Book to learn fingerstyle jazz (autodidact/alone)

[Guido_59]

Hello
I’am asking you suggest about books to learn fingerstyle jazz .
I’m restarting to play guitar with a classical nylon guitar , because I love aoustic sound and expecially sound of nylon guitar string.
I’will not have any teacher , but I shall study alone
I have seen many books , but I can’t know if one is better than other
only two for example

Have you some suggest ?
Thanks in advance

[frabarmus]

metodi di martin taylor, tutti i libri di martin taylor

[Rob MacKillop]

Anything by Paul Musso is worth considering. Here’s the contents of that book:

CHAPTER 1. Open and First Position Chord and Melody

Open Position Blues
Open Position Blues – Embellished
Open/First Position Chord Chart
ii V I Progressions in Open Position
ii V I Progressions in Open Position – Harmonization

CHAPTER 2. Barr Chords and Familiar Shapes

Beyond Major
Chops Buster note I changed pg. numbers due to missing pg.
Chops Buster – Solutions
Accessible Melody Notes – Beyond the Rules
Chapter 2 Master Index
Chops Buster 2
Chops Buster 2 – Solutions

CHAPTER 3. Drop- Two Chord Approach

Drop-2 Chops Buster
Drop-2 Chops Buster - Solution
Complete Drop-2 Chord Formations

CHAPTER 4. Altered Chords

Altered States
Altered States Harmonized

CHAPTER 5. Chord Scales

Chord Scale Major Licks
Chord Scale Blues
Chord Scale Blues – Solution
Chord Scale Minor Licks
Chords Scale Altered Licks

CHAPTER 6. Rhythmic Phrasing

CHAPTER 7. Soloing With Chords

ii V I Voice Leading

CHAPTER 8. Different Chord and Melody Approaches

CHAPTER 9. Harmonic Motion

Blues-o-Matic 4000

Chromatic Harmonization

[Guido_59]

Thanks guys

@frabarmus
Are you Italian? ??

[Jimmy blue note]

That's a big topic and as many different approaches as there are players. For myself, I began with Laurendo Almeida'a method book for classical guitar along with a more traditional Aaron Shearer method. These taught me a very comprehensive hand control that, when I began studying jazz, made the very complex and multi layered requirements of jazz improvisation easier, having the hand command I needed to approach the harmony and melody in a non strumming way.

I found the Mike Eliot books really important for me.
The Johnny Smith methods are the deep end of the pool and you would need time and devotion to follow them through, but the knowledge you'll possess by the end will be deeply compositional.
And there are many books at different levels by Howard Morgen that I found really enjoyable to work through.

It really does have a lot to do with what you want to do, the breadth of the harmony you want to encompass and how much you want improvisational composition to be a part of your playing. These are questions you will answer and that will determine the course(es) and directions you must devote yourself to.

Tell me a little more of what inspires you. We can help you with sources that can help you effectively.

[Guido_59]

@Jimmy the blue note
thanks for suggests
I’ll take time to look at book to suggest
At this moment I need to reprise the technique of finger play after year of electric guitar play with picks
I restart to play after may year , so consider I’mstarting from nearly basic level to refresh all , both technique and theory
Many years ago I’m starting play guitar on classical guitar , but too many years are passed ….
Consider me as “expert beginner”

[frabarmus]

@frabarmus
Are you Italian? ??

Yes.

Were you born in 1959?
(I was)

[Guido_59]

hello Italia !!!
Born in Bologna 1959 and from 1987 living in province !

[AllanAllen]

Amazon.com

Not sure where you’re at skill wise. I had luck with this. The you take the folk, blues, Chet Atkins style and supercharge it with jazz standards.

You’d be better off watching Tommy Emanuel teach freight train on YouTube and go from that to making your own arrangements.

It’s like blues, easy to learn hard to master.

Alternating bass. That’s the phrase I was looking for.

[RJVB]

You’d be better off watching Tommy Emanuel teach freight train on YouTube and go from that to making your own arrangements.

Really? That sounds like an exercise in frustration, where you think it's all very easy to understand really (TE makes it look so easy and self-evident) and then realise you're utterly lost when you try to do it yourself (at my uni this was known as the "van der Blij effect"). That will be especially true when coming from a classical background as seems to be the case with the OP (and definitely with me).

That video by Howard Morgan above is a lot more honest in a sense, pointing out it's NOT going to be that easy and that there's a LOT to learn and get into your fingers.
(His technique looks very classical btw, surprising I didn't discover him before or that his name didn't come up when I asked about fingerstyle jazzguitar players.)

[alltunes]

Hello
I’am asking you suggest about books to learn fingerstyle jazz .
I’m restarting to play guitar with a classical nylon guitar , because I love aoustic sound and expecially sound of nylon guitar string.
I’will not have any teacher , but I shall study alone
I have seen many books , but I can’t know if one is better than other
only two for example

Have you some suggest ?
Thanks in advance

Why not get the 21st century version of a book? TrueFire has some great courses and for about $30 bucks you can get hours worth of lessons that talk to you and you can hear and watch how it’s done.

Here are some offerings in finger style jazz. If link doesn’t work got to website and search “fingerstyle jazz”. Note that in each course there will be free samples to watch

https://truefire.com/search/?q=finger%20style%20jazz

[Guido_59]

Tommy Emmanuel is a great player, maybe the greatest Acoustic -
Try to play like him I think it's impossible for beginners and frustrate for difficulty and finally results.
If there should be a book to earn its style from the beginning there are ok , otherwise no .

@ alltunes
thanks for suggest

[AllanAllen]

You guys just read whatever you want and twist it around to be right.

It’s truly not that hard, it’s music after all…. start by learning Luther Perkins style, then move to the Carter Scratch, then get some country blues, some Scotty Moore, then Chet Atkins, by this point you should be able to use these tools on a jazz standard.

It’s going to take time and you can’t start on 3rd base. Start at the start.

[pamosmusic]

You guys just read whatever you want and twist it around to be right.

It’s truly not that hard, it’s music after all…. start by learning Luther Perkins style, then move to the Carter Scratch, then get some country blues, some Scotty Moore, then Chet Atkins, by this point you should be able to use these tools on a jazz standard.

It’s going to take time and you can’t start on 3rd base. Start at the start.

I mean … I think the issue would be that someone maybe doesn’t know what those things mean? And maybe someone doesn’t know what it means to “learn the style.”

Just learn a song by that person? Learn it and understand it? Apply to other songs? What does that mean?

Not all books are great, but presumably the functionality of a book is to help someone break these things down into manageable chunks and actually sequence it in a way that is helpful.

[Jimmy blue note]

I mean … I think the issue would be that someone maybe doesn’t know what those things mean? And maybe someone doesn’t know what it means to “learn the style.”

Just learn a song by that person? Learn it and understand it? Apply to other songs? What does that mean?

Not all books are great, but presumably the functionality of a book is to help someone break these things down into manageable chunks and actually sequence it in a way that is helpful.

I agree. That's a big presumption.
It's such a vast and almost disparate area of study. Not unlike 5 blind men and an elephant, everyone has idea of what an elephant is based on the part they know. Kevin Eubanks plays fingerstyle jazz with the absolute respect of the greatest leaders in the genre. Laurendo Almeida is also a fingerstyle jazz player coming from a classically based latin/Brazilian perspective. You'll never see them in on the same bill or even overlapping in fan base, but they're both fingerstyle jazz players.
More to the point, a book can only take you where the author wants you to be. The wrong book can take you to somewhere you don't want to be, and take a lot of time coming to that realization.
I don't know the answer, but I know there's a lot to be learned from a good book, but it takes your own informed perspective even to know what a "good" book even is until you can acquire the filters to choose what's best for you. If you're going to live forever, read then all. No harm in that.

[Litterick]

I have seen many books , but I can’t know if one is better than other

I think you should look at the catalogue of your local public library. I have borrowed many music books, at no cost. If a book is not suitable, I return it and borrow another. If a book is particularly good, I borrow it often. Since I have spent no money and the book is not my property, I do not feel I must complete it.

[Jimmy blue note]

I think you should look at the catalogue of your local public library. I have borrowed many music books, at no cost. If a book is not suitable, I return it and borrow another. If a book is particularly good, I borrow it often. Since I have spent no money and the book is not my property, I do not feel I must complete it.

I wish there were a library comprised of all the books our members had no further use for. Send it to the repository. Post it as available. The sheer volumes we forum members possess in very specialized guitar focus must be staggering (certainly more than my local library).
In the ideal world, we could digitize our musical resources, make them easily accessible, pay a nominal fee to acknowledge the author and have resource at our fingertips.
Which reminds me, check the online resources for PDFs of books out of print. Someone may have them to share.

[AllanAllen]

I mean … I think the issue would be that someone maybe doesn’t know what those things mean? And maybe someone doesn’t know what it means to “learn the style.”

Just learn a song by that person? Learn it and understand it? Apply to other songs? What does that mean?

Not all books are great, but presumably the functionality of a book is to help someone break these things down into manageable chunks and actually sequence it in a way that is helpful.

Listen to music by each of them and you can hear the technique develop from simple to advanced. Learn a song, understand it, apply it to other songs, that's the whole game of it. Start with simple things and then move forward.

We don't know OPs level, so maybe he has to start with tic-tac octaves, maybe he can already do Sugarfoot Rag and he's ready to move to jazz standards, maybe he's a folkie who can do the John Prine pattern or is fluent with Mississippi John Hurt country blues.

I gave him a list of artists in order of technical skill to peruse and a clip of one of the greatest of the style teaching the song he recommends people start with.

I just don't think this style is a learn by book thing. I actually don't think jazz is a learn by book thing either anymore. Books give you seeds, but you have to grow them, and it's probably better to get the seeds from the records, with your ears, instead of copying the homework of someone else.

[pamosmusic]

I just don't think this style is a learn by book thing. I actually don't think jazz is a learn by book thing either anymore. Books give you seeds, but you have to grow them, and it's probably better to get the seeds from the records, with your ears, instead of copying the homework of someone else.

All music is ear music, by virtue of its being music. But I’m all for stealing other peoples homework too.

[Jimmy blue note]

Listen to music by each of them and you can hear the technique develop from simple to advanced. Learn a song, understand it, apply it to other songs, that's the whole game of it. Start with simple things and then move forward.

We don't know OPs level, so maybe he has to start with tic-tac octaves, maybe he can already do Sugarfoot Rag and he's ready to move to jazz standards, maybe he's a folkie who can do the John Prine pattern or is fluent with Mississippi John Hurt country blues.

I gave him a list of artists in order of technical skill to peruse and a clip of one of the greatest of the style teaching the song he recommends people start with.

I just don't think this style is a learn by book thing. I actually don't think jazz is a learn by book thing either anymore. Books give you seeds, but you have to grow them, and it's probably better to get the seeds from the records, with your ears, instead of copying the homework of someone else.

+1 on all of this and throw in a !
I'll also add that jazz is a social thing too, the very definition of the music is dynamic and re-contextualized throughout its history. You can't write the book when the book is constantly re-writing itself. The one constant is the language, and what it speaks and not the book that merely speaks of dialect.

[pamosmusic]

+1 on all of this and throw in a !
I'll also add that jazz is a social thing too, the very definition of the music is dynamic and re-contextualized throughout its history. You can't write the book when the book is constantly re-writing itself. The one constant is the language, and what it speaks and not the book that merely speaks of dialect.

This is the sort of thing that sounds very high minded and practical but is transparently not true.

Jazz language still relies on a super interesting but surprisingly consistent body of common practice vocabulary that isn’t as dynamic as we like to think it is.

I don’t love the language analogy but since you brought it up —

Yes you need to speak a language and listen to speakers to learn a language. But you can absolutely learn grammar from a book. There are lots of less useful or bad books, but the fact that language is dynamic does not negate the usefulness of Strunk and White or Klinkenborg or the Chicago Manual to an aspiring writer. Maybe the Chicago Manual is a good analogy. It’s revised and updated but the vast vast majority of information in it remains pretty consistent decade to decade. And spoken/written language is significantly more malleable than the jazz idiom honestly.

Obviously you need to listen to music to learn music. But you can learn things from a decent book too. It’s not a substitute, but a supplement. Sometimes when people are asking for a good book, they actually want a book and telling them to learn from recordings is probably telling them something they already know.

That common practice jazz language is not all that dynamic and is certainly consistent enough to be learned by copying someone else’s homework.

[AllanAllen]

Books are fine if you don’t have others to play with.

[Jimmy blue note]

This is the sort of thing that sounds very high minded and practical but is transparently not true.

Jazz language still relies on a super interesting but surprisingly consistent body of common practice vocabulary that isn’t as dynamic as we like to think it is.

I don’t love the language analogy but since you brought it up —

Yes you need to speak a language and listen to speakers to learn a language. But you can absolutely learn grammar from a book. ...

Obviously you need to listen to music to learn music. But you can learn things from a decent book too. It’s not a substitute, but a supplement. Sometimes when people are asking for a good book, they actually want a book and telling them to learn from recordings is probably telling them something they already know.

That common practice jazz language is not all that dynamic and is certainly consistent enough to be learned by copying someone else’s homework.

I do agree. I'm just pointing out there's a danger in not perceiving the need for a balanced approach. I had a red cross pamphlet on how to swim. Well I don't need to say anything more.
And yes, I have a wall of books, 80% of them of which were no use to me. I have so many because I too, am a fingerstyle jazz improvisor and it was largely an unexplored and at best sparse field when I began. I bought every book I could to find answers and some really did help me. It took feet on the ground (or immersion in the water) for me to know which ones were useful to me. That's why I think the OP would be well advised to know his own priorities and desires in order to choose the right book as a companion.
I don't think we're at odds here panomusic. I like and respect your astute, insightful and excellent points.

[pamosmusic]

Books are fine if you don’t have others to play with.

I have people to play with. I also sometimes learn something from books.

[pamosmusic]

I do agree. I'm just pointing out there's a danger in not perceiving the need for a balanced approach. I had a red cross pamphlet on how to swim. Well I don't need to say anything more.
And yes, I have a wall of books, 80% of them of which were no use to me. I have so many because I too, am a fingerstyle jazz improvisor and it was largely an unexplored and at best sparse field when I began. I bought every book I could to find answers and some really did help me. It took feet on the ground (or immersion in the water) for me to know which ones were useful to me. That's why I think the OP would be well advised to know his own priorities and desires in order to choose the right book as a companion.
I don't think we're at odds here panomusic. I like and respect your astute, insightful and excellent points.

Nothing to argue with here.

Honestly there’s just a vibe on this forum that bubbles to the surface now and then that sounds a bit like learning from teachers or books is supposed to be cheating or inauthentic or something so I sometimes come back a little sharp on that stuff a little too early.