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From
Eric Vandenberg (guitarist and guest writer for
iBreathemusic.com):
There's
a plethora of instructional books for guitarists
out there, and of course, as with everything,
there are some really good ones and some rather
weak ones. However, there also are some that stand
out, and have you hooked right from the start.
Like when you get the idea that the author truly
has to say something, and has very much to share
with the readers.
Chris
Juergensen is both a great player and a very experienced
instructor, and it's evident that he has a lot
to say. Instead of putting your good ol' black
and white pics of legendary players" on every
other page, he focuses on the actual content,
and gets right to the point.
One of the first things that really stands out,
right in the introduction is "Practicing
should be fun but challenging". That "fun"
part is often forgotten about, and keeping it
in mind is such an integral part of the psychology
behind practicing. Elaborating on easy to remember
keywords ("Balance", "Vision"
etc.), Chris gives away simple advice that should
be of benefit for players of all styles and all
ages. The part about "The 5 areas of practice"
should be paid special attention to, as variety
is something a lot of students seem to miss.
After
some more personal words, he dives right in. Chord
symbols, a reminder on chord diagrams, and soon
Chris starts to explain basic triads, giving away
very useable and easy to remember voicings that
will prove very helpful if remembered thoroughly.
This is a good example of one of the most outstanding
aspects of this book... that it's aimed at providing
you with information you can actually USE, written
by a musician who actually does have to rely on
that information on a daily base. Some basic chord
progressions are thrown in for good measure and
should be quite helpful to get used to actually
USING the voicings you learn in this part of the
book. After an explanation and similar treatment
of sus-chords, Chris leads you through 7th chords.
This section is very thorough, and is a very VERY
good and usable guide to the voicings for those
type of chords. And he doesn't stop here, as 6th
and 9th chords are next. It's evident by now that
this method is not something to work through in
one week... it's something that will and should
keep you busy for quite some time, and you should
allow yourself that time, learning and digesting
( and APPLYING ) the information provided bit
by bit.
After
going through several other chord types (i.e.
6/9 chords), Chris gets to slash chords, which
often is a topic forgotten about in instructional
methods about chords. And slash chords can come
in VERY handy sometimes, and are a wonderful compositional
tool (used by everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd to
Pat Metheny, to mention just two popular modern
examples). This section is a quite elaborate one,
and is followed by one on voice leading, which
is another topic that often is explained in a
way that causes more confusion than anything else,
while Chris manages to make it quite easy to understand.
He
next tackles contrapuntal movement, and if you're
new to that subject I recommend to check out his
explanation on it before you attempt to, i.e.
try to work with the explanation given by Mick
Goodrick in his book. All this would be plenty
for a complete book already, but we're not even
halfway through yet!
The next subject is scales. Starting with a simple
explanation of the major scale, Chris also gives
some quite valuable advice on technical aspects,
and then moves on to harmonizing the scale. This
should help quite a few people to understand the
construction of triads and other chords, while
working on the scale and improving their technique.
The
next section focuses on sequences, and this was
one of my favorite parts. It's almost like a "Hanon
for Guitarists", but the sequences here can
really easily be used in your playing the way
they are shown in the book... so you don't have
to only use them as mere exercises, which I think
again hints at real life uses of the information
provided. Once again, this book should keep you
busy for quite some time!
This also is evident in the next chapter, "Arpeggios",
once again being a very elaborate one. It's amazing
how much stuff can be found in this book.
Some
other "classic" topics are covered,
such as Harmonic and Melodic Minor, Modes, the
pentatonic, composition, sight-reading... and
I am at the point where I believe a basic review
won't be able to truly demonstrate how valuable
this book can be to some people, and how much
stuff is in there. I remember that, while attending
GIT, I noticed that it would take me years after
graduation to work on some of the things explained
to me there, and this book is like that, too:
something that will keep you busy for a long time,
and a wonderful source of information, whether
you work through it like an actual step-by-step
method, or use it as a reference to work on a
specific topic.
Bottom
Line
I
was extremely impressed at the sheer amount of
stuff in this book, and considering the fact that
it is available for about 25 bucks (15 if you
prefer the download-version), this truly is a
steal. There are a load of books that cover most
of those topics, but the way they are explained
here, in a "stuff you can use in real life",
without endless scientific, confusing ramblings,
in a "cut to the chase", "here's
what the chord consists of, and here are some
voicings" way... that makes this book stand
out. It's obvious that Chris has years of experience
as an instructor, and it's also obvious that a
lot of thought and a lot of love went into this
one.
Recommended
for: Beginners and intermediate players, even
some advanced players who feel like they haven't
thoroughly understood some of the topics
Rating:
5/5
-
Eric Vandenberg
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| You
would think after buying 30 or so books on guitar
that I would have enough and never need another
book- well I'd convinced my wife of that at least,
but I tell you, I think I've truly found the one
book I'd have on a deserted island with my guitar
for the rest of my life.
First
of all, in case you haven't noticed with Chris's
online lessons, he has a way of explaining some
of the trickiest concepts on the guitar in a way
that clicks immediately and gets you applying
it to your playing as fast as possible. I've probably
looked at over 100 online lessons in the past
10 years, and I've never found any as good as
the ones he post for free. I guess this should
be of no surprise since he's a former MI-GIT instructor,
and now heads the Tokyo school of music. In other
words this guy is not just an amazing guitar player,
but a gifted educator- a combination that is hard
to find.
The
book is extremely well organized, the diagrams
are as legible and easy to understand as any I've
ever seen, and most importantly he covers pretty
much every essential guitar concept you need to
know about. Chris even covers traditionally difficult
and not-fun subjects such as modes, sight reading
and song writing in a way that is so clear and
easy to follow, that I just can't believe I hadn't
already found this information explained in such
a clear manner from anyone else. Again, I知 convinced
the real difference is that he is an educator
and he's spent years teaching people, and has
truly found the most efficient methods to enlighten
students quickly. After 20 years of playing, I知
quite happy to finally have such a quality encyclopedia
of information that will keep me busy for the
rest of my life. And as if the book wasn't enough,
he regularly adds lessons to his site, so I致e
already added 2 excellent lessons to the book
on practicing modes.
Needles
to say, I highly recommend this book- buy it today!
-manleyf
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