Introduction to Jazz Guitar

Start playing jazz guitar! This book will help you understand and master the essential concepts and techniques of jazz, whatever style you may already know. You’ll learn jazz theory and harmony through learning and practicing scales, diatonic seventh chords, and harmonic tensions. You will also learn to use chord and tension substitutions in order to give a jazz feel to any existing song. Accompanying recordings demonstrate ideas and let you practice by playing along with the author.

You’ll learn to:

• Play jazz chords and scales, and understand how they relate to each other
• Improvise over jazz chord progressions and song forms
• Navigate II V’s, rhythm changes, and other typical jazz progressions and forms
• Master jazz grooves and develop your sense of timing/swing
• Accompany other musicians, and contribute to a jazz rhythm section
• Gain a deeper understanding of the fingerboard, learning many useful fingerings for scales and movable chord forms, all around the neck
• Practice efficiently for maximum improvement of your technique and musicality

Jane Miller is a guitarist, composer, arranger, and writer. She is a professor of guitar at Berklee College of Music, where she has taught since 1994.

“Jane Miller's Introduction to Jazz Guitar is a wonderful volume for beginning and intermediate level jazz guitarists. It's like a Swiss Army knife of melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and dynamic possibilities with an eye toward giving aspiring jazz guitarists just about everything they need to know in order to grow and improve. A well thought-out approach, intelligently written, with clear examples and explanations. Highly recommended!”

—Mick Goodrick, Professor, Berklee College of Music

“This book is filled with great information, accompanied by energetic explanations and musical examples. As a specialist in jazz guitar, Jane Miller has covered most everything you will need to make great music, and have confidence and knowledge to explore. This is a terrific work of art.”

—Jamie Glaser, Anderson Ponty Band

“Introduction to Jazz Guitar is utterly captivating. Like an empathic friend/coach, Jane Miller personalizes the process of exploring music, subtly transforming music theory and practice routines, so valuable yet so dry, into a fun, shared adventure. This is a highly elusive goal even in person, and much more so in a book, yet she does it effortlessly and conversationally, using simple yet subtly nuanced language, well-chosen musical examples, and ever-contagious enthusiasm. She guides, motivates, demystifies, and enables in equal measure. While it will be an invaluable resource for beginning players, I'm sure that many more advanced guitarists and teachers will find it inspiring and entertaining as well. I certainly do.

—Tuck Andress, Tuck and Patti

“Thank you Jane for a terrific book that gives all the aspects of jazz guitar in one well written, easily understood place. If you are someone who doesn't have a father in the business, this is the next best thing!”

—John Pizzarelli