I Just Finished "Pentatonic Soundscapes"

[Guitar Google]

Hello, My name is Russell DeCorte, and I am pleased to be an active part of the site.

If anybody has questions, I am happy to answer them.

I am the owner of Guitar Google, Real Answers for the Modern Guitarist, and have just finished authoring my first book "Pentatonic Soundscapes" Pentatonic Soundscapes for Guitar

I hope to learn from all of you and give back in the coming years here at jazzguitar.be

Happy Holidays, Russell.

[m78w]

Hey Man,
Just checked out your site. I was wondering if you could give a bit more info on what the new book contains? There's a statement on the site about it being very controversial, I'm just wondering what topics you are dealing with that makes it so controversial?

MW

[Guitar Google]

Hello, Matt. This is a test reply to make sure that it goes through. The last two that I typed out to you did not.

I checked out your site as well, and I really enjoyed it. I dig the information you are sharing with other guitarists. I played many gigs through the years with Tom and Victor Trachsel at The Raddison in Kalamazoo. Small World.

OK, in this message, I will quickly explain why I feel the book is controversial without going off on a tangent.

As both a student and educator at many levels, I personally feel as if almost all of the guitar instructors that I sat down with minus Vic Juris and Pat Martino, were infamous for holding back information. Now, they may have just been incomplete or thought that certain facts were obsolete.

However, if a student seeks out an educator and trusts them with their learning, it is therefore a guitar teachers Duty to not turn the lessons into a money making game by holding back information.

Over the years, I have invested several thousand dollars in books and lessons, and as my main website states: "Not one of these sources contained all of the answers".

Well, the truth is not one source ever will. However, I decided to put a series of books together that encompasses a far greater scope. It is revolutionary in that it tackles one of a guitarists main stumbling blocks, and that is being stuck in a box. That was the reason for my poll question.

So, I say controversial in that I feel the text is very complete, and if a student took the book and used it to their full advantage it would not be necessary to Buy Another Pentatonic Text.

I hope that clarifies a little bit.

Russell

[Guitar Google]

OK. Now on to the contents of "Pentatonic Soundscapes"

Chapter 1: The 5 modes of the C Major Pentatonic Scale, Pentatonic Scale usage over Maj7 and Min7 Chords, Superimpositions and analysis of basic pentatonic scales being played over maj7, min7, and altered chords, Playing over altered chords using pentatonic scales, actual musical phrases and examples utilizing the above mentioned superimpositions, so as to better internalize ideas at a more moderate pace.

Chapter 2: Sequences and Patterns i.e. 1235 Coltrane and several others, Pentatonic Scales in 4ths, 5ths, notated combination examples that teach how to connect two non-adjacent scale fingerings, and an example of how to play pentatonic scales in all 12 keys within a 3 fret span.

Chapter 3: Dorian Pentatonic, Minor 6th Pentatonic, John McLaughlin/Eric Johnson type Pentatonic Scale for use over Sus chords, Playing Pentatonic Scales Using The Diatonic Harp Harmonic Technique (Ted Greene/Lenny Breau).

Chapter 4: Personal Patterns of Interest, including: Open string examples, 4ths, Allan Holdsworth type idea, Sweep Picking Pentatonic Scales, Bi-Tonal Sound Bursts, Note Doubling etc.

Chapter 5: Handling Common Progressions All in one position. II-V-I and Blues Progressions along with notated examples of scale choices all in one position for ease of use and internalization.

Chapter 6: Transcriptions, more like ideas and excerpts that I found interesting that utilized pentatonic ideas. Pat Martino, Barry Greene, Pat Methenym and Peter Bernstein.

If you have any more questions, just drop me a line.

[m78w]

Cool! Thanks for answering my questions, sounds like the book is a very complete method on approach pentatonics.

Small world indeed! It's great to see another jazz guitarist from Michigan getting out there, when I was living there we were few and far between.


MW

[bigbyte]

Russell.
I cant get either of your links to work. I will try typing it in the browser direct.

[AmundLauritzen]

I like your attitude about teaching music. Holding back information to keep the student coming back is never a good idea as they'll usually look elsewhere to get the whole package without any bullshit. Not to mention the fact that such people should probably be doing something else with their lives than teach music.

It would be great to see a sample page or two from your book, so we can get an idea on what your approach is all about. There are countless pentatonic books out there and they all claim to be the holy grail.