Colorful Sounds: Creative Harmony Made Simple: Guitar Book & CD

Ho cuts through the mystique of extended harmony by teaching voicings that sound rich without requiring pages of theory. Guitarists get immediate, playable results while building genuine harmonic literacy, and the included CD lets players hear exactly what each concept produces before they try it themselves.

Opening this book feels like someone unlocking a door you didn't know existed. The colorful, extended sonorities Ho teaches create richness and emotional depth that standard three-note voicings simply cannot reach.

Guitar players and songwriters looking to expand their harmonic palette without getting bogged down in heavy theory. Composers working across genres will find practical tools for creating specific moods and textures.

• Spend time with the CD examples before diving into the written material. Hearing the harmonic color first trains your ear to recognize what you're aiming for when you execute the voicings.
• Practice the extended chord shapes slowly and deliberately. These voicings often sit differently on the neck than standard triads, so muscle memory matters more than speed.
• Apply one new harmonic concept to a song you already know well. This grounds the technique in musical context rather than abstract exercise.

Assign sections to guitarists preparing original compositions for recital or ensemble projects. Use it as supplementary material for players ready to move beyond basic chord vocabulary and ready to make deliberate harmonic choices in arranging.

• Voicing extended chords (ninths, elevenths, thirteenths) across different fretboard positions
• Recognizing harmonic color and its emotional impact on melody
• Reharmonizing melodies with chromatic or modal extended chords
• Translating written voicing concepts into playable guitar shapes