Good Books for Advanced Jazz Guitar Players

**bluewaterpig** · 05-03-2014, 08:34 AM

While bumping this, I wanted to add that Dave Liebman's Chromatic Approach book is really fantastic. It's very extensive and speaks to musicians on a fairly advanced level which is great to see.

Keep the recommendations coming.

**Broyale** · 05-03-2014, 03:40 PM

Originally Posted by __aux

There has just been published a book with tons of bebop licks from BopLand.org. Here's the link to Amazon product page. I would not recommend this book for beginners as all the licks are in standard notation. On the other hand this is a first publication of this scope covering a number of must known jazz tunes in all keys and time signatures like 3/4 and 5/4. Attached is a couple of scans from this volume.

Best,
__aux

Bought my copy! Thank for putting me on to this book.

**tyjbeck** · 05-04-2014, 02:47 PM

Hello everyone,

I'm sure some of you may know this, but I just wanted to share. Saxopedia.com has thousands of transcriptions. It may not be a book, but transcriptions are really a wonderful tool.

Best,

Tyler

**bluewaterpig** · 05-10-2014, 04:03 AM

Originally Posted by tyjbeck

Hello everyone,

I'm sure some of you may know this, but I just wanted to share. Saxopedia.com has thousands of transcriptions. It may not be a book, but transcriptions are really a wonderful tool.

Best,

Tyler

Thanks for the info.

Here's the guitar transcriptions page: Solo Transcriptions (Guitar) « saxopedia

**JakeAcci** · 05-10-2014, 10:10 AM

Just a sight reading book for guitar but really killer:

Good Books for Advanced Jazz Guitar Players-20392-jpg

Melodic Studies and Compositions for Guitar Book - Mel Bay Publications, Inc. : Mel Bay

Starts with a lot of etudes for each individual string, gets into very advanced subdivisions, meters, chromaticism. I'm working with it a little right now.

**kris** · 05-10-2014, 12:21 PM

all Dave Liebman's videos and dvd's

**Jazz_175** · 05-13-2014, 11:39 PM

I think it's worthwhile mentioning also the books by Bert Ligon.

**jalapeno** · 05-14-2014, 09:15 AM

Pat Metheny's Etude studies

**Reg** · 05-14-2014, 09:32 AM

Just a thought... You teach, I'm taking it... you are an advanced level player etc...

At some point you understand Music, you get it, your ear is together. My point... develop your playing and approach. I'm not saying don't be open to different understandings or approaches, but you have more than enough info to figure concepts out yourself... most musical concepts or approaches just aren't that complicated, reference... plug and play.

Most guitarist hear someone more accomplished than themselves and they think there it is... the secret understanding of how to play. Personally... technique will improve your playing faster than any concept or approach.

(But there's nothing wrong with a beautiful music library...)

**nado64** · 05-14-2014, 03:55 PM

Some authors : Don Mock - Joe Diorio - Bert Ligon - ...
i think "Gradus Ad Parnassum" by Johann Joseph Fux is the book I studied the most.

**randalljazz** · 05-14-2014, 06:38 PM

fux

"I will not be deterred by the most passionate haters of study, nor by the depravity of the present time."

**JakeAcci** · 05-15-2014, 12:21 AM

well fux

**larry graves** · 05-15-2014, 03:43 AM

Would an advanced player need anymore books? Somebody once asked Jimmy Bruno what books he read.....he said none I use my ears. I think the obsession with gleaning from books is we think we may have missed something, that someone else has found. The search for the Holy Grail goes on...But "hey" some people like studying!...L..

**nado64** · 05-15-2014, 04:44 AM

Originally Posted by larry graves

Would an advanced player need anymore books? Somebody once asked Jimmy Bruno what books he read.....he said none I use my ears. I think the obsession with gleaning from books is we think we may have missed something, that someone else has found. The search for the Holy Grail goes on...But "hey" some people like studying!...L..

I guess Jimmy Bruno had really good teachers, and has an excellent relationship with pro musicians to improve his play, it's not the case for most of us. I think books help to understand or to discover some things.

**nado64** · 05-15-2014, 04:51 AM

Originally Posted by fep

I really this book (link below). I think this will give you some additional info. I've just gone through about a third of it, the chord progression part. Great voicings, rhythms and progressions. Very well organized too. And these 'blues' jazz progressions work in a lot of places beyond the blues. Check out the look inside feature.

http://www.amazon.com/Mel-presents-M...with+the+blues

In the same vein, there are the "All Blues" series by Jim Ferguson.

**Reg** · 05-15-2014, 09:24 AM

So I read through the posts again... was searching for what an advanced player is... what makes an advanced player in any aspect of musicianship.

So the only details mentioned were,

Bebop licks
time signatures
hear and play harmony
sight reading
great voicings

What is in those advanced level player books?

So maybe there are two methods of viewing or organizing this advanced level player concept...

Skills and Knowledge... your playing and your BS, (about what your performing and how your playing it).

Professional and Artistic use of...composition , performance, terminology, musical structures... improvisation, jazz history,
and on and on. Fundamentals...and development of.

It might just be easier to build a library... but my thought is... if you can define what your searching for, (HG), then decide what advanced level aspects you need work on. Of course this might get subjective, but once a subject or aspect of a Skill or Knowledge... gets on the list.... it's easier to define levels.

I can tell you from experience... once you get into composition and arranging, professional or not.... the Knowledge factor becomes very important. From the performance side... not as important, becomes more of a personal choice, but you'll need the Skills.

**JakeAcci** · 05-15-2014, 09:24 AM

Seems like the original poster had this issue covered:

I just enjoy having a large library for teaching purposes. When I put together a college course curriculum at a 100 page min., it's great having a wealth of resources.

Targuit, I agree 1000%. I teach ear training 3 & 4 and advanced ET. The most important and essential tool that any jazz musician has is their ear in my opinion.

I too like checking out more books for different teaching approaches.

I think books are a bit about the attitude you bring towards them. If you approach each book with the attitude of "this book is going to going to make me 7% a better player!" you'll probably be disappointed...most of the time.

EDIT: I made this post before seeing Reg's, above.

**p4chuss2** · 05-17-2016, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by marcwhy

Ha! You're right, Vinny. I always say if I take any one of my books and seriously work all the way through it, I'd probably improve 100-fold.

The first step is admitting you have an addiction ....

I have to admit that you are not alone: I am also addicted to guitar books!!

Gesendet von meinem Nexus 4 mit Tapatalk

**sjl** · 05-17-2016, 01:35 PM

All We are looking for DA BOOK!!!
The one that will do it for us.

**StanG** · 05-19-2016, 11:00 AM

I too have a lot of books. It can be exciting to shop for and get a new one. I only skimmed the posts above, but it looks like there a lot of good books referenced in the posts.

My 2 cents: rather than get a new book, you may be better served by opening one of the books you have to a page that has something that both interests you and covers a concept/line.etc. that you are weak on and spent the next several months working on that page until you have truely internalized the concepts into your mind, ear, and fingers.

If the page is written in C, transpose to all keys, from the page. This really helps me translate a line/concept into intervals rather than specific notes/frets, which, for me, makes it more useable and transferable, both as a whole, and as its component parts.

**jordanklemons** · 05-19-2016, 11:41 AM

Not too get too side railed... but I am very influenced by non-musical aspects of life. Philosophy and spirituality have always affected my relationship with music. Our musical imagination is limited only by our own thought process, not by a lack of knowledge.

A couple of books I've found helpful

The Upanishads
Tao Te Ching
Perfect Brilliant Stillness
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
Any random writings by Chuang Tzu I've enjoyed... no books in particular

Just to name a few. A little off topic. But sometimes things like this can help us think outside the box just enough to remember that it's not always about this or that musical concept... but rather the expression of the human condition and heart through the use of sound.

**Nate Miller** · 05-19-2016, 11:55 AM

you may want to read some actual music treatises. If you want to expand your understanding of music, that would be the thing to do. you would be surprised how cheap a lot of classics are and they are even available on Amazon.

There are some that I would recommend

Paul Hindemith's "Craft" is a classic. You will learn things about music that are beyond anything you think you know as an advanced guitar picker
http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Musical-...indemith+craft

Someone previously mentioned Fux's Gradus. Its cheap and its a counterpoint classic. Want to improve your bass lines? try learning something about counterpoint. You can get a copy of this for under 7 bucks
Study of Counterpoint: From Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus Ad Parnassum: Johann Joseph Fux, Alfred Mann: 9780393002775: Amazon.com: Books

If you really want to learn something and read some top shelf, high end music theory and amaze your friends and be the life of the party, then try Heinrich Schenker. Make sure you get the second volume of Die Frie Satz with the graphs or you will be lost.

http://www.amazon.com/Free-Compositi...nrich+schenker

anyway, you wanted to know about books and so there are some good ones. I have them all in my bookcase at home and have read them all. None of them are guitar picker books, they are books about music

**NoReply** · 05-19-2016, 12:30 PM

I'll just mention I book I've had for ages but just started getting into, How To Approach Standards Chromatically - Techniques of Superimposition by David Liebman. The book is based on Liebman's earlier book A Chromatic Approach to Jazz Harmony and Melody published by Advanced Music. The "How To" book is simple explanations of the key principles each track illustrates, solo tracks on CD, and transcriptions to study. If a fan a David Liebman and want a peek into his concepts in use this is the book. To fully understand you would need both books and a lot of time and listening to David.

For anyone not familiar with David Liebman there are many Youtube's and albums of him, many with the great Vic Juris on guitar. For the melodic side of Liebman he has an album called Ballads with Vic Juris of standards. Below is a YT of the two at a gig.