ll have an outstanding command of theory, which is certain to accelerate your guitar progress.
 

Cons?

The major con of this book is what I’ve been saying from the beginning: it’s long and difficult. Also, like most university textbooks, it’s fairly expensive. I’m linking to the most recent (4th) edition, but if the cost is an obstacle for you, it won’t hurt to get your hands on an earlier edition. I myself bought a used 2nd edition for $25 at a local bookstore.

Also, don’t feel like you need to read this textbook cover to cover. On the contrary, you can easily reference it on a chapter by chapter basis. Want to brush up on your seventh chords? Skip to page 155. Want to learn basic sonata form? Head to page 665. You get the idea.

If you do pick up this book, you can easily reclaim its cost in terms of sheer music-theory value. Practice by day and study by night, and you’ll be amazed with the results! I’m so glad I got my hands on The Musician’s Guide, and I’m sure you’ll feel the same way. You can find this wonderful textbook right here.