Guitar Improv in Parts

Guitar Improv is available in parts.  Each part has a number of chapters.  The Guitar Improv course helps you deconstruct improvisation style and incorporate them into your own playing.  The course is an integrated series of parts and chapters with progressive studies that layout different approaches to exceptional improvisation.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 1

Starting To Improvise covers fundamental music tablature and reading notation, chord diagrams, progressions and numbering, fingering techniques and playing in position around different forms of pentatonic scales and octaves shapes. It also shows how these variations are incorporated in Rock as well as Swing Blues. Each section has a series of studies and exercises to develop flexibility and expertise in playing many different chord and voice variations as well as refining fingering positioning techniques to expand improvisational capabilities. The book also includes web access to several audio and video examples to make learning more interactive. These exercises help the guitar player lay a solid foundation from which to build more creative chord progressions and soloing capabilities.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 2

Comping Design and Pentatonic Improv covers basic musicianship in chords and progressions, key changes, rhythmic phrasing and improv techniques using pentatonic scales. It presents a series of studies and exercises to develop and elevate different forms of rhythmic comping, chord structures, and improv techniques using different pentatonic fingerings and scales. As with the other parts in this series, the book includes web access to several audio and video examples to make learning more interactive. These exercises the guitar player become more versatile with their playing technique as well as expand their capabilities to bring in fresh new ideas and musical variation to his or her improvisational playing and soloing.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 3

Begin to Design Solos continues down the path of developing and refining improvisation techniques. It presents default scales, chords and extended scale-tone arpeggios, expressive rhythm and metric phrasing, setup and target phrasing, rhythmic themes and layering, and expands on Level 2 improvisation with deeper understanding of pentatonics and modes. As with the other parts in this series, the book also includes web access to several audio and video examples to make learning these capabilities more interactive. By working though these exercises the guitar player starts to conceptualize new and different approaches to designing solos and creating more interesting chord voicing and accompaniment.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 4

Thinking Chords and Modes While Improvising covers further integration of chords, arpeggios and scale tones in soloing techniques. It dives deeper into speed reading pitch, triad arpeggio exercises and emotive qualities of chords, recognizing scale-tone chords, modes and scales, and chord substitutions with exercises to evolve melodic development and further integration of arpeggios in soloing technique. As with the other parts in this series, the book includes web access to several audio and video examples to make learning more interactive. These exercises help the guitar player round out a more complete approach to improvisational playing and soloing.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 5

Core Melody and Melodic Cells, dives deeper into the core meaning of melody  and tonal development. Studies cover melodic cells, working with thirds and sixths as core melodic elements, developing melodic and rhythmic theme and variation as well as working with scalar pulse, tonal layers and melodically superimposed cadences. As with the other parts in this series, the book includes web access to several audio and video examples to make learning more interactive.  These exercises essentially help the guitar player take “melodic flight” in building a more complete improvisational playing and soloing repertoire.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 6

Buiilding Phrases with Core Melody, Cell Elaboration and Filler puts it all together.  Build phrases with harmonic frameworks that make it easy to express yourself.  Learn to superimpose one chord progression over another (outside playing).  Use melodic character, the emotive curve and sentiments to tell a story musically.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 7

Chord Progression and Comping kicks off a series of studies on Harmonic Improv development. It provides an introduction to various chord progressions and voicings, variations on bass lines in open position and triad bass harmonization, pedal point chord progressions, scale-tone chord variations and abbreviated or elaborated chord progressions, and concludes with comping strategies and quartal and quintal harmony. The book also includes web access to several audio and video examples to make learning more interactive. These exercises vastly improve one’s rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment to support improvisation.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 8

Voice-Leading Chords continues the series of studies on Harmonic Improv development by focusing on voice leading, jazz bass harmonization and building cadences with linear harmonized bass. As with the other parts in this series, the book includes web access to several audio and video examples to make learning more interactive. These exercises round out one’s harmonic accompaniment to lead as well as support improvisational performance.

 

Guitar Improv, Part 9

Summary And Reference  contains quizzes on various subjects throughout the course, building sections with phrases and a  progressive and categorical list of favored jazz and blues songs to study improv, tonal layers and tonal themes and schemes.