Best guitar & fretted instrument songbooks according to redditors
We found 149 Reddit comments discussing the best guitar & fretted instrument songbooks. We ranked the 68 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
I found the CO book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Frank-Ocean-Channel-Orange/dp/1480333328
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (Piano/Vocal/Guitar) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1480333328/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_-MGuyb7KN4HEY
I recommend Mickey Baker's Jazz Guitar Course to get quicly going with easy jazz strumming (really useful turnarounds and all), and Ted Greene's Jazz Guitar Single Note Soloing for some nice'n'easy soloing ideas over major, dominant and minor chords. Ymmv though
LISTEN. Immerse yourself in all the masters, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Tal Farlow for example, and try to figure out their different licks/riffs by ear.
Also, while listening is probably the best way to do it, I really think that you (and everyone else, obviously) should take advantage of all the great books out there to help. This Mickey Baker book gives great, jazzy sound chords and lessons on soloing. So yeah, hoped it helped in some way.
Check out Danny Ziemann’s book “The Low Down” for great jazz bass lines. He has many other bass books, too.
Also, see if you can transcribe bass lines like Paul Chambers on the album “Kind of Blue” by Miles Davis. Bass is sometimes hard to hear on classic recordings, so play around with one headphone or the other, or boosting the bass in your media player’s EQ settings for more clarity.
The Low Down
Channel Orange Book
https://www.amazon.com/Frank-Ocean-Channel-Orange-Guitar/dp/1480333328
Yellow shirt was the CO Tour, Vinyl was from the lady off discogs I think. Ill have to check on the due date shirt though.
In my opinion Troy Stetina's Fretboard Mastery is still the most comprehensive, well thought out and explained, and easy to understand guitar theory book. If you could only get one book, this book would cover all you need to understand the instrument.
Beyond that Troy's Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar is very good book of technique building exercises, Dave Celentano's Monster Scales and Modes is a short, easy to read, and good book for referencing some of the most commonly used scales and modes, it also has some short but good description of when and where to use certain scales/modes.
For a more reference/appendix use, I like the Guitar Grimoire books as they have very complete information and are laid out in a fairly easy to read and easy to understand fashion.
A few quick questions?
EDIT: It's here, derp: http://www.amazon.com/Battlestar-Galactica-Songbook-Piano-Solo/dp/1617803677
Thanks!
Hey, OP. Here's a video series on the chords from a book many of the jazz guitarists from my generation and earlier started with, Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar: Book 1. This will get you playing a good many of the common "jazz guitar" chords you'll need to play in a big band or small group setting.
Some things are worth paying for: https://www.amazon.com/Jake-Shimabukuro-Travels-Songbook-ebook/dp/B0191SXCZG/
or
https://www.amazon.com/Jake-Shimabukuro-Live-Japan-Songbook-ebook/dp/B01FPR613W/
Troy Stetina's book is a well-respected approach to developing rock lead technique: http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Mechanics-Lead-Guitar-Stetina/dp/0793509629
Probably not your style of music (mine neither) but I would definitely check out the free material on Tom Hess's site too, he has excellent advice in there and his chops are undeniable: http://tomhess.net/
Other than that, if you have a couple of months, I suggest picking one technical thing (e.g. alternate picking) and one vocabulary/learning thing (e.g. a scale) and staying focussed. I've spent too much of my time in the past switching between things that seemed interesting but not persevering with anything long enough to really master it.
I'm others will pitch in with good books / DVDs etc...
Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar
right here
Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar by Troy Stetina
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0793509629/
Mickey Bakers Complete Course in Jazz Guitar
While the book is labelled as a jazz guitar resource, really what you're getting is a set of really good lessons which will instill a lot of habits that strong playing skills are based on. I must warn you though; the lessons can be tedious (he makes you transpose a lot) but they're very effective if you follow through with them.
Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786690739/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_OBUYzbEE36BVW
Are you looking for just a good chord chart for the tune? That one was mediocre. I can give you a more accurate chart, no problem.
Or, are you looking for an EXACT transcription of what Les played on the Bing recording? I could make that as well, but honestly, I usually charge people (guitar students) to do it.
Aside from very popular recordings, most chord charts and TABs online are highly inaccurate. Often the "official" transcriptions you see in books aren't right either. I'm a huge Les Paul fan, particularly the pre-multitracking era (Les Paul Trio, this Bing session, etc). I've seen him play live a few times as well. Congratulations, you have good taste!
If you'd like to advance your skills in trad/swing/jazz rhythm guitar to get the skills to play through the chart, check out these books:
http://www.amazon.com/Mickey-Bakers-Complete-Course-Guitar/dp/0825652804
http://www.amazon.com/Mel-Bay-Jazz-Guitar-Method/dp/0786600365/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411405636&sr=1-1&keywords=ronnie+lee+guitar
http://www.amazon.com/Mel-Rhythm-Guitar-Chord-System/dp/0871665158
Give me a few minutes and I'll post a chart.
It sounds like you're making this WAY more convoluted than it needs to be. Let's just look at this example:
>I could start with the E-shape major scale in the key of C, but use D as the root instead of C. BUT it's not the E-shape of the minor pentatonic that overlays it, it's the A-shape d-minor pentatonic with the root on the 10th fret.
What?! That's... A LOT of points of reference for something as simple as D Dorian. No wonder you're confused!
First off, you don't need a diatonic pattern and pentatonic pattern that overlay each other. It's okay to jump around! If you are using patterns that overlay, you shouldn't expect the arbitrary label you place on those shapes (E-shape, A-shape, etc) to match.
It seems to me that the way you're thinking of scales involves A LOT of memorization and very little understanding.
I would like to offer you a book recommendation. Jon Finn's Advanced Modern Rock Improvisation. This book is AWESOME. It does a fantastic job of illustrating how different patterns connect and relate, and has a wonderfully simple way to extend your pentatonic shapes into modal ones.
So while I can't give you a simple answer to your question (and nobody can, because it's a complex question) hopefully I can direct you to a resource that will help.
Hey there! I hope this doesn't violate any rules, but I've written books on jazz bass playing that are geared towards someone with a basic understanding of the instrument: https://www.amazon.com/Low-Down-Guide-Creating-Supportive/dp/069240595X
All of the advice here is great, especially regarding the importance of SOUND and TIME. The group I play in was working with Kurt Rosenwinkel the other day, and he dropped this gem on us: "Confidence comes from sound. Feel confident in your sound... because if you sound good, you'll feel good." So much truth in that statement.
Sometimes figuring out the "how" element of things can be equally daunting. I do recommend a teacher if you can find one, even for just a few lessons. And of course, reach out and ask questions at any time!
Links!
Chord Chemistry - Ted Greene
The Advancing Guitarist - Mick Goodrick
Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar: Book 1
Also, remember that 85% of odd jazz chords that come about, you should be able to work out. -Maj7? Min7 chord with a sharp 7. 7b5? 7 chord with a flat five. Chords with tensions can generally be played without the tensions, so G13 can easily be G7. However, you will loose some nuance. As for jazz solos? Totally not a jazz guitarist. My rock soloing didn't go well with my jazz teachers. However, I was given some fantastic advice: Even if you don't play a style, solo in it like you would normally because that is where you are comfortable. If you find the groove, you'll fit.
I bet you'd like this book. It has Romanza in it, and a bunch of other Spanish pieces. I'm not sure any of the pieces would be described as "romantic", but then that is really an aesthetic judgement I'm not qualified to make. Maybe you'd like some of the tangos. There are other iconic pieces like Lagrima and Malaguenia. One of the first books I bought and still my favorite by far.
Book 1 and Book 2
I've been working through this book and it's really good
https://www.amazon.com/Simplified-Sight-Reading-Bass-Instruction/dp/0793565189
Here's an inexpensive instructional book from a master player. It's "Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar: Book 1". Here's the Amazon link where you can preview the first few lessons. It's probably available at your local guitar supermarket.
yes - definitely know your blues riffs, forms, and boxes, as those guys all used the blues as a source - throw in some scale and chromatic walkups (as the drummer does a fill anticipating the change and then you both play the target clean - so nice), along with sometimes hitting the 5th of the target (if it's going to an A on beat one, throw in an 'E' on end end of the beat four in anticipation)
Can't get too out there though, it's the blues not jazz, gotta be terse and let those low notes shake the room:)
Ed Friedland's blues book has a ton of all this:
https://www.amazon.com/Blues-Bass-Essential-Techniques-Supplement/dp/0634089358
Intros, outros, scales, common lines, rhythms, substitutions, etc
You're not going to get a lot of people in r/classicalGuitar that are going to answer this without some kind of recommendation that you just improve your regular score reading skills instead. Tab can be a great tool at times, but more often it seems to be used as crutch.
My advice is to start sight reading as much as you can whenever you find tab-free scores because it is skill that you can only develop with dedicated and focused practice. Whenever you go to the effort to transcribe a score to Tab, you are still leaning on a crutch because when you start playing, you aren't using the music, you're using your Tab instead and not actually getting any score reading practice in. In your mind, you are probably translating your scores to Tab instead of actually reading the score. Tab and score notation are similar in that respect. In fact, I suspect that if you just force yourself to give up tab you'll see an amazing and very rapid increase in your ability to process standard scores.
Here is a personal example: When I read Spanish I am not actually reading Spanish... I'm translating it into something I am familiar with. I still have to learn to transform my thought process into Spanish before I am truly reading Spanish. Once I stop communicating by saying buenos noches to mean "good afternoon/night" and I just start saying buenos noches when I mean "buenos noches", I am actually speaking Spanish. Until then, I am just translating words. That won't change until I immerse myself in Spanish without clinging to English as my crutch. The same thing applies to changing from Tab notation to score notation.
http://www.amazon.com/Sight-Reading-Classical-Guitar-Level/dp/0769209742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333574358&sr=8-1
I have this book and it is great practice in sight reading and you may want to check it out. It is nothing more than a bunch of short sight reading exercises. Teach yourself one or two of them a day without transcribing them to tab first and I am absolutely confident that your reading skills will improve noticeably.
If you are really insistent on using Tab though, classtab.org is decent.
This book has some decent stuff in it as well: http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Spanish-Guitar-Solos-Book/dp/1603780599/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333575720&sr=1-1
[Warren Haynes] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRO9JqlyGJ4) plays almost all of his slide work in Standard tuning. He also has a [book] (https://www.amazon.com/Warren-Haynes-Guide-Slide-Guitar/dp/1575605244/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481343322&sr=8-1&keywords=warren+haynes+slide+guitar) that explains how and why he stays in standard.
Learn Jazz Guitar theory. Then start to learn some of the Jazz standards.
After playing Jazz guitar at a somewhat novice level for a few years I have decided to study this book. Apparently this is the book.
I'd also highly recommend picking up this book. I'm largely self-taught on guitar, and this text is an incredible resource. http://www.amazon.com/Mickey-Bakers-Complete-Course-Guitar/dp/0825652804
Right. Okay so this is one of the books that I used...Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar and it talks about learning 'phrases.' So like...break the song down into different pieces/parts...whether that be verse/chorus or whatever...and then practice those different phrases. Rocksmith 2014 does this with 'riff repeater.' I've used that quite a bit to perfect different pieces in a slow, controlled way. Good luck and please let me know if you have any other questions!!!
I suggest you pick up a book for beginners, like this one maybe.
The Guitar Wiki is also a good resource for you I think.
Also make your way over to youtube, you will find tons of videos on guitar at all levels.
These are a few great ways to start to familiarize yourself with your instrument and playing the guitar in general.
Hope that helps
JustinGuitar is awesome, if you are JUST beginning I really found this book to be fun / motivating to get you started also
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Absolute-Beginners-Daniel-Emery/dp/0982599803/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1416441749&sr=8-3&keywords=learn+guitar
If you are looking for something that helps slide playing in standard tuning, this is a good reference: Warren Haynes - Guide to Slide Guitar
Learn to fish
google reverse image search
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Treasures-Co-Guitar-Poster/dp/B00E8HQDZ2
http://www.amazon.com/Alfred-87-31337-Rock-Guitar-Poster/dp/B003J2V6SG
Minimum movement would be one thing: http://justinguitar.com/en/TE-004-MinimumMovement.php
And there's alternate picking.
http://www.insaneguitar.com/mc/alternate.html
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/guitar_techniques/alternate_picking_technique.html
You could check out Troy Stetina's Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar: http://www.amazon.com/Speed-Mechanics-Lead-Guitar-Stetina/dp/0793509629
I listed that one too. The music is amazing! And now Bear has released a piano book with that music: http://www.amazon.com/Battlestar-Galactica-Songbook-Piano-Solo/dp/1617803677
And he even plays many of the pieces as they are in the book on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuDQzr9Ryh8
This is an easy set of spanish-style songs. It includes a CD for reference.
100% agree on books.
The best one I've seen for beginners is: Guitar for Absolute Beginners.
http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Absolute-Beginners-Daniel-Emery/dp/0982599803
It's the only one who actually sticks to what beginners should learn and nothing more. It's also pretty funny and a 'light' read.
But still, a book alone really isn't enough unless you are completely obsessed with learning at all costs (and have extra time)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JML7ISE
Acoustic Guitar Care 101: A Survival Guide for Beginners
Get your copy of this essential book on guitar care, and instantly improve your skills in guitar maintenance!
It’s no secret that mastering the guitar is hard work. However, maintaining your guitar is easy, and I will show you exactly how to keep your guitar in top shape!
Whether you are an aspiring guitar player, or have played the instrument for many years, you know that learning about guitar maintenance can be intimidating and confusing. This book offers simple steps to empower you to care for your own guitar.
You will learn to:
Clean Your Guitar
Select and Replace Strings
Humidify Your Guitar
Adjust the Neck, Bridge and Nut
Tune Your Guitar
Choose a Protective Case
Select a Guitar Stand
Choose Guitar Straps and Picks
Remember all the good times you spent with friends trading exciting maintenance tips? I don’t. It’s not nearly as fun as learning that classic riff from your favorite band, or comparing alternate tunings. You buy a guitar to experience music, not to have another item to care for. However, maintaining your instrument allows you to enjoy the benefits of ownership for many years to come, and helps you avoid many of the hassles; costly repairs and the diminished returns of poor sounding guitars. Often, when you look for a guitar care book, most appear too daunting, too detailed, and too expensive. This book is approachable, simple and affordable.
You love your music. You love your guitar. Make it last....
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01JML7ISE
$0.00 from Sept. 12-16
This book Has helped me a whole lot through the years. It teaches finger position and technique and picking. It's a really good book.
Wikipedia, for sure. It's got great information on every kind of chord, what modes are, what makes an arpeggio, etc etc
I don't use many guitar books, but I'm still working through Speed Mechanics, and it's been several months since I bought it. It's just exercises, though, so it's not really 'helpful', per se.
Definitely start with sheet music. Pick up a couple of beginner's books (I'd recommend Hal Leonard which uses fairly conventional notations and starts from absolute basics. Since you can already read, start the metronome and run the basic exercises until you can happily find some notes.
The bass bible is also very good, and was an indispensible tool for me learning, but it's tied tab/notation you have to consciously avoid the tablature if you want to get anywhere with learning to sight-read for the instrument.
Buy a copy of Speed Mechanics for lead guitar and look through that. Keep the your thumb on the back of the neck as much as humanly possible. Use your pinky. Work on minimizing and isolating your movements.
Mickey Baker's book is a great resource for developing your comping skills and helps to connect the dots with musically coherent ideas. The second half of the book is on soloing, but I highly recommend it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0825652804/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478195849&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=mickey+baker+jazz+guitar+book+1
Hmm how about for now you get him this a a collectible? Frank Ocean - Channel Orange (Piano/Vocal/Guitar) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1480333328/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_-lfBybT4TN18X Pretty cheap.
Here's one:
https://www.amazon.ca/Mickey-Bakers-Complete-Course-Guitar/dp/0825652804
I did get the name wrong to a degree.
But importantly, this link has a fair amount of material that explains the book:
http://www.jazzandhotguitar.com/
Nice job!
I noticed you lift your fingers quite a bit from the fretboard, especially your pinky. If you're looking to improve your mechanics a bit, check out Troy Stetina's Book. It helped me quite a bit.
It's in the official BSG songbook (Amazon).
Mickey Baker, should be first on the list:
http://www.amazon.com/Mickey-Bakers-Complete-Course-Guitar/dp/0825652804
I hear that Simplified Sight-Reading for Bass (by Josquin des Pres) is awesome if you want to learn sight reading quickly.
I got this book in a store a while back, which has been helpful.
http://www.amazon.com/Warren-Haynes-Guide-Slide-Guitar/dp/1575605244
I've got Nelson's book too. It's a good book too, but I think it's not a patch on another Stetina book... "Speed Mechanics" : http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speed-Mechanics-Lead-Guitar-Stetina/dp/0793509629
(Damn, Troy... you should be paying me man!)
Hi,
For a thorough blues bassline guide I like Ed Friedland's Blues Bass. It comes with a CD and Ed plays the guitar parts too. He builds up multiple styles using basslines and the price is not bad:
http://www.amazon.com/Blues-Bass-Essential-Techniques-Supplement/dp/0634089358/ref=la_B001JS9DZA_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421892796&sr=1-3
HTH
Here's links on Amazon to the Method in Two books by Sagreras:
​
Books 1-3: https://www.amazon.com/Julio-Sagreras-Guitar-Lessons-Book-ebook/dp/B00WYNM8C4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1562105162&sr=8-2
​
Books 4-6: https://www.amazon.com/Julio-Sagreras-Guitar-Lessons-Books-ebook/dp/B019EHCLPG/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=julio+sagreras&qid=1562105183&s=gateway&sr=8-4
​
Hope you all check it out if not for yourself but for great material for your students, I also look forward to hearing some of your interpretations from people who participate!
The short answer is: by going slow and slowly building up your speed with a metronome.
A more complicated answer would give you various exercises and stuff to play. That was one area where I struggled when I first wanted to build my speed up - I knew sort of what methods I needed to apply to my practice. But I didn't know what exactly to practice. I found this book: https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Mechanics-Lead-Guitar-Stetina/dp/0793509629/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 pretty helpful in getting my mechanics on point and to make me comfortable with playing fast. I like it because it's got lots of focused little exercises to work on and I can take notes and stuff in the book.
Steve Stine's youtube is also a good free resource for some speed building exercises.
Sure here it is: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G957Z94/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1
I play these to warm up because they are rather simple arrangements. That's why I was prepared when I heard the "I hate the Beatles" comments start.
http://www.amazon.com/Battlestar-Galactica-Songbook-Piano-Solo/dp/1617803677/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1301784685&sr=8-4
Building Walking Bass Lines
https://www.amazon.com/Building-Walking-Bass-Lines-Builders/dp/0793542049/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539965332&sr=8-1&keywords=walking+bass+lines
​
Blues Bass Method
https://www.amazon.com/Leonard-Blues-Method-Acc%C3%A8s-audio/dp/0634089358/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539965415&sr=8-1&keywords=ed+friedland+blues