Is it mostly good or bad advice here?

[Christian Miller]

Is it a good book?

Depends

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[Christian Miller]

I was looking through it today. I think it makes some keen observations and philosophical reflections. Tbh I kind of think this because I agree with what he’s saying and it’s helpful for me to have someone like Mick writing it down so I can quote it haha.

There’s strategies for shaking things up in your practice, which are useful if you’ve got a bit set in the way you do things.

Aside from that it’s permutational harmony stuff some of which is more formally presented in the voice leading almanacs - but there’s other stuff beside. Reflections on how to apply chord scale theory to improvisation. That type of stuff. Here’s six months/years of your life. Apply to All the Things you are.

I imagine the ideal reader to be a highly capable and motivated guitar student in their 20s who has a progressive (ie non idiomatic/stylistic) emphasis. So not very useful if you want to learn bebop, for example.

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[GuyBoden]

Is it a good book?

Personally, I find that it's really for Advanced or (Advancing) guitar players as the name of the book suggests.

Edit: It details a modern approach, so not really a book aimed at swing or bebop style players, IMOH. I've had the book since the 1990's.

[pamosmusic]

Is it a good book?

I love it. Incredible book.

But it will give you nothing. It’s basically just a series of pages saying “we’ll have you tried this?”

So it’s definitely not for everyone.

tldr:

Depends

[AllanAllen]

It doesn't seem like it's for me.

[MarkRhodes]

The challenge is not to find good advice but to take it.

As the old song says, "The fundamental things apply / As time goes by."

Or as Pierre Richard used to say, "...time on the instrument."

[alltunes]

The best advice I ever got on this forum is from former member Pierre whose signature stated:

“Time on the instrument”


oops I see Mark beat me to it!

[MarkRhodes]

The best advice I ever got on this forum is from former member Pierre whose signature stated:

“Time on the instrument”


oops I see Mark beat me to it!

Robert Conti told me he thought that was the best advice he ever saw here.

[pamosmusic]

It doesn't seem like it's for me.

I've had the same copy since I was fourteen. Scribbled all over. It's definitely the sort of thing you open up and read a page of and then put away for eight months.

And also a guitar book, rather than a jazz book. Useful in small doses, but I'd agree with Christian's assessment above. Not for everyone and not really super useful if you're in a phase where you're really diving into idiomatic jazz language.

[spencer096]

the amount of good information out there is awesome...but you need a filter to make sure it fits your path. developing that filter takes time and requires you know yourself and the path you want to be on.

i learned this more thru golf than music, strangely enough. if youre a golfer who's swing foundation was built on something like stack/tilt w a steep angle of attack, perfectly good information coming from sweepers (w a shallow angle of attack, i.e. nicklaus, norman) likely won't fit as well. it's not the information itself that doesn't work, it's the fit with your swing's foundation that might be the issue.

[AllanAllen]

Maybe I'll need it in 10 years. I'm drowning in things to work on at the moment.

[Stringswinger]

As Rick posted, there are many paths up the mountain. If advice found here works for you, use it. If the advice is of no use, discard it. For some the advice found here will be mostly good, for others, the opposite. That is the answer to the question posited in this thread.

Plajng jazz guitar is not a one size fits all kind of thing.

[Jimmy blue note]

Worst advice, which was on usenet years ago, was to take every possible triad pair (every type, 12 keys) and play them against every possible bass note.
.

Ha ha. It sounds like something Mick would demonstrate when illustrating possibilities.
He never once told me to do anything that didn't fit what I was asking for, but when I'd hear something he was doing and I'd stop him and say "What's THAT?" he'd simply and without reservation show me where it came from. It was then up to me to weigh fascination with the requisite work and context.
I have students who WANT to know how Ben Monder does what he does, but if they're still unable to find a IV chord within the tonal context of any key, I won't even mention chromaticism.

Too many people want the result but truly don't realize the sheer amount of time and experience it takes JUST TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION.

If you ask for advice and you don't have the patience to fully grok the depth of what you ask for, find a more patient and knowledgeable teacher.

A teacher's greatest challenge is to fully understand what it is NOT to know. When you can assume what a student knows and doesn't know, the answers and advice might seem absurdly simple, but revelation isn't for you to judge.

It's probably better if you don't believe me on this.

[Bill C]

Too many people want the result but truly don't realize the sheer amount of time and experience it takes JUST TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION.

This is so true. For better or worse, for many many years my day job has been “computer programmer/software engineer/whatever the job title is this week”. Against my better instincts, and wishing I was playing the guitar rather than staring at a computer, I recently asked “AI” to get me out of a hole with a programming language I basically know nothing about - the response was useless. I then asked for help with a problem in a language I’m reasonably good at after years of drudgery - the response worked out of the box.

I cringe at some of the questions I asked my guitar teachers years ago!

[Bill C]

1. Have you ever taken advice here that you wish you wouldn't have, or is not good advice in hindsight?
2. Do you ever cringe at the advice given by others to beginners?

What is the ratio of players that consistently give good advice etc?

What about the problem of new people not knowing who's advice to follow, not having heard their playing?

Stuff like that.

ignore anything that I post and you’ll be fine

[GuyBoden]

Maybe, most of the advice here is secondhand via Jazz professionals.

I imagine that many forum members have attended (in person) many Jazz Guitar workshops and Summer schools with top professional Jazz Guitar players/teachers.

So, some of the advice on this forum is maybe coming indirectly from these top professional Jazz Guitar players/teachers workshops.

Here is a list of Jazz Guitar players/teachers workshops, to name a few, I've personally attended:

Jimmy Bruno
Sheryl Bailey
Mimi Fox
Howard Alden
Sid Jacobs

(All these top USA Jazz Guitarists (and many more) have ran Jazz Guitar workshops in the UK, all thanks to Trefor Owen.)

[Lionelsax]

Whenever I give an advice, it sounds like craps until someone tries, hopefully no one does.

[Mick-7]

ignore anything that I post and you’ll be fine

Including this post?

[sgcim]

You've got to be careful not to use the advice here (or anywhere) as a rationale to do anything that appeals to your 'baser' instincts.
In my case, I kept hearing here and from a friend I play with, that a lot of great players, like Metheny, use the non-pointy side of the pick to play and do fine.
That may be true, but it's not for everyone. I used that as a rationale for using old picks that I convinced myself still had a decent point, which also appealed to my 'baser' instincts of being a lazy, cheap POS, who wouldn't open up a new bag of picks until I ran out of the ones I had been using for months.
Finally, the other day, I decided to open up one of the three bags of picks that have been lying there for God knows how long, and I realized I had cut my time for technique practice in half!!!
I immediately went into the pockets of all the pants I used for gigs and rehearsals and threw out every single pick I could find.
Just a part of the lazy stupidity that's got me where I am today.

[buduranus2]

IS IT MOSTLY GOOD OR BAD ADVICE HERE?
Yes

[benhatchins]

i found tons of great advices here. This thread is a fun mix of wisdom and humor — exactly what you expect from musicians swapping stories. Some of the advice sounds ridiculous but ends up being true after years of playing. In the middle of browsing, someone mentioned blocking distractions, which made me think of total adblock reviews for some reason. Always enjoy these laid-back threads.

[Spook410]

There are different kinds of advice. There is tech and gear. There is technique. There is history, theory, the business of jazz. et al. I have found those that offer advice in this forum usually have knowledge and experience to share. Not always.. but almost always. Have not seen a better forum in this regard.

[Lionelsax]

There are different kinds of advice. There is tech and gear. There is technique. There is history, theory, the business of jazz. et al. I have found those that offer advice in this forum usually have knowledge and experience to share. Not always.. but almost always. Have not seen a better forum in this regard.

It depends, sometimes they come from beliefs, opinions, facts...
Sometimes some believe so badly in things they've never tried that they seem to be facts.

[Aiq]

As an elderly beatnik improv freak who hangs around the alley behind Jazz’s house and steals stuff from the garage when Jazz isn’t home I’ll listen to most anything.

I’m actually trying to make amends for a misspent youth by getting better at reading and working on tunes, currently Midnight Blue and Four on Six - the real chords etc.

I recently got a Questlove Pocket kit and do about 20 minutes every other day or so, it’s fun. Got me thinking about rhythms better and provides a low impact workout.

[BBGuitar]

Any free advice I may give is worth every penny you paid for it.