Jazz guitar method to complement Leavitt Method

**atari4003** · 09-07-2012, 10:02 PM

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here on the jazz guitar forums. I've found so much information just by lurking around that I decided to finally register and post a question I haven't found an answer to.

I've been involved in music for 10 years now, first on guitar for a short time, then formally studying bass guitar, music theory, classical voice, and then piano (self studied mainly). I've returned to my roots on guitar about a year ago after finding the piano to much of a physical hurdle to overcome (so easy to learn, so HARD to master!).

Anyway, I've been using the Leavitt "Modern Method for Guitar" (Just getting into book 2) and have found it to be the absolute best instructional material I've come across (of course it helps that i've got tons of left and right hand strength built up from playing bass for 5 years!). I'm now looking for a jazz guitar method that might be a good complement to this method. I know what I need to study, but I don't know how to go about it and am trying to find a method on the level of Leavitt's that I can progress through without getting too mixed up. I've looked a bit at Garrison Fewell's method and Jody Fisher's. I've been consistently impressed with all of the Berklee Press material I've bought, and Fewell's is published by them.
Anyone with any advice?

Thanks,
Dean

**pierre richard** · 09-07-2012, 10:15 PM

sal salvador books....howard roberts books are very good...alan demause(sp) has some really good stuff...

the others here will also recommend some...so many books and picking out the better ones is a hard choice...some of them have better teaching methods and are easily understood while some are really good but to understand them takes a bit more..if you know what I mean..

time on the instrument..pierre

**sjl** · 09-08-2012, 08:03 AM

Just learn tunes, harmonies and chord melodies and extract their secrets, you don't need another method, Leavitt's is already a method.

**atari4003** · 09-08-2012, 09:10 AM

I've been doing the tune learning, some transcribing, and have a good understanding of chords, and technique but my approach to the material needs some solid structure. I find myself wondering where i should go next, what should i be doing now, what kind of fingering would be best for this or that pattern or idea... I think with the right kind of book and a steady pace of progress would be ideal for me personally. I need that kind of structure, i guess.

Thanks
Dean

**atari4003** · 09-08-2012, 09:40 AM

I should clarify a bit more- I guess i'm really talking about a jazz improvisation method, as yes, the leavitt book does cover a significant amount of ground as far a chords and basic technique. The Salvador books look very interesting, as it appears they deal mostly with "single string" improvisation, which is what I'd like to get a better handle on (before I get into chord melody type stuff, which I see is covered a little bit in the leavitt books). How about the Ted Greene books?

Thanks
Dean

**Frank67** · 09-08-2012, 03:37 PM

The Joe Elliot book perhaps? Featured extensively here in the study group initiated by fep. I like the book - it is of the "non nonsense" kind. For some experienced jazz players it is perhaps a bit too basic but certainly a nice and thorough introduction.

**pierre richard** · 09-09-2012, 12:01 AM

ted greene...very good stuff....

time on the instrument..pierre

**atari4003** · 09-09-2012, 10:20 AM

I finally decided to go with the Ted Green books, "Single Note Soloing" volumes 1 and 2. Looking through them they seemed to be more of what i am looking for overall. The salvador books looked good too, but seemed to cover alot of ground that I already know, i.e. play this scale over this chord. The Greene method, especially vol 2 (from what I could gather quickly) delves more into chromatic approach notes and other nuances that I struggle with making sound musical.

Thanks everyone,
Dean

**0zoro** · 09-09-2012, 01:05 PM

While books are a huge sourse of information, why not use the interactiveness of the net, and couple that with a great teacher? While you have had miles of teaching and experience over my head, I started playing a few years ago, and very late in life, with basically no experience, and no knowledge. I have been at the Jimmy Bruno site for about 1½ yrs and have learned a tremendous amount about playing jazz. If you are incative you use the lessons he posts, if you are active you send in a vid of your practice on a particular assignment. He has broken up steps in the playing of jazz with songs that reflect the usage of particular "steps" so as give the student a good grasp of the lessons. He does no teach theory as such, but is concerned with students learning to hear, and then to play. He has made a couple of DVDs that are useful as well. Very systematic and methodical, plus the advantages of being reviewed and being able to ask questions.

All the best 0zoro

**jazzadellic** · 09-09-2012, 04:39 PM

Originally Posted by atari4003

I finally decided to go with the Ted Green books, "Single Note Soloing" volumes 1 and 2. Looking through them they seemed to be more of what i am looking for overall. The salvador books looked good too, but seemed to cover alot of ground that I already know, i.e. play this scale over this chord. The Greene method, especially vol 2 (from what I could gather quickly) delves more into chromatic approach notes and other nuances that I struggle with making sound musical.

Thanks everyone,
Dean

Ted Greene's single note soloing books are the best I've ever seen on the topic. But then again I've never taken the time to go through any book cover to cover ;o) But a lot of the books you see published these days are incomplete or badly organized. You don't have that problem with Ted's books. It's too bad they are out of print and hard to get now. Another series of books that have really impressed me are the ones by Jim Ferguson (http://www.fergusonguitar.com/).

**HighSpeedSpoon** · 09-09-2012, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by jazzadellic

Ted Greene's single note soloing books are the best I've ever seen on the topic. ... It's too bad they are out of print and hard to get now. ...

??? I'm not sure I understand this.

Volume 1 is here

and volume 2 is here

As I write this both are in stock at Amazon.

**fumblefingers** · 09-10-2012, 12:11 AM

i haven't looked at T. Greene's books in a long time but i used to own them. assuming you are interested in straight ahead jazz i would lean toward Fewell's books myself.

if you are looking for more of a modal approach i would recommend John Mclaughlin's DVD improv course.

for comping and modern hip sounding chord work i would recommend John Thomas' book, and Rick Peckham's DVD - both from Berklee press.

for jazz phrasing i would get L. Niehaus books.

again, assuming that you're interested in straight ahead style (bop and post bop)and i would work with Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass transcriptions a lot too.

**jazzadellic** · 09-10-2012, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by HighSpeedSpoon

??? I'm not sure I understand this.

They seemed to be out of print for a while (last time I checked a few years ago). Now that I look at a few things I notice the copyright has been owned by at least 3 different publishers. Anyways, last time I searched for them on amazon, they were "permanently out of stock" or "out of print" from what I recall. I was probably looking at the edition by the same publisher of the ones I have (Dale Zdenek Publications). Anyways, I remember I checked multiple sources and could not find it anywhere on the web at the time. I think I was wanting to buy a new copy of book 1 since the binding on mine is completely falling apart.

**jopheza** · 09-10-2012, 05:16 AM

With respect, you could try mine. I'd be interested to know what you thought

**HighSpeedSpoon** · 09-10-2012, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by jazzadellic

They seemed to be out of print for a while ...

Ah, thanks. That did not occur to me.

**atari4003** · 09-10-2012, 01:24 PM

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'm interested in all kinds of jazz, there is really no area I don't care for (except for maybe some of Metheny's and McLaughlin's stuff). I'd get another teacher but I've been quite enjoying the self teaching thing, forcing myself to do all the "right things" in regards to technique, motivation, reading, relaxing tension, etc etc that i learned during my years of study on the bass guitar. I'm sure I'll check out other books/videos/information online/etc, but Ted's books look like they have "the right stuff" for me right now.
Thanks
Dean

**Jonzo** · 09-13-2012, 10:40 AM

Once you understand the fretboard, you might consider looking at non-guitar books.

I like "The Goal Note Method", by Berg.

**atari4003** · 09-13-2012, 11:48 AM

Definitely. Thats the problem now. I've amassed stacks of piano based jazz material/theory but my problem is applying it to the guitar, i.e. what fingering would work best for this or that pattern or phrase rather than trying to always to guess at the myriad ways of applying anything to the fretboard (which is good too in assisting in being able to play all over the fretboard).

Hoping to have the books in a day or two!

Thanks
Dean

**Jonzo** · 09-13-2012, 02:04 PM

I am curious about Ted Greene's single note soloing book. Amazon says

"A book that clearly explains the principles of jazz soloing. Logically organized, with hundreds of musical examples, this method is the result of many years of Ted's teaching and research."

Can anyone post

Table of content
Detailed description of content
Sample pages as permitted under copywrite

For book one, any of the above would be helpful.

For some reason Amazon does provide contents and sample pages for book two.

**jazzadellic** · 09-13-2012, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by Jonzo

I am curious about Ted Greene's single note soloing book. Amazon says

"A book that clearly explains the principles of jazz soloing. Logically organized, with hundreds of musical examples, this method is the result of many years of Ted's teaching and research."

Can anyone post

Table of content
Detailed description of content
Sample pages as permitted under copywrite

For book one, any of the above would be helpful.

For some reason Amazon does provide contents and sample pages for book two.

If you flip through the pages of book 2, and then flip through the pages of book 1, they look almost identical. I.e. they have the same type of layout, with similar looking examples & diagrams etc...If you like book 2, then you will absolutely like book 1 since they are essentially the same, just different topics covered. Note that despite how the table of contents makes it appear, book 1 actually has more pages than book 2 does with 134 pages of material, and book 2 has 129 pages.They could easily have been published as one HUGE book. Table of contents scanned below. *edit* whoops scanned in upside down, in adobe viewer: view----> rotate view x2