Customer Reviews

Mel Bay Solo Jazz Guitar Method Book/CD Set

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

 

 

much like his other work on jazz improv, this is an
excellent book. easy to follow, great examples. very musical.
hmmm, don from brooklyn, your specialty is... what?.....
Mr. Greene is anything but mediocre. in fact, Pat Martino gives him
high praises. uhhhh, not exactly what you would call a mediocre reference...
if you like jazz, do yourself a favor: check out Barry Greene's books.
nuff said.

This book is helpful in dealing with a very complex topic;
how to develope your own chord melodies. I have purchased
other chord melody books over the years but I never really
understood the basic concepts until I bought this book.
This is the one to start with...

I'm not sure how the previous reviewer concludes that Barry Greene is a mediocre musician. I have never noticed any "deficiencies" of any kind in his playing, and it is pretty clear that he is one of the more gifted jazz composers on the instrument right now. His improvising capability is also superlative, which would be expected since composing and improvising are almost the same thing. This book provides a solid foundation for understanding chord melody. I only wish it went farther with more examples - maybe taking some of his great melody arrangments of standards, like Lullaby of the Leaves or My One and Only Love, and explaining how he works them up. Then that would have been a five star book. Maybe a chord solo book II is in order?

This is a very good book , but only if you are quite advanced. I know some theory about jazz but still I found this book a little difficult. If you are an advanced player looking for some new tricks then this is definitely the book for you. If you are like me, just starting to get the feel of jazz than this book is to advanced.

It's funny how mediocre musicians try to make up for their deficiencies by writing bad books and becoming "educators." This book is not very helpful for an introduction to jazz guitar. Better to stick with something by Steven Crowell or Ron Eschete. Even Larry Coryell's books cover chord melody construction better. Don't waste your money.