(Part 2) Best products from r/jazzguitar

The linked video helped me tremendously to get acquainted with the theory commonly referenced in the jazz guitar world:

https://youtu.be/SZY_Yc5fi74

Barry Greene is an incredible teacher. He’s also recommended in one of his other lessons a very practical, and short book authored by Pat Martino himself:

Linear Expressions - Pat Martino https://www.amazon.com/dp/1423460898/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VnlkDbVEDN72F

The book should serve only as a supplement to transcribing Pat Martino solos, as it’ll help you gain the muscle memory to play a lot of his vocabulary, but it won’t train your ear to hear this vocabulary when improvising...imo the former is worthless without the latter.
Furthermore, of course it’ll save you time to learn some basics before diving into transcription and analysis, but once you learn these basics, I agree with others that say the most effective way to learn is through thousands of hours of observing and mimicking what you hear. Good luck!

Harmony is complicated, jazz harmony even more so. If you are not willing to read the details on extended harmony, then you will never learn how to play chords very well, and definitely not jazz. There are references out there in book form and on the web if all you want to do is learn how to comp like Freddie Green. FG's comping isn't exactly the highest you can aspire to for jazz comping, but it has it's place. I can't think of an exact perfect book for what you want, but one book I have has an entire chapter devoted to FG style comping, and other chapters on other styles of jazz comping, maybe you would find it useful: https://www.amazon.com/All-Blues-Jazz-Guitar-Comping/dp/0786631287/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1497796334&sr=8-2&keywords=jim+ferguson+jazz

I stumbled upon this book of drop 2 (and other) guitar voicings, which looks like a pretty comprehensive guide to chord voicings used in jazz. I would say learn a multitude of those voicings and grab yourself a Real Book and learn some tunes with those voicings applied. That'd get you on a good path towards playing some nice chord-melody stuff. Which happens to sound really nice on acoustic guitar.

Jens Larsen has a good lesson on chord-melody (and many other good lessons).

For standard swing type big band music it's helpful to learn the basic comping style that goes with. Here's Herb Ellis giving a demo on the style, and you should also check out him comping for Joe Pass on Cherokee. For the basic chord sounds I usually recommend Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar, Vol. 1. It's not perfect but no book is, and it has diagrams, super basic theory, and costs less than $6.

The thing is, big band music has come a long way since the 1930s, and you may be called upon to play pretty much any style of music, which means you need to not only know a variety of chord voicings but also various comping styles. There's no way to quickly teach that, so you'll need to just listen, study, and ask questions of pro players like you're doing here.

I recommend William Leavitt's Reading Studies for Guitar. I've been reading two pages a day and it's been really helping me to improve. The key is to read through them with a metronome and don't stop at all to correct your mistakes- that's how you really get better at sight reading.

Now when it comes to reading in big band, you've got the right idea. I always check, in order: key, time signature, road map (repeats/coda), highest/lowest note you'll be playing in the part, then determine best caged position(s). If you still have time left after doing those, try to learn the trickiest parts (difficult rhythms, lines with accidentals). If you can do all that while the band director is still talking to the horn section or whatever, you'll be set when he counts you in! Hope this helps!

Here's the book I mentioned:

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Studies-Guitar-Positions-Multi-Position/dp/0634013351

You could get a book on swing/gypsy jazz and start working basic chord /comping sequences which will be mostly the different 7ths but not too many altered/extended chords. Which doesn't mean those are easy to play (especially proper gypsy jazz). This one's pretty good: https://www.amazon.com/Gypsy-Swing-Club-Rhythm-Guitar/dp/0786677724

There are a ton of fake books out there, I would suggest buying one called The Real Book Sixth Edition. It's the most popular one to my knowledge and is a great resource. I'd say its a little better for developing harmony than it is melody (since most melody that actually gets played in jazz is soloing), but it's a great tool for familiarizing yourself with jazz standards as well as seeing what kind of chords appear in jazz and how they function

You need to start counting rhythms. You don't need a guitar to do this necessarily. There are a number of books with written out rhythms to practice, such as Louis Bellson's Modern Reading Text in 4/4 For All Instruments, Ted Reed's Progressive Steps to Syncopation for the Modern Drummer, and Gary Hess's Encyclopedia of Reading Rhythms. There are numerous ways to practice the rhythms in these books - counting the rhythm while clapping a steady pulse, counting a steady pulse while clapping the rhythm, tapping a steady pulse with your left hand while clapping the rhythm with your right while also counting, and so on. When I say "count" I mean count out loud. Your goal is to learn to keep your place in measures while accurately executing and eventually feeling rhythms.

You can also do these steps with a guitar in your hand. Just pick a chord - maybe one you're trying to work into your repertoire - and play the written rhythm with that chord while you're counting.

This will probably seem awkward and "unmusical" when you first start, but trust me when I tell you this is going to radically improve your rhythmic vocabulary and time feel over the long haul. This is the kind of thing band and orchestra kids learn as a matter of course and most guitarists don't get because we don't learn to read in ensembles.

Listening to music, be it jazz, classical or whatever you are interested in, is important. You'll pick up a lot just by being immersed in the music.

What I'm doing these days is playing and learning tunes. You can pick up a lot by seeing how the great songwriters put together melodies and harmonies, and you get practice playing single lines, chord progressions -- and learn songs you can play for people at the same time.

This is the fake book I'm using: https://www.amazon.com/Real-Little-Ultimate-Jazz-Fake/dp/0793520053/

I don't think it's any better or worse than the others, but I like that it has lyrics. I recommend listening to the tunes you are learning -- both by singers and instrumentalists.

As far as instruction books go, right now I'm using Joe Pass Chords https://www.amazon.com/Joe-Pass-Guitar-Chords-Progressions/dp/0739019333/

That and the fake book are pretty much it. I have tons of other jazz guitar method books, but I'm just not using them right now. It's all about playing tunes.

There's a pretty detailed book called Charlie Parker For Guitar I haven't had any experience with it first hand so I can't comment on it's quality but it would be a good idea to check it out.

It's cool that you're transcribing Charlie he's a real special cat. I have been working on transcribing his solo on Ornithology however I don't write my transcriptions down.

Jazz Standards for Solo Guitar This resource is a pretty good place to start. It has transcriptions of a number of tunes that are pretty easy to learn, but more importantly there is harmonic analysis of each tune that you can use to apply the techniques to your own solo arrangements.

The book Swing Blues by Herb Ellis has helped me a ton. Basically he uses the common chord shapes you already know as the anchors for the scales and arpeggios-- since it's blues in this book those are dominant and major, but what better place to start? Plus then you get 3 transcriptions of him playing 3 styles of blues solos, completely unaccompanied, to get a feel for how he uses those shapes. And in my opinion, he plays jazz blues about as good as anyone.

http://www.amazon.com/Herb-Ellis-Jazz-Guitar-Method/dp/157623343X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394140860&sr=1-1&keywords=herb+ellis

There's a series of books called Fretboard Roadmaps, written by Fred Sokolow. I can't really speak to their general quality, but this book is extremely accessible, and gives you some great tips for chord voicings, voice leading, basic improvising, and comping.

I've read a lot of guitar specific books which only show you the shapes and maybe a basic lesson on intervals, but this is one of the most comprehensive books I've read for getting into jazz guitar. It also doesn't have goofy 6 string voicings you'll never use in a real setting. Each chapter, lesson, whatever is kind of laid how it would be in a text book, basically summarizing each point and giving you tips for practice.

Not much on voice leading or melody but this booklet by Scott Henderson is pretty fusion oriented and has some very original chord ideas that you can always translate to melodic lines. I see it's getting a lot of negative reviews in amazon.com and I'd wager that it's exactly because the chords are very fusion -sounding and not easily applicable if you're going for a more traditional jazz guitar sound.

Or, if you really want to go hardcore you can check this but then you'll have the risk of going native and spending the next five years practicing hammer-on-only legato technique in your basement with a synthaxe. With the Henderson method you'll still have at least a few friends who agree to play with you.

I just started and have been learning the different chord shapes around the neck. The book I use gives each moveable chord shape, exercises, and the theory behind each chord shape. I figured learning this was the first step. Much like first learning guitar when you learn how to play the major, minor, and power chords and can play a lot of simple songs just of that. Helps make you feel like you are progressing.

This is the book I've been using.

https://www.amazon.com/CP18398-Gary-Turner-Steve-Sutton/dp/0947183981

Good enough reason for me. I'm reading a great book and Eddie Lang's name has been mentioned a lot as being an influence on many many players. If anyone's interested the book is here: http://www.amazon.com/Conversations-Great-Jazz-Studio-Guitarists/dp/0786651237

Audacity is a free, open-source recording program that's pretty great. It's possible to plug directly in to the mic input, but I'd suggest getting a USB mic and using your amp. The Samson Go Mic is good and the Zoom H1 (and other H series recorders) can also function as USB mics.