PDF E-Book Version of Chord Scale Theory and Linear Harmony for Guitar

[JonnyPac]

Hey, all y'all,

I finally made a PDF E-Book out of Chord-Scale Theory and Linear Harmony for Guitar: Creative Tools for Improvisation and Composition in Contemporary Music by Jonathan Pac Cantin (JonnyPac).
Chord-Scale Theory and Linear Harmony for Guitar: Creative Tools for Improvisation and Composition in Contemporary MusicJonathan "JonnyPac" Pac Cantin - Guitarist - Composer - Artist - Educator - Home



I released the self-published comb-bound book in 2010 and then spent all of 2011 revising the details. I have done a lot of homework since I started! After many conversations and (sometimes heated) debates here and on AAJ, reading all of Bert Ligons epic works, Hal Galper's Forward Motion, Robert Rawlin's Jazzology, and many other theory books, ebooks, and blogs (especially those by Matt Warnock) I gained better understanding of the current views on CST and music theory (performance-based "jazz theory"). I had to un-Levine myself many times and see his work for what it is, and encompass other "better" views on certain controversial subjects. Overall I have a much deeper understanding and my revised book reflects that.

I do wish to thank all of you who gave input and constructive criticisms over the last year- I'm sure I'll be leaning more- it never ends! Gotta grow to love the woodshed.

The PDF book is just $7.95USD via Paypal. I am totally willing to trade it for reviews too. Matt Warnock posted this today on Guitar International:

Chord Scale Theory and Linear Harmony for Guitar Book Review | GuitarInternational.com

With the explosion of guitar books over the past two decades, first in hard-copy form and now through the ebook phenomenon, it is harder than ever for guitarists to sift through all of the material available to them and choose a good book to dig into in the practice room. While some books are aimed at specific genres such as metal licks or blues chords, playing in the style of your favorite player or learning a certain technique such as tapping or fingerpicking, one of the most popular formats has been and is still the “umbrella” approach to teaching in book form. With this approach, the author takes a look at a larger concept, while also spending time on a number of smaller techniques and sub-concepts that fit under the overall theme of the book. Writer, guitarist and composer Jonny Cantin has taken this approach with his in-depth volume Chord-Scale Theory and Linear Harmony for Guitar, and the resulting book is a well-written, detailed look at many of the harmonic and melodic concepts that any guitarist needs to raise their playing to the next level.

The book starts with an introduction to the material, which is easy to follow and highly informative, before laying out explanations of the symbols and diagrams to be used in the book’s musical examples. Here, and throughout the book, there is a good amount of musical theory present. Cantin has approached this material with a mix of teaching theoretical knowledge alongside performance based material, explaining everything he lays out on the fretboard along the way. Because of this, anyone who works through this book will wind up with not only a better understanding of this material on the guitar, but also how it all relates to the larger context of music in general.

One of the main reasons that this book is worth the sticker price, besides the well-explained concepts, is the sheer amount of material present in the book. Cantin, using the umbrella approach to writing, uses the larger concept of Chord Scale Theory to dig into a wide range of topics, including:

• Intervals
• Major Scales
• Melodic Minor Scales
• Diminished Scales
• Whole-Tone Scales
• Harmonized Scales With Triads
• Harmonized Scales with Four-Note Chords
• Common Chord Progressions
• Chord Substitutions
• Reharmonization
• Chord Shapes and Voicings
• Chord Synonyms

This is not even a full list of all of the concepts and material present in the book, so at $7.95 for the ebook and $19.95 for the hard copy, this book is a bargain for the amount of knowledge one can garner from working through this material.

That raises one of the big questions that many students bring up when purchasing a new book, especially one with this wide a range of material, “Do I need a teacher to work through this book properly?” The answer to that question depends on the student. After reading the book and going through the musical examples, I would say that any intermediate or advanced beginner would be able to go through this material on their own. But, since there is a good amount of music theory involved in the book, if you do have a teacher it would be a good idea to bring this book to your lessons to work on together, just to make sure that you are following the material correctly and it lines up what you are already doing in your lessons.

Overall, Chord-Scale Theory and Linear Harmony for Guitar is a well-written, in-depth study of diatonic harmony and common chord progressions/substitutions. By integrating scale theory into the material, Cantin has covered all the bases, providing a one-stop volume of chords, scales and harmonic material. There is a good amount of theory present, which the author is not trying to hide, so if you are a bit shaky on your music theory you might want to work through this material with your teacher, or at least brush up on your theory chops if you get lost here and there in the book.

Both the ebook and hard copy version are properly priced and come in an nice, easy to read format that would make a welcomed addition to the home-library of any guitarist looking to dig deeper into harmonic and melodic concepts.

-Matt Warnock, Jazz Guitarist, Publisher and Music Educator
Author of 30 Days to Better Jazz Guitar

Anyhoo- hit me up with any questions, etc. I'm always here to help.

[guitarplayer007]

Only $8.00, thats a great deal ..... i may have to pick it up, but can you only you Paypal or can you use Credit Card?
Ken

[brwnhornet59]

Great job Jonny. I am posting the links on my F/b account as well.

[mtierney]

Hey Jonny

I'm glad you made it an eBook because most of the music literature that I use is in eBook form. I'm also glad that you posted this because I've been meaning to get this book, especially considering how many of the threads that I've started where you've answered in a comprehensive and concise manner.

Consider it purchased, and congratulations on the revision and pdf release. I'll let you know what I think of it either here or in a PM when I get into it.

[JonnyPac]

Originally Posted by mtierney

Hey Jonny

I'm glad you made it an eBook because most of the music literature that I use is in eBook form. I'm also glad that you posted this because I've been meaning to get this book, especially considering how many of the threads that I've started where you've answered in a comprehensive and concise manner.

Consider it purchased, and congratulations on the revision and pdf release. I'll let you know what I think of it either here or in a PM when I get into it.

Thanks! I emailed you the book a few minutes ago. Let me know how it goes. Hit me up if you have any questions.

Originally Posted by brwnhornet59

Great job Jonny. I am posting the links on my F/b account as well.

Sweet!! Let me know what you think as you dig in.

Originally Posted by guitarplayer007

Only $8.00, thats a great deal ..... i may have to pick it up, but can you only you Paypal or can you use Credit Card?
Ken

Just PP for now. You can PM me for an address to send a money order. Thanks!

[NSJ]

Johnny,

I just bought your book and got the email. The "hi-def" 48 MB version of the book has a big problem--when you hyperlink to the website, Safari gives you a BIG warning that this is a phishing site. Whoah.

Needless to say, I deleted that webpage IMMEDIATELY.
-best,
Nav

[JonnyPac]

Originally Posted by NSJ

Johnny,

I just bought your book and got the email. The "hi-def" 48 MB version of the book has a big problem--when you hyperlink to the website, Safari gives you a BIG warning that this is a phishing site. Whoah.

Needless to say, I deleted that webpage IMMEDIATELY.
-best,
Nav

Wow. Ok- it is a safe link, it is owned by my family. Firefox works well to pull the file w/o trouble. I will talk to my tech and get it fixed up. You got the 17 MB attachment from my email, right? It's just as good as the 48 MB one, IMO.

Thanks for your order- sorry for the scare!

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by JonnyPac

Wow. Ok- it is a safe link, it is owned by my family. Firefox works well to pull the file w/o trouble. I will talk to my tech and get it fixed up. You got the 17 MB attachment from my email, right? It's just as good as the 48 MB one, IMO.

Thanks for your order- sorry for the scare!

No worries, I just downloaded the 17 MB. Just reporting it to let you know. I'll try to d/l it using Firefox.

[JonnyPac]

Ok- Matt Warnock recommended a good service to sell the downloads without any scares or fuss with browsers. I will have it all up and ready by tonight. I want this to be as easy as possible!

Thanks again, all y'all.

[m78w]

Yeah, I've gotten that phishing message with sites like the Brazilian consulate and other government sites that were safe, so you should look into it but it might just be a browser thing. But better safe than sorry, should be an easy fix. Good luck with the book!!

[JonnyPac]

Thanks, Matt. I just got set up with e-junkie. That's a very cool service for only 5 bucks per month. You've been incredibly helpful- huge thanks!

Chord-Scale Theory for Guitar PDF E-Book by Jonathan Pac Cantin 48.1 MB

[m78w]

For sure, and people should be able to use credit cards or paypal which is cool, if you have any questions about ejunkie let me know.

[JonnyPac]

Thanks- that is way cool. It's all ready and I did a test download/sale. Paying and downloading is all setup with no problems. Awesome.

[NSJ]

Originally Posted by JonnyPac

Thanks- that is way cool. It's all ready and I did a test download/sale. Paying and downloading is all setup with no problems. Awesome.

Dude you really pack a ton of info per page, nice job! Yet, The comprehensive kitchen sink approach doesn't seem to be excessively cluttered. Well organized.

Again, fantastic. You did a fantastic job with the diagrams! My only critique at this point is, it's initially hard to detect if the first fret in your fretboard diagrams is actually the first fret (i.e., right under the nut). I would have drawn a "nut" to denote where the fretboard begins. Makes it a bit easer to follow. Otherwise you think, is this one of those 2 octave fretboards? Where am I?

Anyway, that's the only minor point. Well done sir. (I was able to d/l the 48 MB version, too.)

[JonnyPac]

Cool, thanks! Most of the diagrams are "movable" 12+ fret chunks, so the nut really would not make sense, besides the building scale examples in A. I'm big into reusable shapes.

In this page, for example, the highest and lowest triads are the same notes (12 away). If they are in C they will be in one spot, G another, and so on.



Kitchen sink and all! I plan on making lessons out of sections and adding more examples with video clips, etc. Free online lessons on certain hard-to-show-on-paper topics.

Thanks again!

[JonnyPac]

The basic automated download is the 48 MB version. If anyone wants the compressed one, I just attach it to emails. Thanks again for the interest- I really appreciate it.

[JonnyPac]

I sent my e-book to Bert Ligon and Hal Galper for kicks... With a Thank You note. Those guys rule my world.

[brwnhornet59]

Hey Jonny, I am going through your ebook. So far I am really enjoying the information and it's presentation. Well done!!

[EddieLastra]

Just sent in order for a hard copy

[JonnyPac]

Originally Posted by EddieLastra

Just sent in order for a hard copy

Thanks- I'll ship it tomorrow. I emailed you the PDF book as a gift too. Let me know what you think!

***
Thanks, Britt! Keep me posted!

[EddieLastra]

[quote=JonnyPac;186066]Thanks- I'll ship it tomorrow. I emailed you the PDF book as a gift too. Let me know what you think!

Thanks! Will do. I just downloaded it and looking forward to digging into it, looks like a lot of good stuff

[brwnhornet59]

Originally Posted by JonnyPac

***
Thanks, Britt! Keep me posted!

Will do Brother!

[whatswisdom]

Originally Posted by NSJ

You did a fantastic job with the diagrams!

I second that. If you're a visual learner you'll get a lot out of it. I'm still diggin' mine. Hard copy is really nicely done and worth the price, imo. Love the spiral bind and the clear plastic dust cover.

[JonnyPac]

WW, there are some nice little revisions in the PDF version I emailed you too- Nothing major, but some final touches and new thoughts, etc. Thanks again, my friend.

[JonnyPac]

Thanks again for the orders and feedback! I'm really glad some of you are digging it.

[brwnhornet59]

I am still digging it my friend. Many interesting points and not at all hard to follow, when I am fully awake that is!!

[JonnyPac]

Originally Posted by brwnhornet59

I am still digging it my friend. Many interesting points and not at all hard to follow, when I am fully awake that is!!

Good to know- A little black tea or coffee and there ya go!

[mississippi]

Do you mind if I post your book for sale on a few forums that I participate in.

[JonnyPac]

Originally Posted by mississippi

Do you mind if I post your book for sale on a few forums that I participate in.

That'd be great! You can pull any info you like from my site or Matt's review. I'll email you a copy of the PDF book file as a gift of appreciation too. Thanks!!

[brwnhornet59]

I am posting it on f/b to Jonny. Do you belong?