Is the Guitar Fretboard a Mystery to You?
Tired of the hunt-&-peck, trial-&-error, random YouTube approach?
Are you beginning to think there must be a better way?
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How about the latest cool song that you’re into? Can you figure it out on your own or do you have to laboriously work through a tab chart you got online that you hope is correct? (It’s probably not.)
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Have you ever sat in a music theory class wondering what the rules of the four-part Bach chorale style have to do with the guitar?
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Have you ever heard some awesome guitarist play and wondered how anybody could know so many chords?
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Or what bizarre scale is he using that sounds so cool?
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Do you understand this symbol?
- or does it look like some kind of calculus problem?
Bottom line:
IS THE GUITAR FRETBOARD A MYSTERY TO YOU?
My name is Jay EuDaly and I've been a professional, full-time guitarist for over 50 years. My method, Vertical Truth: Chordal Mechanisms for the Guitar, can help you remove the mystery.
What makes my method any different from the plethora of guitar education websites out there peddling guitar lessons? Well, if you really want the complete answer to that question, read A Little Story. It will give you the detailed history of this unique, time-tested & proven method, and why I am the guy to lead you through it.
The short answer is that this method takes you step-by-step through about 1,000 years of music theory evolution and APPLIES IT TO THE GUITAR. As a result of doing this - not just understanding, but DOING - many things happen automatically;
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you gain a complete understanding of the guitar fretboard,
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you learn how to think about music and the guitar,
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you develop good technique and
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you train your ear
- to name just a few things that happen organically as you work your way through this method.
You can then apply your knowledge
to ANY STYLE!
To get started, take these first few steps:
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Become a Master Guitar School site member - it's free. You will then have access to dozens of free lessons in the "Members Only" area of the website. You will also receive the Master Guitar School Newsletter. Most of the monthly newsletters contain a free lesson. Members are also periodically offered first access and deep discounts (50% or more) on new lesson series downloads when they are first published. For more information go to:
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Go through the 5-Lesson Foundational Series. Everything is based on it.
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Master the first 2 Major Scale patterns given here. There are 6 Major Scale patterns given in this lesson but only the first 2 are required to get started.
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Communicate with me. Let me know what you'd like to see as far as lessons go. My agenda is to rewrite and format my method book, Vertical Truth: Chordal Mechanisms for the Guitar, into PDF/video downloads. That process is underway. You can see what's currently available in the column to the right (or below if you're viewing this page on your phone). I'm also open to doing one-off lessons on any guitar-related subject you want, in any format you want (video, PDF, webpage etc.).
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Read the Blog. Blog categories include: Free Lessons, Technique, Music Theory, Stories, Philosophy, Questions and Answers, Rants and Musings, Product Announcements, Gear and more!
The guitar has been a Grand Obsession of mine for over 50 years. I love everything about it. I've been a full-time professional performing musician since the early seventies. I've taught 50-100 personal students a week since the early eighties.
I know what it takes to play, teach and learn. I'm passionate about playing as well as helping people obtain the priceless value that I've received from music and the guitar.
Is the guitar fretboard a mystery to you?
I can help.
Lesson Series Downloads
Latest Blogs
What People are Saying
I’ve had three primary music mentors: Jay EuDaly in Kansas City, Ray McCarty in Austin Texas, and Max Bennett here in Southern California. I’m forever grateful for their wisdom, patience, and inspiration.
Not only is Jay EuDaly one of the greatest guitar players I have ever heard period, but he is also one of the most knowledgeable guitarists out there. Very few know the neck up and down as well as EuDaly. I call his Vertical Truth my guitar bible. Studying with Jay is the most complete guitar/advanced music education one can find anywhere.
I've been teaching guitar online since 2004 and I can tell you from a LIFETIME of experience that you won't find anyone with a Better Guitar Method than Jay EuDaly! He's my personal guitar coach and I highly recommend anyone from total beginner to experienced pros to spend some time with Jay, you'll be glad you did!
Jay is one of the best guitar players/teachers in Kansas City! Superb player and extremely knowledgeable in music theory which he learned from the late, great John Elliott.
- Earl Steely, guitarist for Funk Syndicate
...the way you lay out the circle of 4ths on the guitar neck is a new revelation to me and I've been searching for this sort of stuff for four years online! I've spent the last 2 weeks practicing the stuff in the free lessons and have enjoyed it on a daily basis. Already familiar with some of the scale fingerings and found the key cycle a brilliant way to run them all! Very smartly laid out and easy to put one thing on top of the other. Feels like very little wasted time practicing and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that! An hour of practice flies by in no time and I actually feel like I'm accomplishing something!
- Frank DiNuzzo
I have been puzzled about the fretboard for decades! Thank you for the most intelligent approach to teaching guitar I have ever encountered! I was astounded to follow your lessons and reasoning, and find that all of a sudden I could see the fretboard as something intelligible and not as a jumbled mess! I know the circle of fifths because of piano but had never looked at the other way as a circle of fourths and how to apply that to the fretboard! Who teaches that??? Only you!
-Vickie Bliss
The Process
Reasons to Study Guitar
2023 News
September 12, 2023: Cowboy B7, Blog Links and More!: Free Lesson on Cowboy B7, blog links, Tune of the Month and more!
September 4, 2023: Work Ethic: The interior was the darkest club I ever played and was a throwback to the heyday of Kansas City jazz.
August 21, 2023: 9th Chords in the Blues: How to use 9th chords in the Blues.
August 8, 2023: Cowboy Chords: E & E7: Monthly Newsletter: Cowboy E, E7, Blog Links and more!
July 24, 2023: JAM! Chapter 2: Continuing the story of the Saturday Afternoon Jam. In Chapter One I told the story of the Jam's original era (1984-1986) and how it was started by Jim LaForte and Rich VanSant. In this chapter I talk about my coming back onboard after a 5-year hiatus to join Mama Ray and the Rich VanSant Band on the Saturday Afternoon Jam at Harling's.
July 17, 2023: Jam! Chapter 1: The history of the Saturday Afternoon Jam: The Beginning at Harling’s Upstairs - 1984-86.
July 11, 2023: Cowboy Chords: Cowboy Chords, Blog Links and More!
June 26, 2023: Know Your Notes? I recently watched a podcast where Steve Vai talks about his lessons as a beginner with Joe Satriani.
June 14, 2023: Back to Cowboy Chords: June Newsletter: Free lesson on Cowboy Chords, blog links, Tune of the Month and more!
June 5, 2023: Wendler 7-String: "While you're at it, can you put a 7th string on there? He matter-of-factly replied, "I can do that." - and he did.
May 29, 2023: Republished: How I Sabotage My Music Career - And Why: Since I first published this back in 2018 on the occasion of my marriage anniversary I’ve republished it every year. So here it is again: How I Sabotage My Music Career - And Why.
May 19, 2023: The Blues: Sandbag the Shuffle! Sandbag the Shuffle and don’t break time!
May 15, 2023: Blues Launch: How to Play a Shuffle! Blues Launch: How to Play a Shuffle!
May 9, 2023: Blues Launch! Announcing the launch of The Blues; a 12-lesson series in a PDF download.
May 1, 2023: Launching The Blues! This month (May 2023) I will be launching Unit 2 of my guitar method, Vertical Truth: Chordal Mechanisms for the Guitar. Check out the blog for how to get in on it!
April 17, 2023: A Hit Instrumental Song is Almost an Oxymoron: "...he looks at the disappearance of hit instrumental songs over a period of almost 80 years. This is one of the most significant music trends of the last century, but rarely discussed and almost never analyzed."
April 12, 2023: Cowboy Chords: Am - F: FREE lesson on 1st-position chords, blog links, Tune of the Month and more!
March 21, 2023: Republished: I'm Looking For You! If you desire to become a knowledgeable musician, notch up your guitar skills and recognize the value of a systematic approach, I am looking for you!
March 15, 2023: Cowboy Chords: Progression: G-Em-C-D7: This FREE lesson uses the chords we've learned so far to create a cliché progression. The term, "cliché" in this context is not negative; it means this progression is so good everybody uses it all the time! Get it down and you know hundreds of songs!
Feb 20, 2023: Republished: Common-Tone Voice Leading: Less movement means less potential for error.
February 20, 2023: Republished 2-Note Jazz Chords: When comping behind a vocalist or a soloist, playing these 2-note chords leaves space for the bass player and the keyboardist to do their thing. Trust me, they'll appreciate you for it!
February 14, 2023: Cowboy D, Blog Links and More! Free lesson, blog links, Tune-of-the-Month and more!
February 6, 2023: Make Music, Not Scales: You’ve learned the A Minor Pentatonic Scale. Good! Now how do you make it sound like music?
January 30, 2023: TAB: Yes or No? The only thing you learn by using TAB is a specific song or lick - by rote. It doesn't give you any codified or organized musical information (note names, scales, keys etc), nor does it answer any "why?"-type questions.
January 23, 2023: The Spanish 8-Tone Distinctive: How to derive the distinctive sound of the Spanish 8-Tone Scale from the Minor Pentatonic:
January 16, 2023: Tribute to Jeff Beck: What to say about Jeff Beck? He died yesterday (January 10, 2023) and today I'm somewhat surprised at how it's hitting me. I'm surprised because I never considered him to be a huge influence on my playing. I was wrong.
January 11, 2023: Cowboy Chords, Blog Links, More! FREE lesson on Cowboy Chords, blog links, 2022 gig retrospective, Tune of the Month and more!
January 2, 2023: Competitive Assholery: “This assholery thing runs throughout my growth as a player.”