Recommend a good book to learn jazz, blues, general music?

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canidoit

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Apr 6, 2009
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Anyone have any recommendations of good books to learn jazz, blues or other music in general. From theory, writing, to playing an instrument?

Is there a book that would be similar to like a software "bible" or visual quick start book which is great for a range of musicians, producers, songwriters, etc. from beginners to advanced?

Thanks
 
mulletchuck said:
yes, it's called an ALBUM.

learn the tunes off the record, don't be lazy like everyone else.   do it the PROPER way.
I don't get that response?

The proper way would be going to school and study.

 
ok, fine.  A good book

Charlie Parker Omnibook.  buy it for your instrument, and learn it all.    Or, like i said, just learn those solos from the record, and gain much more musical insight than you ever would from just reading the notes on the page.   

i swear, no one ever learns music from the recordings anymore WHICH IS HOW THOSE GUYS ON THE RECORDING THAT YOU LOVE LEARNED JAZZ/BLUES IN THE FIRST PLACE
 
What mulletchuck said...

In a way you could compare it to learning a language, books could give information
about grammar, vocabulary and so on but you have to hear it and practice using it yourself.
First by repeating phrases like a parrot slowly building up your ability to express yourself and
to communicate with others. Playing with other musicians is a great way of learning.

There are too many books, easy to get lost in the jungle...
 
It depends on what your goals are.

I studied music practise because I liked some albums, and some music so much that I just needed to know what was going on behind the scenes.
I was also terribly embarrassed by the small amount of musical theory I had on joining the course so took lessons in that first as a grounding.

If you want to improve your playing ability, that's just down to practise, pick a bunch of songs your aiming for and practise until you can do it in the dark.

if its the theory you want to learn then there are many good books. I was fond of the AB guide 1 & 2, they're a handy size and aren't too expensive.
there's lots of free stuff online, i've seen many videos recently on youtube even, for both practical and theory lessons.

 
Learning from the records is good but you need the foundation for Jazz.

I play guitar but I am not a Jazz player. I can sit in and fake but not too long. Blues falls into my territory, I play slide a lot.

Mel Bay series books are good. They have plenty of short cuts to get you playing. When I was learning guitar in late 70s finding music books were almost impossible in Turkey. My father had a plan copying business so I used to borrow from pro elder brothers and photocopy them. I had these two books since then and I still refer to them.

Jazz Guitar Lines by Vincent Bredice. A superb book for Guitar players.

The Lydian Chromatic Concept by David Baker. Here is a bible for you. The entire book is written in the key of C. For treble clef instruments (such as guitar) read it as is but for the other instruments you have to transpose and that's where the fun is.

I've also had A Modern Method for Guitar Volume 1, 2 and 3 by William Leavitt - Berklee Press Publications. I had a teacher to learn from these books and played as far as the mid second book.

But my humble recommendation is that if you are serious about this then look for a good teacher.
 

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