Chord Shapes for Jazz Guitar
Did you ever wish you could quickly learn just a few popular tunes on the piano, without going through years of lessons? With Life of the Party: Play Piano in an Instant you can do just that.
A DVD hosted by John Sebastian, former member of the The Lovin’ Spoonful, demonstrates
how to use the method which includes four “keyfinders” to help you find your way around the keyboard, a play along CD, and a book of 32 popular songs including “Every Breath You Take,” “Brown Eyed Girl,” “In the Still of the Nite,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Lay Down
Sally,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “The Wanderer.”
Life of the Party: Play Piano in an Instant, by Bill Gulino, Cherry Lane Music Company, New York, NY, 2006.
Tipbook: Music for Kids and Teens: A Guide for Parents and
Caregivers
Have you been wanting to introduce the world of music to your children or grandchildren but you are unsure how to go about it? This new Tipbook is a handy and thorough guide that will answer all your questions. Music for Kids and Teens is relevant to children of every age and musical genre and includes numerous tips and thoughts applicable to other aspects of their upbringing as well.
The book is based on information gathered from the experiences of musicians, teachers, directors, parents, and other specialists and includes topics such as: why should we introduce children to music, choosing and instrument, practicing tips and tools, stage fright and audition anxiety, and much more.
Music for Kids and Teens: a Guide for Parents and Caregivers, by Hugo Pinksterboer, The Tipbook Company, Heemstede, The Netherlands, 2006.
Shred! The Ultimate Guide to Warp-Speed Guitar
Shredding is a challenge, but Shred! breaks it down, demystifying guitar solos that sound intimidating on record. Lessons include Flex Builders to get your hands working, and Love + Loud exercises that can be heard on the CD packaged with the book.
Techniques examined in-depth include: speed picking, thrash chording and speed riffing, blues shredding, tapping, legato playing, and the whammy bar. The book’s introduction includes short biographies for the top 30 speed demons of rock guitar and throughout the book you’ll hear examples of the techniques used by them. Co-authors Richard Maloof and Pete Prown are shred masters themselves.
Shred! The Ultimate Guide to Warp-Speed Guitar, by Rich Maloof and Pete Prown, Backbeat Books, San Francisco, CA, 2006.
eMedia’s Instructional CD Software
eMedia’s Bass Method is a fun way to learn bass guitar step-by-step and at your own pace. Easy-to-follow lessons range from basics like tuning the bass and simple bass lines to using triads, fills, and syncopation. You will learn how to create a bass line for any song you like. More than 200 songs and exercises are accompanied by full-motion video and recorded audio, and an animated fretboard that guides you through fingerings.
Guitar Method has more than 160 comprehensive lessons covering basics through chord strumming, playing melodies, and fingerpicking. It contains more than 50 videos with close-ups of both hands. Songs and exercises can be heard as either live-recorded audio or variable-speed MIDI. Both guitar tablature and standard notation are taught in a way that’s easy to understand.
Guitar Songs for acoustic, electric, and classical guitars makes learning famous songs easy with its animated fretboard showing finger positions. Users can choose between guitar tablature or standard music notation in learning more than 20 rock, blues, country, classical, and folk songs.
With eMedia’s Blues Guitar Legends teaches guitarists to play 10 classic blues songs from the masters themselves, including “Statesboro Blues,” as performed by The Allman Brothers Band, and “Hoochie Coochie Man,” as performed by Muddy Waters. Music notation highlights notes as songs play, while an animated fretboard displays fingerings in real time.
Bass Method, Guitar Method, Guitar Songs, Blues Guitar Legends, eMedia, Seattle, WA, 2007.
GuitaRevolution: Lessons from the Groundbreakers and Innovators
GuitaRevolution shows guitarists how to take their playing to the next level by teaching them the techniques of groundbreaking players. The book features in-person lessons with great players, alongside solo transcriptions and lick-by-lick style instruction. Styles explored in the book include Duane Allman’s slide techniques; Jimi Hedrix’s “All Along the Watchtower” solo; Carlos Santana’s soulful phrasing; Muddy Waters’ Delta/Chicago sound taught by Johnny Winter; Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Texas blues; and the other worldly sonics of Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.
All of the lessons featured in the book are available online, in audio MP3 format, for readers to download at no extra cost. Author Jesse Gress is a respected performer and music educator and is former music editor of Guitar Player magazine.
GuitaRevolution: Lessons from the Groundbreakers and Innovators, by Jesse Gress, Backbeat Books, San Francisco,
CA, 2005.
Oud Method
The oud, which literally means “the wood,” dates back some 2,500 years and has a fascinating history. It is often considered the most important instrument to come from the Middle East. John Bilezikjian, America’s “oud virtuoso,” introduces the curious to the folklore and origin of the oud and also provides the basics for learning to play it. He covers topics such as how to find an oud, tuning, and playing. Even the basics of music notation and rhythm values are provided for those new to written music. There are a series of exercises for beginners, as well as an accompanying 27-track CD for demonstration and play along.
Oud Method, by John Bilezikjian, Hal Leonard Corporation, Milwaukee, WI, 2006.
Complete Guide to Building Kit Acoustic Guitars
Luthier Bill Cory shares his knowledge of guitar building to help readers discover the joy of creating their own quality instruments. The book is entertaining and well-illustrated with more than 450 photos of 10 different kit guitars being built. Written for beginners, Cory claims that anyone with a little space and patience should be able to create their own instrument from a kit in a matter of a few weeks time. The guide includes tips on tools you can make, a construction journal, lists of Internet resources and quality kit suppliers, finishing advice, and more.
Complete Guide to Building Kit Acoustic Guitars, by Bill Cory, EADGBE Publishing Company, Colorado Springs, CO, 2007.
All About Guitar
All About Guitar contains more than 40 rock, blues, folk, and country songs. The book also contains performance tips, background on various styles of music, and information about famous guitarists.
ALL ABOUT GUITAR A Fun and Simple Guide to Playing Guitar, by Tom Kolb, Hal Leonard Corporation, Milwaukee, WI, 2006
All About Bass
The All About Bass book has tips on finding the right instrument and gear, along with other bass information and more than 40 songs in many genres, including rock, country, blues, jazz, R&B, and funk. The book also has performance tips and career paths, along with information on famous bassists.
ALL ABOUT BASS A Fun and Simple Guide to Playing Bass, by Chad Johnson, Hal Leonard Corporation, Milwaukee, WI, 2006
Fingerstyle Guitar: 
Lessons in Technique and Creativity
Fingerstyle Guitar’s unique approach encourages readers to play using their natural instinct and voice. It covers topics, including technique, visualization, articulation, altered tunings, composition and structure, and accompaniment patterns. Lessons exploring motor memory, body awareness, and concentration help musicians maximise results. On an accompanying CD author and guitarist Brian Gore, founder of International Guitar Night concert/talks, performs many of the book’s exercises and etudes.
Fingerstyle Guitar, Lessons in Technique and Creativity, by Brian Gore,
Backbeat Books, San Francisco, CA, 2005.
First Bass: The Ultimate Guide to Bass Guitar Fundamentals
First Bass is a comprehensive guide to the fundamentals of electric bass, designed to take you to the next level no matter what genre of music you want to play. The book starts with the basics of choosing the right gear, as well as proper hand positions.
Author Josquin des Pres covers basic skills like scales, modes, sight reading, and finger dexterity, and he shows you the chord progressions that drive today’s musicians. Through user-friendly lessons and exercises, First Bass explores all of the techniques, concepts, and styles that you’ll need to play bass and advance to create your own unique style. On the included MP3 CD, des Pres demonstrates the exercises.
First Bass: The Ultimate Guide to Bass Guitar Fundamentals, by Josquin des Pres, Backbeat Books, San Francisco, CA, 2005.
Monster Guitar Method [DVD]
The Monster Guitar Method interactive instructional series is designed to give the most complete guitar lessons possible, in a setting where you learn on your own schedule. It provides the knowledge of a seasoned professional, while utilizing tools such as on-screen graphics, split screen viewing of right and left hand close-ups, color-coded strings, and “follow the bouncing ball” style graphics. Monster Guitar students need not feel isolated studying at home as online help is available with direct access to an instructor and other students.
Monster Guitar Method, by Green Monster Music, Ardustry Home Entertainment, Woodland Hills, CA, 2005.
Next Step Guitar
The Next Step Guitar series is written by Tom Fleming, one of Britain’s more diverse musicians, playing and recording Irish folk, rock, jazz, and swing music. The books are designed to improve playing technique and musical knowledge for “real-world” guitarists.
Chords Made Easy introduces chord construction and songwriting. Easy-to-read chord frames are used to demonstrate open chords, bar chords, and “jazz” chords; to master common chord progressions; and to learn how to transpose them into any key using a unique chord transposition chart. The book explores altered chords and complex extended harmonies.
Sight-Reading Made Easy offers a practical approach to reading and demonstrates how to decipher and interpret the different types of notation and special instructions commonly thrown at guitarists. The book builds confidence and stamina by reading along with more than 45 examples in various styles.
Play Like a Pro is designed to elevate playing to a professional level. Guitarists learn how to perfect their time with play-along rhythm exercises, create memorable solos with slick phrasing and smooth voice leading, and learn tricks and techniques of the pros, like bending and tapping, muting and damping, vibrato, altered tunings, and harmonics.
Blues, Jazz & Rock Made Easy is an excellent introduction to the three most popular guitar styles. Guitarists learn classic blues patterns and licks, Chicago and Texas blues styles, how to unlock the secrets of modal jazz, as well as techniques for power chords, tapping, and bending. The book is full of advice and instruction, and features more than 20 full songs.
Each book in the Next Step Guitar series includes an audio CD with demos and full backing tracks.
The Next Step Guitar Chords Made Easy; Sight-Reading Made Easy; Play Like a Pro; Blues, Jazz & Rock Made Easy, by Tom Fleming, Amsco Publications, New York, NY, 2006.
The ABC’s of Violin
ABC’s of Violin for the Absolute Beginner Book 1 is the first in a series of violin method books designed for all ages. The method introduces the violin and basic music reading through melodies by classical composers, along with popular fiddle tunes like “Turkey in the Straw” and “Amazing Grace.” The simple approach to violin flows naturally to new concepts and includes diagrams showing proper finger placement.
Books in the ABC’s series have piano accompaniment books and CDs, and the ABC’s of Violin DVD demonstrates proper posture, positions, and technique. Both the CDs and DVD are sold separately.
The ABC’s of Violin for the Absolute Beginner, by Janice Tucker Rhoda, Carl Fischer, New York, NY, 2000.
The Bass Player’s Handbook
This guide for contemporary bassists provides a great start for beginners, as well as a helpful reminder for professionals. Author Greg Mooter helps readers understand the origins and workings of the bass and also outlines fundamental concepts such as proper fingering, tone production, and effective practice habits. In this comprehensive volume readers also learn how to care for, adjust, and tune a bass and maintain their own physical health as musicians.
The Bass Player’s Handbook, by Greg Mooter, Berklee Press, Boston, MA, 2002.
Slide Guitar: Know the Players, Play the Music
The latest title in Backbeat Books’ Fretmaster series, Slide Guitar: Know the Players, Play the Music teaches both the history and technique of slide guitar masters, from Robert Johnson, Son House, and Sol Hoopii through George Harrison and Leo Kottke. Guitarist, teacher, and author Pete Madsen gives his recommendations on choosing and using different types of slides.
The book is spiral-bound to conveniently lay flat on music stands, and features a play-along CD covering all of the exercises contained in the book, plus backing tracks in blues, country, and rock styles for perfect practice sessions.
Slide Guitar: Know the Players, Play the Music, by Pete Madsen, Backbeat Books, San Francisco, CA, 2005.
Mandolin Method Book 1
The Mandolin Method Book 1 is an updated second revision to the classic mandolin method book by Rich DelGrosso. This comprehensive and easy-to-use beginner’s guide includes many fun songs of different styles to learn and play.
DelGrosso, who has been teaching the instrument for many years, starts with the basics of selecting an instrument, the proper way to hold a mandolin, and how to tune it.
DelGrosso stresses the importance of learning to read music and even includes instructions about music symbols and tablature. The accompanying CD includes 43 tracks of songs from the book for demonstration and play along.
Mandolin Method Book 1, Second Edition, by Rich DelGrosso, Hal Leonard Corporation, Milwaukee, WI, 2005.
The Peavey Revolution: An All American Success Story
Hartley Peavey’s vision was to build top-quality musical instruments and amplifiers that ordinary musicians could afford. “I didn’t have any money and couldn’t afford to buy the things I wanted ... so I ended up building my own,” says Peavey.
The Peavey Revolution is the story of the company and its founder, as told by Peavey himself and the people who have known him, including author Ken Achard who worked with Peavey for 30 years, witnessing the company’s dramatic growth at close range.
One of the largest and most respected names in musical instruments and gear today, Peavey Electronics holds more than 130 patents and produces more than 2,000 products distributed throughout the US and to 136 countries. The colorful book features numerous historic photos of Peavey products and personalities.
The Peavey Revolution: Hartley Peavey, the Gear, the Company, and the All-American Success Story, by Ken Achard, Backbeat Books, San Francisco, CA, 2005
How to Play Bass Guitar: Everything You Need to Know to Play the Bass Guitar
The goal of this guide is to provide new players with all the information they need to create interesting and original bass lines and play from notation. An eager bass player will learn how to correctly position their hands, understand the fingerboard, tune with harmonics, master simple and complex rhythms, read music, and play with a group.
Chapter One is a clear explanation for a beginner with no pervious knowledge of the bass guitar. It will enable a player to develop technique. The next chapter is written for players who have progressed as far as possible without help. Notations are kept simple so that little music reading ability is required. How to Play Bass Guitar then advances on to reading music. This section will increase rhythmic awareness and greatly improve general playing. Also included are chapters on furthering a players techniques and instrument maintenance.
Author Laurene Canty is an experienced professional musician who has played and taught bass guitar for many years. His book includes several charts and pictorial examples to provide a clear and easy guide to playing a bass guitar.
How to Play Bass Guitar: Everything You Need to Know to Play the Bass Guitar, by Laurence Canty, St. Martin’s Press, New York, NY, 1992.
The Guitarist’s Guide to Set-Up and Maintenance
Charlie Chandler says that guitar set-up and maintenance is one area in which a little knowledge and effort can make a huge difference.
The Guitarist’s Guide to Set-Up and Maintenance gives readers the information and confidence to perform their own repairs and maintenance. The book includes more than 100 photos and diagrams and difficulty rating levels to aid in deciding whether or not to tackle a particular task.
The Guitarist’s Guide to Set-Up and Maintenance: The Ultimate User’s Guide, by Charlie Chandler, Artemis Editions, Beaconsfield, Bucks, England, 2005.
Getting into Guitar Styles
In Getting into Guitar Styles Scott Reed looks at the different elements needed to play styles such as blues, rock, country, R&B, and classical, as well as different styles of jazz. Reed demonstrates the practical application of scales and other musical elements. The book includes standard notation and tablature as well as fingerboard diagrams.
Packaged with the book is a companion CD of examples. Many of the tracks are recorded both with and without the written guitar so that guitarists can play the written part along with the rhythm tracks and improvise their own part.
An accomplished author and musician, Scott Reed is a two-time recipient of a music fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and has taught guitar at Governors State University.
Getting into Guitar Styles, by Scott Reed, Mel Bay Publications, Inc., Pacific, MO, 2005.
Jazz Improvisation for Guitar: A Melodic Approach
Melodies based on triads and melodic extensions sound more natural and musical than ones developed exclusively from scales. Triads—the fundamental building blocks of harmony—are a simple and effective way to avoid scale-based improvising.
In Jazz Improvisation for Guitar: A Melodic Approach, world-renowned jazz guitarist Garrison Fewell offers an organized approach to creating expressive jazz solos and accompaniments. Triad and melodic extension examples and exercises help guitarists to achieve the most expressive jazz feel and rhythm.
The included play-along CD features outstanding musical examples and rhythm-section tracks performed by a trio of Garrison Fewell on guitar, Steve LaSpina on bass, and John Riley on drums. A special bonus track explores the techniques learned throughout the book.
Jazz Improvisation for Guitar: A Melodic Approach, by Garrison Fewell, Berklee Press, Boston, MA, 2005.
Bass Grooves: Develop Your Groove & Play Like the Pros in Any Style
There’s something about the bass that just makes people want to move. By the same token, it’s pretty hard to move when you’re listening to a bass riff that just doesn’t groove. That’s why Ed Friedland, performing bassist and columnist for Bass Player magazine, has stepped in to save bassists and funky people everywhere.
With his Bass Grooves: Develop Your Groove & Play Like the Pros in Any Style, Friedland has created a powerful resource for bassists of all levels and abilities. Loaded with exercises, a bass groove encyclopedia from A (anticipated backbeat) to Z (zydeco), drum parts, lessons on drum machine programming, and a CD to illustrate how it all should sound, Bass Grooves is a trove of information for bassists.
Friedland does not stop at instructions. The book features 100 plus examples in standard notation and tab, plus drum parts; comments on groove from bass greats like Phil Chen and Harvey Brooks; and a discussion of groove metaphysics.
Bass Grooves: Develop Your Groove & Play Like the Pros in Any Style, by Ed Friedland, Backbeat Books, San Francisco, CA, 2004.
The Crash Course Series for Guitar
There are few high-quality, informative guides for beginner guitarists who may be experiencing difficulties and confusion in approaching non-intuitive intricacies of their instruments. The Crash Course series is a group of guides, designed to lead readers though four aspects of guitar playing.
If you play the guitar but are frustrated by issues like complex tuning or how to get the most out of that new distortion pedal you just bought, you may want to invest in Joe Bennett’s contributions to the series. With three Crash Course titles to his name, Bennett guides the beginner through explainations of guitar arpeggios, tunings, and effects. For those guitarists whose interests are streamlined more in the realm of jazz, there is also Hugh Burns’ Crash Course on Jazz Guitar Voicings.
Each Crash Course title is paired with a CD containing examples, demo tracks, chords, and other essentials to better illustrate the books. The Crash Course series provides a compact and useful trove of information for guitarists everywhere.
Crash Course Series, by Joe Bennett and Hugh Burns, Artemis Editions, Buckinghamshire, England, 2003.
I Used to Play Guitar
If you once played guitar and have ever wanted to pick it up again, this is the book for you. Its friendly four-part method will reintroduce you to once familiar concepts and techniques and take you further down the road of guitar proficiency. Part 1 reacquaints you with the guitar and guitar care; basic chords and strumming patterns are covered in part 2; part 3 describes standard music notation; and part 4 will teach you how to improvise and provide the tools to rise to a new level of proficiency.
The book is accompanied by a CD with track numbers that respond directly to the book’s example numbers. The author, Jody Fisher, a professional musician and teacher, has worked in virtually all styles of music and has taught guitar and jazz studies at both the University of Redlands and Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts (ISOMATA). He is the director of the National Guitar Workshop.
I Used to Play Guitar, by Jody Fisher, Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., Van Nuys, CA, 2004.
Guitar Chord Songbook: Beach Boys
Hal Leonard Corporation has released the latest in its Guitar Chord Songbook series. Guitar Chord Songbook: Beach Boys includes complete lyrics, chord symbols and guitar chord diagrams for 59 Beach Boys hits, such as “Barbara Ann,” “California Girls,” and “Surfin’ USA.”
The book is perfect for players who don’t read music, but want to strum chords and sing, and equally ideal for more advanced guitarists who don’t want to wade through note-for-note notation. The 6-inch by 9-inch size makes it great to stow inside your guitar case.
Other Guitar Chord Songbooks in the series feature hits from The Beatles, Eric Clapton, and Neil Diamond, or focus on children’s, Christmas, Christian, folk, pop, and rock music genres.
Guitar Chord Songbook: Beach Boys, Hal Leonard Corporation, Milwaukee, WI.
The Gig Bag Book of Picture Chords for all Guitarists
This handy reference book, compiled by Len Vogler, contains more than 1,000 standard chord forms presented in easy-to-read diagrams and clear, close-up photos. The Gig Bag Book of Picture Chords puts all the right chords at your fingertips in a small format that fits nicely in a gig bag. Chords are displayed as diagrams that represent the fingerboard of the guitar and accompanied by photos to the right of each diagram that show you what your hand should look like on the guitar fingerboard. A chart of chord names and alternate symbols is also included.
The Gig Bag Book of Picture Chords for all Guitarists, compiled by Len Vogler, Music Sales Corporation, 257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
