Customer Reviews

Contemporary Chord Khancepts (Jazz Masters)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Steve Khan presents a superb and unique approach to playing chords in a jazz or jazz-fusion situation. By limiting ones chord vocabulary to the top four strings, the student can gain mastery over chords by not becoming frustrated over the array of possiblities available over all string sets. In addition, chord types are organized according to basic subsets of major, minor and dominant. Students need not worry that the chord in question is actually a 13/11 chord. You only need to consider the quality.

Chords are organized in this book by the degree of the top note of the chord; not the bottom note is an other books. As a result, this approach is excellent for chord melody playing.

Steve Khan has offered excellent contributions with all of his books in the jazz guitar canon. The student should supplement the material in "Chord Khancepts" with some of the lessons and transcriptions offered on his website which will further delve into Steve's unique approach to jazz guitar mastery: http://www.stevekhan.com/korner1.htm

Well constructed book with great backing tracks as well as great compositions by Steve.I have been working with this book constantly for over a year now and am still learning.My chordal playing has taken on a new dimension and so has my single line playing .Every jazz guitarist should have this book as an absolute necessity.It really is that good.Go and buy it now.

This book gave me so mouch to chew on it will be years, if ever, before I put it down. I have played and performed on guitar for 30+ years and studied music in college and I still have discovered that the more I know, the less I know. I felt that I had hit a brick wall in playing and performing and this book gave me so many ideas and options that I had not considered. I emailed Steve Khan to thank him and got a personal response a day later. Not only does he have a lot to give in this book he is truly a nice guy. Buy the book, work at it everyday, utilize the things that work for you and become a better guitarist.

THis book is the greatest chord book for guitar ever.... Anyone familiar with Steve's work with Steely Dan and his solo works and works with numerous other artists know what a tasteful guitarist he is... I am an Army guitar player currently studying at the Armed Forces School of Music, Army Element, and this book was issued to me... Not wanting to go without this book once I graduate I HAD to buy my own copy, since I will refer back to this book all the time.... No wasted space... To the point, and you will notice your vocabulary expanding greatly week after week if you use this wonderful book... I also ordered his other book on pentatonic scales, but have not yet recieved... I will review after a few weeks of using that book...

BUY THIS BOOK BEGINNERS AND ADVANCED ALIKE!!!

If you already know your basic chord theory, know all your barre chords and jazz chords, play well from lead sheets, etc... then you are ready for this book. Kahn discusses the use of leading tones and the basic triad as tools for playing guitar in a combo setting. He does a good job of covering the no-man's land between rhythm guitar and lead guitar. The book is well written, in an easily accessible style, by someone who really knows what he is talking about. There are many gems sprinkled throughout these pages. If you are a beginner or weaker intermediate player, pass on this book for now and come back to it later.

This is a great book which, in the right hands, has a lot to offer the reader. The author presents a plethora of interesting, different and downright CONTEMPORARY ideas for "opening up" ones rhythm guitar playing.

A few cautionary notes are in order. As pointed out in other reviews, the book largely presumes that the guitarist will be applying the "KHANcepts" while accompanied by a bassist. This may not suit all readers, especially those primarily interested in solo and fingerstyle guitar. Also, all music is presented on the staff (and supported by chord diagrams); there is no tablature to be found. Personally, neither of these issues bother me. My only complaint is that the book would have benefited from a bit more discussion in some places. Some of the theoretical constructions could be made a bit more readily apparent with a few additional lines of text. Nevertheless, a reader with a decent background will be able to piece things together quite readily (with a bit of pondering). In any case, it is quite evident that Steve really knows his craft and has put a lot of time into thinking about chords, progressions, etc. He comes across as a phenomenal teacher.

In the end, this book offers what few others can...methods by which the clever guitarist can spice up their playing, especially in the company of other musicians. If this sounds like what you need, get the book. You will not be disappointed.

Useful material here, with plenty to keep you going for a long time. Steve gives you lots of examples on how to use triads and extentions and not just a bunch of theory. The CD's are very helpful in hearing the applications. After all, it is music and having an opportunity to hear what the material should sound like was a great aid in helping me understand the ideas.

First of all, let me qualify my review by saying that I am 40 years old and have been playing since I was 11, mostly classic rock, blues, and rockabilly (with a bit of jazz). This book, in my opinion, is geared toward the intermediate to advanced jazz guitarist as the text references focus on upper 4 strings to be played over a bass guitar. Cool concepts and useful stuff if you're in a jazz band. Me, I play 99% of the time as solo (fingerpicking rythyms, chord-melody solos, etc), therefore I didn't gain a lot of insite out of this book. There is a nice discussion on triads, but I already knew this concept, plus the author never tied any of it the CAGED system.

this is a great practical theory primer, and the practice CDs are great!