Progressions Classics Chord Books : worth the hype??
Being a guitarist on Facebook, Instagram, or pretty much any other platform, means you get adverts for guitar stuff. I'm sure that applies to any interest you might have.
A little while ago, you'd have to have been living under a pretty big rock not to have been pummelled by the sales pitch of Jeffrey Kunde and his "Progressions Classics" series.
Jeffrey Kunde is a studio musician, author, and instructor in Southern California. He is a Grammy nominated producer and the lead guitarist of "Jesus Culture", who are a Christian Revivalist rock band......
The adverts all run basically the same.... a reasonably novice or overly confident guitarist gets vaguely bullied by a "superior" guitarist for "only" knowing one or two ways of playing some basic chords. "Open" chords? - dull. "Barre" Chords - dull. Using a capo? - you barely deserve to have hands! What you need is a slightly over priced set of books to show you some of the fancier chord shapes, which will transform your playing from that busking tramp who hangs out near the Tesco Express to Eddie Van Halen.
You might be able to tell from my tone my overall opinion. I think before I ordered them I knew I was going to be disappointed in some way or form, but as part of my job is to have a knowledge and opinion on such things, I splashed out....in the name of education.
The basic schtick is that the books show you ten ways of playing the most common chord progressions, in every key. This in itself is not a bad goal. I'm a rhythm guitarist, interesting chords are my business, but no mistake, these are basically chord books, which have been around since the dawn of guitar time. Organising them by progressions might seem, well, progressive, but actually it kind of feels a bit limiting, slightly redundant, and it assumes a level of musical theory which they don't bother to explain.
So, let me explain those comments......
Firstly the books assume you know, and can recognise the Nashville Numbers system. If you don't know what that is, google it. Because if you don't know and you've bought the books, that's what you're gonna have to do anyway.
Secondly, by far the majority of guitar playing falls into just one of a few categories.
i). Enthusiastic amateurs who play for fun....
ii). Weekend warriors in covers bands.....
iii). Songwriters.....
There are others, obviously, but like I said...."the majority"....
The first and second groups don't tend to be too bothered about fancy chords. The basics are okay for jamming, and if there are any fancy chords required, they're for specific songs that they want to play, so they'll be learnt in the context of the song. "Interesting" chords become a part of their trick bag by playing them and mixing and matching, not by trying to choose which of potentially a dozen volume of handbooks to consult..... which is also worthy of note.... when was the last time you saw a guitarist show up at a gig, jam night or rehearsal and break out a small library of paperback reference books? For me, I can safely say it was in the 90s....
Third group - the songwriters... (a group very close to my heart) There's nothing more creative than playing a common chord sequence from a book of common chord sequences is there?
I feel this is turning into a rant..... (sigh)
Anyway - one more complaint, sorry, observation. The books are hugely repetitive. Let's say Chapter One shows you ten ways of how to play A, B, C and D. Chapter Two shows you how to play ten ways of playing C, B, D and A. Same chords, different order. Chapter Three shows you ten ways of how to play D, A, C and B. Hopefully you get the picture. And if you don't get the picture, don't worry, it's repeated on several other pages, which is presumably why we have multiple volumes, not one handbook.
Experiment time. How many times in Volume One can I find the picture of a bulk standard "A major" chord, either as a normal open chord, or as a barre chord on the fifth fret? (both versions I have noticed the advert derides as being boring and predictable).....
Is it.....
i) 9?
ii) 12?
iii) 19?
Actually it's none of those. It's twenty eight. Twenty eight times in volume one does this series demonstrate to you how to play just one of the chords that the advert tells you that you don't want to be bothered with.
It's all been pretty negative so far, hasn't it? There is some light at the end of the tunnel. The saving grace I think, of these books is in the alternate shapes that it offers.
As a songwriter, I'm always interested in new chord voicings. You don't need fancy chords to write great songs, but it floats my boat, so as a source to discover a D#/Ebm7 - the chord you never knew you needed and now can't live without, it's okay. Sometimes minor chords are suggested where major ones should exist....now in a creative songwriters setting where there are no rules, that could be pretty cool, but dropping a Dm9 into Johnny B Goode probably isn't going to sit very well, so it's horses for courses.
And that's the other thing you've kind of got to be aware of. These books offer more unusual variants of chords, like minor 9ths and suspended chords, which are all indeed great ways adding additional diversity and colour to your playing, just be aware that they're not all magic, swiss army knife swapsies, and perfect for every situation and genre.
So, am I being a bit harsh? I don't think that anything I've said is factually incorrect. Clearly there are likely to be many, many people who will completely connect with these books, and as a tutor myself I'm well aware that what connects with my brain in terms of educational tools and methods may well not be the same as somebody else's. I think that I've seen a few people on the "I Am A Songwriter" course who've generally reviewed them positively in passing.
To my mind, they are a metaphorical gold mine for the chord prospector. Some dude has sold you the mine which he found successful, and he's given you a pick axe. That doesn't mean the gold is going to jump into your hands, it means you've got to dig. Potentially, a lot, to find what you're looking for, and you might not immediately recognise it when you find it. Not everybody has the patience for that.
So if you know the Nashville Numbers system, and you understand a bit about chords, how chords work, and you're a reasonably proficient player, (because many of these shapes aren't easy) then give them a go. I'm not going to nix anything outright with educational value. I just think you need to understand what these books are really offering, and whether you actually want it or not, otherwise they're destined to be another collection of unopened guitar reference books sitting on your bookshelf.
And for goodness sake don't ditch your capo. That's not a cheat, that's using your noggin!
Try reading this......
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