The book lists on this page are the result of a poll on our forum, in which I asked everyone to list their favorite guitar books. There are 4 categories: jazz guitar books, guitar books (that are not jazz-related), theory & reference books and other music books (biographies, music psychology, …)
Top 50 Jazz Guitar Books
Here’s the Top 50 of Jazz Guitar Method Books.
Each book is (affiliate) linked to Amazon.
The Advancing Guitarist is on number 1, as I expected. It’s a great book, although not for beginners.
- The Advancing Guitarist – Mick Goodrick
- Complete Jazz Guitar Method – Jody Fisher
- Chords and Chord Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar – Arnie Berle
- Jazz Guitar Single Note Soloing – Ted Greene
- Chord Chemistry – Ted Greene
- Best of Wes Montgomery – Wolf Marshall
- The Berklee Jazz Chord Dictionary – Rick Peckham
- Mickey Baker Complete Course in Jazz Guitar Vol 1 & Vol 2 – Mickey Baker
- The Joe Pass Guitar Method – Joe Pass
- Linear Expression – Pat Martino
- All Blues Soloing – Jim Ferguson
- Modern Chord Progressions – Ted Greene
- A Guide To Chords, Scales, and Arpeggios – Al Di Meola
- Contemporary Chord Khancepts – Steve Kahn
- Chord-Melody Guitar – Bruce Buckingham
- Jazz Guitar Soloing – Joe Elliott
- Voice Leading For Guitar – John Thomas
- Jazz Guitar Structures – Andrew Green
- Jazz Guitar Technique – Andrew Green
- Guitar Compendium – Howard Roberts
- Arpeggio Studies on Jazz Standards – Mimi Fox
- Pat Metheny Songbook – Pat Metheny
- Jazz Guitar Voicings Vol 1 – Randy Vincent
- The Art of Solo Guitar – Jody Fisher
- Jazz Improvisation for Guitar: A Melodic Approach – Garrison Fewell
- Creative Force – Pat Martino
- Power Jazz Guitar – Larry Coryell
- Best of Pat Martino – Wolf Marshall
- Harmonic Mechanics – George Van Eps
- Guitar Style – Joe Pass
- Jazz Guitar Comping – Andrew Green
- The Jazz Style of Tal Farlow: The Elements of Bebop Guitar – Tal Farlow
- Building a Jazz Guitar Solo: a Guide to The Art of Chord Melody Playing – Fred Sokolow
- Masters of the Plectrum Guitar – Mel Bay
- Mastering the Dominant Chord – Don Mock
- Guitar Secrets: Symmetrical Scales Revealed – Don Mock
- Guitar Secrets: Harmonic Minor Revealed – Don Mock
- Complete Jazz Guitar Method – Mike Christiansen
- All The Shapes You Are – Herb Ellis
- A Comprehensive Study of Gypsy Jazz Guitar – Romane Sebastian
- Lenny Breau Finger Style – Lenny Breau
- Intervallic Designs for Jazz Guitar: Ultramodern Sounds for Improvising – Joe Diorio
- Giant Steps – Joe Diorio
- Jazz Structures for the New Millenium – Joe Diorio
- Fusion Guitar – Joe Diorio
- Playing Guitar in a Jazz Big Band – Tom Anderson
- Almanac of Guitar Voice Leading – Mick Goodrick
- Gypsy Rhythm Volume 1: a Tutorial for Gypsy Jazz – Michael Horowitz
- Mel Bay’s Complete Book of Harmony, Theory, and Voicing – Bret Willmott
- Jazz for the Skeptical Guitarist – Bruce Emery
Jazz Guitar Books For Beginners
A lot of the books listed above are not for beginners. Here’s a selection of books that are great for beginning jazz guitar players.
- Beginning Jazz Guitar – Jody Fisher
- Chords and Chord Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar – Arnie Berle
- The Berklee Jazz Chord Dictionary – Rick Peckham
- Mickey Baker Complete Course in Jazz Guitar Vol 1 & Vol 2 – Mickey Baker
- Jazz Guitar Voicings Vol 1 – Randy Vincent
- The Art of Solo Guitar – Jody Fisher
- Jazz Improvisation for Guitar: A Melodic Approach – Garrison Fewell
- Jazz Guitar Technique – Andrew Green
- Jazz Guitar Comping – Andrew Green
Top 10 authors of jazz guitar books
- Ted Greene
- Mick Goodrick
- Jody Fisher
- Arnie Berle
- Wolf Marshall
- Mickey Baker
- Joe Pass
- Andrew Green
- Pat Martino
- Joe Diorio
General Guitar Books
The Top 30 of guitar method books.
I never heard about the book on number 1, guess I need to check it out.
I’m surprised William Leavitt books are so popular, I never really liked them.
- Pumping Nylon – Scott Tenant
- Solo Guitar Playing Volume 1 and 2 – Fredrick Noad
- Melodic Rhythms for Guitar – William Leavitt
- Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar – Troy Stetina
- Advanced Reading Studies for Guitar – William Leavitt
- A Modern Method for Guitar – William Leavitt
- The Guitar Grimoire: A Compendium of Guitar Chords and Voicings – Adam Kadmon
- The Brazilian Guitar Book – Nelson Faria
- Fretboard Logic – Bill Edwards
- Chord Progressions for Guitar – Tom Kolb
- Fretboard Mastery – Troy Stetina
- Arpeggios for Guitar – Don Latarski
- The Chord Factory – Jon Damian
- Blues You Can Use – John Ganapes
- Guitar Fretboard Workbook – Barrett Tagliarino
- The Guitarist’s Guide to Composing and Improvising – Jon Damian
- Modes for Guitar – Tom Kolb
- Soloing Strategies for Guitar – Tom Kolb
- The principles of Correct Practice for Guitar – Jamie Andreas
- Rock Discipline – John Petrucci
- Music Reading for Guitar – David Oakes
- Classical Studies for Pick Style Guitar – William Leavitt
- The Guitar Cookbook – Jesse Gress
- Hot Guitar – Arlen Roth
- The Guitar Handbook – Ralph Denyer
- Guitar Player Repair Guide – Dan Erlewine
- Mel Bay’s Complet Book of Guitar Improvisation – Vincent Bredice
- Bach Lute Studies for Guitar – Jerry Willard
- The Complete Sor Studies for Guitar – Fernando Sor and David Grimes
- Diatonic Major and Minor Scales – Andres Segovia
Theory & Reference Books
The Top 25 of Theory and (non-guitar) music books.
Not surprised that the Jazz Theory Book is on number 1, it’s the best jazz-related theory book around.
- The Jazz Theory Book – Mark Levine
- The Jamey Aebersold Series
- The Real Book Vol 1 – Chuck Sher
- Harmony – Walter Piston
- How to Play Bebop – David Baker
- Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns – Slonimsky
- Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization – George Russell
- The Lead Sheet Bible – Robin Randall
- The Serious Jazz Practice Book – Barry Finnerty
- The Charlie Parker Omnibook – Jamey Aebersold
- Jazzmaster Cookbook – Jim Grantham
- Best Chord Changes for the World’s Greatest Standards – Frank Mantooth
- The Salsa Guidebook – Rebeca Mauleon
- The Real Book 6th Edition – Hal Leonard
- Jazz Theory Resources – Bert Ligon
- Comprehensive Technique for Jazz Musicians – Bert Ligon
- Modern Reading Text in 4/4 – Louis Bellson
- The Swing Era: 1936-1947 (The Jazz Bible Fake Book Series) – Rob Duboff
- Encyclopedia of Reading Rhythms – Gary Hess
- Metamorphosis of the Jazz Solo – Sam Most
- Music Theory for Guitarists – Tom Kolb
- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Compostion – Michael Miller
- The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory – Michael Miller
Other Music Books: Psychology, Biographies, Guitars, …
The Top 15:
- Effortless Mastery – Kenny Werner
- The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music- Victor Wooten
- The Inner Game of Music – Barry Green
- Charlie Parker: His Life and Music – Carl Woideck
- Talent is Overrated – Geoffrey Colvin
- Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones – Quincy Jones
- The Gibson L5 – Adrian Ingram
- Blue Guitar (aka the Blue Book) – Ken Vose
- All You Need to Know About the Music Business – Donald S. Passman
- The Pat Metheny Interviews – Richard Niles
- Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation – Paul Berliner
- Early Jazz: It’s Roots and Musical Development (History of Jazz) – Gunther Schuller
- Gibson Guitars: 100 Years of an American Icon – Calter Carter
- This is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession – Daniel Levitin
- Miles: The Autobiography – Quincy Troupe
ALSO CHECK OUT:
- Top 100 Jazz Guitar Albums
- Top 100 Jazz Albums (without a guitarist as leader)
- Print & PDF
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Check out “Modern Jazz & Fusion Guitar” by Jostein Gulbrandsen (Hal Leonard)
I lost my house with everything in it earlier this year in a devastating bushfire. I lost all my guitars (20) save one, several amps and all my books and recordings (CDs, DVDs, Vinyl Albums). Amongst them was the Pat Metheny Songbook, unfortunately.
Now, since I am slowly getting back to normal, I have bought the Pat Metheny Real Book, the Hal Leonard “Artist Edition, compiled and gig tested by the composer”!
What I noticed is that the intro to ‘James”, a song that I perform live, was omitted, also no mention of Lyle Mays as a co-composer.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a HUGE Pat Metheny fan, I’ve been following him since 1977 and have seen him in concert 5 times. Also, the last time I saw him in March 2020 in Perth he didn’t mention Lyle, who was his musical Alter Ego, even ONCE!
Could it be that there was some rift between the two? I find it disappointing, because it withholds musical information from us all and doesn’t shed a good light on PM.
Just my 2 cents…
Yes Joe Alexander is very good.
Not a book, but Check out Youtube tuition by Barney Kessel on Jazz Guitar playing. A great musician, and so understandable.
Anything by Joseph Alexander is good.
Funny I never liked Bill’s Books either but I had the Honor of taking guitar lessons from Mr. William G. Leavitt in the early 80’s and I understand now what he was trying to do. I miss his gentle kindness. He was a truly great guy and an excellent teacher.
I picked up a copy of “Complete Scale and Chord Theory for Guitar”, by Joe Livoti, off Amazon, on the recommendation of a teacher friend. Not a “Jazz” book, per se, but a very thorough summary of scale and chord theory in kind of a self-teaching format. Pretty amazingly comprehensive book with no fluff. He had some other books that I might check out, and some very impressive youtube vids that I did…
Sadly I missed the poll. i would add all of The Carol Kay books, and the Howard Roberts Praxis books to the list.
+1 on Carol Kaye. +1 on Howard Roberts 3-volume Praxis.
Hope you can add this wonderful guitarist and teacher, John Damian’s books:
http://www.jondamian.com/media/books/