# Chris Letchford's Guitar Technique Book



## TXDeathMetal (Mar 20, 2011)

So I ordered a copy of this book along with the tab book for Scale The Summit's newest album "The Collective" and I have to say that so far I'm really impressed. Each section in it focuses on a different technique and has several exercises to practice involving said technique and each exercise is notated on which finger to use to fret each note, where your down and upstrokes should be for each note and also which finger to tap with on your picking had. It's a great book and I can already tell that it's going to provide me with enough material to practice for months and that it is well worth the 20$ I spent on it, I was wondering if anyone else has this book and if so what are your thoughts on it

TL;DR= Awesome book, you should buy it. Already own it?... what's your opinion on it.


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## Fiction (Mar 20, 2011)

I came across this band about 2 weeks ago, and I'm just waiting for money to transfer in my paypal then i'll be ordering this along with the Carving Desert Canyon tab book. It seems like a well written book and Chris is a pretty good guitarist so I'm sure the book will be able to teach me a thing or two.


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## ShadyDavey (Mar 20, 2011)

Reviewed it a while back (in fact the link that Chris posted on his site is to my review) and I was thoroughly impressed. As the site is currently down I'll copy and paste from a backup to give you some idea of my impressions:


> Chris Letchford (Scale the Summit) was born in Houston, Texas in 1984 and began playing guitar at the age of 8 -- since then he&#8217;s attended MIT, Berklee School of Music and the Houston Community College and managed to tour in support of Dream Theater -- does he really need any futher evidence of his musical credentials or abilities? If so then the fact he&#8217;s also busy teaching private students whilst endorsing Sherman Guitars, Music Man Guitars, Ernie Ball Products and Hipshot Bridges on top of writing this Technique book should provide ample evidence of his talent.
> 
> Chris Letchford&#8217;s Guitar Technique Book is his first instructional release (be sure to check out the Tab books for both STS albums however!) and reading the contents of this remarkably concise volume does to some extent appear to be a list of every popular technique for guitarists these days&#8230;.and given Chris&#8217; pedigree that&#8217;s not surprising in the least! Without further adoo, here&#8217;s the full breakdown:
> 
> ...



Enough said.


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## TXDeathMetal (Mar 20, 2011)

ShadyDavey said:


> Reviewed it a while back (in fact the link that Chris posted on his site is to my review) and I was thoroughly impressed. As the site is currently down I'll copy and paste from a backup to give you some idea of my impressions:
> 
> 
> Enough said.



I agree, very good review, you hit the nail on the head with that one.


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## bluntegg (Mar 30, 2011)

For the picking hand, he has laid out I M O as index middle ring. There are a couple instances in the notation where A appears. 

Does this just mean any finger as I'm assuming it does? Sorry if this is a noob question.


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## TXDeathMetal (Mar 30, 2011)

bluntegg said:


> For the picking hand, he has laid out I M O as index middle ring. There are a couple instances in the notation where A appears.
> 
> Does this just mean any finger as I'm assuming it does? Sorry if this is a noob question.



I've noticed that in the book as well and there isn't any notation for it in symbol key on the first page of the book and he doesn't seem to explain what it's representative of in any of the exercises where that symbol pops up so I would logically assume that you are correct in your thinking.


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## ROAR (Mar 30, 2011)

I have the Technique book which is awesome!
Been working my way through it more and more each week.
I also have the last tab book for CDC but there's a few mistakes
in the book. Like printwise, don't know if anyone else had
that problem though, seems like a random occurence.
I'll be picking up The Collective soon enough when I'm not an
extremely poor college student.

 Fuck you tuition.


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## TXDeathMetal (Mar 30, 2011)

ROAR said:


> I have the Technique book which is awesome!
> Been working my way through it more and more each week.
> I also have the last tab book for CDC but there's a few mistakes
> in the book. Like printwise, don't know if anyone else had
> ...



I have the tab book for The Collective, I've glanced through it but haven't sat down and tried to learn any of the songs in it yet as I'm also working my way through the technique book.


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## ROAR (Mar 30, 2011)

Let me know if there's any errors in printing.
Though I'm positive mine was just a fluke.


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## rchrd_le (Mar 30, 2011)

I have the Carving Desert Canyons tab book. The songs took a lot longer to learn than I thought they would. This band may sound simple, but they're definitely complex. It was totally unexpected and very useful in learning new techniques. That's how I learned 2 handed tapping.


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## ChrisLetchford (Mar 31, 2011)

Hey guys, I need to open the book as its been over a year since it came out and I can't remember off the top of my head. But if there is a "A" it should only be when there is hybrid picking, the "A" stands for "ring" finger on the picking hand. Its from classical theory. I'll check the book though just to make sure it wasn't a typo, it shouldn't be as there are technique exercises in there for hybrid picking. 

Anyways... glad you guys are digging it!


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## TXDeathMetal (Mar 31, 2011)

ChrisLetchford said:


> Hey guys, I need to open the book as its been over a year since it came out and I can't remember off the top of my head. But if there is a "A" it should only be when there is hybrid picking, the "A" stands for "ring" finger on the picking hand. Its from classical theory. I'll check the book though just to make sure it wasn't a typo, it shouldn't be as there are technique exercises in there for hybrid picking.
> 
> Anyways... glad you guys are digging it!



That makes sense, thanks for clearing that up


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## Santuzzo (Mar 31, 2011)

I am also interested in getting this book.
Does it have a lot of alternate picking exercises?


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## TXDeathMetal (Mar 31, 2011)

Santuzzo said:


> I am also interested in getting this book.
> Does it have a lot of alternate picking exercises?



There aren't any exercises that are solely dedicated to alternate picking if that's what you're asking but as an example all the chromatic exercises in the book are written out to be played using alternate picking, same for all the scale exercises.


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## Santuzzo (Mar 31, 2011)

TXDeathMetal said:


> There aren't any exercises that are solely dedicated to alternate picking if that's what you're asking but as an example all the chromatic exercises in the book are written out to be played using alternate picking, same for all the scale exercises.



Oh, OK, Thanks!

I was asking, because alternate picking is the main thing I am working on with regard to technique at the moment.


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## Soft Father (Aug 9, 2011)

OK, I just got the tab book for The Collective along with the guitar book. 

Struggling through the stuff. Holy shit I suck.


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## Alimination (Aug 9, 2011)

Maaan, I ordered that book from him a month ago.. I'm soo itchin to get it.. it looks soo cool  

stupid mail man...


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## chrisrivas1 (Aug 9, 2011)

that technique book is good, but i like the collective tab book more, cuz that album is great. good job sts.


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## theo (Apr 17, 2012)

Sorry for the necro bump, but has anyone here ordered his new tapping book?


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## James B (Apr 17, 2012)

Fiction said:


> I came across this band about 2 weeks ago, and I'm just waiting for money to transfer in my paypal then i'll be ordering this along with the Carving Desert Canyon tab book. It seems like a well written book and Chris is a pretty good guitarist so I'm sure the book will be able to teach me a thing or two.



Same exact thing here, wish I had more money in paypal now. More bands should do this.


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## Grimbold (Apr 18, 2012)

oh my
i really should check this out...


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## patrickWLV (Apr 23, 2012)

theo said:


> Sorry for the necro bump, but has anyone here ordered his new tapping book?



This book looks really promising...anyone have it yet?


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## Explorer (Apr 23, 2012)

theo said:


> Sorry for the necro bump, but has anyone here ordered his new tapping book?


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## theo (Apr 23, 2012)

I found the real thread after I found this one, I also searched and came up empty handed, it wasn't until the tapping book thread showed up in new posts that I was aware of it


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## Explorer (Apr 24, 2012)

I was just teasing... plus, I'll grab any excuse to post "Y U NO"....


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## kabz (Sep 5, 2012)

Bumping again because I'm really curious about the practicality of the tab book and how much mileage I can get out of it. (As a six-string player)

EDIT: Double post sorry

But I'm going to go ahead and get the technique book AND tapping book anyway. I figure I'll still learn a bunch even without a 7-string.

And I bumped it because I haven't heard a member talk about the tapping book, but when I get it I'll let you guys know how it is.


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## Pooluke41 (Sep 5, 2012)

Dude, there's no need to keep bumping this.


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## Fiction (Sep 5, 2012)

The technique book was written for 6 string to begin with anyways, not too sure about the tapping but I'd say its the exact same


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## Captain Butterscotch (Sep 5, 2012)

I own the tab book and it's pretty awesome. There's a lot of good exercises that you can adapt to your own style and all of them except a few in the beginning are applicable in a musical environment.


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## kabz (Sep 5, 2012)

Fiction said:


> The technique book was written for 6 string to begin with anyways, not too sure about the tapping but I'd say its the exact same



Yeah I just searched for Chris' posts on here, and the tab book is written all for 6-strings which is great news.


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## Volteau (Sep 6, 2012)

ChrisLetchford said:


> Hey guys, I need to open the book as its been over a year since it came out and I can't remember off the top of my head. But if there is a "A" it should only be when there is hybrid picking, the "A" stands for "ring" finger on the picking hand. Its from classical theory. I'll check the book though just to make sure it wasn't a typo, it shouldn't be as there are technique exercises in there for hybrid picking.
> 
> Anyways... glad you guys are digging it!



This. The A stands for Annular, which means ring or circled shaped (in this case, Annular-finger means ring-finger). I have to explain it all the time to my students so they can relate it semantically. Hope that helps.

And concerning the book, I'm buying today, so w00t!


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## Maniacal (Sep 6, 2012)

Where can I get the book?


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## Volteau (Sep 6, 2012)

Maniacal said:


> Where can I get the book?



Scale The Summit &mdash; Home


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## Maniacal (Sep 6, 2012)

Thanks

Is the book a PDF?


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## kabz (Sep 7, 2012)

Maniacal said:


> Thanks
> 
> Is the book a PDF?



It's a physical book.


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## Maniacal (Sep 7, 2012)

Ok, was hoping for a PDF. 

I will get it anyway


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## kabz (Sep 7, 2012)

I haven't received any shipping info for this.

Anyone else care to shed light on how long it took to receive their book?

I know Chris mentioned somewhere he has to ship them himself, but if I have already been charged, I expect to know when I will receive my product.


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## TheShreddinHand (Sep 8, 2012)

kabz said:


> I haven't received any shipping info for this.
> 
> Anyone else care to shed light on how long it took to receive their book?
> 
> I know Chris mentioned somewhere he has to ship them himself, but if I have already been charged, I expect to know when I will receive my product.



Aren't they on tour right now? Might be a while cause yeah, Chris ships em' himself. He'll get it to ya, don't worry!

Eric


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## kabz (Sep 8, 2012)

Ah so they are.
Looks like Sept 23 is their last date scheduled. 
I guess that's a good enough excuse, but they don't have a buddy/manager/etc that could help them out? Hopefully I get it sometime in September.


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## wespaul (Sep 9, 2012)

TheShreddinHand said:


> Aren't they on tour right now? Might be a while cause yeah, Chris ships em' himself. He'll get it to ya, don't worry!
> 
> Eric



Oh man, are you serious? I sort of skimmed the first page, and decided that I'd give this book a try. Went ahead and paid with the expectation that it would be sent within the next business day, or two. I hope he has somebody shipping them for him, because I don't remember reading anything like "hey guys, I ship these myself and I won't be back until the tour's over."

Here's to hoping.


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## kabz (Sep 9, 2012)

wespaul said:


> Oh man, are you serious? I sort of skimmed the first page, and decided that I'd give this book a try. Went ahead and paid with the expectation that it would be sent within the next business day, or two. I hope he has somebody shipping them for him, because I don't remember reading anything like "hey guys, I ship these myself and I won't be back until the tour's over."
> 
> Here's to hoping.



Yeah. I found this out after the fact as well.
Seems like a musician would do more business if they could fulfill the demand for their products in a timely fashion.
Seems like poor planning, I hate to complain, but I also hate to see money removed from my bank account and have weeks go by without anything showing up.


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## Cleyra (Sep 12, 2012)

kabz said:


> Yeah. I found this out after the fact as well.
> Seems like a musician would do more business if they could fulfill the demand for their products in a timely fashion.
> Seems like poor planning, I hate to complain, but I also hate to see money removed from my bank account and have weeks go by without anything showing up.



Understandable, but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait.
I used to get lessons from Chris for a while and I can assure you he knows his stuff


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## Fiction (Sep 12, 2012)

The original post wasn't by Chris Letchford, and its also from Early 2011 which is why you won't see it saying that they're on tour in September 2012 

Hopefully you managed to get in just before they left 

(It's a great book as well, super worth the wait)


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## wespaul (Sep 12, 2012)

All this worry is over nothing. I asked him on Facebook, and he said that merch gets shipped regardless if they're on tour or not. So I went ahead and bought the tapping book, too. Like a boss.


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## kabz (Sep 13, 2012)

wespaul said:


> All this worry is over nothing. I asked him on Facebook, and he said that merch gets shipped regardless if they're on tour or not. So I went ahead and bought the tapping book, too. Like a boss.



Interesting -- well I ordered it on September 5th, So it's going to be a little over a week so far, that isn't too bad if its ground. I'll let you guys know when I get it, thanks for the heads up on the shipping tip.


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## wespaul (Sep 15, 2012)

kabz said:


> Interesting -- well I ordered it on September 5th, So it's going to be a little over a week so far, that isn't too bad if its ground. I'll let you guys know when I get it, thanks for the heads up on the shipping tip.



You get yours yet, man? I ordered the technique book on the 8th and the tapping book on the 10th. If there are people shipping these books regardless of tour schedule, then I think a week-week and a half is a good turn-around time to your doorstep. Any longer than that, and I would be asking questions.


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## kabz (Sep 22, 2012)

I have received nothing as of yet!
I have been charged (direct payment from my bank account via PayPal) and I still don't have the TWO books I bought.
I e-mailed the account over a week ago, and nobody has replied.
Not a happy camper after two weeks of waiting. If it doesn't arrive this coming week, I will go ahead and cancel the order.


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## wespaul (Sep 23, 2012)

kabz said:


> I have received nothing as of yet!
> I have been charged (direct payment from my bank account via PayPal) and I still don't have the TWO books I bought.
> I e-mailed the account over a week ago, and nobody has replied.
> Not a happy camper after two weeks of waiting. If it doesn't arrive this coming week, I will go ahead and cancel the order.



That's weird, dude. I ordered the technique book on the 8th, and the tapping book on the 10th. I received the tapping book on the 20th (it was post-marked the 17th), but I've yet to receive the technique book. I can't believe you still haven't received anything.

They send by media mail, which is pretty slow, but it also compounds the problem when you send the stuff a week after you receive payment (which was what my package was post-marked at). I got a tracking number on my package, but they didn't email me one when they sent it (they didn't put it in PayPal, either). When I tried to enter it in the site (just wanted to see the trip it went on), it said that the tracking number won't work on the site, and that I have to take it in to an actual USPS store.

The book is high quality, though. There's tons of free stuff in it, too, like stickers, cards, and a drink holder. The shipping is handled very poorly, but the book is great and the freebies keep me from complaining too much. I hope you get yours soon, man. I also hope I get my technique book soon, especially considering that I ordered it before the book I got


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## Lianoroto (Sep 23, 2012)

Bought both books and they shipped from the states to Norway in a little over a week. Think it was sometime during May this year.

The books are great, so you are in for a treat when you do get them!


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## kabz (Sep 27, 2012)

Just checking in: It's been over 3 weeks. I am in Florida, I don't know what is taking so long,, it's starting to get annoying.

Edit: just received it this morning. Ordered sept 5. Postmarked envelope says sept 25. Got a koozie. Few stickers and postcards. Great thorough exercises at a glance. Fingering for each note and up/down stroke as well. Should be fun to work on some of this.


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## wespaul (Sep 28, 2012)

Yeah, I just got the technique book today as well. Paid for it on the 8th and it was postmarked the 25th. Extras thrown in this package, too. Exercises look solid. Overall, I'm a happy dude, but I wouldn't be surprised if somebody not as patient as I am raised hell.


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## JamesDuggan (Jun 13, 2013)

The technique book is great imo - opened my eyes to a lot of different things I could do on the guitar. 

Anyone else been listening to The Migration??? Its freakin awesome! I want tabs for this album now.


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## totem (Jun 13, 2013)

I would love to see some videos of people playing at the goal tempos. They seem so unreachable to me, but I am no pro. I can maybe hit half the goal tempo, max.


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## technomancer (Jun 13, 2013)

JamesDuggan said:


> The technique book is great imo - opened my eyes to a lot of different things I could do on the guitar.
> 
> Anyone else been listening to The Migration??? Its freakin awesome! I want tabs for this album now.



So order the tab book, it's on their merch site 

http://scalethesummit.bigcartel.com/


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## totem (Jun 13, 2013)

For those with the book, regarding the first exercise, is it technically more correct to keep your fingers fretted after each note and only move each finger individually when moving to the next note, or lift each finger after the note is played? Hopefully the question makes sense.


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## Hyacinth (Jun 13, 2013)

totem said:


> For those with the book, regarding the first exercise, is it technically more correct to keep your fingers fretted after each note and only move each finger individually when moving to the next note, or lift each finger after the note is played? Hopefully the question makes sense.



If it says "Let ring" then keep the notes fretted, if it doesn't, then you should mute the string after the note is played to keep it from ringing out.


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