<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: A deceptively simple introduction
Review: Like all of Arnie Berle's books, "Patterns, Scales, and Modes" is so well-organized and well presented that it seems almost too simple. Arnie begins by introducing you do basic scale forms, while simultanously present related arpeggios. That's something not many methods do, but it's something that a lot of jazz teachers think should be emphasized from the start. (Some, like Carol Kaye, don't even teach scales, going straight to arpeggions!) And every scale and arpeggio example is presented with excercises designed to let you hear how the examples sound in a real musical context. That's important. As others have noted, the book is written in musical notation, not tablature, although there are also diagrams showing how scales and arpeggios lie on the fingerboard. Being able to read music is a necessity- but really, all you need to know is the basics: Names of notes on the staff, how key signatures work and so forth. You don't need to actually be able to read for guitar; Arnie teaches you that as he goes along. A sight reader would be able to progress a bit faster, of course. By the time the reader works his or her way through this book they should feel comfortable playing and improvising basic jazz lines in most any context. Ideally I'd combine this book with Berle's "Chords and Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar" (and a good listening library of jazz records). Together, these two books contain all the aspiring jazz guitarist would need to get started.
Rating:
Summary: A deceptively simple introduction
Review: Like all of Arnie Berle's books, "Patterns, Scales, and Modes" is so well-organized and well presented that it seems almost too simple. Arnie begins by introducing you do basic scale forms, while simultanously present related arpeggios. That's something not many methods do, but it's something that a lot of jazz teachers think should be emphasized from the start. (Some, like Carol Kaye, don't even teach scales, going straight to arpeggions!) And every scale and arpeggio example is presented with excercises designed to let you hear how the examples sound in a real musical context. That's important. As others have noted, the book is written in musical notation, not tablature, although there are also diagrams showing how scales and arpeggios lie on the fingerboard. Being able to read music is a necessity- but really, all you need to know is the basics: Names of notes on the staff, how key signatures work and so forth. You don't need to actually be able to read for guitar; Arnie teaches you that as he goes along. A sight reader would be able to progress a bit faster, of course. By the time the reader works his or her way through this book they should feel comfortable playing and improvising basic jazz lines in most any context. Ideally I'd combine this book with Berle's "Chords and Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar" (and a good listening library of jazz records). Together, these two books contain all the aspiring jazz guitarist would need to get started.
Rating: 
Summary: tough
Review: There is no tabulature in this book at all. I guess that's good because I need to work on my sightreading anyway. There are several fretboard images though which makes some of the exercises easier. But then he'll have a fretboard display of 1 arpeggio on the page and then introduce 2 or three variations. This is an intermediate to advanced level book. I felt that his other book "chords and progressions for jazz and popular guitar" was a lot more fun.
Rating:
Summary: tough
Review: There is no tabulature in this book at all. I guess that's good because I need to work on my sightreading anyway. There are several fretboard images though which makes some of the exercises easier. But then he'll have a fretboard display of 1 arpeggio on the page and then introduce 2 or three variations. This is an intermediate to advanced level book. I felt that his other book "chords and progressions for jazz and popular guitar" was a lot more fun.
Rating:
Summary: A must for all guitarists!
Review: This book is an excellent resource, but it's not a beginner's text by any means. If you could play 1/4 of this book by memory, you'd be able to improvise under all manner of circumstances. By all means, learn to read music before you use this book.
Rating:
Summary: Could also be applied to 5-string banjo or mandolin
Review: This book is an excellent resource, but it's not a beginner's text by any means. If you could play 1/4 of this book by memory, you'd be able to improvise under all manner of circumstances. By all means, learn to read music before you use this book.
Rating:
Summary: A must for all guitarists!
Review: This book is filled with useful licks and carefully chosen exercises to master guitar jazz improvisation with minimal effort. This book cleared the mistery of jazz improvisation. After working on the exercises in this book, I am able to improvise jazz guitar only by looking at fake books. A must for all who want to master guitar improvisation.
Rating:
Summary: patterns, scales and modes for jazz guitar
Review: this is an excellent introduction to scale modes and their application. like all of mr. berle's instructional books, it is written in an understandable fashion and gets its various points across without a lot of esoterica. this material is aimed at the intermediate guitarist who wants to understand a little of the basic tools for jazz guitar improvisation.
Rating:
Summary: patterns, scales and modes for jazz guitar
Review: this is an excellent introduction to scale modes and their application. like all of mr. berle's instructional books, it is written in an understandable fashion and gets its various points across without a lot of esoterica. this material is aimed at the intermediate guitarist who wants to understand a little of the basic tools for jazz guitar improvisation.
<< 1 >>
| 
