PlayJazzGuitar.com Forum

[snakestretcher]

I'm an intermediate+ player as far as blues/rock and acoustic styles are concerned but I don't read a note of standard notation!
I'm looking for a book of jazz standards, with CD if possible, with chord boxes so I can get a start and a feel for the style. Amazon has about a miillion listings but little information as to the contents so I would be extremely grateful for a pointer in the right direction. The complicated stuff I can wait for!

Many thanks in advance
Andrew

[mr. beaumont]

this isn't the answer you want, but in order to really play jazz, you're going to want to learn how to read music...it's not that hard, and the benefits are great.

someone else may be able to chime in on a book/CD combo, but to me, the most is learned working out of a real book and learning tunes.

on a related note, how is your chord knowledge?
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“For the guitar is the most unpredictable and least reliable musical instrument in existence...and also the sweetest, the warmest, the most delicate, whose melancholic voice awakes in our soul exquisite reveries.”

Andres Segovia

[snakestretcher]

[Gorecki]

I basically concur with the above. You don't have to know how to read music, many great players never did/could. BUT, you'll want to be able too read music and understand fundamental music theory to ease the process on yourself. Otherwise it can be very confusing when people start talking b5,#5,b9,#9, Dorian mode...etc.

http://www.musictheory.net is a reasonable free source for fundamental music theory.

Learning standards by book and/or recording (transcribing so to speak) can be infinitely valuable. These 'standards' offer a massive education within.

To head down the road of 'jazz improv', master the 12 bar blues! You'll know you're ready to move forward once this has been achieved.
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Forums Admin for PlayJazzGuitar.com.

Do you know where all of your F'n B flats are?

[JakeJew]

If you want more of a "gloss over" then a "dive right in" then you should get yourself a real book - http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41A2H0GB4EL.jpg

and peruse some of these links http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2&hl=en&safe=off&q=basic+jazz+guitar+chords

I know it seems a little cheap, but all the basic jazz voicings are online, there are tons of websites with "how to play jazz chords" articles, including chord charts.

which link is for you depends on how much theory you'd like to/are willing to learn.

At a base, I think you need to start with knowing this:

three note (omit 5th) voicings for the following chords, off the top of my head: m7, maj7, "6", 7, m7b5, dim7, and sus. most of the other chords in the real book are just variations on those seven types. If you omit the fifth and play a small voicing, you can use that voicing in place of a more complicated chord. Ex, if the chart says "F+7" or "F7b9b13" you can just play a three note F7 (to start.) If the chart says Fmaj7#11 you can just play a three note Fmaj7, there will be no clash. Bb9 or Bb13 you can play Bb7.

Obviously eventually you'll want to find voicings for the bigger chords with tensions and such as they simply sound jazzier and more interesting.

When I have students who aren't very good at reading and maybe not theory wizards yet, I basically put them through this process, but we don't even get the real book right away. I'll show them swing-style 12 bar blues in a few different keys, then Autumn Leaves, all the things you are, blue bossa. This is, relating to your original post, just regarding chord knowledge/comping, and not neccessarily relevant to lead playing.

Hope that helps.
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[mr. beaumont]

[Jake Hanlon]

Personally this is just my opinion and not to take away from other suggestions...

I always love it when people say they've developed a good ear. 9 times out of 10 those people don't know a minor 3rd if it slaps them in the face. having a good ear for Rock and Blues is easy, having a good ear in terms of Jazz and Classical music is a totally different ball game. It's almost as if you are going to need to relearn some things, basic fundamental ear training and theory in order to get into Jazz. Like suggested, to make life easier on you you're going to have to learn to read, you're going to have to really know the fretboard like the back of your hand and you're going to have to listen to this music as if it's a part time job.

My recommendations are like this...

Books are no good without a teacher to help you explain the individual issues you're going to run into. No one is the same, we all have questions to ask and a teacher is there to help. Books are one sided conversations with some guy talking at you and not to you. Unless you have a strong grasp of fundamentals right now books will do nothing but confuse and anger you.

Real books are well and good and probably the one thing i would spend money on at this point as a source of tunes to begin learning. I think that the hal Leonard books are great, yet you don't read standard notation. I suggest, and highly recommend this book first...

http://www.amazon.com/Mel-Bay-Jazz-Guitar-Standards/dp/0786666455/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203458496&sr=1-11

Excellent changes, well phrased melodies in Standard and Tab. Each standard has a straight up lead sheet, a 1 chorus solo etude and a 1 chorus solo guitar arrangement.

Then I would take whatever money you would spend on other books and put it towards a good metronome and buying jazz CD's. Then start transcribing lines.
'
Start learning Music theory and ear training with interactive online excersies and quizes

www.musictheory.net

Download www.earmaster.com and get your ears tuned up to jazz chord extensions and scales.

I would then go out to see live Jazz as often as you can afford and look into a teacher/mentor to get you some hands on help
_________________
Guitarist, Composer, Professor of Music St Francis Xavier University

www.jakehanlon.com


Debut Album Follow @ Itunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/follow/id406062013

[JakeJew]

[Jack]

I got a lot out of this book when I was starting out, just figuring out good voicings, inversions, and substitutions:



It doesn't really have tunes per se, but using it with a fake book can really be enlightening if you try approaching a tune in several different ways, work on voice leading, etc. Good luck!

best,
Jack.

[Hitdoggie]

Jake I agree with you statement about a "good ear" a ton. That gets thrown around so much its losts its meaning.

I've worked on jazz for a while now and my ear could still used a lot of work. SO it urkes me when people say "I have a decent ear."


ANyways for books: Garrison Fewell http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0634017721/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-2070509-3265647#reader-link

I never liked the guy personally; but for a start his book is pretty good. IT will cover how to build altered chords, etc.

For comping listen to jazz see how it is done; buy a real book.

[snakestretcher]

[snakestretcher]

[Hitdoggie]

YOu don't irk me personally. You might have a decent ear or a great ear. I was just saying that people say they have a great ear far to much. I know this form adult ed classes and private lessons I teach. The same people couldn't transcribe the chords to "stormy monday" or a Peter Frampton tune.

In a jazz sense, and this isn't being snooty, having a good ear is a more evolved thing. So it might make sense to start hearing how tensions sound over a chord, etc.

You might have made great money not being able to read; but it is a valid skill I'd start learning ASAP. Only because the deeper you die into this thing the less and less books will include tab or chord charts. Not to mention subtle rhythmic nuances.

Anyways, not an attack on you. Check out that book.
Peace

[Jake Hanlon]

considering that %90 of guitarists don't read standard notation you just become a member of the flock . If you learn to read the material out there for jazz guitar becomes much wider then having to rely on tab. Tab is an impractical system for Jazz.

The book, I don't think gives chord charts... again chords in Jazz is a whole other kettle of fish.

As for a blues, 40 years of blues is great and awesome... strangely though a 12 bar Blues to a jazz musician means something quite different then to a blues musician... there are different chord changes, different scales etc etc.

I'm not trying to discourage or defame you or anything... I'm just "keeping it real" and I probably take this music to seriously.

As far as the book I suggested, it really is for that purpose, to just learn standards and such. It's also a good gate way into something more indepth. Plus they actually have good, accurate chord changes unlike most fake books.
_________________
Guitarist, Composer, Professor of Music St Francis Xavier University

www.jakehanlon.com


Debut Album Follow @ Itunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/follow/id406062013

[dewey decibel]

I have a good ear and am not a good reader...


Here's the simple truth- if your ear was good enough to play jazz you wouldn't be asking these questions. That's not a knock, just an attempt to put things in perspective.

The fact that you don't read doesn't bother me so much as the fact that you're asking for a song book with chord boxes. When you have a song written out you'll have the melody written on the staff with chord symbols above. For instance, here are some of the changes to "Fe Fi Fo Fum":

Eb7 | D7 | Gmin11 | Abmin7 | Bmaj7 | D13 | Gmaj7 | G7 |

But this is just a guide, you can play any voicing you want of these, and in fact it's implied that these are just the most basic chords and that you should add extensions and alterations as needed. For instance that Eb7 could be Eb7#11, D7 could be D7#9 or D7alt, etc.

The point is you really need to understand music and how chords work. I was lucky enough that I have a good ear (which I've worked on) so I could hear that the Eb7 should get a #11 and not a natural 4th, but most people have to learn it through theory. And on that same train of thought, reading standard notation can be a big help in that process. I can read a little bit, but can't sight read to save my life. And no, it hasn't stopped me from playing lots of gigs and making some dough, but it has stopped me from getting the more lucrative gigs.

Anyway, since you have a good handle on the blues that can be a good way to jump into jazz. Do you know a Parker blues? Here's the changes to "Blues For Alice":

Fmaj7 | Emin7b5 A7b9 | Dmin7 | Cmin7 F7 |

Bbmaj7 | Bbmin7 Eb7 | Fmaj7 | Abmin7 Db7 |

Gmin7 | C7 | Fmaj7 D7b9 | Gmin7 C7 |

Or a basic jazz blues:

F7 | Bb7 | F7 | Gmin7 F7+5 |

Bb7 | Bbmin7 Ab7 | F7 | Amin7b5 D7b9 |

Gmin7 | C7 | F7 D7b9 | Gmin7 C7 |

There's also a lot of books out there with titles like "Jazzin' the Blues" that attempt to bridge the two. If you look on any forum you'll find tons of posts about guys that want to "add a little jazz flavor to their blues". As for more standards type of books the one Jake posted looks pretty good.