If you only had 1 book to work through…

[Bach5G]

Or it's called The Real Jazz Solos Book. It's a real book made up of a few solos from each of many of the greats.

Amazon dropped a copy off today. Looks interesting. I didn’t know anything like this existed.

[Jimmy blue note]

Advancing Guitarist is my constant companion. It won't tell you anything about how to play ATTYA in a jam, but then at some point, you'll find yourself playing everything with total investment and clarity and personal approach. Depends on how serious you are and how long you read it.
For vocabulary building, I have gotten so much from Greg Fishman's Etudes. A workout on standard forms.

Learn to read with your ears. Your listening will get deeper and deeper.

[TPMCD]

It really depends on what "working through" means. It seems to me that for a lot of people working through books or video courses is just a way of avoiding doing the real work. That's why I think it's not that uncommon to meet musicians who have been dabbling with jazz for literally decades and still hoping that the next book or the course will open the door to jazz improvisation, comping or chord-melody arrangements.

I have to say that this statement might be unfair to some folks who use/buy course books and have gotten real results, etc., but man, the statement fits me pretty well. "Avoiding doing the real work" is a little harsh - I don't feel that I'm avoiding the work, because these books are work - but there is a sense that maybe, just maybe this particular book will not necessarily "open the door" (or maybe it will!) but somehow get you on the "real" path. And that sense, in some way, shifts the responsibility away from you to the book, somewhat. Basically, we all get better by playing, playing, playing, every day all the time. Anyway, this thread isn't about our opinions on course books - it's about if you had to pick a book what would it be - but I couldn't help respond to this as I look at my massive stack of jazz books.

Tom

[starjasmine]

Like the old saying says, "If you only have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."

If you are fixated on finding a book when what you really need is a teacher, you are painting yourself into a corner.

I've used many books and I've had several great teachers. I got something from each. And I've abandoned a few books and teachers too. Don't be afraid to try new things. There is no one-size-fits-all magic bullet.

I think Navdeep (and John A.) really nailed it: study with a good teacher (or lots of them) will get you to the point at which you can really get something out of a book on your own, can extract what you seek from a tune or solo that intrigues you, and can reach the point at which you embark on a self-inspiring, self-motivated, lifelong musical journey that is uniquely yours.

So, to reframe the original query a bit, the one thing you can do to improve your playing would be to study with a great teacher. A teacher that can impart the knowledge you need (on a variety of subjects, which will vary as you progress) and who inspires you artistically, which will motivate you to "do the real work."

$0.02

SJ

[Irishmuso]

Whaddya want to learn? Whaddya want to play? I assume many books are purchased because they address a particular style, and the broad parameters of that style - not the nuances - might, as Vic Juris suggests, be accessible in 2 or 3 main concepts. But they are just pointers. Thereafter, an hour spent transcribing the style , if you're advanced enough, would probably bring better results.

The only extended engagment I have had with a single book is, like Kris, Linear Expressions. I'll continue to play from that daily for a long time to come.

[bako]

Guitarist Ted Dunbar who was also a clever philosopher used to say about book study
"for every page that you read, write 10 of your own".
Books are not a replacement for bandstand education but are an additional tool, especially when we actively engage.

[jackalGreen]

Nothing earth-shattering to add, except that over decades of transcribing and doing my best to play whatever, it's my own book.

Lead sheets, rinky little contrafacts I made up and bothered to write down for jobs where the bar owners didn't pay for ASCAP/BMI/SECAP fees. Off topic, but that's one of the best sources of "originals" I ever did: do it from necessity and just do a nice line over some little vamp or whatever, or I-iim--> etc.

Now that I'm beginning again on guitar, my own "book" is full of ridiculous stuff like how many different "positions" to play in Ab and run the "Donna Lee" line....none of that is difficult, musically.

But guitar is pretty difficult, so every one time I "learn" a tune, that means three or more times to flex on it.

More than that. Just an average bop head, that's five or six different ways to play it.

Goddammned right I'm figuring that shit out. I don't know wtf a "position" is, just that there's a million different enharmonic ways to perform that same melody. And I'm sure as shit not using any open strings, like a happy-go-lonesome goddamned mouse-shit sheepherder.

Damn right I write that shit down, in pencil. And an eraser. And colored pens. I am not a smart man, Jenny! Lieutenant Dan, ain't got no legs! So I write it down, throw it away, and start again.

But, yes, I have hundreds of pages of transcriptions in pencil, as well as the usual binders of lead sheets. That's my book.

I like others' books as well. Bach's Ars fuga is nice. But, as far as guitar is concerned, even though I have and study Randy Vincent's various books, it doesn't get me as far as just sounding out by ear and writing *everything* down in all of these "positions."

I don't find it desirable to play more than three strings on a rootless voicing, and I don't have the ability to mute strings with the fretting hand. So, I try to play voicings with as much information given, and maybe plunk down a root using thumb-over across the barrier.

It's a lot of just sounding out something like G-C-F or G-C-Eb in the good strings, to get a nice little Ab tonic after an Eb7b9+ that doesn't sound like playing Darktown Strutter's Ball on the ukelele or whatever.

[JazzPadd]

Great suggestions, and worth reviving. My choice’d be the 2 volume Jazz Standard Bible (something like the Real Books, in Japan). In some sense, much of what one needs to learn is in the tunes. A pianist who comes to a weekly jam session that I frequent has been working his way through it since last year.

[deacon Mark]

No books at all. We play tunes so start memorizing melodies and chords. Joe Pass said it best years ago, he said hum the melody and find the chord sound that fits. Start easy and use Christmas tunes if needed as melodies are easy for us. There are no books involved only ears, hands, and sense of time. Nothing against books I have gotten much out of many, but I am going to the root basic foundation...........we play tunes.

[pauln]

There are no books involved only ears, hands, and sense of time.

That's my way, no books... well, I did practically memorize this one:

[Cunamara]

Books are not a replacement for bandstand education but are an additional tool, especially when we actively engage.

True, but a bandstand education is simply not available to most aspiring jazz musicians. Books, YouTube videos, jazz camps, college programs in jazz performance, etc., are the replacement for being able to be mentored by experienced jazz musicians. Long gone are the days when someone like Clark Terry would take you under their wing and really care if you made some thing out of music or not.

[ruger9]

This is spot on and no doubt where many of us have found ourselves.

Here's what worked for me: picking one song I really loved—one that moved me—and learning a simple chord melody version of it, then practicing until I could play it well and play it for other people. This gave me a lot of pleasure and reinforced the learning effort (or you might want to figure out a solo against backing tracks or whatever interests you rather than chord melody).

In my experience, there's no substitute for learning and performing songs, as Jeff implied above.

This is me as well- it's all about the SONG. It has to be a song I love, regardless of the guitar content. I can't learn a song by rote if I don't dig the song. Feels like learning multiplication tables. Well, that's not true- I CAN learn stuff I'm not that into, but it's no fun. And if it's no fun, what's the point?

All this to say, I have always learned more/gotten better by playing songs I like than I ever have by working on exercises.

[AllanAllen]

All this to say, I have always learned more/gotten better by playing songs I like than I ever have by working on exercises.

The trick is to treat songs as exercises. 12 keys, major to minor, arpeggios through the changes.

[MarkRhodes]

I'm a little different.
I think it's good to learn tunes, but I think it's much more important (for me) to write songs.
Certainly, knowing some tunes can help in the writing of them. (I think many of the early rock songwriters benefitted from starting out as playing in "cover bands" who found a style that worked for them and then started writing their own songs in that style. You gotta start somewhere.)
I like method books because I can pick up a thing or two in various styles that I didn't already know. (Or sometimes I'm reminded of something I learned long ago but never turned it into anything good.)

[JohnoL]

Advancing Guitarist is my constant companion. It won't tell you anything about how to play ATTYA in a jam, but then at some point, you'll find yourself playing everything with total investment and clarity and personal approach. Depends on how serious you are and how long you read it.
For vocabulary building, I have gotten so much from Greg Fishman's Etudes. A workout on standard forms.

Learn to read with your ears. Your listening will get deeper and deeper.

Are you referring to the Jazz Guitar Etudes book, or the multi volume Saxophone etude books?