Chords Complete!: Book

Konowitz writes from genuine classroom experience at every grade level, which means this book feels practical rather than theoretical. He covers the chord vocabulary musicians actually need across multiple idioms—jazz, blues, Latin, and contemporary pop—without overwhelming beginners or boring advancing players. The inclusion of a Learn & Play CD transforms what could be a dense reference into an interactive learning tool.

Opening this book feels like having a patient mentor at your elbow, walking through chord construction with clarity and purpose. You move from foundational triads through altered extensions, then immediately hear how each concept sounds in real rhythm and style. The writing is direct and uncluttered; concepts build logically rather than spiraling into tangents.

Any musician who wants to understand how chords work across styles—pianists and guitarists building improvisation skills, jazz students constructing appropriate voicings, or any instrumentalist looking to comp confidently in ensemble settings. This book serves intermediate to late-intermediate players who have basic harmonic vocabulary but need systematic instruction in voice leading, reharmonization, and style-specific applications.

• Work through one chord family at a time rather than jumping around the book. Master major triads in all twelve keys before moving to seventh chords, then extended voicings.
• Use the Learn & Play CD to lock in rhythmic placement of your chord changes. Hearing the accompaniment while you play prevents rhythm from becoming an afterthought.
• Practice chord tone melody exercises slowly, focusing on voice leading between changes rather than speed. Smooth voice leading sounds intentional; jumping around sounds accidental.
• Apply what you learn to one tune you know well. Take a jazz standard or blues head and reharmonize it using the voicing techniques from the text, then play it with the CD.

Assign this as a supplementary text for jazz ensemble members who need stronger harmonic foundation, or use specific chapters to support improvisation units in your music theory curriculum. The style-specific sections make it useful for rehearsal prep when your group is tackling blues, Latin, or rock repertoire and needs everyone on the same page about voicing conventions.

• Constructing basic, seventh, and altered chords in all twelve keys
• Voicing chords across multiple octaves and registers
• Creating chord tone melodies with smooth voice leading
• Building bass lines appropriate to jazz, blues, Latin, and pop styles
• Reharmonizing existing melodies using contemporary chord substitutions
• Reading chord charts and applying learned voicings in real time