Best guitar songbooks according to redditors

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.

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.

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/

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.

right here

Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar

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...

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.

Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786690739/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_OBUYzbEE36BVW

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you can find an hour a day for this which is available at larger guitar shops, it will keep you busy learning the basics for a year or two. A good investment.

You don't need theory for this book. It might teach you some.

/r/jazzguitar has a useful sidebar.


Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar: Book 1 and Book 2

Robben Ford is one of the many famous players who has benefited from studying these books.

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.

[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.

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

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

the Berklee series is best imho. They include songs and examples created by the author.
amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Berklee-Press-Modern-Method-Guitar/dp/B001UH10F6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1300835364&sr=8-4

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

> RIght now i'm trying to exaggerate my motion of picking at a slower tempo, idk why but i feel like this might help.

You're developing muscle memory to use a wider range of motion while picking? Don't do that.

This has been standard for almost 30 years:
https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Mechanics-Lead-Guitar-Stetina-ebook/dp/B002SDRSZW

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!!!

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

1. Get Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar
   
2. Practice.
   
3. ???
   
4. Profit.

This is an easy set of spanish-style songs. It includes a CD for reference.

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.

I have this swell book which has 36 chords for every root. My copy is spiral bound, so it stays open to the page you're interested in, and it fits easily into a gig bag pocket. Bought it at GC.

If you can swing it, I think this book is worth every penny: http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Steely-Dan-Recorded/dp/B002F8L6NK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398466707&sr=8-1&keywords=steely+dan+guitar+recorded+versions

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.

EvilDesk, here you go!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01JML7ISE

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.

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.

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/

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!)

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/Matteo-Carcassi-Melodic-Progressive-Studies/dp/0793518679/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405454838&sr=1-4&keywords=carcassi+etudes

these are the carcassi etudes. I've had a musical background on the trombone for years and I've played guitar for about 2 before my teacher put me onto classical. I already knew how to read music, and he taught me the technique behind the etudes. SO, I guess I'm saying I started CG knowing how to read music already, with a certain level of aptitude to applying it to the guitar. I didn't start off with any method books, but I eventually bought a bunch and saw that my teacher pretty much taught me all of it to begin with, apart from the flamenco stuff.

http://www.amazon.com/Solos-Classical-Guitar-Worlds-Favorite/dp/B002V4SIX4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1405454901&sr=8-3&keywords=classical+guitar+favorite

This is a compilation of beginner to intermediate guitar etudes and short pieces. Also you will find some arrangements of songs that were not written for the guitar, but someone did good work and made it so. If you get bored of the carcassi, try some of these to take your mind off it and to practice your sight reading, but always go back.

With Pumping Nylon inbetween. There are a few things you're going to have to learn that come with basic general guitar playing. Chord forms, triad forms, rest strokes, note reading, (maybe some Italian lol) also, grab a musical dictionary for the Italian stuff.... If your piece says to play Andante, you don't want to play it Allegro. If your piece says to play staccato, you don't want to play legato. If it says Dolce, don't play it Pesante.

There are so many things you learn with time and practice, but learn to play the carcassi etudes, MIND YOUR FINGERINGS. Good luck!


One last thing, STAY ON ONE ETUDE BEFORE YOU MOVE ON. Perfect it, you don't want to be able to play 10 half-ass etudes... that defeats the purpose. Get them down pat as you move along.

Mickey Baker, should be first on the list:

http://www.amazon.com/Mickey-Bakers-Complete-Course-Guitar/dp/0825652804