Berklee Jazz Standards for Solo Guitar Book/Online Audio

I originally flew off the handle because it didnt say if this book had tab or not! It does and I purchased it......My apologies Because This Book/Cd is one of the best on the market for jazz chord melody style playing and is a must-have for anyone wanting to or already playing chord melody-solo guitar style. There is something here for everyone to bring to the next gig or jam session!The arrangements are tastefully done, not too many chords and not to many single note fill ins (which I call Jazz-Halen type playing) as in a bunch of fast single notes showing off chops........the musicality in these arrangements is evident which is a lesson in itself to not to overplay chords or single lines.Also, John plays all the tunes in the usual Real-Book keys which is also a plus. Another plus is each tune is played with just guitar, no backing tracks or band. These songs can be played in a trio setting OR a Solo Guitar setting!I also really like that He plays the songs with feeling and not just mechanically correct. If you try to imitate the phrasing and nuances exactly how he plays them you will learn a lot (as I am currently doing) Hes not just playing the right notes with cool chord voicings its HOW he is playing it.....The author (John Stein) also shares valuable info like song form, harmonic analysis of all the arrangements, intros & endings, and more. He makes it clear that he is a "lifelong" student and STILL always learning himself!THIS IS A BOOK CD/ OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL THAT YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU PURCHASED! not one you want to sell back to Amazon or elswhere! Really No BS enjoy it and have fun and transfer all the stuff you learn here to other tunes.

This book is the best treatment of jazz guitar that I have found (with the possible exception of Ted Greene's books). The arrangements themselves are excellent--they are tasteful and exciting to play. And the analyses of the pieces have really deepened my understanding of how a jazz tune "works."I have been buying a lot of books about jazz guitar over the past year or so and this is the first one that I felt compelled to write a review about. If you are interested in understanding what's going on under the hood of some beautiful, moody arrangements, buy this book.

With just a few listens you'll see these arrangements are second to none. Extremely musical without being "showy", John Stein has assembled 10 arrangements with which you will fall in love! these are arrangements you will be playing 10 years from now-they are that good. Highlights are many, but "My Foolish Heart" and "My Romance" are just as good as chord melody gets. Despite his formal music training there is no elitist jazz snobery here-just great, accessible music. The book is note for note as well-no sloppy auto-transcribing here.

Good selection of songs and tasteful solos. A way to get insight into an approach to solo jazz guitar.

This is really good. Very well laid out: some background on the song, the instrumentalist behind the version, and a nicely articulated version of a number of standards. My personal favorite is In a Sentimental Mood.The other thing that is nice about this collection is that they are written in a manner which allows for improvisation and/or one's one 'spin' on certain passages or changes.

you would think of all the Great Musicians that have come out of that school,this book would be the best ever.Don"t get me wrong its worth the money, all the songs are slow, played freely or very freely, they don't swing, but you can do as i did and change the tempo,put your grove in to them.John Stein has some good harmonic choices and nice arrangements, but as i said, the tempo there played at on the c.d. would put people to sleep then tap there toes.

If your looking for a book of standard arrangements to buy this is it. John Stein gives you arrangements of the usual standard songs played by jazz musicians like Stella by Starlight, Out of Nowhere, My Romance and You Don't Know What Love is (plus others). One of the things that makes this book different is that he includes songs that are not usually in such a collections like Dedicated to You and Charles Mingus's Duke Ellington's Sound of Love. In addition to the songs each chapter begins with an essay that includes song form and harmonic analysis. There is a CD that accurately reflects the arrangements included.

These arrangements by Berklee instructor John Stein sound great and are not as hard to play as the other arrangement books that address this topic. I highly recommend this book to anyone studying jazz guitar. It is a must have for your library.

Is an excellent book, fulfills very well with its objectives and teaches in a very specific way, as a self-taught student I found the content very useful in this book easy to understandthe standards are explained so well

Ich habe einen langjährigen Jazz-Background, aber nach einigen Jahren Spielpause wieder neu angefangen, würde mich aber dennoch als eher fortgeschrittenen Spieler sehen.Es hat 2-3 Monate gedauert, bis ich das Buch durchgearbeitet hatte. Aber auch fast 6 Monate später entdecke ich neue Nuancen und Interpretationsvarianten, wenn ich die Stücke durchgehe und bin immer noch weit davon entfernt, die Stücke perfekt drauf zu haben. Die beiliegende Musik CD hilft nicht nur als Klangbeispiel, sondern ist auch "einfach so" schön anzuhören.Die Vielschichtigkeit, Klarheit und Schönheit der Arrangements motivieren noch heute wie am ersten Tag. Die Auswahl der Stücke gibt einen guten Einblick in das Genre und ich habe viel tolle Musik entdeckt, indem ich den Komponisten und Interpreten, die im Buch genannt werden, nachgegangen bin.Ich wünschte es würde mehr Bücher dieser Art in dieser Qualität geben.

great

Not that good. Maybe I'll find something good in it some day.

Useful and informative, if you want to progress with Jazz solo guitar I recommend it.