Customer Reviews

Guitar Secrets: Harmonic Minor Revealed

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

 

 

Don is one of the worlds top educators. He has a simple "only the needed info" approach that is very similar in approach to the Late Howard Roberts. This should come as no surprise since Howard tapped Don to become one of the original instructors at Hollywoods Guitar Institute of Technology.

Don provides real world applications for these unique sounds. He keeps you from spending a lot of time practicing scales that you then can't quite figure out how to use correctly.

I recommend this book and its companion on the melodic minor scale to all aspiring guitarists.

As I've mentioned in previous guitar book reviews, the value of lesson material must be kept in mind with regards to your level of understanding, playing ability and in relation to what your ear is both comfortable and capable of hearing and comprehending. That being said, most books will have some value but choosing one that has the most value for where you are as a guitar player is key (or you can have an entire library of lesson books that you never start or finish). I am a big fan of stuff that Don Mock has done in Guitar Secrets. I got this one and the Melodic Minor as my private instructor has been pushing me to develop these abilities in my improvisational efforts over jazz standards, chord changes. So both these books (harmonic and melodic minors) have been very helpful to discern where and how to use these scales. Specifically to the Harmonic Minor Revealed -- there's a solid explanation to the harmonization of the minor scales that put a great deal in perspective, there's a listing of the 5 harmonic minor scales (but there is an error, the third pattern is a repeat of the second patter in my copy-- so there's only 4), a list of the all the arpeggios for the harmonic minor chords, some great examples and some "out there" kind of stuff also. Like all decent books, there's a level of digestion and incubation that has to occur and you have to be careful to what level you get involved with details that may not necessarily advance your playing in an efficient fashion (again, depending on where you are as a player). The challenge would be to use the harmonic minor scale fluently in an improvisational approach. I often wish these books had a few more "in between" exercises. That is some approaches that bridge the gap from understanding what their taking about ("getting it", at least theoretically) and being able to apply it effectively ("really getting it", as a player). All that said, the Don Mock series is part of my routine learning approach.

This is a fascinating subject covered by an expert teacher. You have to learn to think in terms of the harmonic minor scale as a dominant 7 chord, which takes some getting used to. I really just enjoy this guy's approach and own several of his books/videos. Highly recommended!

My expectations were very high when Harmonic Minor Revealed by Don Mock showed up in my lap. This was due to a combination of my fascination with lesser known scales (I know, harmonic minor is not that rare, but still...) and the unbelievably positive reviews of Don Mock's books, especially this one. I must admit that I was pretty disappointed. Not only is this book very short, but there isn't a lot of good examples nor breadth of uses for this scale. This book is basically about how to use the scale as the 5th mode of the minor scale and to really only play it over a functioning dominant chord. With that in mind, this is actually a really long book. I don't need to spend this much time to learn just one application. Don even says, think of this scale as the fifth of your song's key and that's how everything is explained.

I have a problem with this. There is a lot missing. One example would be more Latin sounding music that has progressions and melodies based on the harmonic minor scale, where it's played from the root. Also, he really doesn't go into too much detail about using the fifth mode as a root chord, otherwise known as the Phrygian Dominant Mode. Leaving a solid discussion of this out of a Harmonic Minor Book spits in the face of an entire genre of music, that from the Middle East. See the Guitar Atlas book on this region for that.

This book does contain some useful info, especially for jazz players. But it is not complete and really only contains one major lesson. I can't really recommend this one and I decided not to purchase the Melodic Minor counterpart which I almost did.

-Anthony
[...]

This book is great, especially if you'd like to develop intervallic lines for improvisation. Highly recommended!