The lists on this page are the result of a poll on the 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, …)
Jazz Guitar Books
Here’s the Top 50 of Jazz Guitar Method Books. The Advancing Guitarist is on number 1, as I expected. It’s a great book, although not for beginners. All books are linked to the Amazon store.
- 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 jazzers:
- 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)
- Facebook158
- Twitter15
- Print & PDF0
- Subscribe
- 173shares
8 comments
Hope you can add this wonderful guitarist and teacher, John Damian’s books:
http://www.jondamian.com/media/books/
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.
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…
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.
Anything by Joseph Alexander is good.
Not a book, but Check out Youtube tuition by Barney Kessel on Jazz Guitar playing. A great musician, and so understandable.
Yes Joe Alexander is very good.