Jazz Guitar, Complete Edition (Book & CD)

I chose this book over others because it uses tabs. I can read standard notation, but it's a struggle and I didn't want that to slow me down. I am a relative beginner, or perhaps early intermediate, but entirely new to jazz. I found Book 1 to be just the right level for me. By the end of Book 1, I felt that I had unlocked the fretboard far more than I had with other books, there are so many useful scale patterns. But I'm struggling with Book 2, mainly because I didn't internalize enough of the extended chords in the first part. I got too comfortable with a few different fingerings of 7th chords and was woefully ignorant of 6th, 9th, etc. except for improvised chord shapes that I can do on the fly or a few stale fingerings I knew already. Nevertheless, the book has given me confidence to begin playing rudimentary chords over tunes in the Real Book and to improvise well enough to satisfy my own ears, at least for now. I've gone back to practicing some of the etudes in Book 1 to get more comfortable with some of the other chords and to give me more time to let them settle in my brain and hands before I try moving forward into Book 2 again. At some point I expect I'll find a place in the book where I feel I can't progress without a teacher, but I haven't gotten there yet.

First of all a correction: the book doesn't come with a CD any longer; the audio is online. No big deal either way, just don't expect a CD.Well, I'm learning jazz guitar after years of playing other styles (folk and classical). It was between this book and Mickey Baker, so I bought both. I find the style and approach of this one to be more suited to my style.Whereas Baker's first book is brief and a bit sketchy (although undoubtedly excellent), this book starts you off with enough theory to give you a solid foundation. You're not just thrown into "learn these chord shapes" without much background information. Scales come up first here, and although playing scales may not be the height of excitement, I know I need to get the basics down (and it's so unlike playing scales for the classical genre!)The book moves ahead at a deliberate pace. Lessons are divided into parts relevant to comping and soloing/improvising. There are three parts, going through to a very advanced level. It will take me years to get there, but I see how it's at least possible.I prefer the "talky" approach and the wealth of detail, compared to the spareness of Mickey Baker. Your own preferences may differ, but I find this to be the best book out there for beginning to learn jazz and progressing to higher levels.One caveat: if you've never played guitar before, don't start here. You have to know the basics first. Get a method like Mel Bay or whatever you like and work through the first two or three grades before getting into jazz.

I really like the way the author presents the concepts in a logical sequence. He seems like a master teacher who genuinely wants his students to succeed, and provides all of the necessary information for them to learn the art of jazz guitar. I also like the appendix that goes into detail about how to practice efficiently, various strumming techniques, and more. As I work through the material, I feel like I am being mentored by a master guitarist. I also appreciate the fact that this is a complete method, from beginning, through intermediate, to advanced jazz guitar.

This book is a great introduction to jazz music. It goes through basics like, triads, major scale, arpeggios, diatonic chords, chords and extensions, and other things a student should go learn. I haven't reached the Mastering part but Beginning and Intermediate has taught me a lot of things already, I can now create my own chord progressions, change up some chords in it, and play solos along it. This book also shows how to play chord melody and solos that doesn't sound like you're just winging it with random notes.Is this book enough for when you advance? No. Even this book doesn't claim that. It's an introduction to jazz. The author expects you to do your part like actually listening to jazz standards, copy some licks, modify it, incorporate it to your playing. Students should always do the exercises, this book comes with an downloadable music that's used throughout the book, do those, do not skip it. Playing with others can help too. You can also get a Real Book, study some pieces, make your own interpretation of it. I'm at this point now. My arrangements still suck but I can definitely feel how I've improved compared to before reading this book.Keep in mind that this is not for a complete beginner in guitar, well I guess I am, but coming from bass and I know some theory before reading this book.

Though I have only just started using this, I have found the organisation and explanation of concepts clear. The book is a rich source of ideas with a lot of material to play along with on the CD which consists of MP3 files, too much to go on an audio CD.The book itself is a compilation of Beginning Jazz Guitar, Intermediate Jazz Guitar, Mastering Jazz Guitar: Chord/Melody and Mastering Jazz Guitar: Improvisation. The book is a rich source of ideas, e.g. the suggestion on p. 191 that while using locked positions which can be moved up and down the fretboard freely is unbeatable, occasionally doing things on a single string up and down the fretboard will produce a new perspective on the same series of notes.It is the nature of jazz to defy definition, because it is driven by a constant desire to do new things, so there will never be a definitive guide. Mickey Baker identified an excellent method of learning "to play any song in any key" in his "Jazz Guitar", but Jody Fisher covers a great deal more ground.My only complaint about the book is Jody's labelling of chord diagrams. The convention is that the fret is numbered and not the space between frets and the fret behind which the first finger goes is the one labelled. In this book, the author arbitrarily marks a space somewhere in the area the chord is being formed thus making it more difficult to read and position.

GREAT!

Thanks

Acabo de recibir el libro. A primera vista contiene mucho material y bien organizado como dicen la mayoría de comentarios. En el primer capítulo repasa las bases necesarias para usar este curso: acordes básicos mayores, menores y 7a, abiertos y de cejilla. Asequible si llevas un tiempo intentando aprender a tocar. También como dice la mayoría he tenido problemas para descargar las pistas de audio. En la primera página del libro aparece un link y un código de activación; pero este link no funciona. He enviado un correo al servicio técnico que me ha contestado inmediatamente pidiéndome foto del código. La he enviado y me han contestado en un minuto con otro enlace que esta vez si funciona. Supongo que primero comprueban el código para evitar que copias piratas consigan también el audio. Particularmente creo que este curso es un cuerazo y bien vale cada euro de lo que cuesta y tenerlo impreso facilita el estudio en cualquier parte, aunque sea un “tocho” de libro. Espero que los que se han quedado sin el audio lean esto y escriban. Seguro que os atienden incluso en castellano. Suerte!

Excellente méthode. Les thèmes abordés sont bien expliqués et on avance progressivement vers plus de complexité.Pour obtenir de bons résultats, il faut bosser surtout si le jazz ne fait pas partie de votre univers musical...

Hola. Como maestro de guitarra y entusiasta de jazz, este libro me ha fascinado.He comprado el libro que incluye los 4 volúmenes.Para enseñar guitarra:El libro cuenta con teoría elemental, dirigida para tocar, así que es de gran utilidad al momento de necesitar una referencia teórica. Cubre temas como escalas, construcción de acordes, progresiones/cadencias, modos, modulación, herramientas de improvisación, chord/melody, todo de una forma directa y clara. Uso el libro como libro de texto, les pido a mis alumnos que lo tengan, ya que les ayudará en un futuro para referencias.Para aprender:La forma en que se estructuran los temas es simple y de gran ayuda; se da una breve y clara explicación de el tema, se dan ejemplos, así como referencias de partitura, tablatura y diagramas, al final se incluyen estudios para poder aplicar lo aprendido en una situación real.El libro cuenta con pistas de audio que son sumamente útiles, también cuenta con referencias a canciones, por si aún no te adentras al mundo de jazz, te da una guía de que canciones y músicos comenzar a escuchar.Es un libro con la información necesaria, claro y preciso, lo recomiendo tanto para alumnos, en especial si estas en el camino de autodidacta y, para maestros, para usar como libro de texto.