The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    I am on the lookout for some recommendations for a picking exercise book to use together with A Modern Method for Guitar Vol1. Anyone here have any suggestions? I feel my picking isn't strong enough, so perhaps using like 30 minutes on that every day, could be a smart thing to do.

    I am currently around page 34 in the Modern Method book, and I really appreciate the picking exercises that has been. Especially the skipping one. I have spent a great amount of time on that one.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Learn 50 bebop heads

  4. #3

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    Or 10. You’ll find more annoying intractable picking problems than in any etude manual - and it’s actual music that might get you booked for gigs.

    Furthermore, if you practice patterns etc choose ones that sound good and you can use for improvisation.

    I don’t use any etudes, never have. My right hand technique is pretty capable.

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Learn 50 bebop heads
    Sounds fun! So where do I find the heads?

  6. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by znerken
    Sounds fun! So where do I found the heads?
    On the records.

  7. #6

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    On the records if you want to work your ear training as well :-)

    Some people use the omnibook. That’ll work your reading.

  8. #7

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    Doesn’t have to be bop either. If you like fusion, learn fusion heads for instance. Chromazone, skunk funk, freedom jazz dance. That’ll learn you.

  9. #8

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    new guy: “hey everybody! excited to get started! Can anyone offer some guidance on what to play over a min7b5 chord? I’m working on Autumn Leaves. Thanks!!!

    Jgf: TRANSCRIBE AND SHED 50 CHARLIE PARKER SOLOS A WEEK”

  10. #9

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    Berklee published the Jazz Songbook as a companion to Volume 1. I used it when I worked through MMG. It will put your reading skills to work while playing tunes you probably know. The chords are given. And some of the tunes are written as duets. If you have a way to record your playing, you can finish some songs that will make you feel good about the hard work you are doing.

    Jazz Songbook Volume 1.

  11. #10

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    The picking exercises in Volume 1 are more than enough for you at this stage, and that's no sh!t. Furthermore, they combine both hands and are musical. And hey - they can be memorized.

    To the point, playing the following pages "clean" is a terrific challenge, and that's just the first half of the book:
    31, 33, 37, 41, 42, 44, 46, 48, 52

    If you want a little right hand workout to warm up without looking at any book, Corey Christiansen put some $5 books together for Mel Bay called "Killer blank (fill in the topic here)". One of them was Killer Technique and focused on the right hand - no left hand required.

    At this point I believe that they may have combined all of his his "Killer volumes" into one book. Check it out. Mel Bay publishing.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jazzstdnt
    The picking exercises in Volume 1 are more than enough for you at this stage, and that's no sh!t. Furthermore, they combine both hands and are musical. And hey - they can be memorized.

    To the point, playing the following pages "clean" is a terrific challenge, and that's just the first half of the book:
    31, 33, 37, 41, 42, 44, 46, 48, 52

    If you want a little right hand workout to warm up without looking at any book, Corey Christiansen put some $5 books together for Mel Bay called "Killer blank (fill in the topic here)". One of them was Killer Technique and focused on the right hand - no left hand required.

    At this point I believe that they may have combined all of his his "Killer volumes" into one book. Check it out. Mel Bay publishing.
    I just got to pages 31-33, so I guess the fun starts now then! I’ve been playing guitar for a little while, so a lot of the stuff in the book is easy, at least theory wise. Which notes are in scales etc. I do however hope that it will increase my sight reading, timing and technique a lot!

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by joe2758
    new guy: “hey everybody! excited to get started! Can anyone offer some guidance on what to play over a min7b5 chord? I’m working on Autumn Leaves. Thanks!!!

    Jgf: TRANSCRIBE AND SHED 50 CHARLIE PARKER SOLOS A WEEK”
    Haha. Mea culpa.

    I don't know the level of the OP. I'm going on the basis he's a motivated self starter lol.

    But honestly I never used any picking books. I played scales and played music. And, bop heads did more for my picking than anything else I can think of.

    It's not the only way.

    To the OP I'll elaborate a bit more - good bop heads to start with are

    Scrapple from the Apple (just learn the A section, no one plays the B)
    Au Privave
    Billies Bounce
    Blues for Alice
    Dewey Square (again just the A section)

    Because they are relatively short, no more than 12 bars of material. If you are new to bop, I think you'll find ample challenges for your picking hand in there. Loop the difficult bits and you have a pick etude. For instance, there's a descending arpeggio bit in Billie's Bounce that is an absolute pig.

    Only once you've got a handle on these shorter tunes, venture into:

    Air Mail Special - the B section with the dim arpeggios is great fun, but the A section riff which is just a C maj arpeggio is SURPRISINGLY TOUGH to pick. Angular picking. I finger it with two notes on the B string just to make the picking a little easier.
    Anthropology - not to bad, and a good jam session tune.
    Moose the Mooche. This is HARD. Lots of string skipping and nasty bits.
    And OK, I suppose so Donna Lee. That's very tough of course.

    (BTW, IMO jazz picking should be downstroke only unless you absolutely HAVE to alternate pick, legato or sweep or some bullshit like that. You have to do it. But that doesn't mean you have to like it. But I doubt many would agree with that position lol.)

  14. #13

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    Classical Studies for Plectrum Guitar by Leavitt is a great companion to the series. Musical picking exercises starting right about where you are. Bebop heads and all that will come, but you need to be a good guitarist to play that stuff, and you have the tools available. Don't skip other music, and pay attention to Leavitt, one of the greatest guitar teachers that ever lived. While you're working on that, learn some easy tunes, not bebop heads, but songs. And pick the way Leavitt shows you for the time being, until you hear a style that appeals to you, and see what that demands. And I will strongly disagree with Christians's down-picking choice for you until you've given alternate picking, used by 98% of all the best jazz guitarists, a good chance.

    By the way, you will live your entire life unhappy with your picking, as we all do.

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by ronjazz
    Classical Studies for Plectrum Guitar by Leavitt is a great companion to the series. Musical picking exercises starting right about where you are. Bebop heads and all that will come, but you need to be a good guitarist to play that stuff, and you have the tools available. Don't skip other music, and pay attention to Leavitt, one of the greatest guitar teachers that ever lived. While you're working on that, learn some easy tunes, not bebop heads, but songs. And pick the way Leavitt shows you for the time being, until you hear a style that appeals to you, and see what that demands.
    OK, I never looked into Leavitt or any of that stuff - apart from his sight reading stuff (I didn't like that because the examples sounded a bit rubbish as music). That's just a fact. No disrespect to him.

    Anyway without a clear idea of where the student is at in terms of picking, I don't know what to suggest. Mostly: GET A TEACHER.

    alternate picking, used by 98% of all the best jazz guitarists
    No, it's not. That's a persistent myth.

    Most modern players take a mixed approach. It's pretty diverse. There are a LOT of economy pickers in contemporary jazz, for instance.

    Alternate picking used on its own sounds quite clunky for jazz (unless you are Pat Martino) - most use some sort of left hand legato to more phrasing.

    Historically, downstroke focussed playing was common in the swing and bop era. The Tristano school, Bille Bauer etc, prescribes all downstrokes, which seems completely mad until you try it.

    Anyway, I'm not as dogmatic as the post might make me sound - that's why I said many might disagree. But give downstrokes only a go, you may be surprised. And working on downstrokes only will - by definition - work your alternate picking skills, because you always got to go up to go down again.

    By the way, you will live your entire life unhappy with your picking, as we all do.
    I'm happy with my picking. I can play really fast, and do bebop and stuffs. Well, TBF, I refine it.

    But in general, I don't feel I've ever hit this technical wall players talk about. I was never trained formally in terms of technique, and that leads me to believe that a lot of pedagogy out there isn't helping.

    But again: Anyway without a clear idea of where the student is at in terms of picking, I don't know what to suggest. If you don't have one, GET A TEACHER.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by djg
    django reinhardt, charlie christian, jimmy raney, barney kessel, joe pass, rene thomas, grant green, george benson, peter bernstein, bireli lagrene, adam rogers, rodney jones, wim overgaauw, perry hughes, miles okazaki would all disagree with you.
    wes montgomery, chuck wayne, pasquale grasso, mike moreno, tal farlow, lage lund, oz noy, ben monder, stochello rosenberg, billy bauer, jimmy bruno, barney kessel...

    You know what might be easer to write a list of alternate pickers in jazz:

    pat martino
    hank garland
    mike stern
    al di meola (TBF equally well known for his cross picking)
    john maclaughlin
    umm
    jonathan kreisberg I think? But he uses a lot of legato?

    Any more?

  17. #16

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    Sorry, kids, but NOBODY uses all down-strokes except Wes (ridiculous example, since he used no pick) and some gypsy pickers. I knew and studied with many of players you throw out in ignorance, and NOT ONE of your imaginary list utilized downward picking exclusively. In fact, that list makes you look really silly. And, by the way, a "mix" of approaches includes alternate picking. And, please,
    Christian, your bias is ever-present, and blocks your common sense. If you can claim that 98% 0f jazz guitarists never use alternate picking, you're in an alternate universe, since YOU use that very technique as well. FYI, I've studied and practiced all down-strokes, useful at times, economy picking, useful at times, and alternate picking, useful most of the time. The entire list posted by you and djg, with the possible exception of Django, use or used alternate picking, along with JOHNNY SMITH, Kenny Burrell, Bobby Broom, Ed Bickert, Bill Frisell, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, John Pisano, Joe Puma, Howard Roberts, John Stowell, John Stein, Gabor Szabo, Martin Taylor, and George Van Eps.

    I suppose you lot would recommend that bowed string players only go in one direction as well, right?

  18. #17
    I don't think anyone uses 100% ANYTHING, and that may be somewhat beside the point. End game isn't the same as beginnings. The thing you do in the end isn't necessarily the thing that gets you there.

    A great many players, regardless of their real-world playing techniques, advocate alternate picking for BEGINNERS, because of the fundamentals it teaches and its strong link to a rhythmic reference. Reg has always advocated alternate picking as a basic reference and mostly uses it in anything he does from what I can see. He's a very technical player, but swings and grooves harder than most as well.

    (I honestly don't think that the use of legato has ANYTHING to do with technique NOT being based in alternate picking BTW. It's very much the BASIS for what I've done with exercises in Randy Vincent's legato techniques, while economy pickers would probably do something very different...)

    If you're studying Jimmy Bruno, practice economy picking and put in the work. If you're doing William Leavitt or beginner Reg type stuff, get your alternate picking together, because that's what you're teachers are telling you to do for the time being. It's probably very different when you start doing bop heads, but again, that's not necessarily the point.

    There are technical lessons in ALL of it. You don't have to justify BEGINNING techniques (just like beginner piano scale fingerings) based on what PROFESSIONAL players do at the highest levels or how often they break these fingering "rules". That's missing the point.

    Very often beginning dogmatism and structures yield MORE FREEDOM in the end, and they usually yield it MUCH MORE QUICKLY than exercising complete freedom from the very beginning.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by matt.guitarteacher
    I don't think anyone uses 100% ANYTHING, and that may be somewhat beside the point. End game isn't the same as beginnings. The thing you do in the end isn't necessarily the thing that gets you there.

    A great many players, regardless of their real-world playing techniques, advocate alternate picking for BEGINNERS, because of the fundamentals it teaches and its strong link to a rhythmic reference. Reg has always advocated alternate picking as a basic reference and mostly uses it in anything he does from what I can see. He's a very technical player, but swings and grooves harder than most as well.

    (I honestly don't think that the use of legato has ANYTHING to do with technique NOT being based in alternate picking BTW. It's very much the BASIS for what I've done with exercises in Randy Vincent's legato techniques, while economy pickers would probably do something very different...)

    If you're studying Jimmy Bruno, practice economy picking and put in the work. If you're doing William Leavitt or beginner Reg type stuff, get your alternate picking together, because that's what you're teachers are telling you to do for the time being. It's probably very different when you start doing bop heads, but again, that's not necessarily the point.

    There are technical lessons in ALL of it. You don't have to justify BEGINNING techniques (just like beginner piano scale fingerings) based on what professional players do or how often they break these fingering "rules". That's missing the point.

    Very often beginning dogmatism and structures yield MORE FREEDOM in the end, and they usually yield it MUCH MORE QUICKLY than exercising complete freedom from the beginning.
    Well said.

    I just wanted a picking book. And yes, I do as Leavitt instructs :-) I think what many people sometimes forgets, is that the old heroes didn’t sit on jazz forums discussing their picking technique. They just did what they thought was correct, and perhaps they got some tips/instructions from their heroes as well. What’s a little funny, is that my teacher for example, never has even mentioned picking technique. He just tells me to practice jazz stuff. Arpeggios etc. He did mention that arpeggios were good practices for right hand as well, once :-)

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by thelostboss
    Well since the Leavitt Jazz Songbook and Classical Studies for pick-style guitar have been mentioned here it would be good to also have some links to competent players demonstrating them in video format. Yes, I know this is asking a lot; so while I am at it I might as well ask if anyone knows of good videos to go with John Stein's book of jazz standards for solo guitar as well.

    [some of us live on small islands without teachers!]

    Cheers

    TLB
    i know this sounds like me being a smartass, i’m really not trying to be. have you tried youtube, man?

  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by ronjazz
    Sorry, kids, but NOBODY uses all down-strokes except Wes (ridiculous example, since he used no pick) and some gypsy pickers. I knew and studied with many of players you throw out in ignorance, and NOT ONE of your imaginary list utilized downward picking exclusively. In fact, that list makes you look really silly. And, by the way, a "mix" of approaches includes alternate picking. And, please,
    Christian, your bias is ever-present, and blocks your common sense. If you can claim that 98% 0f jazz guitarists never use alternate picking, you're in an alternate universe, since YOU use that very technique as well. FYI, I've studied and practiced all down-strokes, useful at times, economy picking, useful at times, and alternate picking, useful most of the time. The entire list posted by you and djg, with the possible exception of Django, use or used alternate picking, along with JOHNNY SMITH, Kenny Burrell, Bobby Broom, Ed Bickert, Bill Frisell, Jim Hall, Pat Metheny, John Pisano, Joe Puma, Howard Roberts, John Stowell, John Stein, Gabor Szabo, Martin Taylor, and George Van Eps.

    I suppose you lot would recommend that bowed string players only go in one direction as well, right?
    I think this thread is getting derailed. Perhaps we should take this elsewhere? It could be as technical and specific as you like. Happy to go there baby.

    I tried to preempt that in my post, but clearly it wasn’t enough.

    Anyway this I think is talking at cross purposes. No guitarist uses exclusively downstrokes, that’s not what I said, and most players alternate at least sometimes. If you are looking to have that argument, you will have to look elsewhere lol.

    Players that almost ALWAYS alternate for line playing - rarer. And .... limiting ... you have to be prepared to create art within that limitation (Martino)

    Btw even wes used upstrokes (!)

    But that is somewhere beside the point. Is it important for a beginner to learn alternate picking? Maybe. But I think floating hand alternate picking trad style is the hardest picking strategy. I can’t do it, I don’t use it. So I can’t, in all good faith, teach it.

    OTOH there are loads of fantastic jazz players who don’t do it either. So I’m ok with that.
    Last edited by christianm77; 10-08-2018 at 12:22 PM.

  22. #21

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    Tbh, my post on the subject was made partly in jest.... but people get worked up about stuff I suppose.

    Anyway none of this is any use to the OP.... I apologise for my role in the classic jgo cluster****.

    But my advice was made honestly. I think working on music is the best way and I’ve heard it from a lot of people - and I honestly never played a picking etude in my life... haven’t had the time.

    Some people have, that’s cool too. I’m not trying to shut down anyone’s perspective.
    Last edited by christianm77; 10-08-2018 at 12:15 PM.

  23. #22

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    This guy, in this video, seems to use two different picking techniques, and changes between them easily. Any insight in what he’s doing? Is it like a shy version of the Benson technique?

    kazuki isogai 磯貝一樹 on Instagram: “#189 Monday vibe . . . @pickupjazz @pickup____ @solo_section @soundofguitars @guitarsdaily @guitarstagram @guitarsarebetter…”

  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by znerken
    This guy, in this video, seems to use two different picking techniques, and changes between them easily. Any insight in what he’s doing? Is it like a shy version of the Benson technique?

    kazuki isogai ???? on Instagram: “#189 Monday vibe . . . @pickupjazz @pickup____ @solo_section @soundofguitars @guitarsdaily @guitarstagram @guitarsarebetter…”
    Znerken I’m sorry about the irrelevance of some of what is posted here. Could I ask what level you are at as a player and also your interests? It would really help focus advice.

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Znerken I’m sorry about the irrelevance of some of what is posted here. Could I ask what level you are at as a player? It would really help focus advice.
    I played guitar as a kid. Basic stuff. Then quit, and after 10 years I began again. Been playing a lot for two years now I guess. Jazz the last three-four months. I am 28 years old. I hate myself for quitting guitar as a kid. I practice a minimum of 3 hours every day, many days becomes 5-7 hours.

  26. #25

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    Get this book:

    Stick Control: For the Snare Drummer: George Lawrence Stone: 0038081356433: Amazon.com: Books

    This video shows, around 6:00, how to use it for picking practice




    That's a lifetime worth of picking exercises.