“What books or methods do you recommend for learning jazz” is one of the questions that I get all the time on my videos and on social media. Everybody is looking for good Jazz Books!
I usually don’t really answer the question because for me books have been one of many ways I have studied and I have never worked through a method from cover to cover. There are many aspects of learning jazz and absorbing the information, and taking it from a book is only one way and not the path you can use for learning a lot of things.
That said there are of course books that I have had a lot of fun with and learned a lot from. In this vlog I will try to talk about some of them and also talk about what I have learned and how I have used them. This way of approaching the usefulness of a book is often overlooked in my opinion.
The Jazz Books
Charlie Parker Omnibook
The Charlie Omnibook is a must for checking out Bebop! You just can’t go wrong with that one!
Kreutzer Etudes
I have learned a lot from figuring out and practicing these etudes. This book is about making music with your technique but also about using your fretboard knowledge to be able to play them in the first place.
Ted Greene – Modern Chord Progressions
Ted Greene could make music like no one else with chords. His use of different types of chords and always making the harmony flow in a great melodic way is certainly worth a study!
Joe Pass – Guitar Style
Mick Goodrick – The Advancing Guitarist
https://geni.us/Ht5H4y
The honourable mention:
Joe Pass – Chord solos
https://geni.us/2iBeP
Again Joe Pass is the one we turn to when you have to learn something really difficult. This time it is chord soloing!
