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[Note (2/15/08): I've just finished re-editing the book. Mostly I've just added some comas here and there, and tried to make some of the vague language less vague. But there are a few minor additions as well. Eg. I now have a brief discussion of slash chords in Chapter VI. Etc. For those of you who have bought the book in the past, I have posted some PDFs here with most of the new stuff, so you won't be left out in the cold. There's really not all that much.]
Chapter VI - Slash Chords
Chapter X - CT Exercise #4
Chapter XI -Terminology
Chapter XIV - Acoustical Roots and Unusual Omissions
Chapter XV - Block Chord Tips
Chapter XV - Block Chords - Unusual Formations (3-21)



 
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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
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Air mail overseas should take a couple of weeks.
Use the $50 button for air mail to the US.
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Important Note:
(If anyone finds any typos in the book please contact me right away.)
I am always looking for comments, suggestions, criticisms, spelling errors, compliments?, etc.
Click here to Email me please.
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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 - Fall 1986 thru Spring 2009 and Humber College - since the Fall of 2009) for many years now. 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 former web host was starting to ask me for money 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. But it's really written for people who happen to be studying with *me* in person.

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] [Jazz Guitar Music For Your Private Party] [Recordings] [Jazz Guitar Lessons in Toronto]
[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)  
© 1998 J. M. Goldstein