Top 50 Guitar & Music Books

[Smartdiamond]

"The complete Jazz Method" by Jody Fisher

The book has mp3's with each example.

Fantastic learning

[nomelite]

If anyone knows of a good comprehesive jazz guitar method for Chords, Comping and Single line playing that goes from the simple to the complex that is easily understandable and really puts it altogether, please let me know. (I haven't really come across one.)

Arnie Berle's Chord Progressions
Mickey Baker
Jody Fisher
Jon Damian's Chord Factory

check out Don Mock's excellent video Jazz Guitar Rhythm Chops .

Now if you want an excellent program: Jimmy Bruno's institute.

[notablemusician]

I'd like to say hello as a newly joined member, to thank you for this site and to add my suggestion, to the list:
Creative Force I and II by Pat Martino is the best ear opener I have come across for guitarists who have already reached a certain level. The theory of minor conversion confirmed and ratified what I had been feeling and doing intuitively for 50 odd years and gave me a new energy burst.
Also if I may add; listening to other players is such a great way to learn and that spiritual awareness and love are essential components in the true life message we can carry to others through playing. Therefore all books dealing with these subjects help me with my jazz creation.

[jpeghiny]

Hi Folks,
This is one of my favorite "Guitar" books. I've learned a ton from this book and keep going back. When I first got it, the material seemed way over my head. Now, I look through the book and think "yeah, I know that" and it seems much easier. That's progress...
Here it is:

Chords & Progressions for Jazz & Popular Guitar
By Arnie Berle
USA ISBN No 0.8256.1056.7

Enjoy!
Jamie

[jazzbow]

How about this
L'Esprit Manouche: A Comprehensive Study of Gypsy Jazz Guitar by Romane.
Six essential fingerings (Ooer!!) by Jimmy Bruno

Keep up the good werk.....

[jazzbow]

I am still looking for useful DVD or video tutorials.

The Hot Licks serie is nice, but very short in duration sometimes.

Any ideas ?

Try this one out, Jimmy Bruno, No Nonsense Jazz Guitar. simple to follow though as with all video/DVD's they tend to hypnotise you into a stupor. Books are best as you just concentrate on the chapter/paragraph you need to study-

[MarkRhodes]

Hey, Radisson, could you say more about Steve Crowell's material? I Googled him and found out how to order his stuff but I couldnt' find a good description of what he teaches. Thanks!

[bangsong]

Fretboard Logic Special Edition Volumes 1 and 2 Combined. By Bill Edwards. "The reasoning behind the guitar's unique tuning plus chord scales and arpeggios complete." Me being self taught by ear, this book immediately made sense to me for its approach to guitar was what I had stumbled onto myself but this would have saved me years of trial and error. Plus it added much to what I had begun myself. Volume II is about modes and jazz. What it shows is useful for any style of music but is specific to the fretboard of the guitar rather than the piano or music theory in general.

[howdjado]

I'm new to the forum, which looks to be terrific. However, I've been on the e-mail list for a while, and it's most interesting to follow what's been done here.

I object to the book list idea, not because it's bad, but because it will cause me to search for more guitar/music books, buy them, and then have to buy more bookcases to store them. It is an endless quest.

I'll think of more, but I would recommend The Skeptical Guitarist, a series of 3 well-written, non-technical, funny (??) theory books written and self-published by Bruce Emery. (www.skepticalguitarist.com) I know teachers who recommend nothing else for their students. The books are best for players who are trying to make sense of theory and build on the bits that they comprehend, not for the very advanced theory-oriented persons.

Good luck with this project. I really do like it.

Don
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
www.folkblues.com

[Pequod]

Here's a book that's hard to find but worth its weight in gold:
Anon., Read less play more - never out of print

[Tom Lockwood]

My favorites include:
1) Ted Greene Single Note Soloing volumes 1&2
2) Berklee Guitar Method-(I've done 1&2)
3) Wolfgang Marshall's jazz series- my favorites are:
Pat Martino
Wes Montgomery
Joe Pass
George Benson
4)John Knowles book on Lenny Breau
5) Visions(on Lenny Breau) by Stephen Anderson
(this is a must have!)
6) The Guitar Style of Lenny Breau by Paul Bourdeau
7 All of the "Real Book " series
And for fingerstyle guitar-John Knowles book on Jerry Reed
and John Stropes's book on Michael Hedges
I could go on and on but that's enough for now!

[franco6719]

Well, here are some of my own recommendations, beside the main point of not getting too caught up in book-mania, as someone mentioned earlier. The whole thing is much more about aural development, listening deeply, and playing a lot.

The Berklee method books (William Leavitt)
Melodic Rythyms for Guitar (William Leavitt)
Joe Pass Guitar Style
Jazz Improvization (Garrison Fewell)
David Baker -How to Play Bebop series
Pat Martino - Linear Expressions
Wolf Marshall - The Essential Wes Montgomery
Charlie Parker Omnibook
Mark Levine- Jazz Theory
Ted Green - Chord Chemistry
Joe Diorio - Rhythm changes for guitar
Some of the Jamey Aebersold material.
Joe Diorio- Fusion (which has nothing to do with the genre, by the way)

[evansjr]

The Robert Yelin series for chord soloing (Jazz Classics, Jazz Gems, etc.). These are the best arrangements I've found for the old standards. I wish he'd publish more of them, even for more contemporary pieces.

[MarkRhodes]

Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

I'm glad this book was mentioned because something has always bothered me about it, and that something is music related. When Gladwell talks about the "10,000 hour rule" (-how long it takes to master a skill) he uses the Beatles for an example, then talks about how many hours they spent on stage in Hamburg strip clubs becoming a tight band. Though I will grant that is true, what Gladwell fails to understand that 10,000 hours of playing cover tunes is NOT 10,000 of songwriting, and the Beatles are loved for their songwriting / record making; they are never numbered among rock's greatest *live* bands, which is what Gladwell's description would lead one to expect.

Mind you, I think learning good songs by other people is a big part of learning to write good songs on one's own, but not everyone who spends 10,000 hours on stage playing songs becomes a great songwriter (-Jeff Beck? Johnny Winter? I love 'em both, but composition ain't their trump card. Wes wrote more great tunes than Grant Green or Kenny Burrell, though I can imagine someone prefering GG and KB to WM as players.)

[catch22]

Harmony With Lego-Bricks by Conrad Cork (UK Book). An excellent book on learning the harmonic language of improvised music. Levine's book is good, but this is another way of thinking about the subject, a different way of thinking about song structures, standards etc. Written in an accessible and conversational style.

... and "Insights in Jazz", which is based on that Lego-book, but is more concise. Author is John Elliott. There's a Lego-Google discussion group for both these books too.
... and "Neue Jazz-Harmonielehre" by Frank Sikora - there might be an English version out by now. It's in the vein of Levine's material, covering most aspects of jazz theory; it'll keep me busy for years.
... and "Thinking in Jazz - The Art of Improvisation" by Paul Berliner.
This covers over 800 pages of interesting reading on musicology, improvisation and more; not purely the "technical" playing side, but a broad way of looking at it all.

No guitar books on my list because I don't play guitar (much)

[bafart]

For me is James Aebersold Jazz Handbook
What do you of that?

[jaelliott]

... and "Insights in Jazz", which is based on that Lego-book, but is more concise. Author is John Elliott. There's a Lego-Google discussion group for both these books too.

Hi guys, I'm new to this site. Ludo mentioned my book above. If you'd like to know more and access free downloads and podcasts and the discussion group, then please check out my website.

John

http://www.dropback.co.uk

[J Jones]

Jazz guitar: Jazz guitar voicings Drop 2 Book by Randy Vincent

Guitar: A must have is "Segovia's major and minor scales"

[rejikumar]

guitar book; Speed mechanics for Lead guitar. by Troy Stettina. Though meant for rockers, it is a highly useful book for any guitarist. different aspects of Alternate picking is the highlight. REji

[MarkRhodes]

guitar book; Speed mechanics for Lead guitar. by Troy Stettina. Though meant for rockers, it is a highly useful book for any guitarist. different aspects of Alternate picking is the highlight. REji

Yeah, Stetina don't swing, but I learned some things from his book years ago. He was the first guitar teacher who taught me that most valuable lesson, "Separate the hands!"

[hiram3abif]

Robert Conti's Source Code

The Chord Melody Assembly Line
The Formula
The Jazz Lines

So far the best instructional book and DVD when it comes to playing jazz.

[Bluesguy]

Robert Conti's Source Code

The Chord Melody Assembly Line
The Formula
The Jazz Lines

So far the best instructional book and DVD when it comes to playing jazz.

Are these three or four different books and DVDs or one?

[nomelite]

Are these three or four different books and DVDs or one?

they are three books/DVD's.

[Sailor]

Everyone should read "Early Jazz", by Gunther Schuller....and the broader "A History of Western Music" , by Donald Jay Grout

Sailor

[CraigB]

I really enjoy the Reader's Digest books of popular tunes and even the children's books which have old standards from merry melodies and the like. They aren't difficult for the beginner and an advanced player can substitute over the basic chords easily.

For instruction though, I really like Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar by Arne Berle. Great book, if a touch a thin but it makes you learn the neck, period. No scales (except the harmonized), all chords.