Your Very FIRST Music Theory Lesson on Guitar 

I'm sure a lot of people who watch this are going to realize they already know quite a bit that they didn't know was theory. It's like that moment when algebra finally makes sense and you realize you've been using it your whole life.

Thanks for having me on the channel again Marty!

Where do I find more from Chris? It was really cool to hear someone explain the basics without showing off and overly complicating things.

this guy is casually the best theory teacher in the world, and here he is, available for free. PS: Day like 7 of asking for Kerry's song from Cyberpunk 2077

I appreciate the theory lesson. Chris presented it in a great introductory manner that taught me some things,and fed my curiosity for more.

I needed this lets go

This is so much better than so much of what’s out there. That you can take some basic premises and then extrapolate forward to unlock the fretboard is really cool.

The pack of cards analogy was really brilliant. Thinking about it objectively there's no way you could recall every card in a 52 card deck if it were random, but because you know the patterns you can name every single card in the deck 100% of the time. Same thing with music theory.

Hands down, Chris is one of the best guitar teachers, on and off youtube.

Marty taught me my first guitar riffs about 3 years ago, and now I’m playing far more than I ever thought I would. And to think he’s teaching me my first lessons in theory is exactly why Marty is one of the best. An incredibly approachable and knowledgeable guitar player to learn from. Cheers to you Marty!

Digging the color on that SG. Keep it real Marty!

finally, some music theory simplified to the point where I think "hey, maybe I *CAN* get this". thank you, Chris. and thank you, Marty for the intro to your mentor. good of you to share.

I don't understand any of this i feel stupid

Marty has definitely cemented his place as one of RU-vid’s all time legends at this stage… right?? Gotta love this guy!

Dude, I’ve learned so much from you man. I took a lesson recently for music theory and this guy just overloaded me with information and left me hardly anything to work on. He might say it’s my fault but I just wasted 60 bucks and an hour of my life for hardly anything. Your lessons rocks tho. Thanks. Ps I already can jam pretty good and just wanted to learn more. 😢

Unbelievable how easy, fun, and well thought out Chris' message is. Absolutely Brilliant!

When MY guitar mentor refers to HIS guitar mentor for music theory, I am gonna sub him for sure. And btw, Marty, your mentor is cool and amazing just like YOU (Marty you are the greatest guitar mentor one can ask for, I wish I could have got lessons from you IRL !!!). 😁

So glad this man has stuck around over the years, I remember using his tutorials in middle school and he just never stops giving. Much love Marty (and Chris)!

THIS is the first time I see a "class" on music theory that is "easy" and with a so kind and understanding teacher I will no longer see music theory as a bucket of hard things

Glad to see you’re still at it, Marty! I remember watching my first guitar tutorial of yours about 13 years ago! And now I’m just ready to learn about music theory 😂 Thank you for inspiring many across the globe!

thanks guys! wish I had this kind of instruction 60 years ago. Golden!

I started guitar a year ago. All I do is find Marty teaching a song I like. I'll do my best to copy what he's doing. Sure I can play a song that I have practiced. I can find easy chords, I have fun but I still don't really know what I'm doing. I don't read sheet music, tabs confuse me. This year I'm gonna read books and listen to guys like Marty's mentor here. I'll never audition for Motley Crue, I'm not in it to be a rock star. I just like music and I'm fascinated by the guitar. I never knew heavy metal guitarists are basically modern blues guitarists.

Marty I have a cool guitar recommendation for you! It’s called the Epiphone ES 333. My personal favorite is the Tom Delonge model. It looks and sounds great! I think you’d love that model.

He knows all the pentatonic runs🔥🔥

I've been following chris for a few months now and I find i learn something from each lesson. He is so well suited to be a teacher( and a phenomenal player) due to how he explains each and every step. Things I didnt know I even knew come to life. I cant recommend his channel enough for any level of guitar player. He taught Marty and Marty is a fantastic player!!

Only practiced a few scales as far as music theory goes so this was my first video and this dude is all over the place. Could keep up until about half-way through and then he's jumping all over the fretboard, throwing all kinds of information out. Wayyyy too much info too quick. I had this experience with another guy that has been playing for ten years when I was practicing for 3 weeks: he was acting like all these things he was doing was so simple..."just do it like this flying from C to G". Point is...what may seem pretty basic from a pro's perception is like throwing hundreds of jigsaw puzzle pieces at someone and expecting them to see the picture right away. I probably missed a few steps before getting here anyway, like memorizing the fretboard first. That would help a lot before watching this video.

The man taught that lesson so well, had me legitimately engaged and laughing when he pointed out stuff I already knew but didn’t have names for. 10/10 teacher

This was awesome. It helps to tear into notes and chords to understand them better. Best way to understand it is to get inside it. Thank again Marty Music and Chris.

MAN that riff at 3:00 is freaking awesome. Lesson that alone I will be glued.

That was an awesome lesson. I have not heard music theory explained that way. Also, that guitar and tone were sweet. Beautiful guitar. Thanks.

This lesson helped so much and explained things simply and understandably! thank you! more of this please.

this is the most helpful guitar video I have watched. Ive really been stuck in the powerchord/minor pentatonic rut and I think this info is gonna help me out tremendously.

That just helped me tremendously by giving me a very easy explanation of chords. Thank you for your great explanation of something that other teachers make unbearably difficult. I now know where to go to get more info on theory….thanks Marty for letting us experience this great teacher.

thank you marty, your lessons are spot on when you slow it down and show the strings i need to be playing,,,,,,,

Really good for dispelling music phobia. Makes it easy to understand how it all connects. Thanks

What a lovely and skillful presentation. Great quality. I know what you presented and STILL loved this video.

I never knew Walter White knew so much about music theory. Really appreciate you posting this. For many of us this totally accessible approach to music theory is incredibly helpful.

Haha, I started playing Guitar, (badly) at 12 years old, I'm now 71 and never really understood any theory until I listed and watched this Video as I cant take in the written word, but understood this strait away. Thanks for such a clear and concise explanation. I will now enjoy my playing so much more. 👍 THANKS also To Marty for getting you involved.

Brief, to the point, and easy to understand. Thanks to both of you.

Great touch on this topic man. I loved the deck of cards analogy never heard that yet I am for sure gonna use it. What a great way to talk someone off the "theory ledge" and realize a little dab will do ya form time to time.

MORE, PLEASE!

Great,excellent, teacher. Also awesome lesson. Thanks bunches from Denver!👍👀

OH MY GOSH! THIS WAS SO HELPFUL PLEASE MAKE MORE OF THESE VIDEOS IM TRYING TO LEARN MUSIC THEORY! THANK YOUU MARTYYY!!!!

Hi Cary ,I like this gospel lesson. Please do more of these if you can. I usually play in church and I am trying to learn some more gospel techniques . thank you please continue these great lessons.

That was great. It reminded me of some of the revelation moments that have come to me while playing about with chords.

Great lesson my friend

“This thing was designed to speak the language of music” that hit right down to my soul

Thanks, Marty and Chris for this lesson! Credit to you Marty for being here over the past year as I began my journey playing the guitar. I'm a patron and have purchased several of your online courses. As someone who has a background in art (BFA) and has worked professionally as an artist, I understand the importance of theory, but in all honesty, I just don't feel it's absolutely necessary to being an artist. Maybe Hendrix and other self-taught guitarist had some grasp of theory, but it didn't seem like it was something they sought after. I think in the end, all art is an emotional experience, and an experience that transcends thought or intellect. I'll keep trying to expose myself to more theory and I've subscribed to Chris's channel. Who knows? Maybe I'll have a different perspective farther down on my journey of playing the guitar. In any case, I'm enjoying the experience. 😊 Thank you for everything!

Thanks for this lesson

I've been playing off and on for about 29 years of my life. Never took lessons learned to read tabs in the 90s off the very first of internet sites like Harmony Central and Ultimate Guitar Tabz that came out later. Much if them totally wrong. Lots that were totally right. Learned by playing notes that I could recognize from songs and patterns. I can pick up a guitar and play lots of songs and can tear ass on some solos. I'm 40 amd semi retired and I'm dedicating a lot of time to learn all the things I skipped. I worked a lot. Had probably 50 guitars or more over the years went through drugs and hard times and periods of not playing. I've spent the last 3 months getting my speed and abilities up to where I think they should be and tonight I begin music theory... wish me luck. My goal is to be on a stage no matter the size playing all the great songs that motivated me to begin with.

I've been self teaching myself music theory. I saw alot of similarities with this lesson and how i practice. It feels like I'm on the right path.

You have no idea how much sudden confidence I've gotten after that deck of cards example and how much belief I have in my ability to learn the fretboard if I just find the pattern for my brain that sticks in my head. I know the suits and names of the 52 cards in the deck because i know the pattern to write them all and not miss one. This is essentially the same skill where you also only need to know physical locations of the pattern on the fretboard.

What a awesome teacher! Chris explains it so simple. I seem to understand it lot easier then others. I started to following he's channel. Thanks Marty!

My music theory knowledge has come to me glacially...very slooooow, but...man, has it helped my playing over the years!! Great video, guys!! Cheers!! :)

I look like Chris. In a Pep Guardiola kind of way. I can't, however, play like him.

Thankyou for this video, I'm a new guitar player and this has just made some sense out of something I was struggling big time with!

Love the way Chris gives you the start to the information and then You go find the rest yourself Gold dust Chris Thank you Marty for introducing me to your guitar teacher I love both your channel's

Marty thanks so much, been watching you on RU-vid for a while and your videos have defiantly helped out!

Please make a series out of it.🙏🙏

I’ve learned so much from Chris, his RU-vid is a wealth of knowledge.

knew there was a another reason i learn from Martys lessons. Chris has outlined a different way, one i have adopted. Did the theory grade route through piano and brass. Wanted a new way learning the guitar This is it, for me, wish Chris had posted this a year ago when i picked up an acoustic and now moved on to a fender strat. Fantastic post. Brilliant.

Man that SG sounds amazzing!

I was sad looking for a theory video and you came up, mood booster 🥳🥳 love ur vids

chris is the man! this cleared up so many longstanding confusing things for me. thank you both!

I do like the box of cards analogy. Thou something looks like there is a lot in it, once you open it up and learn from it, you realize, it's not so bad.

Make this a series please?

“I’m so stoned” 😂 this guy makes his lessons fun and easy to comprehend, thank you so much!

finally had that light bulb moment 3 years in to me starting guitar! thank you so much chris and marty!!

You're like the Reading Rainbow of guitar, thank you so much!

Wow, Thanks Marty!! Your "Theory Guru" is finally helping me further unlock music theory.... I can see why you learned from him.

Preciate you much Marty one hell of a teacher ! Keep blessing the world with the vibes man

You’re my favorite music teacher🤘🏼❤️

for the first time, it is not so confusing! Really Thank you

i am so blessed to have been in a highschool that was the only school that had guitar as an elective in my state when I was in highschool

That was FANTASTIC. Thank you both so much ❤️

heres some more theory, all major chords consist of 3 notes P.S. music theory is what builds songs, solos, duets, etc. music theory isn't evil, it's actually what builds music. in fact a lot of improvised solos these days are based off of scales.

Thank you so much for introducing me to Chris Marty, you have no idea how much I needed this lately.

Really enjoyed this tutorial!

Wow i found myself asking myself the same questions what makes this chord work and just learning the notes kinda the same way has helped me alot. I have alot of learning to do but this video made it seem like i was talking to myself. And helped alot thanks.

Absolutely inspiring thank you so much

that was AWESOMEEEEEEEEEEEE that one where we did triads and also where we find the c# i was totally hooked up XD had to grab my guitar

Thanks Marty. I subscribed to him within the first 39 seconds of his shpeel. He has an amazing way of breaking down the barriers to this topic. Thank you so much!

My brain just turns to mush when I work on theory, but on that same note I tend to bounce around a bit too much instead of sticking with one course or resource.

This is beautifully explained! Thank you ❤️❤️❤️

Such an awesome way to teach!! Sort of a story of an adventure in discovery, which is probably one of the best ways (if not best) to interest the student so they will learn, and want to learn! Want to learn more. Without 'want' you can't really learn in any useful manner.

Wow!! You are a great teacher Chris!! Newly inspiration to an old wannabe guitarist, thanks Marty!!

Absolutely brilliant! Great vid guys 🎉🙌🏼

Very inspiring! Thank you Chris and Marty!

I just worked out that the problem is not music theory or any tutor, it’s my inability to focus and absorb anything I find hard. I need to find a way to get over this massive hurdle..

That actually was the simplest description of music theory. I now have a grasp on what theory is.

Great video.....just found an easy B minor that I need on the 7th fret !

Love your stuff, and your production value is fantastic. It's very much appreciated.

Chris has a great way of leading you down the trail of theory

Iv been playing since I was 15 and I'm 25 now and tbh I was stubborn to take theory and tried being self taught and iv gotten to a point where im just stuck. Better now then ever

Cant say i perfectly know theory but somehow ive been using alot of these techniques in my regular playing without thinking about it...kinda neat....i can say I've learned to connect my solos and make it sound musical instead of just random scales...

This was really helpful thanks

I'm a super new guitarist, just bought my first guitar. I had music experience with a capella choir throughout school and I think music theory is necessary. You might not understand it at first, but eventually it will just seem like a no brainer. It's helped me a lot when I'm trying to figure out how chords are shaped and it helps to follow notes

please make this a series

Marty rocks. Love your older vids.

I love that Chris plays lots of ZZ... loves me the ZZ..