Guitar Method Books?

[ColinMac]

Hello, I'm an experienced guitar player (8 years: Blues, Rock, Folk) who's new to Jazz. I don't have money to pay a teacher, and was wondering if I could get a recommendation on a good Jazz guitar how to book? Thanks.

[jazz oud]

"The Advancing Guitarist" is a great book.

You would probably benefit a lot from a general jazz theory book like Jazzology more than anything specifically aimed at guitar.

You will have to read standard notation, though.

[ColinMac]

Originally Posted by jazz oud

"The Advancing Guitarist" is a great book.

You would probably benefit a lot from a general jazz theory book like Jazzology more than anything specifically aimed at guitar.

You will have to read standard notation, though.

I don't know how to read standard notation on guitar.

[jazz oud]

If you can't pay a teacher, then you should get a book that teaches you how to read. Adam Levy has a good one, there are a couple others that I could recommend also.

If you want to play jazz you really have to learn to read music.

[ColinMac]

Originally Posted by jazz oud

If you can't pay a teacher, then you should get a book that teaches you how to read. Adam Levy has a good one, there are a couple others that I could recommend also.

If you want to play jazz you really have to learn to read music.

Yeah I know, the formal music education I've had was in percussion and our director only cared about marching band so all I ever really learned was rudiments and rhythms. Anyway, what was the name of the Levy book?

P.S. Thanks for all the help.

[jazz oud]

Jazz Guitar Sight Reading

I have a couple of other ones that I can recommend, but I'd have to look, I don't remember the titles.
I also have a blog post that outlines an efficient method for learning all the notes on the guitar:

http://jazzscience.blogspot.com/2010...-notes-on.html

[ColinMac]

You sir are full of win and awesomeness. Thank you.

[El Hombre]

A great book to start with specifically for guitarists who want to learn jazz chords and common chord substitutions would be Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar, Volume #1. The first part of that book dealing with chords will get you playing a number of nice chord substitutions over a ii, V, I on guitar. The usefulness of the second half of the book and of volume 2 are subject to debate. You don't have to be able to read music to get something out of that book but it helps.

"Chord Chemistry" by Ted Greene, the "Creative Force" series by Pat Martino or "The Advancing Guitarist" by Mick Goodrick would also keep you very busy.

There are a number of prior threads that go into detail about several jazz guitar and jazz theory books. The jazz theory books authored by Burt Ligon are very comprehensive and practical and apply very nicely to guitar. None of those are specifically geared to guitar though. Most of the worthwhile jazz resources you will come across require some ability to read music. I highly recommend Burt Ligon's books and that you bite the bullet and learn to read music.

If you want to play jazz, being able to read music is an inevitability. The Mel Bay books are a good resource for teaching you how to read music (there are 7 I believe for guitar) I think you can use those on your own and teach yourself how to read music. Most people don't finish more than the first 2 Mel Bay books so if you went through all 7 that would be an accomplishment. The later books start to touch upon common jazz chord voicings that you will use for guitar.

Another book that I liked better than the first Mel Bay books for teaching how to read music for guitar is "Music Reading for Guitar" by David Oakes. The Oakes book goes right into how to read different rhythm patterns and starts you in the middle of the fretboard rather than in open position.

Again, search the previous forum posts in this section. There were tons of discussions about different method books that you will find very useful and informative.

[jazz oud]

Originally Posted by El Hombre

The jazz theory books authored by Burt Ligon are very comprehensive and practical and apply very nicely to guitar. None of those are specifically geared to guitar though. Most of the worthwhile jazz resources you will come across require some ability to read music. I highly recommend Burt Ligon's books and that you bite the bullet and learn to read music.

+1, Ligon's books do an excellent job of presenting some helpful information and advice.

Another book that I liked better than the first Mel Bay books for teaching how to read music for guitar is "Music Reading for Guitar" by David Oakes. The Oakes book goes right into how to read different rhythm patterns and starts you in the middle of the fretboard rather than in open position.

This is one of the ones I was thinking of, but couldn't remember the name. Good book.

[ColinMac]

Thanks guys. I've been wanting to for a long time so I guess its time for me to learn how to read music.

[guitarjazz]

This Sid Jacobs book is great:
http://www.amazon.com/Bays-Complete-...+complete+jazz