Essential Solos for Guitar: Guitar Book & CD

Harrington grounds improvisation in real language. Rather than abstract exercises, these solos show you exactly how accomplished players navigate standard changes, phrase over blues progressions, and construct logical musical ideas. Your students learn by studying the work itself, not by reading about theory.

Working through these solos feels like shadowing a master improviser in the moment. The vocabulary is idiomatic, the rhythms swing with conviction, and the harmonic choices reflect how jazz musicians actually think and respond to changes in real time.

Jazz guitarists who want to move beyond basic chord comping and build a functional vocabulary of solos and licks grounded in real repertoire. This resource works equally well for self-directed learners and for students working with a teacher who can guide their analysis and imitation.

• Use the demo tracks first to hear each solo in context, then learn it by ear or from notation before playing along with the backing track. This builds listening skills and trains your musical memory.
• Transpose these solos to different keys after you've learned them in the original. The harmonic and rhythmic patterns become portable vocabulary you can apply in any key.
• Record yourself playing each solo, then listen back to identify where your phrasing or time feel differs from the demo. Specific comparison sharpens both technical accuracy and stylistic awareness.
• Sing the melodic contour of each solo before playing it on guitar. This strengthens the connection between your ear and your fingers and helps you internalize the shape of jazz phrasing.

Assign solos from this book as part of a jazz ensemble member's individual practice; they sharpen technique and ear training outside of group rehearsal. You might also feature one of these solos as a transcription assignment or small-group listening project to deepen your ensemble's understanding of jazz language before tackling their own improvisation.

• Transcription and solo analysis from recorded demonstrations
• Jazz articulation, phrasing, and swing rhythm
• Blues and jazz harmonic vocabulary applied to standards
• Transposition and adaptation of learned solos to different keys
• Listening skills and ear training through demo comparison
• Improvisation templates and lick vocabulary for original solos