Why does this site exist?

I am fairly new to making music. It wasn’t a part of my childhood. Music seemed like a magical thing that a select few could create and others, like myself, could only consume. Over the past four years, I’ve been playing my wife’s Strat and slowly teaching myself a little about music theory. I’m far from being an expert on the subject, but I have managed to dispell much of the mystique around music.

On more than one occasion I thought “I’d like to make a guitar”. It seemed like a big task, but a rewarding one. At the same time, my dad happened to start making “cigar box guitars” and introduced me to them. I’d heard of cigar box guitars (CBGs), but not seen many examples in the wild. After a little Googling, I realized what a fun canvas this instrument can be.

Once the bug bit me, I could not find enough information about playing CBGs to satisfy me. I found two great books on the subject and there is a great community online, but it wasn’t enough. I started making my own tableture, fretboard maps and other resources for myself.

There is a bit of a “we don’t need theory” belief out there in the CBG community. I find this frustrating, it reminds me of the magical shroud that kept me away from making music for so long. I do, in fact, need and want theory. While compiling and creating resourses for myself I decided to share them in the hopes that my work will help others who want a deeper understanding of CBGs.