I am hoping to get some suggestions on a book for music theory? As complex as the subject matter is combined with my not so stellar long-term memory I feel having a good ol’ fashioned paperback book I can highlight in and make notes, pointing me back to Mr. G’s video explanation of course, could help me immensely. As of last night, I am a newly minted lifetime gold pick member. This membership compliments my three banjos, three guitars, and General Store purchased mandolin. None of which I understand nor can play very well. Promised the wife I’m really going to do it this time. Now I just have the impossible task of figuring out which instrument I want to concentrate on. 
Book Suggestions?
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On a side note, maybe a music theory book isn’t n’t exactly what I need? Maybe a book breaking down fretboards would be more beneficial? Or possibly I could try to build a book using the written / printable materials from this course.
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What instrument are you planning to play. The say that the piano is the mother of all instrument’s and perhaps the best one to study music theory
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I would say that a fair 80% of the music theory that I know I learned from playing the piano.
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I’m leaning towards trying to learn the mandolin and banjo simultaneously. I have a piano at the house but I’m a truck driver and away from home in the truck 6 days a week. I’m just hoping to get a better understanding of how music works I guess. (Just the important stuff) Maybe this is info I will pick up along the way working down the checklist provided on the site with no need for a book. I guess what I’m looking for is just something beneficial to look at while stretched out in the bunk without having to look at the phone.
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Well @ChadNBNC Chad I’ve got to say you have come to the right place. @BanjoBen has a ton of music theory lessons geared towards the banjo and mandolin player that you won’t find in any book and if you have internet/WIFI access whilst on the road what better way to learn.
I am not a mandolin player so maybe someone reading this can jump in and suggest a few mando lessons Chad should look at. @Simone or @Lucy_L perhaps ?
AS for the Banjo I would encourage you to study Alan Munde 's Banjo Geography Course, @BanjoBen 's Waypoints Course and Bill Evans Intro to Melodic & Single String Banjo. There are other Lessons where Ben teaches theory such as the National Numbering System. Inversions, Chords and Scales and Timing. Enough to keep you busy whilst your on the road.
Alan Munde
https://banjobenclark.com/courses/fretboard-geography-with-alan-munde
Ben’s Waypoints
https://banjobenclark.com/courses/waypoints-learning-the-banjo-neck
One other online tool which I have found invaluable is the Interactive Circle of Fifth’s
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Just noticed this. Time to upgrade to an iPad less eye strain.
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Thank you for the links. That sounds like exactly what I was looking for. I will definitely be checking those out.
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Have fun. These are great lessons.
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For mandolin, I highly recommend this course for neck theory: https://banjobenclark.com/courses/learn-to-play-in-any-key
Also this course: https://banjobenclark.com/courses/unlocking-the-mandolin-neck
For banjo I have similar lessons, but also recommend Bill Evans’ book here in paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Bluegrass-Banjo-Dummies-Online-Instruction/dp/1394152906
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as someone who started green like you and with no prior piano background or school’in for it, I can tell you it took me a little while to get the more complex theory stuff, but the Mr. G videos are a phenomenal jumping off point to grab a basic understanding that you can instantly start working with. Print off all the pdf’s from those lessons and the banjo ben videos suggested here and build your own workbook with those sheets, and rewatch the videos with the printouts and take notes, and write down questions you think of while rewatching the videos (you can search the forum for those questions, and they will more than likely have a thread discussing it already!). And just start to experiment with the concepts. Another good tip is to have a sheet where you have defined the terms used in all the courses to know what they mean and how they relate to the theory. the nashville number system really helped me grab a hold of the theory as far as knowing how to build chords, understand musical keys and how to build them. Because a lot of chords beyond standard ones will have funny stuff “minor 6th” or “minor, major7th” or “diminished” But once you know how to build a “key” and use the number system, its just counting up or down. it took me 3 years to figure that out, hahaha! But for newbies its daunting the first time you have to deal with a note that has anything next to it (like a symbol, number, or another letter) it will take some time for it to really sink in, but one day it will just click, but the basics can be picked up quickly with the Mr. G videos.
To this day, 5 years in I still keep three sheets out when i am practicing. Mr. G’s lesson 11 “the keys of CAGED” ; Banjo Ben’s 1-4-5 quick guide and a copy of a page from Hal leonard book that shows me every note on the mandolin neck and the number formula to create any chord type. the more I use these sheets with my daily practice the less I need them. It truly is learning another language, so it takes time, but don’t be discouraged, it will happen, it just takes time. I give up at least once a week, haha!
I remember when I first started and Mr. G said “there are only 7 notes in western music” and then immediately showed a graphic with sharps and flats and then said a key has majors and minors and a diminished chord in it… I was like, "what in the heck are these things!! it seems like more than 7 things. But the more I learned helped me understand things, like the difference between notes and chords and that an A note is not the same as an A chord, which might seem silly, but you don’t know what you don’t know. So that’s why I stress getting comfortable with the vocabulary early on.
The Hal Leonard book (to answer you actual question)
is my only book suggestion, only as a reference to see things written out though, but like I said it won’t make much sense until you spend more time with the lessons here on the website, but the book will give you a breakdown of the banjo fretboard and the chord formulas if that’s what your looking for. But you could google that honestly. And using it without understanding it will slow down your music theory comprehension (trust me) But I would say start with understanding Mr. G’s : Tones and Semi-tones, sharps and flats (and the symbols used for both), and The keys of the CAGED lesson and how to find all that on the fretboard. And keep those reference sheets handy. Then branch out from there. i will also say this is just what helped me and you might find a different way that works better for you.
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Thank you so much for the response and encouragement. Sounds like the perfect way to go about things. When I get back to the house I will definitely print off all of the study material I can to carry with me in the truck. I’m also going to bring the laptop with me on the road for now on and use my phone as a hotspot. I think that will make navigating the website a lot easier for me. Thanks again to everyone for the responses.
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