The top 3 essential reference books for jazz guitar?

CaseOfAce · February 2023

I'm guessing the Real Book would be in the top 3 (version?) ?

AntonHunter · February 2023

I don't play much jazz-jazz these days, but the Mick Goodrick Advancing Guitarist book has to be up there. There's a few decent Joe Pass ones too.

Brad · February 2023

@CaseOfAce it’s a big topic that could spiral into more suggestions than can actually be helpful. Certain books I may like, might not actually work for you or give you want you’re after.

Do you have specific goals in mind, do they need to be aimed at guitarists in particular?

As @AntonHunter said, Advancing Guitarist should be in everyone’s collection. But it’s very concept driven, not ideal for anyone wanting to be spoon fed information.

Books can only get us so far unless we’re listening, transcribing and playing with recordings.

CaseOfAce · February 2023

OK - let's say for sake of argument a guitarist comes up to me and says let's do Autumn Leaves next Wednesday.

I'd be looking for top line melody, chords / inversions to mess around with and scale choices... (not least for the half diminished stuff...etc).

Fully agree - books will only get you so far... you've got to put it into practice - and get out your looper!

Blueingreen · February 2023

The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine isn't written specifically for guitarists and will be controversial with some people because it teaches Chord Scale Theory but I think it probably deserves a top 3 place as probably the most highly regarded comprehensive explanation of modern jazz theory.

But I'm getting a feeling we have different ideas about what constitutes a "reference book". I'm not sure I would call a Fake Book a reference book, although I can see how others might argue that it is.

Whistler · February 2023

Blueingreen said:

The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine isn't written specifically for guitarists and will be controversial with some people because it teaches Chord Scale Theory but I think it probably deserves a top 3 place as probably the most highly regarded comprehensive explanation of modern jazz theory.

I won't ever end up on Desert Island Discs but if I do that is the book I want to take with me to my desert island. It is worth it.

kelpbeds · February 2023

I'd add the Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony to the list.

AntonHunter · February 2023

I think there are apps that kinda replace the Real Book maybe? Always nice to have a paper copy though, Real Book 1 has Autumn Leaves in it...

joeW · February 2023

Levine is the only thing I'd class as a reference - plus has the advantage of no tab!

GuyBoden · February 2023

joeW said:

Levine is the only thing I'd class as a reference - plus has the advantage of no tab!

Brad · February 2023

CaseOfAce said:

OK - let's say for sake of argument a guitarist comes up to me and says let's do Autumn Leaves next Wednesday.

I'd be looking for top line melody, chords / inversions to mess around with and scale choices... (not least for the half diminished stuff...etc).

Fully agree - books will only get you so far... you've got to put it into practice - and get out your looper!

Well, that sounds as though you’re after something that will give you some immediate material and info/answers to (hopefully) get under your fingers in time, rather than a longer term conceptual approach. If it’s being reduced to just 3 books (that’s a tough ask btw!), broadly speaking I’d argue you need books that deal with the following:

Single note playing

Chords

Harmony, theory or repertoire.

So with that in mind, these are the three I would tentatively suggest:

1. Melodic Cells for Jazz Guitar by Oz Noy -
Systematically deals with playing over both major and minor ii-V-I focussing on connecting V-I which let’s face it, us guitarists are all a bit weak at. Loads of examples to learn.

2. Modern Chord Progressions by Ted Greene -
Most people suggest Chord Chemistry, but that is just page after page of chord diagrams. Modern Chord Progressions puts them in context.

3. Real/Fake Book - put the material in 1 and 2 into context with tunes. Good for working on your reading too.

This is only scratching the surface as there are so many others, some already mentioned in the thread (The Jazz Theory Book being one) I could easily have included. You’ll still have to do a lot of work yourself mind, these won’t get you to play Autumn Leaves authentically, but maybe enough to blag it.

EvansDrD · February 2023

Worth remembering that the Real Books very often give simplified versions of heads/top line melody and chords. They are also known to contain some errors. I'd think of them as a good starting point rather than a reference book per se, but I might be missing what you are asking for

Sticking with your Autumn Leaves example...you'd get the basic melody and chords. As to what you might then do with that to prep for playing with the other guitarist next Weds; it wouldn't give you much

I think some of Martin Taylor's books will give you a 'method' of sorts for working something up from these basics, principally as solo arrangements

IIRC there is a really nice Wolf Marshall book where he takes a couple of standards, transcribes the head, and then transcribes a few example solos from different players (Jim Hall's take, Joe Pass's take etc. etc.) he might even explain/analyse the different solos. I think it was Wolf Marshall and I remember it being a very good way 'in' to thinking about how to work with the material.

pinging @greejn - he knows his onions here, has extensive experience of teaching jazz guitar, and will send you off in Tim Lerch's direction

chrisj1602 · February 2023

Jazz Guitar Online is worth a look. I remember getting a free PDF download and did a few lessons before reverting to not learning anything again… some stuff definitely stuck though. I need to revisit.

greejn · February 2023

Hi Dr.D ! I'd recommend Ted Greene, Tim Lerch books, also iReal b app for charts and backing. Rich Severson's Youtube channel is good, Robin Nolan for gypsy jazz style. At least a couple of proper lessons too would save a lot of time! My own viewpoint is that 10-15mins of chord melody practice is more beneficial than an hour of scales, mainly because you are working on multiple things at the same time.

AntonHunter · March 2023

Hi @greejn, sorry to hijack the thread, wondering about what you're saying re. chord-melody practice. Are you talking about learning arrangements (and if so, any books to recommend there?), or putting the time in to create your own?

Blueingreen · March 2023

greejn said:

Hi Dr.D ! I'd recommend Ted Greene, Tim Lerch books, also iReal b app for charts and backing. Rich Severson's Youtube channel is good, Robin Nolan for gypsy jazz style. At least a couple of proper lessons too would save a lot of time! My own viewpoint is that 10-15mins of chord melody practice is more beneficial than an hour of scales, mainly because you are working on multiple things at the same time.

I think you could make a case that iReal Pro covers a lot of the territory that Fake Books used to cover. For the price of entry (13USD when I bought it iirc, probably gone up a bit now) you can download 1000s of free charts, equivalent to many Fake Books. One obvious caveat is that charts are even less reliable than Real Book ones and don't have the melody, but most will be able to pick that up by ear fairly quickly. OTOH you have a backing track that's transposable, you can vary the tempo, repeat sections, and drop out the comping instrument if you want to practice comping. I'd say iReal Pro v Real Book is a no brainer - not that you can't have both, of course.

Barney · March 2023

I don't know about books but I'm on the kreisberg exploration of a note and learning loads ....it's the online subscription thing ....well worth it and came about the right time for me

greejn · March 2023

(AntonHunter) A lot of chord melody arrangements in the books are not very helpful, I want the actual changes and not some reharmonisation. You kind of need to work them out yourself, otherwise it's very hard to remember them.

CaseOfAce · March 2023

Looks to be some great suggestions on here - looking forward to checking them out. Many thanks.

jdgm · March 2023

One of my top 3 is "Rhythm and Background Chords" by Warren Nunes which was very easy to use and taught me the value of practicing the cycle of 4ths/5ths. I think it's long out of print but there must be a modern equivalent.

Ted Greene "Modern Chord Progressions" as mentioned but take a look at his website which has loads of stuff you could download.

https://www.tedgreene.com/

I also think "Jazz Guitar Structures" by Andrew Green is excellent.

And the Real Book and/or New Real Book, vols 1&2 - or the iRealPro. I use the former, 2 people in my band use the latter and the chords are sometimes very different.

duotone · April 2023

If you are getting the “Real Book” make sure you get the ‘C edition’ - skip to 2:30mins where Justin explains why.

” * UPDATE: Day after I filmed this I decided to buy The Real Book (Volume 6) just to check it out - and it's typeset, no longer hand written and it looks a gazillion times better than the original Volume 5!! So that would be my recommended buy.”

https://youtu.be/Gta5__noZME

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The top 3 essential reference books for jazz guitar?

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