The Complete Jazz Guitar [Mass Market Paperback]

Fred Sokolow (Author), Aaron Stang (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 1996

The definitive introduction to the art of jazz guitar. Covers chord construction, chord progressions, chord substitution, scales and their uses, scale substitution, and how to solo in a jazz context. With five complete transcribed solos, including Charlie's Blues
* Cherokee
* Willow Weep for Me.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The definitive introduction to the art of jazz guitar. Covers chord construction, chord progressions, chord substitution, scales and their uses, scale substitution, and how to solo in a jazz context. With five complete transcribed solos, including Charlie's Blues * Cherokee * Willow Weep for Me.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 100 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Publishing (October 7, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576235734
• ISBN-13: 978-1576235737
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.7 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,737,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Fred Sokolow is best known as the author of a library of instructional books and DVDs for guitar, banjo, Dobro, mandolin, lap steel and ukulele. There are currently over a hundred of his books or DVDs in print, sold all over the world. Fred has long been a well-known West Coast multi-string performer and recording artist, particularly on the acoustic music scene. The diverse musical genres covered in his books and DVDs, along with several bluegrass, jazz and rock CDs he has released, demonstrate his mastery of many musical styles. Whether he's playing Delta bottleneck blues, bluegrass or old-time banjo, 30s swing guitar or screaming rock solos, he does it with authenticity and passion.

Born in Los Angeles September 14, 1945, by the early 1960s Fred was well known in the California bluegrass scene, playing with Jody Stecher, Brantley Kearns, Sandy Rothman and Eric Thompson. Relocating to Berkeley, he toured and recorded with a hippie rock band throughout most of the 60s, the Bay Area-based Notes From the Underground (Vanguard Records). In the early 70s Fred performed with R&B, rock, country and bluegrass bands. By 1975 Fred had played with bluegrass luminaries like John Herald, Frank Wakefield and Jerry Garcia, had opened for the Dead, the Doors, B.B. King, Country Joe and the Fish and countless other acts, and he was playing in jazz combos with some of the Bay Areas best studio players.

In 1975 Fred returned to Los Angeles. He recorded two ground-breaking banjo albums for Kicking Mule Records and began touring with Bobbie Gentry and Jim Stafford, playing rock guitar, bluegrass banjo and lap steel. He also toured with the folk group the Limeliters, juggling seven different instruments. By the end of the 70s he had begun writing instructional books (methods, transcription books and arrangement books) for all the music print publishers: Mel Bay, Hal Leonard, Warner Brothers, Carl Fischer and more. He recorded a banjo video for Hot Licks, and several guitar videos for Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop. His transcription books became known for their accuracy, and his method books were lauded for their clarity and effectiveness in music magazines all over the world. He began teaching guitar and banjo seminars in music camps and stores, and he taught classes at the reknowned McCabes Music in Santa Monica.

Fred currently lives in Santa Monica and primarily performs retro jazz guitar with some of LA's finest musicians, playing and singing songs of the 30s and 40s. He often plays and records with British ex-rock star Ian Whitcomb. And he plays bluegrass, blues or rockabilly whenever the opportunity arises. He's active on the studio scene, playing on other people's albums and on numerous TV and movie soundtracks, and he was a musical advisor on Michael Mann's latest film, Public Enemies. Fred also records and performs with children's artists like Dan Crow, Greg & Steve, KPFK's Uncle Ruthie and Paul Stookey. He relishes the diversity of his portfolio: he played lap steel on the Tonight Show, mandolin on Rick James' last CD, played Dobro with Chubby Checker and won on the Gong Show (playing bluegrass banjo), jammed at the House of Blues with Junior Brown...and he performs with the legendary folksinger Tom Paxton whenever Tom comes to California.

Fred holds the title of official banjo player for the TV show Survivor. His music has graced many television shows and commercials, as well as recent movies like Peter Bogdanovitch's "The Cat's Meow." His recent "Fred Sokolow Jazz Quartet" and "Fred Sokolow Sings & Plays Fats Waller" CDs showcase his unique style of playing and singing jazz standards. A performance video of his jazz quartet was released recently, featuring guest stars Lawrence Juber, Ian Whitcomb and Junior Brown. Fred's recent bluegrass/old-timey CD "One More River to Cross," spans generations, as it features his long-time friend & musical partner Brantley Kearns, with whom he has played since they were teenagers, and it also introduces Zachary Sokolow, Fred's son, with whom he has been gigging for the last few years.

Fred's "Fretboard Roadmaps" series is an international best-seller. He conducts seminars up and down the West Coast and recently taught a week-long blues class for the National Guitar Workshop and a Dobro class for Steve Kaufman's Akoustic Kamp in Knoxville, Tennessee. Fred continues to perform and create instructional material, and is regarded as an authority on many musical genres, particularly what is now called "Americana."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The complete jazz guitar, February 3, 2002

By 

Emmanuil Moshonas (Edessa, Pella Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Jazz Guitar (Mass Market Paperback)

It's a very good book for people who play the guitar for at least 4 years and search some initiation to jazz. Reading the book I found out that it is also very good from the educational point of view, unambiguous with graduated difficulty

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Stuff, February 27, 2003

By 

C. R. Downing "Chris Downing" (Chippenham, Wilts England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Jazz Guitar (Mass Market Paperback)

If you want to play jazz; and want to play rather than learn a load of theory - this is the book for you. It's got some great solo pieces in it and demo'd on the CD. A ton of chord charts and performance notes finish the book off as a great intro to playing jazz - - - then you'll want to go back and do the theory. You'll need to be an intermediate guiarist to get the best out of this - but a player of a year could dig in and wow everyone after working hard on these solos. I wish this book had been written 30 years ago when I started to get interested in jazz.

5.0 out of 5 stars "Great Place to Start Jazz Study", September 6, 2009

By 

L. Stanford "BookStanford" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Jazz Guitar (Mass Market Paperback)

I've had a copy of this book since the 90's and learned quite a bit from it.The explanations of chords and scales relationships is one of the easiest to understand for someone without a guitar teacher.The chord melody song arrangements are given with explanations about chord substitutions and how to arrange a typical song for guitar.There is a cassette tape and/or CD companion that will help you hear the techniques Fred is teaching.There's a great deal of information in this one book and you'll get a good head start in jazz guitar if you take the time to study a few pages at a time and master each lesson.I've bought many of Fred's books and videos over the last 20 years and I've gotten some useful information from them all.This book(and especially the tape/CD)is getting harder and harder to find,so if you find it at the right price,you'll learn a lot jazz guitar from it if you buy it.Highly recommended.