Jazz Improvisation for Guitar - A Melodic Approach Book/Online Audio Sheet music – June 1, 2005

I too, have many Jazz Instructional books and DVDs. I have been a self-taught guitarist for five years and was seriously considering getting an instructor to help me put together all the theory and knowledge I have acquired. Listen, I know all kinds soloing and rhythm techniques used in Jazz but I can't tell you how to put it all together in a consistent way, and I really don't have a lot of time to practice these ideas so I have to be very "surgical" and realistic in my approach. Buying this book has helped me hold off on getting an instructor and is giving me a great starting point for foundation for Jazz improvisation.After utilizing it for around three months, I now see the fretboard very differently. I can see how chords relate to one another and how you can use triads to build, for instance, a Dom 13 chord or I can see how a min7 b5 can be built on the third of a major triad to yield chord tones for use building a Dom 7 chord, and by adding a min7 chord built on the 5th of the original major triad you can spell out the chord tones of a dom 7(9) chord. So now I have greater awareness of chord tones and where they lie on the fretboard and can "see" things coming as well as hear some of the licks that have become cliche in traditional Jazz.Part of this fretboard awareness comes from the books ability to teach you to divide up the fretboard in triads on the middle three strings. For instance, I can start with a minor triad, and then alternate major and minor triads, building them on the flatted third, fifth, and flatted seventh, and this will eventually yield the upper extensions of the ninth and eleventh (the book identifies the 9th and 11th as the common upper extension tensions on a minor triad although we all know you can go on up to 13ths).The book is really good about giving you some points on technique (articulation and rest strokes) that will allow you to exploit the use of triads. I especially like the well placed "mini-sweeps" of triplets that give can help give that traditional "Jazz" sound to one's solos. There are many "licks" patterned after greats such as Grant Green, George Benson, Johnny Smith, Kenny Burrell, Pat Martino, and especially Wes Montgomery, that illustrate the use of these techniques. And, while I am on the subject, the author takes great pains to explain the related music devices the Jazz masters used, such as Montgomery's use of minor lines over functioning dominant chords. This is something that, as the author points out, Pat Martino does as well. In fact, the author does a great job of tracing the lineage / history of the use of triads and their upper extensions, starting with Charlie Christian.As a result of this book, I have put a lot of my other guitar pursuits on hold to allow me to fully internalize what this book is trying to teach. This is just one approach to Jazz improvisation but I have had enough exposure to Jazz over the last few years to know this is part of the sound I am looking for. I am learning the licks and using the many backing track solo-less tracks to create my own solos. I am already developing an ear for it after listening to the great CD that comes with it.I still have not made it to the chapter in which leading tones are discussed. It begins with some progressions using only two notes of a chord and probably the most important - the 3rd and the 7th (of course one or both will be flatted, depending on the type of chord). This section is meant to teach good voice leading and leads into another section in which you add notes to these leading tones, such as ninths, or fifths. Peeking ahead I believe this section will contribute to ones understanding of harmony and good voice leading, and will also give assistance in soloing over the various traditional Jazz progressions such as the iimin7-V7-Imaj7 or the iimin7-V7-Imaj7-VI7 as well as the simple one chord vamps.There is also a section on soloing over altered chords but I have not gotten that far yet either, still it also looks promising!This is one of my top 5 Jazz books out of around 25 or 30 that I have, and as I said before, it has a little bit of everything my other books have and has allowed me to fashion a way of learning Jazz improvisation that has thus far been very effective and satisfying.

I wanted to write about this book because, when I first received it a year ago I was disappointed with its simplicity and immediately shelved it. It has been only in the last 3 months that I have returned to it and realized its great value. Most people reading this will remember a first teacher, jazz book, or college class telling them to go out and learn the major scale in all keys, and in 5 positions as well if they are a guitarist. After a month of wood shedding you are feeling pretty good about the major scale. Still doesn't sound like jazz, but you keep at it. The instructor now tells you to go back and learn the dorian and mixolydian modes of that scale in all positions and all keys so you can apply it to the ii and V7 chords in a jazz standard. So you work another month. Things are starting to get complicated and boring as well. The fingerboard is all a muddle in your mind. After 6 months you can sort of run the proper mode over the right chord. It still doesn't sound like jazz, and in fact sort of sounds like beginner etudes out of a kid's piano method book. But this is how jazz is played, right? Your instructor says things will get better in a few months when you memorize the melodic minor scale and all its modes and start using that instead to get hipper sounds. In the meantime maybe you need to transcribe some jazz solos to develop some jazz language. You try, but your ears aren't up to it, and the stuff you do transcribe doesn't make any sense. It doesn't look remotely like the scales and modes you've been playing.Now what if instead, in your first lesson your teacher showed you a major and minor chord shape using the 4,3 and 2 strings. He then showed you how to link these two shapes in 4 alternating minor and major triads up the fingerboard to play all of the notes of an extended ii7 chord. Ok so in 10 minutes you've got that down and play up and down the neck in melodic phrases over the ii7 chord while the teacher comps for you. Now the instructor informs you that those same 4 triads work well over the V7 chord and in fact cover all of the diatonic tension tones. So for another 10 minutes you solo over ii-V in the key of F. You're playing confidently up and down the neck across 12 frets, and what you are playing stays away from boring root oriented sounds. Instead your playing emphasizes all the colorful tension tones. It really sounds like jazz, and you can't believe the sounds you are hearing. Finally to end the first lesson the instructor shows you how to take the same idea of 4 triads, just in a different place to cover the Maj7 and sends you home with a ii-V-I tune in two keys to work up. At the next lesson you spend 5 minutes improvising for him. Everything you play sounds melodic and also colorful. Its got a bluesy tinge because you are focusing on minor triads all over the fingerboard. Your soloing ranges across 12 frets, and you know just where you are all time. Over the next few months you learn more keys and how to link your triad phrases with voice leading target tones. You then explore adding chromatic notes as well to link up your triads. You are already playing out in public at this point. Finally in your third month your instructor shows you how to tweak your triads a little to emphasize -9,+9,-5 and +5 on your V7 chords. You are not Charlie Parker yet, but for 3 months you've been playing real jazz and creating your own unique lines that sounds right, ones that use color tones extensively, effective voice leading and chromaticism.......and you are using the whole fingerboard. Coolest of all, you can explain note by note exactly what you are playing. Your guitar buddies tell you they hear a lot of Wes Montgomery and early Pat Martino in your playing. If this latter scenario sounds fun to you, then buy this book because this is exactly what its about!

This is one of the best books I have come across on learning how to play guitar solos. Although the emphasis is on Jazz, the knowledge contained in this book is of universal application. If you want to break out of playing the pentatonic scale, this book will be a tremendous help to you. The author sets out what you need to learn. He then explains the theory behind it. He then shows you how to practice the materials. In the end, he shows you how to apply what you have learnt to real music situations in the context of songs. Every example in the book is crystal clear, his writing absolutely precise and to the point. This book is a major contribution to the study of Jazz guitar improvisation.The one thing to note is this book is not for beginners. You need to be up to intermediate standard to fully appreciate the materials in this book. The author sets the concise theory relevant to each of the subject- matters. But knowing the fundamentals of harmony, chord theory, arpeggios and scale theory would be a tremendous help. I say again this book is not for beginners. All in all this is one fantastic book. I wish every music book was written and presented like this. This book is worth its weight in gold.