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Note: 5-24-25
I'm terribly sorry, but I'm out of stock right now.
Please check back in a few months
and I should have a few more books printed up to sell.

(I'm sorry, but I'm going in for some neck surgery soon.)

Important Note:
(If anyone finds any typos in the book please contact me right away.)
Use the Table Of Contents as you would use an index.
Eg.. If you are working on pentatonics, then look up pentatonics in the TOC. If you are working on chord melody then look up the various places where chord melody is mentioned in the TOC. Etc.:
Links are supplied below to excerpts from the individual chapters.

Joe’s Guitar Method
Towards A Jazz Improviser’s Technique
Table Of Contents
  1. Intro Pg. 1
  2. Tuning & Setup Pg. 5
    1. The Grand Staff
    2. Using a Tuner
    3. Intonation
    4. Action and String Gauges
    5. About Whammy Bars
  3. Learning The Fretboard Pg. 11
    1. The C Major Scale....(how to find the “natural” pitches on each string)
  4. Basic Guitar Techniques Pg. 13
    1. Overview
    2. Holding the Pick
    3. Fretting Hand: Placement of the Fingers
    4. String Dampening
    5. Fretting Hand: Placement Of the Thumb
    6. Fretting Hand: Finger Stretches
    7. Fretting Hand: The Wrist (About Carpal Tunnel Syndrome)
    8. Position Playing on Single Strings
  5. Single String Exercises Pg. 19
    1. 6th String
    2. 5th String
    3. 4th String
    4. 3rd String
    5. 2nd String
    6. 1st String
    7. Phrasing Possibilities On A Single String
  6. Chords: Construction/Execution/Basic Harmony Pg. 35
    1. Triads
      1. Construction
      2. Movable Triadic Chord Forms
        1. Freddie Green Style - Part 1
          1. Strumming
          2. Pressure Release Points
          3. Rhythm Slashes
          4. Changing Chords
      3. Inversions
      4. Open Position Major Chord Forms
      5. Open Position - Other Triadic Chords
        1. Palm Mutes
    2. Seventh Chords
      1. Construction
      2. Movable Seventh Chord Forms
      3. Open Position Seventh Chord Forms
    3. Chords With Added Tensions
      1. Construction
    4. Simple Diatonic Harmony
    5. Elementary Voice Leading
    6. Changes To Some Standard Tunes
      1. All The Things You Are
      2. Confirmation
      3. Rhythm Changes
      4. Sweet Georgia Brown
      5. All Of Me
  7. Open Position Pg. 69
    1. Overview
    2. Picking Techniques
      1. Alternate Picking
      2. Triplet Picking Techniques
      3. Reverse Alternate Picking
      4. Sweep Picking (aka Economy Picking)
    3. The Major Scales
    4. Miscellaneous Exercises
    5. Suggestions For Tunes to Learn
  8. Shell Voicings Pg. 81
    1. The Concept
    2. Freddie Green Style - Part 2
      1. Spread Triads
      2. Alternating Root And 5th In The Bass
      3. Tri-Tone Substitution Introduction
      4. Passing Chords Introduction
      5. Three Note Voicings For Inversions Of Seventh Chords
    3. Guide Tones
    4. Chords With 3 Or More Tensions
  9. Position Playing Pg. 97
    1. The Chromatic Scale In Position V
    2. The C Major Scale in 12 Positions
    3. The 7 “Regular” Major Scale Position-Style Fingerings
    4. All 12 Major Scales in A Single Position (Pos V)
    5. Position-Style Arpeggios
    6. Phrasing Possibilities In Position
    7. Sight Reading Tips
    8. Suggestions For Tunes To Learn
    9. Intervalic Patterns In Position
    10. Combining The Single String Approach With The Position Approach
  10. Improvising With Chord Tones Pg. 123
    1. Chord Tone Exercise #1
    2. Passing Tone Exercise #1
    3. Other Similar Exercises
      1. Chord Tone Exercise #2
      2. Chord Tone Linking Exercise #1
      3. Scale Linking Exercise #1
      4. Chord Tone Exercise #3
  11. Chord Scales Via Modal Theory (Part 1) Pg. 133
    1. Modes of C Major
      1. C Ionian
      2. D Dorian
      3. E Phrygian
      4. F Lydian
      5. G Mixo-lydian
      6. A Aeolian (Natural Minor)
      7. B Locrian
  12. Pentatonic Scales Pg. 141
    1. Formation
    2. Occurrences Within the Major Scale
    3. Uses Of
    4. The Blues Scale
    5. Mixing the Blues Scale with Chord Tones
  13. Chord Scales Via Modal Theory (Part 2) Pg. 149
    1. Modes As Scales In Their Own Right
      1. Ionian
      2. Dorian
      3. Phrygian
      4. Lydian
      5. Mixo-lydian
      6. Aeolian
      7. Locrian
    2. Modes of Other Scales
      1. Modes Of The Harmonic Minor Scale
        1. Harmonic Minor
        2. Locrian #6
        3. Ionian Augmented
        4. Dorian #4
        5. Mixo-Lydian b2b6 (aka “The b9 Scale”)
        6. Lydian #2
        7. The 7th Mode Of The Harmonic Minor (Super Locrian b7)
      2. Modes Of The Jazz Minor Scale
        1. Jazz Minor
        2. Dorian b2
        3. Lydian Augmented
        4. Lydian b7 (aka Lydian Dominant)
        5. Mixo-Lydian b6
        6. Locrian #2
        7. Super Locrian
        8. The Altered Scale
      3. Tetrachords and Scale Construction
      4. Modes Of The Harmonic Major Scale
        1. Harmonic Major
        2. Locrian #2#6
        3. Phrygian b4
        4. Jazz Minor#4
        5. Mixo-Lydian b2
        6. Lydian Augmented #2
        7. 7th Mode Of The Harmonic Major Scale (Locrian b7)
      5. Modes Of The Symmetrical Scales
        1. The Symmetrical Diminished Scales
          1. Modes Of The Harmonic Minor b5 Scale
            1. Harmonic Minor b5
            2. Half - Whole (omit perf 5th)
            3. Jazz Minor #5
            4. Dorian b2#4
            5. Lydian Augmented #3
            6. Lydian #2b7
            7. Half - Whole (omit min 7th)
          2. Modes of The Jazz Minor b5 Scale
            1. Jazz Minor b5
            2. Half - Whole (omit dim 5th)
            3. Jazz Minor #4#5
            4. Lydian b2b7
            5. Lydian augmented #2#3
            6. Locrian #t2 b7
            7. Half - Whole (omit maj 6th)
        2. The Whole Tone Scale
        3. The Symmetrical Augmented Scales
      6. A Summary Of Seventh Chord Types And Chord-Scales
      7. Determining A Chord Scale Via Harmonic Analysis
      8. Determining A Chord Scale Via Other Horizontal Considerations
  14. Some Simple Techniques For Harmonizing Melodies Pg. 189
    1. Melody + Bass Note
    2. Harmonizing A Melody With Shell Voicings
      1. Four Note Voicings
      2. Three Note Voicings
  15. Block Chords Pg. 197
    1. Construction
    2. Voice Leading
  16. Melodic Uses Of The Non Chord Tones Pg. 211
    1. The Accented Inharmonics
      1. Tensions
      2. Appoggiaturas
    2. The Unaccented Inharmonics
      1. Passing Tones
      2. Auxiliaries
      3. Unprepared Approach Notes
      4. Cambiatas
      5. Escape Notes
    3. Melodic Analysis Examples
      1. Melodic Analysis Of Donna Lee
    4. Target Notes
      1. The “Be-Bop” Scales
      2. Chromatic Approach Notes
      3. Target Notes From Other Chords
      4. A Summary Of The Available Tensions On 7th Chords
  17. Finding Good Fingerings For Single Note Lines Pg. 229
  18. Rhythms Used In Comping Pg. 235
    1. Swing:
      1. 4/4 The “Charleston” Figure
      2. 3/4 The Jazz Waltz
    2. Latin:
      1. The Clave Rhythms
    3. Ballads
    4. Broken Time
  19. More Chord Melody Techniques Pg. 241
    1. Advanced Voice Leading
  20. Playing What You Hear Pg. 245


    Other things to think about... to be continued?

  21. Voicings Derived From Chord Scales (not written yet)
    1. Quartal Voicings
    2. Quintal Voicings
    3. Clusters
  22. Melodic Shape/Motific Development (not written yet)
  23. Superimposition (not written yet)
  24. Poly-Rhythms (not written yet)
  25. Miscellaneous Studies And Technical Exercises (not written yet)
    Continued .....
    I am always looking for comments, suggestions, criticisms, spelling errors, compliments?, etc.
    Click here to Email me please.
    (you must change " AT " to "@" and " DOT " to "." to use this email address)
    You'll need Adobe's free Acrobat Reader software to view and print these files.
    If you have any problems with these files please let me know.
Musical notation examples created with Logic Audio and Finale.

Why did I write this book?

Basically because I was tired of writing out the same stuff year after year in my little handwritten scrawl for student after student. I've been teaching jazz guitar and improvisation at the college level (Mohawk College) for approximately 20 years now (I've lost count). I was finding that the vast majority of 1st year college level guitar students were all lacking in many of the same basic areas. Of course every student is different but the stuff in my book tries to address the things that are more or less universally required in my opinion by any aspiring guitarist in today's advanced competitive scene.

I may not ever actually formally publish this book. I wrote it mainly to use with my own private students. I had it posted on the Web here for free for several years so that my private students could easily download its contents, and also to help me to attract some new students. But most of my students have had a big hassle downloading it all and printing it all up by themselves. Plus, my web host is starting to ask me for money now because of all the bandwidth that some of you serial downloaders take up. So now the book is only available in a hard copy version for a modest price.

I don't recommend that novice players attempt to go through this book on their own, although lots of novice players have purchased the book and seem to be getting something out of it. I think that having an experienced teacher/player help you with this material is really the way to go.


Buy via Paypal...

Note: 10-18-19
I'm terribly sorry but I'm out of stock right now.
Please check back in a few months and I should have a few more books printed up to sell.

I hope you find it of some use to you in your own musical explorations.
If you find yourself using this material and that it is helping your playing please consider buying a copy of my CD too as a token of your appreciation.
You might even like it!
[Home] [Recordings] [Jazz Guitar Music For Your Private Party] [Jazz Guitar Lessons in Toronto] [Online Lessons]
[Joe's Guitar Method (my book)] [Gigs] [Technical Exercises] [Audio Clips]
[Contact]
(you must change " AT " to "@" and " DOT " to "." to use this email address)