Customer Reviews

Scott Henderson Jazz-Rock Mastery

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

 

 

I'm a professional touring guitarist as well as a clinician, and this video is loaded with information for the guitarist who is ready to work. Scott is a good teacher and assumes that you have a basic knowledge of modes and jazz chords. He digs deep into applications of scales over different types of chords: some modal ideas and some pentatonic uses that take you outside the key centers. This is a DVD to watch over and over, and I imagine that the learning will continue over many viewings. As I find with most videos, if you learn only one useful thing from it, it is an incredible value. This is essentially a series of lessons offering an in depth education on scale use over chords.

This is a compilation of his two vhs tapes. The Jazz Fusion Improvisation section covers all the scales, arpeggios, triads, outside playing, etc, you could ask for.

Melodic Phrasing is a real gem. Scott does an amazing job at teaching phrasing. This DVD is about improvisation and making musical statements not just learning the top 50 guitar licks. In my ears Scott is the best improvising guitarist on the scene today.

I have been waiting for someone to put this out in dvd form. This is a complete guitarists guide to some of Henderson's insights on what to play over what chords inside the tonal center of the chord and outside of it as well. He's one of the best in phrasing and he gives you some very useful insight to that also. This video helped me a long time ago and now that it's on dvd, it is helping me again. Henderson is one of the true masters of his instrument.

This is two instructional videos in one.
Instructional Video One:
Scott Henderson comes form a school of playing that may not be for everyone, but his concepts are solid and musical. Most of what he teaches here is how to use scales and triads that are harmonic relatives of a parent key center to achieve "outside playing"... run this triad or that scale up or down a given interval from the root to achieve a complex sound. (an E min7b5 arpeggio over a C maj chord for example). Scott will give you a wealth of knowledge like this. So, if you are up for this way of thinking, perhaps a newbie to it, be prepared to widen your musical horizons substantially. My playing definitely benefits from this way of learning. I like taking discrete doodads, a scale or triad I already know and learning to use it in a new way to achieve a level dissonance by adding altered notes that weave in and out of the tonality. With many of Scott's examples, I've already learned the basic scale or arpeggio, shed the geometric pattern and have them under my fingers. So, learning a new place to use what I already know is big fun. Mick Goodrick once said "its not how many chords you know, it how many uses you have for the chords you know. That holds true for all your musical phrases, patterns and licks.

I think it may be obvious, but this is not a beginner's lesson. He is not going to talk much about playing the D dorian scale over a D minor seventh chord or G mixolydian over G dominant chords. That sort of homework is a prerequisite to this DVD. But if you feel like you are looking to spice up your jazz/rock playing with this methodology, look no further. There is a lot here.

Scott is not the only one who thinks this way. Emily Remler almost always utilized melodic minor scales over dominant chords as seen in Emily Remler: Advanced Jazz & Latin Improvisation and the books Jazz Guitar Structures, Pentatonic Khancepts and Intervalic Improvisation all overlap the information given here a bit.

The only issue I take with this DVD is with the synth and guitar tones Scott uses. There are dated, cheesy synth tones that are terrible and warbled percussive chorus on his guitar. His drum machine sounds rinky-dink too. That being said, use that as motivation to internalize the content of this DVD. Scott is a killer player and this DVD will show you how he does it. The role of a teacher is to eliminate your need for them. Channel that as motivation. I have no idea why he didn't have another guitarist, off camera, simply lay down grooves for him, use prerecorded tracks or better effects, but it is what it is. Sonically, it could be much better, but not a deal breaker. Take his concepts, make them your own and play them with your rig.

As for school of thought, Joe Pass and Jimmy Bruno don't think this way at all. Vic Juris jokes that you can't be drunk and think like this. Pat Martino has his own way of thinking based off diminished scales (because they are always symmetrical on the guitar) and whatever Holdsworth is doing, even he can't explain.

Instructional Video Two:
I'm going to be brief on this one. This video has some cool licks and Scott's playing is great (when he doesn't kick in the synth guitar), but there's a pretty big disadvantage to attempting to learn how to phrase lines from prerecorded video instruction (as opposed to a live teacher). Simply put, you can't receive instant feedback and focus on your weaknesses. Scott says all the right things, don't ramble, put rests between your phrases, motivically develop your lines, play musically and so on. These concepts are IMHO best learned during live private instruction.

First I'd like to say I'm a Professional Guitarist 24/7 and have been Playing 35+ years and I have a Music DVD & Book Library that could Rival Amazons. This video is "Garbage". I'd even go as far to say this should be the "Poster DVD" for "Don't Let This Happen To Your Playing". It's basically Scott Henderson Droning a note on a "Synth Guitar" which sounds terrible, and then playing every scale and arpeggio over it, just drifting from mode, to mode, to mode, to mode ...etc. In the 2 hours of watching this video, there's not even "One" memorable riff.
This is purely "Cerebral" Scales ( I won't even call it music ). This DVD will teach you how to be great "Musicologist", but "Not" how to be a great "Musician". If you want to learn this type of stuff check out "Jimmy Bruno's No Nonsense Jazz Guitar" DVD. Jimmy Bruno gives you " Six Scales" that cover all the modes and uses them in an extremely musical way. 'Nuff said!

First let me state that this is the first time that I have been moved to the point of entering a review on an Amazon.com purchase, and I have made many, many purchases. What motivated me to make my first review is the horrific and abysmal quality of this "instructional" guitar playing dvd. This dvd is a joke, and the joke will be on you if you buy it. Out of the entire running time of this dvd, there is not even ten seconds of informative or enjoyable viewing or hearing time. All while I was watching this dvd, all I could think of was how I had been had. While I was watching this pathetic excuse for a jazz guitar instructional dvd, I kept saying to myself over and over "this is horrible". In fact the dvd was so bad, it moved me to keep watching it in absolute and stunned amazement that someone would have the unmitigated gall to put it on the market for sale. As soon as I heard the first two effects laden notes, I knew I was in for a bumpy ride and a full frontal auditory assault from the stylings of Mr. Scott Henderson. Assuming that you would like to play guitar like Mr. Henderson (which I can not think of any earthly reason why you would want to), he doesn't even do a good job of teaching you to do that. He repeatedly lapses into mindless extended exercises where he appears to feel that his main job is to entertain you with his style of guitar playing, as opposed to teaching you anything. I think that this is a merciful thing. Heaven forbid that this pathetic excuse for music be propagated in any form or fashion. A better title for this dvd would have been "Scott Henderson, Live at the Video Recording Studio".

If I had read the other one star review of this product, I never would have bought the dvd. That review sums up this dvd perfectly. In jazz guitar playing, there is such a thing as "taste" and "economy of notes" playing. Mr. Henderson employs neither of these elements of jazz guitar playing. I beg you not to waste your money on this hoax of a dvd. Words literally fail me to tell you just how bad this dvd is. On many, many ocassions I have looked at guitar players and longed to be able to play like them. In this case, I hope I never ever sound like this guy. The only possible function that this dvd could possibly serve is that if you just started playing a few months ago, this dvd will show you just just how far you have come and that you are better than you think. The dvd will be a real confidence booster for you and it will let you know that you are on the right track and he isn't.

All of the other dvd purchases that I have made that I didn't particularly care for have been put on a shelf and I just don't watch them anymore. This dvd is so bad, I can't stand the thought of it being on my shelf and I have relegated it to its rightful place, the circular file.

If you can watch this dvd and enjoy it, it does not bode well for your future as a quality guitar player.