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Mel Bay Drop 2 Concept For Guitar

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Many of you will most probably be wondering what on earth is a Drop-2 concept. Well it is an arranging term for describing the order of notes within a chord. You see that when we get the same notes played in different orders the chords sound different. I must admit that this book has an amusing title, which could throw you off as soon as you see it, but read on.

Many guitarists never seem to get past the bar chord stage in their musical endeavours because they dont know what to do next. The Drop-2 Concept for Guitar will open up a whole new world of guitar chord playing that you most probably never thought possible. The advanced or professional player will also get a lot out of it as well, especially in harmonic awareness and chord melody execution.

The chord forms contained in this book are ones that you are hearing all the time in modern music, but most probably didnt realise it. I am hearing them all the time in jazz, funk, rock, blues, country, and all types of fusionistic music. I can tell you the top players are using these voicings all the time to give them that musical edge over others.

Charles has put together a great lesson plan in this book and he walks you through it well. First he describes what basic harmony is, and then goes on to tell you about what is the Drop-2 Concept. He then gives you step by step lessons in all keys so you can get this concept internalised into your memory and fingers. To finish there are song examples on how to use the lesson material in a comping and chord melody style. Depending on your abilities, it could keep you very busy for a long time. There are most probably about $1000 worth of private lessons here.

Many guitarists have made careers out of playing this type of guitar and if you do to I guarantee your phone wont stop ringing. If you are a graduate of the Modern Method for Guitar by William Leavitt or you have an advanced knowledge of chords you shouldnt have to much trouble clicking to this book. If you are a teacher this book should augment what you are doing with students and give you lots of new ideas to work from.

Overall this is a great book, which will expand your abilities in note recognition, harmony, comping, chord melody, and overall technique. Charles has also put in some great tips for other areas of your playing, like the best areas on the guitar to sight read, comping over ballads, and arranging your own songs. It will definitely take you up to the next rung on the musical ladder. So if you want to begin sounding like a real pro rather than an amateur you had better take a look at this book.

Kevin Downing
Professional Guitarist, teacher, author.
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Charles Chapman of the Berklee Music School explains Drop 2 chords in a simple, understandable fashion.

Drop 2 chords are 4-note chords on the highest 4 strings (D,G,B,E) and middle 4 strings (A,D,G,B) on the guitar.

They are a must to know for chord melody and comping jazz.

Very good book.

If you are seeking to break out of the "Barre Chord Box"...this book will do the trick. This book contains chord shapes/forms that you will find all over Jazz/Blues/Pop/etc. When I started Jazz lessons, my teacher had my come to my first lesson with this book in hand..and let me tell you, the study of what this book has in it advanced me more in a few months than the past few years. .
Once you have these inversions down, you will be able to look at a Jazz chart and be able to get the chords under your fingers quickly.If you know chord construction theory, you can quickly take a chord shape like Maj7 and move a finger to get a Maj6, 7b5, etc. Need new inversions? Take the form you know, move some notes to other strings to create new voicings/sound.

Thanks to this book(and my Jazz teacher...I can't praise him enough), I have been actually putting together basic Solo Jazz Guitar arrangemnts using these chords as a base.

If you are serious about advancing as a rhythm player, the $20 this book costs is less than a professional lesson and is well worth the time to study.

This is a Great , Easy to understand Concept Book . Charlie Makes it easy and Fun . Charlie is a Great Teacher , I studied with Him at Berklee and Remember Him Teaching this Concept as a Class , Before this Book . Buy it , You will Love it !