Featured Book: Jazz Guitar Comping: Raising Your Chord Awareness

Author: Andrew Green

Publisher: Mel Bay

Year Published: 2005

Type: Musical Instruction

Format / Pages: / 136 pages

Review:

Andrew Green gives the reader an informative book of musical instruction, and an entertaining CD to accompany it!  The jazz guitar comping CD features Andrew Green on guitar, with John McNeil on trumpet, Matt Pavolka on bass and Diego Voglino on drums.  The CD contents listing is found on page 136.

Andrew Green gives the reader one of the finest recent books for the study and application of jazz guitar comping.  His writing and explanations are clear.

The introduction covers a wide range of topics. The section on basic voicings is excellent.

Voice leading includes various topics.  Among the topics are moving notes, two-note voicings, three-note voicings, the upper voice, and non-functional chord progressions.

Multi-use voicings and voicing variations contain much information that is helpful to the beginning as well as the season performer.  Passing chords, harmonized scales, intervallic comping, rhythm, and studies and analysis make for educational and entertaining reading.

I would suggest the reader check out the passing chords section, page 65, for it gives an interesting approach to playing guitar progression with passing chords.  Having always enjoyed blues music, I found the fingering techniques intriguing and interesting.  I think the reader will, too.  In fact, everything about this book's approach should find a ready guitarist who wants some good, solid material for study and application. 

Congratulations to Andrew Green for a fine job with his book, for it among the best available on jazz guitar comping.  Excellent.

Additional Information: Check it out @ Amazon.com

ISBN: 0970057644

Reviewed by: Lee Prosser

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