George Van Eps - Harmonic Mechanisms for Guitar

[Sandro]

Hi was thinking to go ahead and buy this 3 volumes, and I was just wondering if anybody here is familiar with this and can give me a feedback about it.

Thanks

Sandro

[kris]

I have these books for sale.Set of three.
There are a lot of information about chords,chord constraction etc.
Good for practicing chord-sale,fingerstyle.
A lot of pages...:-)

[ksjazzguitar]

They are an exhaustive examination of moving lines within chords and voicing. It's great stuff but it is a lot of work.

Peace,
Kevin

[Sandro]

Who has a pdf. copy of The George Van Eps Method for Guitar the book is out of print I think is ok to share.

[brad4d8]

Originally Posted by Sandro

Who has a pdf. copy of The George Van Eps Method for Guitar the book is out of print I think is ok to share.

Available here:
eBook: The George Van Eps Method for Guitar
Brad

[Sandro]

Originally Posted by brad4d8

Available here:
eBook: The George Van Eps Method for Guitar
Brad

Thanks

[monk]

As Kevin said, it's a lot of work. This is George Van Eps's life work. It should be noted that these volumes are predominantly exercises.

The first volume covers major, harmonic minor and melodic minor triads in close and open voicings of root position, first and second inversions in all twelve keys. No TAB, all standard notation with few diagrams.

Fingerings for the same triad may change from key to key. Van Eps's intention is for the student to acquire versatility and dexterity in fingering, with the end result being the ability to improvise harmonically. There are exercises for sustaining a voice or voices while others move.

As I've mentioned before Van Eps's first book, The George Van Eps Guitar Method, is less daunting at at only 40 pages. It can be a good primer before tackling the Harmonic Mechanisms.

Because the books are predominantly exercises, your main challenge will be to learn to apply the material to songs in a musical way. Steve Herberman has said that he spent five years going through these books but not full time. So it may be possible to do so more quickly. A good teacher who has been through the books would be helpful in showing you how to apply what you learn.

Listening to as many Van Eps recordings as possible would be a great help to hear how he used these concepts. Van Eps practiced what he preached and played what he practiced.

Regards,
monk

[ksjazzguitar]

Originally Posted by Sandro

Who has a pdf. copy of The George Van Eps Method for Guitar the book is out of print I think is ok to share.

Just because something is out of print does not mean that it is "ok" to share. Even if the owner of the copyright chooses not to spend the money to publish something, they still reserve their copyright until it expires.

Peace,
Kevin

[djangoles]

You may want to hold off on all 3...The first one could keep anyone busy for years!!!!

[kris]

PDF ...too many pages...:-)

[Dad3353]

Originally Posted by ksjazzguitar

Just because something is out of print does not mean that it is "ok" to share. Even if the owner of the copyright chooses not to spend the money to publish something, they still reserve their copyright until it expires...

Good morning, Kevin...
Not to disagree, but things are perhaps not so 'neat and tidy' as that. That same copyright applies to any distribution, in theory at least, so the reselling of one's own copy of a publication (or even the giving away to someone...) could be considered an infringement, technically.
There are exceptions to copyright, covered by 'fair use', which allow, for example, duplicate copies for classroom use, or post a 'thumbnail' version of a photo on a website. Whether or not any particular case comes into this category would be for a tribunal to decide, but, amongst other factors, the financial loss to the copyright holder is taken into consideration. To distribute without profit, for study, a work otherwise unavailable commercially may perhaps be considered in this light. Each case on its merits (and without condoning 'pirate', profit-making or malicious diffusion, of course...). Any lawyers (or baristers, or judges...) amongst us..?

[brad4d8]

Originally Posted by Dad3353

That same copyright applies to any distribution, in theory at least, so the reselling of one's own copy of a publication (or even the giving away to someone...) could be considered an infringement, technically.... Any lawyers (or baristers, or judges...) amongst us..?

I'm not a lawyer, but had some copyright info during a class for an MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science). You can legally sell or give away your copy of copyrighted material as long as you don't keep a copy for yourself. Basically, you are transferring the "license to own" that you got when you purchased it.

Brad

[Sandro]

Originally Posted by djangoles

You may want to hold off on all 3...The first one could keep anyone busy for years!!!!

This is a wise suggestion thanks

Sandro

[wizard3739]

I have these books and have spent a lot of time going through them. They are terrific books for a very advanced student who is interested in voicing and movement of the voices within chord progressions. IMHO, they are very thorough, very time consuming and very worthwhile for a dedicated chord melody enthusiast.

wiz