Recommendations for a good jazz guitar instructional?

What's Hot
PonchoGregPonchoGreg Frets: 764
Hiya,

With the sheer scale (ha ha) of teaching materials available online, in books, on YT, etc I find it a bit tough to find something structured that would encourage me to stick to it.

Any recommendations on a good method to build up my jazz playing? Not too fussed about format, could be PDF, print, videos, etc.

Level-wise my theory is practically non-existent :) I know some of the basic jazz chords from learning a few tunes over the years though.

Thanks a lot in advance for any tips!
Click here to see me butchering some classic solos!
0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
«1

Comments

  • sweavesweave Frets: 65
    For theory I can recommend Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book. Not aimed at guitarists but very comprehensive yet accessible at the same time....nice!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • PonchoGregPonchoGreg Frets: 764
    Cheers man, will check that out. Perhaps I should have mentioned that (with time being a rare commodity), anything that's playing-based rather than purely theoretical would be preferable. I do realise that a good theoretical foundation becomes essential in jazz fairly early on though...
    Click here to see me butchering some classic solos!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BlueingreenBlueingreen Frets: 2582
    edited May 2019
    Never used them myself but the Mickey Baker books still seem to have a solid reputation among jazzers.

    I'm more a jazz dabbler than a proper jazzer but I'd recommend:

    - for comping, Maiden Voyage Guitar Voicings by Mike DeLiddo.  Easily one of the best guitar books I've bought and one of the very few I've learned cover to cover

    - for soloing An Introduction to Jazz Guitar Soloing by Joe Elliott.  Assumes you are already reasonably comfortable with the idea of "single key" improvising (eg playing in C major on a Dm7/G7/Cmaj7) and gives you strategies for playing more harmonically interesting stuff against major and minor 2 5 1s.  If you work through it it will enable to you to start playing "outside" sounding stuff that sounds musical against jazz progressions.
    “To a man with a hammer every problem looks like a nail.”
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • PonchoGregPonchoGreg Frets: 764
    Amazing, thanks mate
    Click here to see me butchering some classic solos!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • GassageGassage Frets: 30826
    Paging @stuartryanmusic ; ....

    *An Official Foo-Approved guitarist since Sept 2023.

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BebopperBebopper Frets: 129
    Hi @PonchoGreg ;

    A recommendation for Sheryl Bailey's video course 'Bebop Dojo: Essentials', available through Truefire: https://truefire.com/jazz-guitar-lessons/bebop-dojo-essentials/c111

    It's a solid, organised course that will give you a good basic set of skills for jazz playing and get you playing over some basic progressions.

    Sheryl's a fantastic player and teacher (I took online one-to-one lessons with her for several years) and I can recommend all her stuff.

    PS. She's in the UK in June for a bunch of gigs and is giving workshops in London, Cambridge and Huddersfield too.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 3reaction image Wisdom
  • BebopperBebopper Frets: 129

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • BebopperBebopper Frets: 129

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • PonchoGregPonchoGreg Frets: 764
    Smashing, thank you
    Click here to see me butchering some classic solos!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BebopperBebopper Frets: 129

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BebopperBebopper Frets: 129

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BarneyBarney Frets: 614
    Check out the Sal Salvador jazz guitar series ...some great things in there and very accessible if just starting that type of thing 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ArchtopDaveArchtopDave Frets: 1367
    Bebopper said:
    Hi @PonchoGreg ;

    A recommendation for Sheryl Bailey's video course 'Bebop Dojo: Essentials', available through Truefire: https://truefire.com/jazz-guitar-lessons/bebop-dojo-essentials/c111

    It's a solid, organised course that will give you a good basic set of skills for jazz playing and get you playing over some basic progressions.

    Sheryl's a fantastic player and teacher (I took online one-to-one lessons with her for several years) and I can recommend all her stuff.

    PS. She's in the UK in June for a bunch of gigs and is giving workshops in London, Cambridge and Huddersfield too.
    I agree .... Her Truefire Courses are excellent. I have the one on Jazz Comping. Would really love to see her live, but I'm away in Italy (playing guitar!!, or at least trying to).
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • PonchoGregPonchoGreg Frets: 764
    I'm definitely checking that course - looks like exactly what I'm after, and good value to boot
    Click here to see me butchering some classic solos!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • BranshenBranshen Frets: 1222
    If you can, get a good teacher for jazz. It's a really tough genre to tackle on your own. 
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • koss59koss59 Frets: 845
    One of the biggest things for me was the Emily Remler instructional video if you can find it!
    I bought the Micky Baker book after everyone seemed to rav about it but I think its the best thing to put you off learning any jazz, horrible book.
    I personally couldn’t ever learn music from books though.
    Facebook.com/nashvillesounduk/
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • vizviz Frets: 10644
    edited June 2019
    I think it depends on the jazz. A good place to start is swing / big band / American broadway. 

    An alternative is gypsy jazz / bossa. 

    Both are easy and melodic. Once you’ve got them under your fingers you can move to bebop. 

    Youtube is your friend, but so is sheet music / chord charts. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 2reaction image Wisdom
  • MegiiMegii Frets: 1670
    koss59 said:
    One of the biggest things for me was the Emily Remler instructional video if you can find it!
    I bought the Micky Baker book after everyone seemed to rav about it but I think its the best thing to put you off learning any jazz, horrible book.
    I personally couldn’t ever learn music from books though.
    Another vote for the Emily Remler videos - there were actually two "Bebop and Swing Guitar" and then "Advanced Jazz and Latin Guitar" which despite the title is still taught in a very accessible, straightforward way. I think they were at one point released on DVD so you might find copies available.

    I've been signed up to Barry Greene's video lessons site for a while now, and find it to be excellent, and he keeps adding new lessons. Was recommended to me by a pro jazz guitarist, and has proved very worthwhile. There is a "stepping stones" series of lessons for those fairly new to jazz guitar, covering the essentials you need to then move on to the other lessons (of which there are a lot).

    https://barrygreenevideolessons.vhx.tv/

    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • PonchoGregPonchoGreg Frets: 764
    Cheers guys - Barry Greene's site does look good.

    In the meantime I got the Sheryl Bailey course as there was a BOGOF thing on truefire (and I got full access to all the site for a month). I might glean as much as possible there and move on!
    Click here to see me butchering some classic solos!
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • ArchtopDaveArchtopDave Frets: 1367
    edited June 2019
    Megii said:
    koss59 said:
    One of the biggest things for me was the Emily Remler instructional video if you can find it!
    I bought the Micky Baker book after everyone seemed to rav about it but I think its the best thing to put you off learning any jazz, horrible book.
    I personally couldn’t ever learn music from books though.
    Another vote for the Emily Remler videos - there were actually two "Bebop and Swing Guitar" and then "Advanced Jazz and Latin Guitar" which despite the title is still taught in a very accessible, straightforward way. I think they were at one point released on DVD so you might find copies available.

    I've been signed up to Barry Greene's video lessons site for a while now, and find it to be excellent, and he keeps adding new lessons. Was recommended to me by a pro jazz guitarist, and has proved very worthwhile. There is a "stepping stones" series of lessons for those fairly new to jazz guitar, covering the essentials you need to then move on to the other lessons (of which there are a lot).

    https://barrygreenevideolessons.vhx.tv/

    You're right - I have both of Emily Remler's Courses on DVD. She's my favourite guitarist, and there is the website allthingsemily.com dedicated to her work. I was really pleased last year to come across a Gibson 330 which had had a pair of PAF's put in it sometime in the past, which more or less replicated her main guitar.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.