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I received my copy of The Jazz Theory Book written by Mark Levine yesterday and read through the first half of it.
IMHO, this book is the best Jazz theory book I have ever seen! It includes just about everything I have ever learned about Jazz theory over the past 40 years and the information is presented in a very simple, logical and lucid way.
This book, along with some of the Jamey Aebersold play-a-long records is everything a serious jazz student will ever need to woodshed their way to playing jazz on any instrument.
I would give it my highest recommendation as a learning tool for jazz. Every jazz player should have one.
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04-24-2007 03:59 PM
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some of the nicest bits in that book are working out how to play some of the examples on guitar aswell, can lead to some interesting ways of manipulating harmonics and stuff (especially piano examples)
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It looks like some of the piano voicing would be not too comfortable for the guitar. But they do lead to some very nice ideas and concepts for voice leading on the guitar. I have only looked at about half of the book and the one thing that sticks out is the Levine uses jazz examples for almpost everything I have read. Mark Levine must have put a lot of time and energy into this great book.
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I think jazz theory is extended basic theory. IE, more depth in the analysis of chords, scales, intervals, Arpeggios, voice leading and tension/release concepts. I like to think of jazz in terms of a simple analogy. When you have learned basic Algebra and basic Geometry, you add them together to be able to learn Trigonometry. Now, the analogy: When you have learned where all the notes are on your instrument and you add scales, chords, intervals, and arpeggios, you are ready for jazz or any other musical studies of your choice. Please note I am not recommeding this as an approach to learning to play jazz on your guitar (I favor the "Play What You Hear" Approach).
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I've taken that book out of my local library twice. It is a fantastic book full of ideas and examples. I was going through it and I was into some really cool stuff. I thought the book would be close to the end (it's hard to tell because it has a spiral biniding), so I checked. I was only about half way. I thought to myself, how much more could he possibly teach? How wrong I was. The second half was just as great as the first half. No filler at all. I really have to but it.
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hi.
i recently bought this mark levine book after reading about it here.
i'm trying to apply it to bass guitar,and was wondering how to transpose some of the sections that are only written in treble clef to bass clef.
i'm pretty much starting from scratch,my main learning tool up to now has been a book by jimmy haslip called the melodic bass library,which has been helpful learning the different positions to play the modes.
but i have a question about this as well.....
there is a section where he lays out all the mode scales and beside those,he has four note chords on a staff.
for instance,beside the scale for the C Ionian he has the scale notes as follows,starting from low to high....EGBD.i understand how he got those notes,skipping every other note to make up the scale,i'm just wondering why the C note wasnt included.
it's the same for the D Dorian,the chords are FACE.....i'm a little confused why the root of the scale isnt a part of the chord,and i'm wondering how to apply these chords/notes into a bass line.
thanks for your time........
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I checked out the Jazz Theory Book from my library the other day. Right now im not at home so i never really got a chance to look into it enough but i must say that it is a HUGE book!
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It is a good book. I have it in my personal collection of stuff I hope makes me a good jazz guitarist.
Unfortunately, I don't read it too often. I actually refer more to the 'Complete Jazz Guitar Method' which is available in most book stores I've found.
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Hmmm. Why do you prefer it over the jazz theory book? Most reviews ive seen on it are amazing and say it is basically everything a jazz guitarist should know.
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well, the jazz theory book is great, but it's definitely just one of many great books out there.
it takes a very scalar way of looking at jazz, which was beneficial for me to look at, being very arpeggio based in my playing. there's a lot of great examples, but most of them are horn players or piano players. there's nothing wrong with that, it's better in my opinion to listen to players outside of the guitar mold, but at the same time, some of the examples sit a little rough on the guitar. it's a better book for a more experienced player who can dig whats going on in these examples and apply it to his/her own playing...
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I think mr. beaumont has a point. While I may prefer a certain book to another, it's not to say that it is a the exclusion of using the other. In fact I have amassed a pretty good collection of books, and at this point when I am trying to learn more about modes (just as an example), I just pull out all the books and refer to the 'modes' content in each of them. Every book phrases things in a different way, and one of those ways may seem more logical given where I am at that point in time.
I don't think there is a panacea which can fulfill everyones jazz needs, so I go with the library approach and study different perspectives until things click.
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I love this book! I read all about it in one week. I already knew quite a bit of scales and chords but I learned quite some new things, the reharmonization parts are interesting. Also I learned the "continuous scale exercise", very good exercise to get you away for constantly switching to the root of a chord when improvising. It's not that much boring theory IMO, it's in there but it's fun to read, it "lives" because of the many examples he's giving and he anekdotes in there. I also learned that all melodic minor chords are interchangeable and the phrygian mode is mostly used on a sus b9 chord rather than a minor 7.
I do think this is just one way of looking at it, to me playing a phrygian over a minor 7 sounds fine, as does the harmonic minor over a minor II-V-I progression. So like with every other theory book, read it but don't look at it as an absolute thruth. Hear what he means and then decide wether you use it or not.
I also love Gambale's 2 technique books (very good!!), learned quite a bit very fast and Don Mock's books (Harmonic minor revealed, Melodic Minor revealed, symmetrical scales revealed, artfull arpeggios). The're a bit more modern, aimed at fusion, so they partially discuss other ways of looking at it. I think Levine's section of the harmonic minor and harmonic major scale is a bit short, but then again, he's right. Most of the greats didn't use those too much in the older days. Nowadays with Holdsworth (using the harmonic Major VERY much) and Gambale etc those scales gained some popularity I guess.
Either way it's really worth reading!!
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I bought this book along with guitar method music theory by tom kolb. I've only taken one one guitar class one year in high school and if you're not up to par with music theory and never studied jazz before you'll probably get pretty lost with the jazz theory book. If you're more of a beginner or have some gaps in your music knowledge like me you might wanna pick up the guitar method book.
It teaches simples things like intervals, triads, modes from major to melodic minor, chords, which mode over what chord, it gives chord diagrams and presents the chords in order of the family it belongs to i.e. extended -7th with an added 9 - Fm9.., explains key centers and modulation, and it's all in g clef and tab form, plus a cd. It's suprisingly jazz friendly too. Anyways i've been reading it to catch up on basics and it helps.
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My copy of it arrived today. I am very impressed with Mark's writing style, as an English Major more than as a Jazz musician. Lucid, to the point, effective, and precise. I'm in love
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Bert Ligon's two volume "Jazz Theory Resources" is a really wonderful contribution to the literature in my opinion. Levine's work was my first formal introduction to Jazz Theory and definitely lays out a wealth of information, but in some ways, I find Ligon's text more accessible in its presentation and even information.
Just something to check out if you're unfamiliar and interested.
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This is probably an old topic, but I really want to know who here has read the Jazz Theory Book (and perhaps the piano books). I read it in 2000, and have been a fan since. I also read THE JAZZ PIANO BOOK and worked a ton of the voicings out on the guitar with the help of pianist friends.
I use his ideas every day in some way. I really dig his reductionist chord/scale theory very much, and his interchange of the term scale and mode, especially chord-scale.
There are a few things he left out that I think are still valid. I felt like he totally discredited the HM's 5th mode in place of the MM ALT mode, due to the perfect 4th "avoid" note he wanted to eliminate. It makes sense, but the MM really got rolling in the 60's and "jazz" existed before in other great forms (swing, bop, etc) without much MM use. In order to play very bop sounding runs Phrygian dominant was the mode in use most of the time.
It inspired my own book along with the basic ideas of bebop linear harmony found elsewhere. Connecting Chords with Linear Harmony is a nice collection of classic licks, for example. My own theory is a fretboard-based version of these works with a broader audience than the jazz elite. I listen to a lot of stuff out there, there is a huge amount harmonic common ground.
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EDIT: Since posting this I was exposed to many alternatives to Mark's work. Yes, I have had a change of heart. Thanks to many of your insightful posts, reading the Robert Rawlins review below, reading Jazzology, and all four of Bert Ligon's books. There is life after Levine.Last edited by JonnyPac; 03-17-2011 at 03:48 AM.
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I have had this book for several years and use it often for reference material because it is a great collection of most of the theory I have learned over several years. I particularly like the examples which refer to actual performances of many of the jazz masters.
wiz
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I remember liking the books when I read them all those years ago. I agree that some jazz guy go to far in their somersaults to avoid the 4th - it is fine as long as you handle it correctly. But that's the problem with thinking scalarly - you aren't thinking about notes and how they relate to the chord and how to "handle" them. But that's a beef for another time ...
But I liked the books - lots of good info. The theory book doesn't really work as a method, but it is a great reference.
Peace,
Kevin
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Yeah, I agree, KS. That's why a linear harmony supplement helped me a lot. I also studied Charlie Christians simple methods of finding specific tones on the neck for improv, etc.
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I have the book and it is a good read when going thru your CST phase of learning improv.
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I read it (cover to cover) a year or so ago, after I had completed all my undergraduate theory classes. It's a decent resource but at the time I was struggling with just being able to follow the changes, so it wasn't all that helpful to me since at the time I was shunning CST. I should probably go back and re-digest it again sometime soon. Then again, I should also be saving for retirement.
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+1 His live things recorded at Minton's were epic, and some of his small group things with Benny Goodman were the absolute definition of 'swinging'
Originally Posted by ksjazzguitar
On topic...the Levine book came too late for me - I finally read it a couple of years back, and discovered that I had already learned about 99% of it from other sources. It seems to be a good reference though, and I'd probably recommend it as such.
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Yes. Solid book. Probably a common text for many college-level jazz theory courses. Leans heavily on chord-scale theory.
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while I think there is lots of good stuff, I don't like the book, it's for pianists for one thing, so a lot of the things are just not playable on a guitar.
(duck head)
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My thoughts too. That's why I hacked out my guitar version with a section on linear harmony and the HM mode. I don't use real musical excerpts at all though. That's why it fits 90 pages. I figure there is a lot of that stuff available in all genres. Originally Posted by markf
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