The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    Leavitt Modern Method
    -or- there are two on Truefire (I have all access to their library)
    Frank Vignola's Modern Method
    The Efficient Guitarist , by Marc Schonbrun

    I was wondering if anyone here has tried these courses and has an opinion on which they found to be more useful?
    With all the other courses I plan to dive into within Truefire's course library, would it really make sense to tackle multiple, or just pick one? They seem to be quite different, at least on the first lessons. None are necessarily tied to a specific genre of music.
    I have access to both of these courses (all access to Frank's course via truefire, and I already have the Berklee method books.
    I am leaning toward Frank's book since I enjoy his jazz courses. I do think his method material could get overwhelming in learning 100's of ways to play a C major scale - but I probably just need to look at it differently, in that I should touch on these concepts and just revisit them without thinking of mastering each part.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    What's your goal? Remember, almost all pay courses are put out to make money.

  4. #3
    Really I'm just looking for a good foundation to help fill in a lot of the theory, technique, etc that might help me to be a better well-rounded musician and pick up on various genres more easily. When I was younger I'd been through several teachers who didn't dive into a structured learning method, but rather would ask "what song do you want to learn today" - even tho I'd asked to dive into a more structured theory-based learning. I guess any of the above would help with that. I'm just finding that with access to so much different material (even if it's all good quality) - I get overwhelmed and lock up. I think that since I'm familiar with Frank's teaching method I'll go through his book and maybe not concern myself with nailing everything down the first round.
    Now, when I'd gone through part of the Berklee method I sometimes found myself not understanding the structure or why I was doing certain things, although I'm willing to bet it 'comes together' as the lessons progress. Another thing was - I struggled with some of the early etudes until I realized they were using common chords, but just not marking them as such on the notation. Then they became easier. Maybe they do this to force the student to learn the notes, but I had to write in the chords for ease of reading the notes quickly.

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by hoosier1981
    Really I'm just looking for a good foundation to help fill in a lot of the theory, technique, etc that might help me to be a better well-rounded musician and pick up on various genres more easily. When I was younger I'd been through several teachers who didn't dive into a structured learning method, but rather would ask "what song do you want to learn today" - even tho I'd asked to dive into a more structured theory-based learning. I guess any of the above would help with that. I'm just finding that with access to so much different material (even if it's all good quality) - I get overwhelmed and lock up. I think that since I'm familiar with Frank's teaching method I'll go through his book and maybe not concern myself with nailing everything down the first round.
    Now, when I'd gone through part of the Berklee method I sometimes found myself not understanding the structure or why I was doing certain things, although I'm willing to bet it 'comes together' as the lessons progress. Another thing was - I struggled with some of the early etudes until I realized they were using common chords, but just not marking them as such on the notation. Then they became easier. Maybe they do this to force the student to learn the notes, but I had to write in the chords for ease of reading the notes quickly.
    Totally get that About feeling overwhelmed
    There's almost too much info out there
    I've had 1 to 1 tuition,. Subscribe to loads of YouTube channels,. Lots of jazz guitar books downloads PDF file s. The list goes on

    One thing I stumbled across which is actually a big eye opener for me was this book
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KVP37..._ny93EbBXXN1XW

    Andy



    Sent from my Redmi Note 7 using Tapatalk

  6. #5

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    If you already have the Leavitt books, you could hardly do better as far as info goes, but having an occasional lesson with someone familiar with Bill's method would really go a long way. Also, the leaving books do not have to be studied in order; you can choose a concept, say, arpeggios, and work on the various exercises in all three volumes over time. Vignola's method looks really good, but not so different from Leavitt's.

  7. #6

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    Be interested to know more about Vignola’s book

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    Be interested to know more about Vignola’s book
    This is the Introduction:
    Introduction

    I began taking guitar lessons with Frank Vignola in early 2004. Frank started each
    lesson by asking what I was working on. I would play something; after about 3
    bars he’d stop me. Without a pause, he would show me an exercise - we never
    used a book - to target my shortcomings. As we worked through a lesson, I jotted
    it down in a notebook so I could always remember it correctly.

    One night Frank suggested we write a lesson book based on my notes from the
    lessons I had taken with him. Of course I agreed enthusiastically. After the first
    draft was complete Frank was pleased with the result but thought we should
    expand on many of the lessons, add topics, fill in gaps and include video of him
    demonstrating every concept. The goal: Develop a comprehensive guitar method
    that players of all levels can use as an invaluable resource.

    Despite our subsequent work as just described, the lessons in this book and the
    accompanying videos are the same as those I worked on with Frank. As I learned,
    they’re also the same lessons he worked on when he studied with such greats as
    Joe Pass and Gene Bertoncini and Howard Alden. It is a practical method that has
    proven itself suitable whether you’re a beginner or advanced guitar player.
    Hope that helps.

  9. #8

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    Thanks, you just saved me some time.