Probably a great explanation. I’m totally lost as a beginner.

This was very well explained. Let me process for a decade.

I self taught myself guitar a long time ago. Eventually got to the point of playing in a band for well over a decade playing rhythm and lead and for the life of me, I cannot wrap my brain around this. Even after watching this, I'm totally lost. It's always been such a point of personal frustration for me to not understand this. I'm going to watch this a bunch of times hoping it will finally click for me.

I’ve watched countless videos on KZfaq and never felt the desire to comment. I’m a retired AF pilot with multiple degrees and am an avid “self taught” student of many skills. Not bragging just making it clear that I love learning and have been in school pretty much for the past 50 years. Having said all that… I rarely come across instruction that is clear, concise, visual, audible, and enjoyable all in one. Bravo! I thoroughly enjoyed this video and felt my mind, body and spirit all illuminate over the information by how it was presented! Thank you, I’m truly grateful!

I have never seen the circle of fifths explained this clearly. Please don't stop teaching.

I picked up the guitar 11 years ago. Sending love to Marty Schwartz. This video, amongst 11 years worth of guitar related KZfaq videos, blew my mind. You just answered questions I’ve had for so long that I didn’t know how to ask. I couldn’t even articulate what my questions were. I mean I knew I needed clarification, I just didn’t know what I needed clarified. You have a real talent for breaking things down and making connections that really help visual learners like me. I mean I’m a diagram maker myself. A proud one (Visio love). I’m severely impressed with your work. Thank you.

Just took my first lesson three days ago, and he asked what I wanted to learn. He kept asking what song. I told him I didn’t want to learn anything specific. He was upset. He said, what does the end of the journey look like for you. I told him, I want to fully understand what the instrument does so that I can create things with it. He said, “music theory”. Then he blew my mind. Now I am hooked. It finally clicks after 34 years. This video helped even more. Thank you.

13 years of music...and I finally understand the purpose and how the circle of 5ths work...... Thank you!

I must be really dumb, I found this ridiculously complicated. It seems like a really easy to understand simplified way of explaining something.... to advanced people who would understand it easily. Appreciate people like you though.

Oh my god dude where was this video all my life, as someone who’s a huge visual learner this is so helpful

The explanation of the conversion of the chromatic scale to the circle of fifths was a revelation to me. After grasping some concepts after 3 years (e.g., G is the 5th of C, D is the 5th of G, etc.) I still didn’t understand until he explained the whole step - whole step - half step pattern. I was able to write out on a sheet of paper each note in the 12 keys moving clockwise along the circle of fifths, then the major, minor and 7th chords. I get the intersection of the circle and the chromatic scale on the fretboard much better now. Im not totally sold on the color idea, but this video was a huge help.

I have had a guitar since I was 12. I have learned from orchestra directors, friends, other players but I have never had a lesson that connected the notes, circle and scales like this one. Subbed.

that slide at 7:45 blew my mind. imagining chords and just looking at the colors and major/minor symbols on the fret-board completely explains why they "belong" together. Why they work. Amazing video!

It's finally clicking! I've known chords for rhythm for years but now scales and fingering are starting to make sense. Thank you dude!

This just completely blew my mind. Best lesson I've heard in 30 years of playing the guitar.

This changed everything for me, moving from piano to guitar and this made everything fall into place. Thank you!

I must say… I never truly understand these types of videos but the format you do them in is so understandable. The figures you used and the sounds to complement what you were explaining simultaneously was awesome. Thanks

Thanks for the enormous amount of work you put in for this video. May you be blessed!🙏🏽

One of the most clear and concise music theory tutorials out there. Bravo good sir

I’ve been playing blindly for 20 years! This is what I’ve been looking for! Thank you! 🙏🙌

This is amazing. I cannot even imagine how much work you have put into this. Thank you so much.

Dude this video is freakin’ spot on. I’ve been trying to get someone to explain it this way. Thank you.

Thx Mike! So glad I landed on your channel. I’ve been having a hard time grasping this for the last 20yrs and your explanation finally made sense 🤯

Heard this stuff a million times and this is one of the clearest, most concise lectures on the fretboard and circle of fifths. The geometric diagrams inside the circle of fifths are the best!

man after 10 years of playing and struggling to truly internalize music theory concepts, this was awesome and gives me hope. i still need to study more but this was the best explanation i've seen so far.

THIS MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE OH MY GOSH. I’ve been struggling with understanding music theory and how to apply it on the guitar, but this video laid it out so clearly ! Thank you!!

The relationship between color and music while seeming random actually has a plesent explination thats defidently worth hearing. For humans what we call colors is our representation of the visible part of a spectrum of light waves called the electromagnetic spectrum. Music or notes is likewise the hearable parts of a spectrum of waves that travel through our air and sometimes other mediums. Both light and music are waves which we can represent and do calculations with through sin waves. Every sin wave within certain frequencies represents one of infinite notes or colors we group similar sounding sin waves together by notes such as b or c# and with colors such as red or green. Things get intresting when you mix colors or notes together. Sin waves found in nature are rarely uniform, and are often combinations of infinite sin waves all pitching in at different magnitudes, this is called a fourier siries. Forier siries are mostly random sort of like sunlight which might look like a squiggle not a uniform wave. With the correct combination of individual sin waves destructive or constructive interference occurs in order to create truly beautiful things. Finding out which sin waves are good together is all there is to both creating good sounds and colors and this is where kusic theroy meets physics. Our brain will then do complex things to break down the forier siries back into its parts of individual sin waves as best it can and intrepret the information in the form of music or color whichever were talking about. The only difference between sound and light is that without a medium for the sound to travel through nobody will hear you scream. If you shine a light into space the very small portion of that light that escapes the atmosphere and misses clestial bodies will tavel in a straight line forever. Keep in mind that every time you go outside the light from the sun bouncing off of you and making its way into space is sending a message so far into the future time has no relevance telling the universe you were here in that way you are immortal because it will always be possible to see you. When you look into the stars you are seeing the stories of millions of galaxies long dead for billions of years still shining a light on us. If you went to that distant galaxy you see instantly, and turned around to look for earth you would see nothing, not because its too far to see but because the earth does not exist yet the earth will not exist for billions of years after the sun your standing on is dead. Music, light, time, gravity the universe was built perfectly and intentionally for your enjoyment and on a final note of peferct forier harmony please enjoy it the best you can.

Dear Mike, I just started watching your videos and I enjoy the learning but also respect very much your ability to boil down the complex to the simple, it is pure genius. My sincere gratitude, please continue your great work!

Absolutely amazing! Such clear instructions and helpful tricks.

Wow…. It’s just so enlightening I consider myself a beginner, with some KZfaq videos as my teacher And I understood everything AMAZING ❤

Wow! I've been playing for years and this has REALLY helped me understand the fretboard so much better. Thank you!

Suuuuuuuch an eye-opener! I have been playing for a few years and got back to trying to understand theory this week. Alot of great videos on KZfaq and this is the best so far. Massive thanks! Liked and subscribed.

Mike, What a brilliant presentation of the basics of Music Theory. I've been playing by ear for years; and, at seventy-eight, I decided it was time to learn theory. I loved the logical structure of your video and your graphics really helped me to grasp all the interrelated concepts. Thank you for your generosity in putting so much passion into sharing your knowledge with the rest of us. Randall

I've been playing for over 20 years and this is THE most concise, intuitive way to learn guitar and theory at the same time. If I had this when I was 15 I would have been a monster.

You have laid this all out in such a way that I can finally understand the guitar and how you would apply the circle of fifths. I actually couldn't stop pausing this video to stop and smile at the realizations firing off in my brain about music. I have decided to try and learn to play guitar at 30 so this video has been a gift. thank you!

This might be the most useful video for guitar players trying to advance from just learning songs. I'm saving this video I'll be back a good 100 times. I've been trying to learn more theory so I can push to that next level and I'm always lost but this is mind-blowing. It's like I had a lot of this knowledge but couldn't make sense of it and this just clicked it all into place! Thank you

As a singer and new beginner guitar player (as of a week ago), this is extremely helpful! I mean, I've already been doing lessons watching JustinGuitar and some from Marty Schwartz, but I have to say that this is really awesome and beneficial for any new player. I'm sure my hubby will think the same thing as he's also a beginner himself. Us newbs over 40 gotta stick together with this lol... Thanks for this information!

Having self learnt for about 2 decades I've totally mastered the Map and beyond...it's everything I need to know

Wow. As a person who wants to visualize everything as I learn - this is a tremendous system! Wish I had this in the very beginning. I think this makes so much sense and should be a standard for teaching. Thank you for your work!

By far the best and most understandable version of music theory that I’ve seen and heard. Bravo! Thank you very much

That was crazy cool. I had it in my head forever and just couldn’t pull it out. With you saying colors then noting the 5th reference, I couldn’t believe I’ve missed it this whole time. It really is the difference between book learning, where you simply memorize, and being able to drive the guitar like a pro race driver brain surgeon. Very nice. Favorited.

Very Easy to understand and grasp especially since I started teaching my self piano first, seeing the fretboard map, its just a piano really. this will help me with my music journey cheers champ.

I have been stuck with my guitar learning for a long time now and I even took a break due to frustration and confusion I am so very happy to say that you have explained this in a way I can understand and I couldn’t be more grateful hands down the greatest explanation I have ever seen

oh my god. thank you so much for making these kinds of videos for free in youtube. I cannot explain enough how much helpful this is. I gave up playing guitar because i could not stand anymore just memorising each chords and not really understanding them. Thanks to your video, i feel hopeful in playing guitar again

🤯 I have been studying theory for months and then I stumble upon this video that just lays it out in 12 minutes 😂. Great job!

Wow. Been playing for 30 years. Wish I had seen this 31 years ago. Brilliant. Liked and subscribed!

Totally unlocked another level of understanding. Definitely delivers on the promise in the description. Great video 👍🏾

I’ve been aimlessly playing guitar for NINE YEARS and just recently started really being dedicated again and delving into the theory. Nothing has helped to crystallize theory in my mind as majorly as this and the 8 Steps to Understanding theory vid (not in that order) I finally feel like I’m starting to understand. I could cry rn

This is fantastic. Loved the circle of fifths as a color wheel. There is a typo at 8:24. The upper circle has 2 D-flats, and no G-flat. Really cool visualization

I think, given the right amount of time/study, this will prove very useful, so thank you. On another point, the artwork/animations are very impressive and clear. I’d be interested to know which app you use to demonstrate your vids, thanks.

Wonderful tutorial as someone who had an ok understanding of music theory to begin with. Definitely feel my knowledge of it a lot more sharpened. Great visuals and explanation!

Thank you so much dude! I’ve been playing for 5 months and don’t know what a scale is, but this video just made me do a big breakthrough, I can play the scales of any key just by ear. It’s been literally 20 minutes since I say the video but you just snapped something in my mind! I say some video is music theory and didn’t understand what will I actually gain from nor did I understand it. But you just answered all my questions!

This is mind blowing. I'm going to have to watch it a few dozen times to totally grok it, but for the first time this all looks theoretically (ha) accessible. Now, if only I had a guitar that had all those colored, labeled squares on the fretboard...

Loved the connection between color and music, awesome video!

i’ve spent so many hours trying to figure this out. the barrier to entry is so hard but once you have it laid out in front of you like this it makes so much sense. thank you!

Mannn it was so good, i played guitar in the middle school but always struggled with this, now im in college and ready to pick up my guitar again. Once again kudos to you for putting this level of dedication in making the video.✨

Very interesting - I have never seen it explained this way - I think I actually understand this - time to pick up my beginner guitar again and start fresh - thank you

Brilliant ! Love how you used Sacred Geomatry, Colors! Very Well Explained. Thank You !

Hi Mike I want to thank you for taking you time into the creation of this video. It really helped me understand the note positions. Im a beginer and you video is priceless... god bless you man!

This was an incredible explanation. The visuals and animations made it extremely understandable and approachable.

Most folks want to learn the top and bottom layers of theory and implementation, but this approach is kinda like the mortar between. I am really enjoying your approach. Keep it coming

Began learning music theory on guitar at 10 years old and after 4 years, quit to learn how to only play/cover songs because of how confusing music theory was. This video reinvigorated my interest and inspired me to pick up my guitar that laid dormant for 6 years. Thank you.

This makes sense! Thanks for taking the time to lay this out. I’m a saxophone player so I have music theory but I’ve never understood how and why a guitar is setup how it is. You finally connected those dots for me.

I've been trying to understand music theory and the circle of fifths for quite a while now and it has never clicked... until this video. Unbelievably good explanation! Please, keep making videos!

By far the simplest yet detailed and easily digestible method of learning! I loved this content Mike; Thanks so much for creating such insightful video on learning the fretboard theory. It is more than a decade I kept seeing my guitar lying in a corner of my home, eventually cleaned up and put back again in the same place. Now I am again becoming hopeful to restart my learning after getting encouraged by seeing this video. Thank you once again!

I've been playing guitar for 15+ years. This is incredible. I get it now.

Very nice . im playing over 20 years and i always had it in my muscle memory - very accurate and detailed explanation .. thanks!

Great job expelling the notes on the fretboard and how scales are integrated with one another. Awesome video, probably the most helpful guitar lesson I’ve watched on the tube.

I never realised the frets were the circle of fifths! - Amazing!🎉

Such a great way to explain this and break it down into an easy to understand way. Btw. - there's a TYPO: at 7:44 in your circle of fifths above the fretboard there's a "Db" in the box between the "B" and "Db" circles instead of a "Gb"

I’ve been playing for 25 years and this is the best I’ve ever seen this topic explained. Amazing job!

Dude! I’ve never seen this explained so well. I will watch this video over and over again. Thank you! Amazing!

I’ve just started learning guitar, coming from the gateway instrument, Ukulele! 😂 Just learning chords rote was clearly only going to get me so far and I was interested to get an understanding of music theory. Your video is by far the best explanation I’ve seen! Thank you so much!

I am an intermediate guitar player, i tried finding videos on how to get better, then i searched how to learn the fret board, you showed me my first scale!! thank you!!

One of the best intro summaries I’ve seen. I’ve been playing by feel for many many years. I’m excited to have found this as I foray into theory. Some exercises to reinforce the concepts would be very helpful

I can see why you got a million views in one year! This is a very creative way of teaching keyboard theory - and practice! Very fresh approach. Much appreciated.

I made a similar visual back in the day. but it was made of circles that had 45 degree sections filled in based on its progression through a certain letter key.

So now it is even more confusing.

My friend, this video every begginner should watch it. Thanks for the work you've done as an educator, and be proud of calling yourself an educator because thats what you are prof, and not everyone who teaches is an educator.

This is an exceptional video. I have been searching around for something like this! Thank you so much!

this is an exceptionally well made presentation. barvo

This not to be easy, its not a quick tip, this is pure theory, do what you want with it

All my time spent on KZfaq has just become worthwhile from this video alone. Thank you!

Oh thank you for this. The video, your explanation and the visuals were spot on ❤

I watched the whole thing and have no idea what I was supposed to be learning here 😭

If you go around the circle of fifths in the opposite direction, you get the circle of fourths. Since guitar strings are tuned a fourth apart, I find it easier to think in terms of the circle of fourths to go across the strings in the low to high direction.

Wow, that was powerful. First time I heard of the color analogy. Thank you for doing this.

Extremely helpful. loved that you explained the color/music relationship. 💡

It's a bit of a stretch for me, but I can see how this could be useful for certain learners.

This is the single most helpful thing I’ve watched on the fretboard, thank you so much.

Insanely well explained and produced. Fantastic.

I feel like the video ended where it was about to get interesting. Still very cool, but I don't get how these colors or shapes work outside of just identifying identical notes. Maybe I just gotta dive into the PDFs. Still, dope vid.

The circle of fifths explanation here was the best I’ve seen. Love the color coding. I’ve learned piano scales, chords, etc so this all makes much more sense but…I wish you’d pause on some of the heavier concepts. Sure I can, but I get left behind fast. You do a good job of explaining things, but your delivery is fast and there’s no chance for a learner to soak it in. Relying on pause isn’t a good UX. Just my 2 cents! I’ll be watching your vids though! Great stuff

I memorized the pentatonic chords years ago. This made a ton of sense because of that. That, and knowing how these keys work on a keyboard visually helps when it comes to half steps.

Ive been playing for over 40 years, while never understanding fretboard theory, and you took away the mystery and the guesswork in less than 13 minutes. Well done, sir!!

I have a bit of a problem. I'm colorblind and some of the colors look the same for me. like Bb and F, G and Gb. This is why the collor lay-out is no option and coffusing for me. You're doing a good job in making this video's and explaining music. I hope you can find a way that makes it also workt for us collorblind people.

This makes learning the guitar more complicated, not less complicated.

Extraordinary video! Man, you have made my day! Thank you!

Recently started learning guitar and could literally not follow any other tutorial on tears in heaven, but with your one everything is so clear. I can't describe how grateful I am!! Thank you so much!! :)

Very helpful, thank you for putting this together. Note that at 7:45, kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jN2DddemvNHMmXU.html, your Gb in the Circle of Fifths transforms into a Db.