The Jazz Guitar Experience: Guitar Book & CD

This book respects the intelligence of intermediate and advanced guitarists by skipping the fundamentals and diving straight into the stylistic diversity that makes jazz rewarding to study. Dempsey's approach of framing styles through their historical context and key artists gives players the cultural literacy they need to perform authentically, not just mechanically. The accompanying CD is essential here; it lets you hear exactly how the concepts on the page sound in practice.

A guided tour through the DNA of jazz, moving fluidly from one era to the next while keeping your fingers engaged with concrete musical examples. You're not just reading about gypsy jazz, bebop, and fusion; you're learning to voice and phrase within each tradition, building a personal toolkit that reflects the full arc of the music.

Intermediate and advanced guitarists who already grasp jazz harmony and melody and want a structured way to understand how the genre evolved across styles. This is ideal for self-taught players looking to fill historical gaps or for those preparing for jazz ensemble work who need deeper context beyond the immediate repertoire they're performing.

• Listen to the CD multiple times before playing each example; jazz phrasing and swing feel are better absorbed through ear training than notation alone.
• Study the specific artists and styles highlighted for each era; understanding who played what and why will inform your interpretive choices when you apply these concepts to your own playing.
• Work through the practical applications systematically rather than jumping ahead; each style builds vocabulary you'll need for the more modern forms that follow.

Assign this to jazz ensemble members during a season when you're studying the history of the genre; the book's concise coverage keeps the workload manageable while the CD makes it easy for guitarists to prepare outside of rehearsal. It also works well as a self-directed study resource for guitarists who want to develop greater stylistic range before auditioning for ensemble groups or pursuing jazz performance at a higher level.

• Recognizing and reproducing the harmonic language of gypsy jazz, cool jazz, and bebop
• Applying swing feel and phrasing conventions authentic to each era
• Understanding the connection between blues and bossa nova vocabulary and modern jazz
• Adapting fusion and contemporary jazz techniques to improvisation and comping
• Historical and stylistic literacy that informs interpretive choices