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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Jazz Guitar Soloing, March 3, 2010
This review is from: Jazz Guitar Soloing Concepts - A Pentatonic Modal Approach To Improvisation BK/CD (Book & CD) (Paperback)
Let me begin by saying that I think Dr. Lemos is a brilliant guy. I think his concept of using pentatonic scales to improvise in order to eliminate "avoid" notes is full of promise. Additionally, scales with only two notes per string sound easy to learn and particularly easy to play from a purely physical point of view- no wide stretches required. I love watching his youtube videos and find him uniquely personal. He also responds to emailed questions promptly and diligently.
The book is very well written and very well constructed. His ideas are presented in a logical and sensible order. However, in order to appreciate this work, you must believe in the concept of teaching guitar through modes. Many authors and teachers do. But there are those who believe that "modes" are more useful for the theoretical analysis of a tune after it's been played and not useful as a teaching method.
You have to decide for yourself if you want to learn through the modal system or not. If you choose to, then Dr. Lemos' pentatonic system will help you greatly in eliminating "wrong" notes and simplify the process of learning to improvise jazz tunes.
I think the book is certainly worth owning even just as an alternative reference source.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great, but more than one expects..., August 7, 2010
This review is from: Jazz Guitar Soloing Concepts - A Pentatonic Modal Approach To Improvisation BK/CD (Book & CD) (Paperback)
I am supposing that the title of this review might confuse some people. It is a clearly written book. The author gives us his objectives and promises, which are clearly written, in the introduction of this book. His objective is to apply pentatonic scales to all chord changes found in jazz (well, jazz is the focus). Because of the lack of harmonic variation within the traditional major and minor pentatonic scales, he has devised other pentatonic scales that fit specific chords. These scales are true to the pentatonic idea - they have five notes (usually the root, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 7th of the chord), two of which are played on one string, allowing for the ease of playability that has made pentatonic scales the most popular scales played on lead guitar.
The warning that I would give to readers is as follows. Should you look through this book and like what you see, you may fail to realize how big the concept is that the author writes about. Sure, he does present pentatonic scales for every chord out there. There are eleven different pentatonic variations that he presents. Since these scales are built directly of the chords they represent, they are unique to that chord. The result is that when multiplied by the amount of keys one could play in (12), there are 132 different pentatonic scales one must internalize in order to become proficient in the system. This proficiency does not even take into the equation to applicability of harmonic substitutions that one can apply to improvization, meaning that, in laymen speech, the pentatonic scales can be used for multiple chords depending on the level of harmonic tension you are looking for.
I am not writing this review in order to push readers away...far from it! The system that Lemos puts forth in his book is a fresh take on something that many guitarists feel has become a bit dry. I am very happy with the product and look forward to the work of internalizing this material and, ultimately, playing it live. I don't want you to think that this is a "get chops quick" kind of book, or else you will be disappointed and fail to see this book for the gem it is.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing book, September 20, 2010
This review is from: Jazz Guitar Soloing Concepts - A Pentatonic Modal Approach To Improvisation BK/CD (Book & CD) (Paperback)
I was really surprised when I received this book: usually guitar methods are thin, I mean, few chapters, few examples, instead this is an HUGE work-)
Believe me, I don't imagine how much time has spent the author to write all this staff, so accurate, detailed, and clear.
Keep attention: in this book the subject is only the pentatonic scale, analysed throughout all his modes, including all the theory behind and practical tips about how to use this modes when you're playing over a chord progression or over a static chord.
In my humble opinion, this is one of the best book I never bought. The only problem is that:
1) you should be an expert player, professionist or a teacher who wants to enlarge his knowledge about pentatonic scales, otherwise this book can be too difficult and too specific for you
2) I'm a little worried about all the patterns that I should memorize here...if you consider that there're about 5 patterns for every mode, in this book there can be about 120 different patterns to memorize, and only a genious can be able to remember everything -) I'm focusing on the most important and useful modes, without studying the less common modes or scales...I could study for years over this book! -)) Compliments to the author, he must be a genious! Lorenzo from Italy
PS: I really love the Mixolidian pentatonic mode! -)
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