dick boak’sMusical Chord Wheel For The Guitarist

Small Wheel (Side A face up.)

Large Wheel (Side A face up.)

Small Wheel (Side B face down.)

Brass fastener

Basic Assembly

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As I immersed myself in guitar construction and playing, I learned a lotabout noting, chording and harmonics. Through seven evolvingversions of chord wheels, I arrived at a version that I felt wasmarketable to the broader guitar playing public.

I had seen circular slide rules that were laminted in stiffplastic which a much more sophisticated center hub.These were manufactured by a small company in NewJersey. I visited them with a prototype of my latestvariation. They gave me price quotes that werepretty sobering. My cost on the laminatedversion was approaching twenty dollarsmaking it virtually impossible to offer theproduct at typical market discounts andstill make a profit.

So instead, I published the dickboak’s Musical Chord Wheel For TheGuitarist in poster form, someassembly required. Because assemblywas a bit daunting, the wheel neverreally achieved any commercialsuccess. About a thousand weresold. The people that actually wentto the trouble to cut the windowsout and put the contraptiontogether were enthralled with theidea. A few guitar fanatics took theidea even further, but invariablyfailed when it came to sales.Nevertheless, the idea once againpresents itself on the next severalpages for further scrutiny orabandonment. The format allows forthe four independant wheels to beprinted to scale from this PDF file. Withscissors, carefully cut out all four wheelson their outermost lines. You will havetwo small wheels and two larger wheels.The large wheels need to be adhered back toback to make one large center wheel printed onboth sides. Spray adhesive works well for thispurpose, but be sure to align the wheels perfectlywith a pin through the exact center crosshairs beforefinal glueup. On the two smaller wheels, carefully cut outall grey windows marked “cut” using a single edged razorblade or Exacto® knife. Using a sharp pencil, poke a small holethrough the center of each wheel. Be precise to insure correctalignment. Using a standard brass fastener, assemble the wheels asshown in the diagram on the first page of this PDF.

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Uses:A. Chord Fingering Chart

Looking through the small windows marked“ROOT,” find the letter of the chord you wish toplay. (A, A#, B, C, etc.) In the larger windows shownas guitar necks, find the fingering pattern for the typeof chord you wish to play, i.e. major, minor,augmented, etc. Use both sides of the wheel for atotal of 168 different chord diagrams.

B. Transposing or Changing KeysIf you wish to change the key of a song,

use the transposer on Side B. Assume thatyou are changing from the key of C to thekey of G. Align these two chords on thelarge and small wheels. Chords changeaccordingly: C becomes G, D becomesA, E becomes B, etc. Chord types likemajor, minor, seventh, etc. stay thesame in transposition, i.e. C-majorbecomes G-major, C-7th becomesG-7th, etc.

C. Chord Structure AnalyzerTo find the notes that comprise

any given chord, use Side A. Assumethat you want to find the notes in a Cmajor chord. Look for major on thechord structure chart. Major reads 1, 3,5. Set C on the small wheel inalignment with “1-Set Chord” on thelarge wheel. Read the notes off asfollows: 1=C, 3=E, 5=G. Therefore, thenotes that make up a C major chord are C,E and G. Follow this procedure for anychord name and type. For example: For E flat13th suspended 11th, set E flat on 1 and readoff the corresponding notes: 1=E, 4=A flat, 5=Bflat, 5 flat=D flat, 9=F, 11=A flat, 13=C. Therefore,an E flat 13th suspended 11th chord contains thenotes E flat, A flat, B flat, D flat, F, A flat (one octaveabove), and C.

Note: Chord patterns given are the most common,selected for simplicity and for the most part, fullchord strumming. For five, four, or three notechords, omit appropriate fingers. When open stringsare in harmony with a particular fingered chord

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pattern, you have a power chord. Power chords aremovable on many positions of the neck. Let yourfingers assume the maximum comfortable positionwhen forming a chord.

D. Neck Note FinderThe neck note finder can be used to locate

particular notes of a given chord on a guitar neck.The note finder is located on Side A. It will be

helpful to memorize the locations of these notes.Sharps (#) - and flats (b) - are not labeled;

sharps are one note above, flats are one notebelow.

E. Fractional Harmonic KeyHarmonics are shown as fractions of

the entire string length. Arrows markthe locations of major harmonics onthe guitar neck. The strongest tonescome from the lowest fractionaldenominator. Notes yielded bytouching the harmonics are labeled.

F. Open TuningsOpen tunings can expand one’s

technical capability and can open upthe areas of bottleneck slide andHawaiian guitar. Charts for tendifferent open tunings are found onside A and refer to tuning at the nutfrom lowest to highest string. Forvirtually unlimited open tunings, use

the transposer to change the stringsequence into different keys.

G. Principle Chords in Major and RelativeMinor Keys

These charts are located on side B and areused to find or learn the relative tonic, sub-

dominant, or dominant chords for any of sixteencommonly used keys. These are chord groups thattypically work well together. Try them all.

H. Music TheoryThis chord wheel is an instructional device.

Although the wheel does not conform to strict musictheory, use of the wheel will greatly aid in theunderstanding of how the guitar works. Students ofother instruments (piano, harp, banjo, flute,

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autoharp, basses, etc.) will also find particularaspects of the chord wheel useful, not only as an aidto the understanding of their own instrument, butalso as a means of understanding guitar theory forduet purposes.

This particular effort represents the seventhrefinement in the gradual development of my chordwheel concept. Each new design incorporated newfeatures and in the same breath revealed weaknessesthat I had planned to address in future designs.

This however is most likely the last of mychord wheels. They served their purpose forme. During the tedious process of inking andillustrating the wheels, I learned my guitarchords and fabricated my rather twistedpremise as to how music works. Pianoinstructors shriek in horror at the grosssimplification of what they cherish astrue, but the whole system remainsquite workable for the odd breed ofmusically challenged guitarists ofwhich I am a part.

One of the most clever aspects ofthis project was the emergence of theGuit-arts™ brand. I was so proud ofmyself for inventing this ingenioustrademark, though as of yet it hasnever been lent to any other project.

Occassionally, I meet younginventors that have created their ownincredibly anal stabs at unraveling themusical DNA. In fact many of themactually seek me out as a sage or advisor. Ialways try to explain that their passion forthe analysis of musical structures may neverreap the big payoff. They all seem sosurprised at this, but the sad reality is thatguitar music can survive and prosper quite wellwithout the use or need of any of thesecontraptions. Nonetheless, there are long lines ofself-deluded enthusiasts at the patent offices waitingto offer their $10,000 checks to the mother ofinvention.

Just in case I’m wrong, I hereby copyright thisMusical Chord Wheel: ©2005 Guit-Arts™ Designs bydick boak. All rights reserved. No portion of thisdesign may be copied without permission in writingfrom the designer..... ad nauseum!

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