How Tim Lerch is improving my playing

**Liarspoker** · 05-26-2022, 07:26 AM

Lots more hours in the woodshed needed but Tim's book is just what the doctor ordered.

For those that have the book how are you finding it?

**ruger9** · 05-27-2022, 06:38 AM

I bought it. Haven't had time to sit down with it yet, due to being very busy at work. When I do have time to play, it's not enough time to focus and learn anything, so I just play for relaxation/release.

But I watched his promo video for the book, and the way he explained how the book was laid out made alot of sense to me. Sometimes the information can be acquired much more readily, depending on how it's given. I have a feeling the way I see the fretboard/theory is similar to Tim's. Looking forward to it when I have a little more time. (I got the famous Mickey Baker books, but they just didn't jive with me)

**FredH** · 05-27-2022, 08:42 AM

I bought it because I admire Tim's playing so much and because I am a chord voicing junkie, always looking for new, interesting stuff. I like his approach, but will need to spend lots more hours with it.

Some of the voicings are just way cool, others I am sure I will never use because of my 70 something year old fingers. But I like how he organizes this wealth of knowledge into a practical framework.

**LifeOnJazz** · 05-27-2022, 08:47 PM

Thanks for sharing. I appreciate hearing the reactions on his new book. I may get it myself at some point. I marvel in Tim's ability to create such harmonically rich music. He makes it look easy, and it sure isn't. I recently bought his transcription that accompanies the video below. It consists of three progressively more difficult jazz-blues chord melodies. What I learnt was well worth the cost and time spent absorbing the material. I'm a fan.

**Liarspoker** · 05-28-2022, 09:36 AM

Originally Posted by ruger9

I bought it. Haven't had time to sit down with it yet, due to being very busy at work. When I do have time to play, it's not enough time to focus and learn anything, so I just play for relaxation/release.

But I watched his promo video for the book, and the way he explained how the book was laid out made alot of sense to me. Sometimes the information can be acquired much more readily, depending on how it's given. I have a feeling the way I see the fretboard/theory is similar to Tim's. Looking forward to it when I have a little more time. (I got the famous Mickey Baker books, but they just didn't jive with me)

Yeah, the book is laid out very well. It's super easy to find a variety of fingerings for the chord that you are looking for with the melody note in the appropriate place.

I have the first Mickey Baker book but I find Tim's book much more useful.

**Liarspoker** · 05-28-2022, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by FredH

I bought it because I admire Tim's playing so much and because I am a chord voicing junkie, always looking for new, interesting stuff. I like his approach, but will need to spend lots more hours with it.

Some of the voicings are just way cool, others I am sure I will never use because of my 70 something year old fingers. But I like how he organizes this wealth of knowledge into a practical framework.

For sure, many more happy hours needed

I think that we'll all take away some chords and leave others (especially the hard to finger ones).

The way that Tim organises his material is very good alright. I'm a member of his Truefire channel and think that it's great.

**alltunes** · 05-28-2022, 11:50 AM

Originally Posted by LifeOnJazz

Thanks for sharing. I appreciate hearing the reactions on his new book. I may get it myself at some point. I marvel in Tim's ability to create such harmonically rich music. He makes it look easy, and it sure isn't. I recently bought his transcription that accompanies the video below. It consists of three progressively more difficult jazz-blues chord melodies. What I learnt was well worth the cost and time spent absorbing the material. I'm a fan.

If you like this you’ll also like Tim Lerch's TrueFire course “solo guitar pathways” he goes into Bb blues in-in-depth there too but you have the nice learning tools that accompany the TrueFire platform. Looping slow down sound-slice etc

**Liarspoker** · 06-02-2022, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by alltunes

If you like this you’ll also like Tim Lerch's TrueFire course “solo guitar pathways” he goes into Bb blues in-in-depth there too but you have the nice learning tools that accompany the TrueFire platform. Looping slow down sound-slice etc

I love Tim's chordal Improv course and must revisit it again. He makes it all look so effortless

**Marinero** · 06-05-2022, 10:23 AM

Hi, L,
I am a firm believer in a solid musical education. However, do you see a danger to your own creativity when you copy the licks/voicings/style of another musician to the extent that you may never return to find your own voice? There is no doubt that many of these video instructors will move you down the road more quickly than the theory/personal self-discovery method but, for me, it is at the risk of destroying your own inner voice and playing like everyone else. Of course, the prime example was Thelonious Monk who was mocked and derided when he first came on the music scene playing what he heard in his head while creating a new way to look at Jazz composition. Have you ever noticed how most of the young Jazzers' today all sound the same? I believe it's a direct result of contemporary Jazz pedagogy and the need to get "there" fast.
So, there is a difference between a "player" and an "original." And, you don't have to be a musical savant to have your own voice . . . for better or worse. Players in my generation(Baby Boomer) usually learned on the job playing songs-- hundreds if not thousands of times in a lifetime. And, with this method, there is no way that a musician's style could remain the same unless, of course, you were Lawrence Welk.
Finally, there is another idea today that I find very bizarre: namely, that a person becomes a Jazz musician by sitting in his/her bedroom watching YT videos and playing with backing tracks while never playing steadily in a live musical group. How is this possible? What sense of timing, pace, and interplay does he/she develop in their craft/art? How interesting can they be musically when they have beaten the proverbial horse to death and then some? Well, there are generational differences but as I have said previously-- if I just discovered contemporary Jazz, I would not be a devotee.
Marinero

**ronjazz** · 06-05-2022, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by Marinero

Hi, L,
So, there is a difference between a "player" and an "original." And, you don't have to be a musical savant to have your own voice . . . for better or worse. Players in my generation(Baby Boomer) usually learned on the job playing songs-- hundreds if not thousands of times in a lifetime. And, with this method, there is no way that a musician's style could remain the same unless, of course, you were Lawrence Welk.
Finally, there is another idea today that I find very bizarre: namely, that a person becomes a Jazz musician by sitting in his/her bedroom watching YT videos and playing with backing tracks while never playing steadily in a live musical group. How is this possible? What sense of timing, pace, and interplay does he/she develop in their craft/art? How interesting can they be musically when they have beaten the proverbial horse to death and then some? Well, there are generational differences but as I have said previously-- if I just discovered contemporary Jazz, I would not be a devotee.
Marinero

So Wes Montgomery's learning (and performing) of Charlie Christian's solos ruined him?

**Marinero** · 06-05-2022, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by ronjazz

So Wes Montgomery's learning (and performing) of Charlie Christian's solos ruined him?

No, RJ,
They were tradesmen and learned on the job. Every good musician is a thief(up to a certain point) until they find their own voice. This is very different than rote absorption of YT videos and playing to backing tracks. However, as a former saxophonist, I made a mistake and played like Trane for a couple of years and that cost me valuable time in finding my voice. But, then again, everyone in those years wanted to play like Trane.
Marinero

**itsmyname** · 06-18-2022, 08:22 AM

I like the Tim Lerch channel, a great guitar player with an excellent sound according to me, fingers or pick, no problem, Tim sounds good and he always swings, and it don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing !

I don't know him personnally, but I think he is a humble person in the way he approaches people and music and it's really cool according to me.

**Maroonblazer** · 06-19-2022, 01:45 PM

I bought Tim's book shortly after it dropped and it's been a game-changer for me. I had kind of started doing something similar but on a much smaller scale, when learning chords. I.e., working through different inversions where a given interval is on a certain string. Tim's book takes it to a whole other level.

Not only is it a fantastic resource for quickly assembling a tune, it's an incredible fretboard resource as you can easily see how/where all the different chord variations layout over a particular part of the fretboard.

Despite having bought the physical book, I went ahead and purchased the PDF version too so that I can quickly locate the chord category I'm looking for. He employs a clever system whereby you can do this quickly using your PDF reader's "Find" function. To be honest, the material in the book is easily worth the $40 I spent on both versions, if not more.

**Maroonblazer** · 06-19-2022, 01:47 PM

Originally Posted by Marinero

Hi, L,
I am a firm believer in a solid musical education. However, do you see a danger to your own creativity when you copy the licks/voicings/style of another musician to the extent that you may never return to find your own voice?

To paraphrase Clark Terry, you can't innovate until you first imitate then assimilate.

**ruger9** · 06-20-2022, 07:25 AM

Originally Posted by Marinero

Hi, L,
I am a firm believer in a solid musical education. However, do you see a danger to your own creativity when you copy the licks/voicings/style of another musician to the extent that you may never return to find your own voice?

Originally Posted by Maroonblazer

To paraphrase Clark Terry, you can't innovate until you first imitate then assimilate.

"Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own."
- Bruce Lee

**JWMandy** · 03-12-2023, 02:28 PM

Thanks for posting this!

Discovered Tim Lerch last week for myself. Amazing. He's possibly moving up to pole position of the contemporary guitarist I'd most like to be able to play like (present company excepted of course_. Waking up to find I'm not there yet.... uh. It's no doubt gonna be a grind just to get to the point where I could qualify to start that path. Is it the first time out of the gate on that one? Nah. I think the general idea of Tim's style of playing's been around since I was a kid 50 years ago. But if he's managed to roll that into a series of pedagogical stuff... and he's open to sharing it....more power to him and I'm game to give it a shot.

**Cunamara** · 03-13-2023, 12:09 AM

I haven't seen Tim's book yet but I am interested in it. He studied with Ted Greene; I have Ted's books and of course the infamous "Chord Catastrophe" book is something I am sure Tim has worked his way through thoroughly. Ted's book basically lays out every possible chord you can play on a guitar, regardless of whether or not human fingers could actually reach them. The organization of that material in his book was rather elusive, however; it sounds like Tim has created a much more cohesive and logical flow with his book.