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The following has been copied from my website. I love playing through jazz guitar tutors from the 1950s, and recently downloaded "Johnny Rector's Study of Modern Guitar Chord Progressions" from 1956. For those of us who like playing the music from this period with some sense of period style, this can be a useful book. I'll be adding more videos to my website page as I work through the book: https://robmackillop.net/guitar/jazz...rector-chords/
Johnny Rector Modern Chord ProgressionsIf you are looking for another book similar to Mickey Baker’s first volume, Johnny Rector’s 1956 “Study of Modern Guitar Chord Progressions – Volume 2” is well worth a look. He only deals with chords – no single-note soloing – but the chords are very interesting. I downloaded a copy (for a small donation) from MusicManSteve.com – scroll down the page to locate it.
Like many 1940s and 50s guitar books, the chords are big and lush, and can be used with confidence in music from the period, perhaps when accompanying a singer or other instrumentalist.
The book isn’t just a chord encyclopaedia. Instead, Johnny gives you a standard progression, say C A7 Dm7 G7 C, and gives you alternatives, such as CMaj9 Eb13 Dm11 Db11+ as in the first video below. With a little creativity, you can use these chords for soloing with single notes, by playing arpeggios and some scales.
But the main point of the book is learning chords, and situations to use them in.
I imagine more videos will follow…I'll just walk through a number of the examples, but the point would be to digest this stuff, and use it on standards. You are welcome to join in!
Pages 38 and 39 (actually the first two pages in the book, as Volume 1 stops at page 37 – I imagine, as I haven’t seen it)
Page 42 – II7 to V7 Substitute Chords:
Page 43 – Minor 6th Substitute Chords:
Page 46 – Altered Dominant & Substitute Chords:
Edit: Some ideas for playing with the above progressions:
Discussion welcome!
Last edited by Rob MacKillop; 10-24-2016 at 05:36 AM.
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10-22-2016 01:30 PM
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I am kind of surprised noone jumped on this topic. I love books that write out different choices for chord progressions. After years of chasing single note improv, I have recently come to really appreciate the lust, vibrant backdrop that nice chord progressions can create.
This book would have been right up my alley, and can provide the essential skills of going from chord to chord seamlessly. (As a matter of fact, I am going to get out my old chord progression book that I used to use when I first started studying Jazz!)
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Hey, apparently Mel Bay put both volumes into a Book/CD set. Here it is on Amazon. The price is a bit steep for me rithg now.
https://www.amazon.com/Deluxe-Encycl.../dp/0786634421
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Thanks, Rob. I enjoy you videos on guitar methods and the like.
and for AlsoRan, check out the combined volumes on the Mel Bay site. Much more reasonable. circa $15 and $20 for ebook and on-line audio or print and audio downloads.
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Seems to still be in print. More sensible price too.
Advanced Search : Mel Bay
Originally Posted by AlsoRan
Last edited by srs; 10-23-2016 at 11:37 AM.
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I didn't know about the Mel Bay edition. Excellent.
Many players will know about these progressions, but many will not, and will find them most useful. They were modern, I guess, in the 1950s, so if that's the period you like, the book will be very useful.
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Exactly! Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
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If there is one negative about the book, his voice leading of the top note is not exactly to the nearest note. But he does say all the chords within an exercise are interchangeable, and so with a little creativity you can connect things as you wish.
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Stuart Elliot and srs,
Thank you. I found the price to be much more reasonable, less than half in fact!
I ordered it.
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Rob,
Your videos on Mickey Baker's book have been immensely helpful to me as a newbie to jazz guitar. Thanks for bringing Johnny Rector's book to my attention. I'm looking forward to more videos from you on the Rector book, and I'll probably go ahead and order the Mel Bay collection as well.
Joe
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Glad to hear it, Joe. That's why I do these things. More will follow.
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You are definitely an asset around here. Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
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Update: Some ideas for playing with the progressions on pages 38-46 Volume 2:
Edit: Warning: This was made at 8am...before my coffee!Last edited by Rob MacKillop; 10-24-2016 at 05:43 AM.
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Thanks Rob. Much appreciated.
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My good friend Johnny Rector of Morton Grove Illinois passed away Sept 23, 2016 at age 96. He was a super guy, excellent guitar player, and was always willing to share his musical talents. He was an encourager to those wanting to learn how to play the guitar. H. Payne, Birmingham Al.
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I'm very sorry to hear that, H. Payne. I had no idea. There's not much online about him, but what I perceived was that he was a caring man, well respected by those around him. I'm very happy to have discovered him just a week or two ago. If you feel like sharing some memories of his life, please do, but I would understand if you'd prefer to keep those memories private. Best wishes.
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Hiya Rob, I too am a fan of a lot of the older books similar to the Mickey Baker books. I have some of the George Van Eps books and a few other books I used before I went thru G.I.T. I just got my copy of Johnny Rectors' book#2 from your website. This book is what I like to review because it was written in a time period when I was deeply involved in chord and progression theory. Thanks for making it available!
wiz (Howie)
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Cheers, Howie. I was born in the 50s - only just, in 1959, but that was the music my father played at home - he was a saxophonist. So, some of my earliest musical memories are of 50s jazz. After that, I drifted...
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