The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I am looking to do some study to get to work on my Jazz playing. Ideally, I would like to take private lessons with someone, but with work, kids, etc., that's not feasible. So, I've been looking at the online lessons from Frank Vignola and Jimmy Bruno. Frank has his Jazz Studio but there is currently a sale on his Modern Method for Guitar. Is there overlap between the two? And then there is Jimmy's online school. I'm a fan of both guitarists, but I'm also willing to take other suggestions as well.

    I'm beyond a beginning Jazz guitarist. I can read music, know the scales and modes, Maj7, min7, Dom7, etc., chord forms but I am not well versed in real voice leading or chord melody. I can play the heads of the standards, but my Jazz soloing is weak.

    Suggestions?

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    My suggestion is to get a free month of all access to Truefire.com where you can check all Frank’s stuff and see if it’s on your level.

  4. #3

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    Like you, I've been around the guitar a while but never got any traction with single note soloing. Too much scale-per-chord mode theory! But then I found Jimmy Bruno's approach and it unlocked the fingerboard as a canvas for improvisation for me.

  5. #4

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    Both guys are great players and great teachers. Their approach is different.
    The suggestion of looking at Frank's TrueFire material during a trial period is a good one. Frank provides hundreds of pages of pdfs and lots of video. You could work for years on what he's posted in the past six months. And he keeps adding more things: tunes, chord melody, technique exercises, improv lessons, he runs the gamut.

    A bit of them together.


  6. #5

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    Frank's truefire channel is incredible. A lot of things there. You can get a private lesson with Frank where you can exchange some videos to get a path to work on.

  7. #6

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    Both are great.
    I would also consider Barry Greene video lessons -

    Barry Greene Video Lessons

  8. #7

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    Barry Greene is great, but multiple levels more advanced than the other two.

  9. #8

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    Hey Walker,
    I did the original Jimmy Bruno school many years ago, and it was very helpful!

    I wouldn't completely disregard a private teacher (including those who offer "skype-type" lessons) due to life/family scheduling. Pete Sklaroff is a great teacher -- highly recommended!

    Let us know who you select!

    Marc

  10. #9

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    Another thumbs up for True Fire's All Access suggestion. In addition, to Frank V, you have Sheryl Bailey, John Herring, Mimi Fox, Fareed Haque, Sean McGowan and Tim Lerch (upcoming) just to name a few. I'd also recommend Jen Larsen's Youtube and Patreon page. I'd also second Marc Why's suggestion of Skype lessons and suggest Chris Whiteman.

    Chris Whiteman Music
    Last edited by rob taft; 03-01-2020 at 10:37 PM.

  11. #10

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    Jens Larsen, of course!

  12. #11

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    My situation is almost the opposite of others here. Since I'm 99% an ear player I'm finally having to learn theory from scratch. I say "finally" because I've avoided having to learn theory...until know. However, I have a really good ear for picking up or coming up with jazz lead lines. I've been able to teach myself a couple chord melody songs although I still need a lot of instruction.

    So, I'm going to have to "face the music", pun intended, and learn my theory. But I'll still need competent instruction as playing by ear will only take me so far when it comes to learning to play jazz. I'm particularly interested in chord melody playing as there aren't any other jazz musicians available where I live to play with in a band context. So I'll be playing mostly solo. Right now I'm playing along with streamed music and CDs to learn jazz phrasing. I also use slow down software to learn lead lines. But I love jazz and want to learn it the right way. Anyway, that's where I am right now.