This colourful, A1 poster is an essential guide for guitarists. It features scales (major, minor, major blues and minor blues), common guitar chords (major, minor, major 7th, minor 7th and dominant 7th), and essential music theory, including the circle of fifths. It shows relevant fingerings and fretboard diagrams, making it accessible and easy to use.
Guitarists and producers at any stage of their musical journey. Guitarists can use this poster as they practise to advance their learning, and it’s packed with practical information to help music-makers bring their ideas to life. It makes song writing quicker and easier and explains the theory behind the creative process.
Guitarists can use this poster to practise scales and chords until they’re committed to muscle memory. Each scale diagram comes with suggested fingerings which teach you the ‘right’ way to play them. The Really Useful Guitar Poster is fully illustrated, so it doesn’t matter if you can’t read classical music notation. Whatever level you’re playing at, this poster will help you to get more out of your practice sessions.
If you’re a producer, this poster will simplify every step of the song-writing process. It will enable you to identify which scale your melody is in, so that you can start playing around with complementary chords and progressions. If you haven’t found your melody yet, then you can use the poster to kick-start your composition. When you know which chords and scales work well together then you can make music more intuitively. Before long you’ll be writing better riffs and laying down catchier beats.
Fast tracks your learning by teaching you about the building blocks of music.
Gain confidence and improve quickly with this easy-to-use poster.
Products are aimed at musicians of all levels.
Start making your own music and add complexity to your compositions.
Commit chords and scales to memory to become a more fluent player.
Illustrated chord and scale diagrams means no sight reading required.
The Really Useful Guitar Poster helps guitarists and producers of all levels to make better music. Covering everything from scales to chord progressions, this easy-to-use poster will guide you through the fundamentals of music theory. By teaching you about the building blocks of music, it will fast-track your learning and make practice more fun.
On each poster, you’ll find fretboard diagrams of scales and the most common guitar chords.The visual fretboard diagrams show the relevant fingering for each chord and scale - which means there’s no sight-reading required. The poster also covers essential music theory, including the circle of fifths.
From playing your first chords, to writing your next album - this poster will help you to unlock your musical potential. It will teach you how to identify the scale of your melody and find the best chords for your piece. Practise with it consistently, and you’ll memorise those all-important chords and scales, and get a better understanding of music theory.
Okay. So your Really Useful Guitar Poster just arrived in the post. You can’t wait to get started. You hang your poster up on the wall and then...what next?
Whatever your musical goal is, we’ve got you covered.
The Really Useful Guitar Poster helps guitarists to commit chords and scales to muscle memory. It will teach you the best fingerings for each scale, so that you learn the easiest way to play them. With this poster, there’s no need for apps – so you can stay in the zone as you play.
Pick one scale each day and practise it for 15 minutes - 5 minutes with your right hand, 5 minutes with your left hand, then 5 minutes with both hands together. Work through the major scales first, and then move on to the minor scales. Rinse and repeat until you can play every scale by heart! You’ll notice significant improvement after you’ve practised each scale five times over - which would take approximately four months if you’re working on one scale per day.
If you’re a producer, you can use The Really Useful Guitar Poster to find which scale you’re playing in and to identify the best chords to jam with. It will teach you which notes fit together, so that you can become a more intuitive songwriter. Over time you’ll start to absorb the music theory behind your songs by osmosis.
Choose a chord set and play all 7 chords in sequence. Once you can do that with ease, start playing the chords in a random order. This will help you to come up with your own unique progression. You can then find the matching scale and use the 7 notes in the scale to write a melody over the top of your chord progression. Try to do this for a different chord set every day to improve your playing skills and consistently create new music!
Head to our Learning Portal to find videos and guides that will support you on your creative journey.
A chord is a collection of two or more notes that are played together at the same time. You can choose any notes you like to create a chord. But it’s worth learning the most common chord types, as they appear in many popular pieces of music.
Major, minor, augmented and diminished. Those 4 chord types have created the world’s most beautiful songs. Once you understand how they’re formed, you can play and improvise with the best of them.
Just as a drumbeat provides rhythm, chords give structure to a song. They’re also a great way to create emotion. Chords are built using combinations of intervals - which means the distance between one note and another. By using different interval patterns, you can create distinct moods. This is how chords and chord sequences add suspense, sorrow or joy to a piece.
When you become familiar with each chord type, you can pick the perfect chords for any arrangement.
The Really Useful Guitar Poster contains visual diagrams of the 4 most common chords in every key signature. The chords are displayed in a large, easy-to-read format, with their notes written underneath them. This means you can instantly access all the notes you need, rather than having to figure out how to build each chord manually. Use this poster every time you practise, and you’ll soon be playing chords with ease.
A scale is a collection of notes, played in a particular order. Scales can start on any note and each has its own distinct sound.
Scales provide useful sets of notes, which sound good when played together. When you know which notes are in each scale, then it’s easier to riff and create new music.
Mastering your scales is a bit like learning how to touch-type. By practising them frequently you’ll improve your coordination and fluency. Once you’ve nailed your scales, you’ll be able to play with confidence. The more you practise them, the quicker you’ll commit them to memory!
The Really Useful Guitar Poster will teach you about 4 of the most common scales: major, natural minor, harmonic minor and melodic minor. The poster is fully illustrated, which means that there’s no sight-reading necessary. It includes a step-by-step guide on how to play each scale and clearly indicates the best fingering to use.
A chord progression is made up of multiple chords played in succession. Much like individual chords, chord progressions create a sense of atmosphere. They work alongside the melody of a song to give it structure.
Each major and minor scale has its own set of 7 triad chords. All of these chords work well when played together because they’re made up of notes from the same scale. By memorising these chord sets you’ll become a more intuitive player and songwriter. Over time, they’ll help you to pick up music by ear and create more interesting compositions.
The Really Useful Guitar Poster covers the major and natural minor chord sets for each key signature. The chord sets are laid out in an accessible, visual format - so you don’t have to take the time to work them out yourself. Just refer back to the poster and you’ll be able to jam chord progressions in any key.
Music theory is the study of the rules and concepts that underpin every piece of music. It covers a huge range of topics, including scales, modes, musical terminology, harmonies, notation and much more.
You don’t have to study music theory in order to make and play music - but it definitely helps. If you can get to grips with the fundamentals, then you’ll be able to understand the instinctive choices you make when you play. The more you learn, the more informed your decisions will be. Think of music theory as a tool that can improve your performance and speed up the song writing process.
The Really Useful Guitar Poster includes information on notation, intervals, extended chords and modes. Work through the poster to learn new musical lingo and add complexity to your compositions.
With each purchase you’ll also immediately receive a free digital version of The Really Useful Guitar Poster - so you can get practising straight away!
Free 2-day shipping to the UK
Worldwide shipping is charged at £15
Free digital download with this product
This product ships in a postal tube
Each tube weighs approximately 405g / 0.9lb
Each poster measures 594 x 841mm / 23.4 x 33.1in
We offset our carbon footprint via Ecologi
We use 100% recyclable paper and packaging
If your order includes digital downloads, you will be able to download it immediately from the Order Confirmation page. You will also receive an email with a link to download the file, which you can keep for your records.
No! All our products are Designed to be understood by anyone, of any age, and any ability. They’re practical guides that help you shortcut the learning process by giving you the information you need, nothing more. And they’re fully illustrated, so there’s no traditional musical notation involved. That’s why we call our products ‘Really Useful’!.
All printed posters are A1 in size (33.1 x 23.4 inches / 841 x 594 mm). Depending on whether you order the ‘rolled’ or the ‘folded’ version, your poster may or may not arrive folded to A4 (11.7 x 8.3 inches / 297 x 210 mm) for easy shipping. If you’d like to frame your poster, you can take it to a local framer or purchase a suitable frame online.
Once your order is dispatched you will receive a tracking number via email. You can then track your item here: https://www.royalmail.com/track-your-item#/ More info can be found on our shipping page.
