Chord Tone Soloing for Jazz Guitar: Master Arpeggio-Based Soloing for Jazz Guitar (Play jazz guitar)

I wish I had this book 40 years ago when I was cutting my jazz teeth. Horn players have known this stuff for eons, but somehow guitarists missed the boat. Even the great classic jazz guitar tutors didnt spend much time on topics like voice leading. Possibly because the guitar was primarily regarded as a rhythm instrument in the early days of jazz.I believe that if someone had given me this book 40 years ago it would have shaved years off my practise time. I eventually did learn the subject matter but I made a lot of mistakes along the way and spent a lot of time playing the wrong thingsI would highly recommend this book to students of jazz guitar, and teachers alike. I am a teacher and I find this book to be a great resource.Now, the cons: I have 2 little peeves; the first one probably applies to just about every guitar book these days. It is a favorite irk of mine. I object to paying for TABs. Reading music is a fundamental aspect of musicianship. Not reading music is like a medical student who says, "I am not interested in spines, ribs, hearts . . . ." Whatever. You would expect your doctor to know all the basics. Imagine Steven King if he were illiterate; the idea is preposterous!2nd. There are some musical examples in this book that are way too small in the iBook edition. I have had to photograph these pages then enlarge the photos. Do yourself a favor and get the print edition.Summary: A very good, better than average, jazz guitar tutorial. I recommend it.

Although this appears to be quite a short book it has taken me over 6 months to get thru it. You need to pace yourself and follow Joseph's instructions, not to just skip ahead to the next part. You need to go over the exercises until they are really bedded in and are becoming part of your playing (not easy for an impatient guy like me :-)). I found the book really useful. It is well laid out. My only slight criticism would be that the chord and arpeggio shape drawings are just too small when reading on a tablet. The other issue with the diagrams, and this is just a personal preference but I think an important one, is that the drawings should all be rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise. This is so they then look like the correct view of the fretboard as you view it while playing. This enhances and reinforces the visual image of the pattern in your mind. The way they are presented is not helpful.The book comes with a series of audio tracks to practice with. I actually didn't use these as I just played the chord progression into my looper and used that. I did listen to a few of them though and they are very well done.This book is all about arpeggios and getting them under your fingers (This is what takes the time) . If you are a bit stuck with your playing and want to open up some soloing possibilities then this may be the book for you. Being a chord tone system gives your solos a very slick and sweet type of sound but because Joseph gives you a series of techniques to start and stop your solo in "odd" places and arpeggios that skip notes you can also achieve that outside kind of off the wall solo that we all strive for.I liked it. I'm going to explore more of Mr Alexander's books. I think you should too :-)P.S. I gave it 4/5 only because of the diagram issue. The content of the book deserves a solid 5/5

This is an excellent presentation of a fairly complex topic. I happen to have a Master's Degree in Music Theory, so the theory concepts weren't hard to follow. For someone who does not have a deep theory back ground, the material is presented in what I call a "building block" sequence. Joseph starts out with simple concepts and then walks the reader into and through the more complex theory ideas. Well done, thank you.

I spent a year or two learning the CAGED system and fretboard theory, all the modes, pentatonic scales etc. After a while i wanted to progress further, and have been looking at a bunch of books to help me. Finally i stumbled over this book, and it is exactly what i needed. Now I have bought this book and the first one in their jazz chord series, and i will probably be using only Fundamental Changes series of books from now on. Its hard to find a style of guitar books that suits your particular needs. Luckily this suited me perfectly. And its cheap! A bargain. 5/5

As a beginner jazz guitarist, I've tried many sources to try and explain the concepts of how to get started playing jazz, only to be more confused or intimidated with the process. I stopped buying guitar books altogether for some time, until I came upon Josephs books. I have many other of his books, and have found them to be the most helpful of all.I highly recommend any material from fundamental changes.Thanks Joseph for guiding me along.

I've played guitar for a long time and have memorized most scales/positions but my Jazz improvising sounded too much like running through scales. Chord Tone Soloing for Jazz Guitar is simple and direct - helping me approach the genre and the guitar in a different way that ties in years of playing and the few lessons I've had at various times. Definitely recommend for someone just getting started or has played for years and wants a kick start to playing with feeling while "thinking on your feet". The backing tracks and recorded examples are also great tools to practice with.

Great book that takes a somewhat complex subject and breaks it down into manageble bits of info that you can immediately apply to your playing. I've worked thru the whole book and would recommend that you take the info in slowly and integrate what you've learned into your playing before moving on to the next topic. Progress may seem a bit slow at first, but the dividends are massive.

There is a heck of a lot of material in this book to get through, and so will take some time to cover all the Chapters. But that is a good thing as each Chapter is clearly laid out, has detailed descriptions of chords, arpeggios, guitar tabulation and good general advice on practice.As a self taught Guitarist playing Rock and Blues I put off branching out into Jazz until by chance I saw the Author talking about his books on Musical U on You Tube. I did my research and when I saw how much information and how well it was all set out I just had to get this book and I’m not disappointed. After only a few weeks of study, I found my fear of Jazz was unfounded and now thanks to this book I’m hooked on this music.There are other Guitar Tutorial books out there, some of which I have and are okay, but are not as Comprehensive & Detailed as this book, which is excellent value for money.It does what it says on the tin as it helps you to master the fretboard skills and essential progressions in bepop that gets your playing much closer to an authentic jazz sound.On the strength of this book I bought Joseph’s ‘Guitar Scales In Context’...but that’s another story and a damn good read - David Acaster.

Finally a guitar instruction book that understands what it is like to be a novice. I have been a self taught guitar player for as long as I can remember and I have many half finished instruction books on my bookshelf. The reason they don't get finished is because I lose interest in grafting my way through other people's licks and riffs. I loved Joseph's approach and philosophy from the start; "The greatest priority of any musician should be to simply make music". He then goes on to show exactly how to do that by the end of Chapter 1!I have always considered Jazz to be out of the reach of someone with my modest guitar abilities. I know my way around a chord progression, scales and arpeggios, but I always thought Jazz was too complex and challenging for me to ever tackle. And yet here I am in Chapter 2 playing over backing tracks and teasing out some half respectable jazz licks from somewhere in my brain. It is so much more fun to follow an instruction book that has YOU making the music, rather than learning someone else's music by rote.This is one instruction book that is definitely going to get completed, and I already believe I will be a Jazz guitarist by the end.

I have a couple of hundred music books, this one stands out for being totally practical. There is enough theory to understand what's going on but not so much that it bogs you down. The chapters link together logically and provide realistic goals to achieve before progressing to the next level. Too many books get to hard too quickly or don't set the exercises out in satisfying chunks.It will not teach you the whole topic, but that's not the goal. The goal is to get you started with something to play in the face of most popular jazz standards. It achieves that goal well.

Joseph Alexander’s books are always very good value, well written containing essential information that should take your playing to the next level.

What a great book!!! This is one of the most comprehensive books I've used. I have been playing for a good few years but I'm self taught and I was therefore worried that this would be too advanced or complex. Nothing could be. Further from the truth as this book takes you right back to basics... A great learning tool