The Complete Jazz Guitar Method: Intermediate Jazz Guitar: Guitar Standard Notation & TAB Book & CD

This book treats intermediate jazz guitar as a coherent system rather than a collection of isolated tricks. The consistent pairing of harmony lessons with improvisation etudes means students aren't just learning what altered chords are; they're learning where they appear, how to hear them, and how to use them in actual playing contexts. The breadth of voicings and comping feels gives you real material to draw from when teaching students to adapt their playing across different jazz styles.

Methodical and grounded. Rather than overwhelming with options, the material builds logically from one concept to the next, with constant opportunities to hear and play what you're learning. The mix of ballads, swing, Latin, and funk feels keeps the work varied enough that practice sessions don't become repetitive despite the book's technical density.

Guitarists who have completed a beginning jazz method and are ready to deepen their harmonic vocabulary and improvisation toolkit. This works well for self-directed learners preparing for jazz ensemble, as well as students in academic jazz programs who need systematic, structured progression.

• Work through the ii-V-I progressions slowly at first, focusing on smooth voice leading before increasing tempo; the foundation here affects everything else you build.
• Separate the comping feels into individual practice sessions rather than cycling through all of them in one run; Latin feel demands different rhythmic thinking than swing, and split focus dilutes both.
• Use the CD to calibrate your harmonic ear against the recorded examples; pause frequently to identify chord qualities and transitions before playing along.
• When learning altered voicings, start by comparing them directly to their parent chords so the alterations become audible rather than abstract.

Assign chapters sequentially to jazz guitar students across a semester or year, using the etudes as core material for private lessons and weekly assignments. The included CD makes it valuable for independent work, allowing students to hear proper time feel and harmony voicing without needing a rhythm section present. You can also extract specific voicing sets or comping feels to reinforce concepts being worked on in your ensemble.

• ii-V-I progression voice leading and recognition
• Altered chord construction and application in improvisation
• Solo line creation using chord tones and surrounding tones
• Comping in swing, Latin, ballad, and funk feels
• Harmonic analysis and chord function hearing
• Chord voicing choices for different musical contexts