A lifelong guitar enthusiast, after a few lessons, young Johnny Graham  was left to unravel the mysteries of the fretboard entirely on his own. Years later, his teenage son, Stevie, was student of classical guitar and music theory. One evening Johnny watched Stevie perfecting a complex arpeggio. He asked how such intricate patterns were created. Stevie’s answer stayed with Johnny forever: “It’s a simple matter of connecting the scale notes that surround a simple chord.”  That “not so simple” answer sparked a creative journey.

Johnny created this graphic of whole notes connected across the neck. He filed it away as family and the Air Force took priority, rediscovering it after retiring and with the time to explore Stevie’s answer. 

To Johnny, it was more like decoding a hidden language than learning the guitar! As he connected core elements of practical music theory with the physical design of the fretboard, he realized that understanding why the guitar works the way it does makes learning how to play far less intimidating.

That insight led to The Guitar Decoded. Strugling with scattered research notes, he  undertook to make some order of what he had learned. He took a building block approach to assembled essential concepts every guitar instructor and student should know. He explained how they fit together,  presenting them in a clear, highly visual, easy-to-understand way.

His hope is for every guitarist to see the guitar with the clarity and understanding he wishes he had acquired decades ago.