The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by goldenwave77

    I think Drumbler's post (#3) has a lot of good suggestions. BIAB jamming, I feel has helped me progress the most. I use it with a disk of about 150 jazz songs and can vary tempo, keys, etc. This, and listening to good e.g.'s is probably the most important.

    Beware of the book buying fallacy---no book will help you unless you actually work through it. But, as you become more accomplished, you can go back to books you put aside, and start to get something out of them.
    Thanks.

    It's very easy to fall into what I call the "technique trap". I have done this myself. In fact I've done every stupid thing over the years.

    "How fast can you pick?"

    "What are your favorite 28(+) scales?"

    "How do I increase my legato speed?"

    "What mode of the harmonic-melodic-overeasy-with-a-side-order-of-bacon-scale should I use over the blah-blah chord in the month of May?"

    Etc.

    Ask these folks how many songs they can, from memory, play the melody, comp the chords, and improvise over and the answer is "uh...uhm...uh...".

    How much practice time do you have available that you can spend your time doing trills for an hour?

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    Thanks for all the info on this thread guys. After listening to Joe Pass, Pat Metheny, and Pat Martino for years I finally decided to sit down and start working on learning how to play jazz guitar (maybe it is a 2017 New Year's resolution). Hopefully I can pick up lots more good info on here.

  4. #28

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    "I went through the Berklee books but despite all my studies, 99% of what I learned was from transcribing. I’m a firm believer that in jazz, you learn by copying. All the lessons in the world won’t help you but if you are motivated to learn from the masters, they are the only lessons and books you will ever need!" -- Jack Zucker

  5. #29

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    Man, what a lot of great advice in this thread!

    IMHO listening is the key. We have to know what jazz sounds like in order to play jazz. I was thinking about many of my favorite players and many of them had one thing in common: roots in Charlie Christian (Tal Farlow, Jim Hall, Barney Kessell, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, Johnny Smith, etc.). Obviously a lot of that has to do with the generation these players were in- they were young when CC was active. They all studied CC's playing, learned his solos, etc. Every aspiring jazz guitarist should study Charlie Christian as he is the parent of our lineage in jazz.

    I have not done enough of this and I hear it in my meandering solos. Charlie's solos have direction and point, tension and release, in and out playing. In those few short years he created what it is we do.

    Then listen to Django. And listen to Louis Armstrong and note the similarities between these two players. My wife and I were driving to Chicago and listened to much of the Ken Burns Jazz soundtrack for 7 hours along with some Django CDs; the lineage of pretty much all jazz musicians back to Louis is very clear (and deliberately so, given Wynton's involvement) but what surprised me was how much similarity there was between Louis's and Django's lines.

    So- study Charlie, study Louis and study Django. That will give us huge, deep roots in the lineage and tradition of jazz. We can branch out from there.

  6. #30

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    Well, there is no absolute beginner best method. Sorry, just varies from person to person too much.

    I'm an advocate of the time honoured 'copying your favourite player at the start, assimilating and then doing your own thing' arc of development. But the thing is I didn't learn that way. Did I waste my time doing it different? Dunno.

    Every player has to put it together themselves. But you can get help. Teachers are more help than books, but make sure you find someone who can actually teach, rather than just a good player.

    And start playing with other players as soon as you can.

    I have looked at books and videos over the years, but the level to which people get into internet courses and books on this forum is alien to me.

    I suspect it's trying to be a better player by spending money.
    In fact you become a better player by spending that far more precious resource: time. 100s and 1000s of hours of it.
    Last edited by christianm77; 12-26-2016 at 10:29 AM.

  7. #31

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    Hey all,

    It looks like I'm taking on my first guitar student !!!

    He's a 50 year old adult neighbor with no musical background.

    I want to buy him an intro method book to get him started right and am looking for recommendations, as I know there are many skillful and seasoned teachers and players here who have great knowledge to share.

    So what's your favorite intro method book for guitar?

    thanks, Brian

  8. #32

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    Adult students many don't have the patience to deal with method books. They usually just want to learn enough to get together with their friends drink beer and jam. I'd say write out some basic stuff for the first lesson and talk to them, they all say their serious, but their idea of serious and yours are two different things. Also adults get frustrated because they aren't learning as fast as they think they should. Some will blame the teacher, but many will be embarrassed and quit.

    Talk to the student maybe write out lessons for first week or two, then decide what kind of books would work for them.

  9. #33

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    I now realize after going book shopping that Method book isn't probably quite the right term.
    I think "Guitar for Dummies" or "An Idiots guide to Guitar" might be more in line with what I'm thinking.

    Mostly I'm just looking for intro to notation and tab, basic chord charts, 12 bar blues form and maybe a few other easy 3 chord songs.

    Maybe I will just start out with writing some stuff out in a notebook.

    It will be interesting to see how it goes.
    I figure with beginners the likely issues will be getting the fretting fingers toughened up, and do they want to put in some practice . . .

  10. #34

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    I think the old Mickey Baker book is still good. It's cheap ($8.95) and not heavy on theory. It's tasty stuff with a good dose of blues in it.
    Downside: no play-along, no demonstration.
    Last edited by MarkRhodes; 01-03-2018 at 08:58 PM.

  11. #35

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    All joking aside, I would pickup a copy of the latest addition of "Guitar for Dummies" it isn't a bad book. Or use Christopher Parkening's Method 1 book and create a lesson plan using the book as a supplement to your own charts/material. At the level of the student you described, just tuning the guitar, holding it and making the fingers move will be entirely new and difficult. Sometimes we who have been playing a long time forget how difficult it is too get started. Flip your guitar over and with fret with your opposite hand and you will get some idea. Stay away from bar chords until the basics open string chords are covered. Stress good technique.

    Make sure the guitar he/she is using is setup correctly i.e. if it is difficult to fret it will be a motivational killer. Find out what kind of music he wants to play e.g. if it is classical guitar, then get him started using Parkening's Method 1 book. Which to me is a great book for beginners but it does not use Tab. While Parkening book is about classical guitar the basics taught in the book can be applied to any genre and one can get to playing simple pieces pretty quickly.

  12. #36

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    I think the David Hodge "Playing Guitar" from the idiot's guide series is well worth a look. Not expensive, Kindle version available and just a nice one with a lot of basic stuff beginners need to know. Includes a lot of audio examples.

  13. #37

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    I'd go with G major

    Xx0232
    X3203x
    32003x

    Mess around with that a bit

    Instant gratification .....

  14. #38

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    Given that no single book or method will be the end all for guitar pedagogy, regardless of style...

    1. Hal Leonard or Mel Bay "book 1" type books always worked for me. However, adults and older kids frequently want more than that artistically speaking, so use method book 1 as only one part of the learning program.

    2. Beyond the method book which keeps a student grounded with objective and measurable progress, find out what styles and artists they like to listen to and/or want to play like. Get them some related material for that - while paying attention to difficulty. Give them a taste of what they will need to work on to reach some progressive goals. Make it clear to them that there IS a path/paths to reach their goals. The key is to be patient, have fun, and work at it!

    3. After getting through "book 1" you might want to check out RGT which has some books that are aligned by style and proceed by level. They're a bit thin repertoire wise but they provide some focus and grounding for the developing player.

    I'll stop here and not opine about a jazz guitar path, which is not the goal or interest for the majority of students.

    Best of success to you.

  15. #39

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    Hit him in the pocketbook...no joke!
    Make it $35 or whatever you believe your skills to be @ week.

    I've never worked with anyone who would do their part without parting with some cash.

    You can alway "give it back" through some gifts (metro, strings, books, tuner etc.) later if you feel it was a false start or your fee was too steep, but get the student to have some "skin" in the game.


    You've got three birds to kill and that's not easy; I don't envy you, but good luck!

  16. #40

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    I'm keen to hear your thoughts on a jazz guitar path - I'm attempting to pick up the guitar with an eye to play jazz (and a distant history as an orchestral bass player). I've struggled through the first 30 or so pages of the Leavitt Modern Method, but maybe this is a steeper hill than I really need - if I were to start again with something gentler, like the first Mel Bay modern method, what might be some next steps?

    cheers
    jamie

    Quote Originally Posted by Jazzstdnt
    Given that no single book or method will be the end all for guitar pedagogy, regardless of style...

    1. Hal Leonard or Mel Bay "book 1" type books always worked for me. However, adults and older kids frequently want more than that artistically speaking, so use method book 1 as only one part of the learning program.

    2. Beyond the method book which keeps a student grounded with objective and measurable progress, find out what styles and artists they like to listen to and/or want to play like. Get them some related material for that - while paying attention to difficulty. Give them a taste of what they will need to work on to reach some progressive goals. Make it clear to them that there IS a path/paths to reach their goals. The key is to be patient, have fun, and work at it!

    3. After getting through "book 1" you might want to check out RGT which has some books that are aligned by style and proceed by level. They're a bit thin repertoire wise but they provide some focus and grounding for the developing player.

    I'll stop here and not opine about a jazz guitar path, which is not the goal or interest for the majority of students.

    Best of success to you.

  17. #41

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    Quote Originally Posted by janstice
    I'm keen to hear your thoughts on a jazz guitar path - I'm attempting to pick up the guitar with an eye to play jazz (and a distant history as an orchestral bass player). I've struggled through the first 30 or so pages of the Leavitt Modern Method, but maybe this is a steeper hill than I really need - if I were to start again with something gentler, like the first Mel Bay modern method, what might be some next steps?

    cheers
    jamie
    Jamie,

    My first jazz guitar book was Beginning Jazz Guitar by Jody Fisher.
    I don't know if it was the best start, but I learned a lot out of that book and really enjoyed studying it. At a certain point, I decided I would benefit from in person guitar lessons, and that was a great idea. I learned much from a local teacher for a couple of years.

    Keep in mind that beginning jazz is not the same as beginning guitar. It's complex and theory laden.
    When I turned toward jazz, I already had a lot of rock and blues guitar under my belt, plus a college level background in classical piano. Jazz is tough, but it sure is fun !!!!

  18. #42

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    Thanks all for your thoughts on teaching.

    Our first lesson is Saturday and I'm charging $20 for 1/2 hour. I report back as to how it goes.

    I'm planning to start with E major, A major and D major chord shapes, plus tuning the guitar and answering any questions he has.

    FYI, this is my first guitar student, but I am well experienced as an art instructor.
    I have been making a living teaching painting & drawing classes to continuing education adults since the 90's.
    I expect there will be quite a few parallels . . .

  19. #43

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    We did our first lesson this morning and it went really well!

    We worked mostly on tuning the guitar, E A & D chord shapes, and how to read a chord diagram.

    He's struggling hard with his left hand, but hey didn't we all?

    He has relatively large fingers, so he's having trouble with his fingers accidentally damping strings.

  20. #44

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    I say as his teacher you should keep him away from all those books that lead to endless roads to nowhere, one book leads to the next.

    Write your own simple blues head and expand on it over time as he progresses develop the concepts or just start with Freddie Freeloader as the central part of the initial teaching plan and expand from there.

  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by gggomez
    Write your own simple blues head and expand on it over time as he progresses develop the concepts
    I'm with you brother.

    I'd say 'Tom Dooley' Book 1 pg. 18 Mel Bay and work in the attachments from there. Good concept gggomez.

  22. #46

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    Quote Originally Posted by janstice
    I'm keen to hear your thoughts on a jazz guitar path - I'm attempting to pick up the guitar with an eye to play jazz (and a distant history as an orchestral bass player). I've struggled through the first 30 or so pages of the Leavitt Modern Method, but maybe this is a steeper hill than I really need - if I were to start again with something gentler, like the first Mel Bay modern method, what might be some next steps?

    cheers
    jamie

    Sure. Send me a PM, I'll help however I can.

    In the mean time, yes, Leavitt is great for plectrum guitar technique which is foundational for jazz guitar, even though it's not exactly jazz guitar, as such.

    I strongly recommend all of his materials including his method, but with some caveats. Further, as you mentioned, one has to be ready for the material or may hit a wall. Hitting that wall is a function of playing level.

    The overwhelming majority of students, including me, are best served by "level appropriate" materials. Attempting to leapfrog levels is one of the surest paths to becoming yet another dropout.

  23. #47

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    I had my own guitar shop for about 30 years and the one book that I found my students actually liked and were the most successful with was the Classic Guitar Technique Vol 1 by Aaron Shearer which now comes with online audio.

    I think the reason this book works so well is because from the beginning it has lots of duets that the student can play with the teacher (or now with the online audio) that sound really good for being as simple as they are. In other words, immediate positive reinforcement.

    Aaron Shearer was my teacher back in the early 1970s at Peabody Conservatory Of Music and believe me, no one has put together a more effective, well-thought out methodology for learning to play guitar correctly than him.

  24. #48

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    I studied Shearer's works too. I see some parallels between his work and Leavitt's.

    Of course Shearer is classical/fingerstyle, not plectrum.

    I'm not dissing your advice, but Leavitt's Method Volume 1 also has lots of duets. Plus it utilizes modern harmony, and includes a good number of extremely valuable picking etudes/exercises.

  25. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by Longways to Go
    Hey all,

    It looks like I'm taking on my first guitar student !!!

    He's a 50 year old adult neighbor with no musical background.

    I want to buy him an intro method book to get him started right and am looking for recommendations, as I know there are many skillful and seasoned teachers and players here who have great knowledge to share.

    So what's your favorite intro method book for guitar?

    thanks, Brian
    For someone with no musical background, I don't think you can go wrong with the Mel Bay Modern Method books. Grade One starts a student off reading and playing pieces that are not too hard to learn, and that sound good, too. Jazz guitarist Jimmy Bruno once referred to the 7-volume course as "the Bible for learning how to play the guitar."

    Aside from that, I think it might be worth considering what sort of music you neighbor hopes to be able to play, and teach him how to play some of it. Everyone who takes up an instrument does it with the idea that they'll be able to play a song that they like. When I was starting out, my teacher introduced me to reading and theory, but he also showed me how to play riffs and licks from the music I was into at the time (Hendrix, Beatles, Kansas, Ted Nugent, etc.). It was really motivating to have something to play that my friends would recognize, and it made me more willing to keep my nose to the grindstone on the other stuff.

    I'm the wrong guy to ask about jazz, but for someone just starting out, I think this is a good path.

    Amazon.com: Modern Guitar Method Grade 1 (9780786693276): Mel Bay: Books

  26. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by Longways to Go
    Hey all,

    It looks like I'm taking on my first guitar student !!!

    He's a 50 year old adult neighbor with no musical background.

    I want to buy him an intro method book to get him started right and am looking for recommendations, as I know there are many skillful and seasoned teachers and players here who have great knowledge to share.

    So what's your favorite intro method book for guitar?

    thanks, Brian
    Hello,

    Important note : What follows is NOT a teacher, professional or even good guitarist advice, it’s my beginner's point of view. I’m 58 (next month).

    First thing to do : Clarify its goal

    There are basically two big possibilities :


    1) He wants to play some songs he likes

    He wants to enjoy playing a little bit of guitar, for its own pleasure, for fun. He doesn’t want to invest too much thing in it, and is looking for a quick (let’s say not so distant) gratification.
    It’s Sunday, it’s raining , he is alone at home and instead of watching TV he wants to take his guitar, play some easy songs and have fun.
    In this case, set with him a list of songs he would like to play, simplify if needed the chord sequence and just help him to learn chords by heart without wondering too much their names, their relationship with other cords and so on.
    It was typically the case when I was young, we learned some Bob Dylan and the like songs, we were able to strum the chords and sing, but not always knowing which chord we were playing.
    The gratificationcan be rather quick (after the « ouch my fingers hurt a lot »period)

    2) he wants to learn to play guitar

    As we are in a Jazzboard, let’s assume he is interested in jazz.

    In this case there are two things

    a ) help him to learn basic theory in a fun way.
    Theory can be simple and can be fun. Not a lot of theory, but the basis of chords and scales (what is it how is is built…). Blues is a good playing ground (blues is always a good playing ground)

    b) Marry him
    .. well may be not,but at least try to understand how he works, how his mind works.
    My personal experience as a beginner is that there is no method (despite what book sellers sell), there are paths and pieces.
    The pieces (books) are more of less the same, they don’t invent the music, they just propose a way to access music learning.

    What is important is the path.
    The ending goal is the same more or less for anyone : been able to play music, but the way to reach the goal can be very different.

    In my case, as I decided end of last year to learn in a more structured way to play jazz guitar, and after browsing through a lot of (very good, this is not the point) methods, I ended up with the following path :

    1- learn chords and be able to play chords sequences of some classical jazz standard..
    for this I use Mel Bay/Mike Christiansen Complete Jazz guitar method, there are a lot of examples (not found in other methods) that allow for building slowly chord sequences, changing chords and so on.

    2 - learn arpeggios as way to start improvising
    My scale knowledge is theoretical but i’m very far from being able to use them on the fly, I learn arpeggios using this board Easy Guide to jazz guitar arpeggios

    The goal is when I’ll be (in a very far future) at ease with chords and arpeggios I’ll switch to scales and son on

    This is not THE path, this is MY path.

    What you need (IMHO) to do is to build a path that fits with the level of investment he places in the guitar, how his brain works (for example, positions playing is not for me, I need to understand what I do, and for this arpeggios are great.. others can feel the exact opposite).
    Once the path is clear you'll find a lot of good methods (or parts of method) that will help you to teach him this or this point.

    Luc
    Last edited by lstelie; 01-12-2018 at 09:44 AM.