Beginning Jazz Guitar (Book & DVD) [COLOR] [DVD] (Paperback)

by Jody Fisher (Author) "You need to know the basic open-position chords as well as the standards barre chord fingerings..." (more)
Key Phrases: major scale fingerings, larger chords, diatonic chords, Basic Theory, Other Chords You Need, Root Position Fingerings (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Anyone with a knowledge of basic chords and guitar scale fingerings can dig right in and start learning to play jazz right away. Spanning from the major scale and basic triad theory all the way up to extended chords and the modes, this book features a full-length etude or song to go with every new concept introduced. Beginning Jazz Guitar breaks the age-old tradition of dry, intimidating and confusing jazz books, and provides an actual step-by-step and enjoyable method for learning to play in this style. Clearly organized into easily mastered segments, each chapter is divided into separate lessons on harmony or improvisation. All music is shown in standard notation and TAB, and the CD demonstrates the examples in the book. 96 pages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Publishing Company; Pap/DVD edition (May 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073902406X
• ISBN-13: 978-0739024065
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,768 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best tutorial in print, October 1, 2004

By	J. Janssen (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Beginning Jazz Guitar (Paperback)

I've played guitar for more than thirty years and have focused on straight ahead jazz for the last 15 or so. All that time I've absorbed bits and pieces of musical knowledge from method books, lick guides and transcriptions as well as from the experience gained playing with others. No resource that I've encountered offers the degree of fundamental understanding that one can gain from this series of books.

Unlike most other method books, "Beginning Jazz Guitar" starts from chapter 1 with a dual track instruction mode of chord and scale studies mixed with a moderate dose of musical theory AND the author wisely limits the first volume to just the major scale. Too many other fine publications insist on bedeviling the student with a bewildering array of scales and modes in rapid fire succession. This volume shines when it comes to supplying answers to real world questions as the student might actually encounter them. Additionally, Jody Fisher presents scales in a format that encourages horizontal rather than vertical playing (one of the most important and most overlooked aspect of improvisation). As a matter of fact, more experienced players may have to relearn scale positions to work through the etudes and excercises in this book since they are fundamentally different than those normally found in most instructional texts.

Likewise, for a beginning book, the text does a credible job in presenting harmony and chord progressions with just enough theory to understand how progressions are structured and how to extend and alter chords. Most books present chordal theory in the first part of the book and then take up lead playing in the second half as if they bore no relationship with one another. Again, the author scores with the dual track approach.

Finally, the information contained in the "Coda" at the end of the book is worth the price alone. One could spend half a lifetime studying jazz guitar and not stumble over some these gems of info.

As a companion to this book I might also recommend "All Solos & Grooves for Jazz Guitar" by Jim Ferguson (Mel Bay) which serves up major scale studies along with more advanced solos utilizing similar techniques. As a matter of fact all of Ferguson's books would fit in nicely with this series.

All in all, an excellent resource for the determined student.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning Jazz or reading TAB, March 15, 2006

By	Reader (Norway) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beginning Jazz Guitar (Paperback)

I have used this book a lot since I got it, and I have learned much from it. While I at first was quite entusiastic about the book, I am slightly more critical now.

The book proceeds along two tracks, chords and solo. In both cases etudes goes alongside the theory so you can apply what you have leared. But after learning some of the etudes, I started wondering if I had really learned the theory. You learn to play basic triads on any three adjacent strings, and this accompanied by an etude. But as the etude is written in TAB I do not think about whether the chord I play is an d-minor or an A major or any other chord. I found that when I took an old song-book and tried comping using the same basic triads, I had to think about how to form the chord and hence I learned more. For many of the other etudes I got a similar feeling that what I learned was not the chord or the fingering, but to read TAB.

Another strange point is that the book starts out by a short review of the pre-requisite. You are supposed to be familiar with fingering of the pentatonic scale, and basic blues chord progression. But nowhere in the book would lack of such knowledge be an aparent problem.

Still, this is an good book. The basic theory is excellently explained. I have learened a lot from the book. It starts out easy both in construction and voicing of chords and improvisig, proceedin to modes of the major scale.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Intro to Jazz Guitar!, December 5, 2006

By	Scott (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews

I agree with the other reviewers on the content of the book. While some of the material in the beginning may be a little basic, it is clearly and concisely explained. The subsequent material is explained with the same clarity, and thoroughness. The sections on playing in various modes are particularly helpful. Great material!! I mistakenly rated the book/DVD down at a three because I didn't think the DVD included the audio tracks for the lesson and was frustrated. But thanks to another Amazon reviewer who straightened me out, I found them and am making great progress. Now if I could only figure out how to change my rating from 3 to 5 stars....