PRODUCT REVIEW
BY GAYLA DRAKE PAUL
Master Music Publishing calls this nifty gad-
get “a 2-ounce reference library of music
theory,” and I think that just about sums
it up. With color-coded, clear and concise
listings of diatonic triads; major, minor and
diminished chords; and tonic and relative
minor inversions, it could also be called
“Key Center at a Glance.”
THE GUITAR
WHEEL
Wheel, which is even more useful for the
purposes of transposition and charting.
As a songwriter and player, I am intrigued
by the ease with which you can find all the
rules in any key center with the turn of a
dial. Transposing between key centers is
effortless. Finding modes is a little more
challenging, but doable; if you’re playing
something that centers around E minor, but
you’ve got a pesky C# in there that doesn’t
make sense in the key of G, there’s no easy
way for this wheel to tell you what key it
is. However, once you turn the dial enough
and discover which key center contains both
an E minor chord and a C#, then transposition to another key or charting the song is a
snap. The flip side of the Guitar Wheel is a
more advanced piano-based Music Theory
As an instructor, I would not necessarily use
this to teach guitar because the fretboard
diagrams show only 6th string rooted barre
chords, but no 5th string rooted chords
or open chords at all. Once a student has
learned chord shapes and understands that
there are many ways to play each chord,
then this tool would be terrifically helpful in
giving them an understanding of key centers
and rudimentary music theory – areas that
are often neglected because of the mistaken
perception that they’re too complicated. This
tool does all the heavy lifting and lets the
teacher simply teach. Simply put, the Guitar
Wheel is concise and complete, and does
exactly what it says.
Master Music Publishing
guitarwheel.com
RATING...
4.0
