Learn Jazz Guitar with Mickey Baker: Volume 1

Mr P: Only good for those who can read music, otherwise don't bother!

United Kingdom on Jul 22, 2023

Mo: Will definitely take you to the next level. Get ready for a work out.

United States on Jul 07, 2023

KWADWO FRIMPONG: Thanks

United Kingdom on May 07, 2023

Rabin Bishwakarma: I have started reading the book, I am just at the beginning pages and I already know its worth it, very good book, recommended by Robben Ford himself.

Australia on Mar 28, 2023

Sven Nier: Das Buch von Mickey Baker ist aus meiner Sicht der absolute Hammer! Es ist eines der besten Gitarren-Bücher, die ich für mich durchgearbeitet habe! Wer sich noch nicht so gut mit Jazz-Chords auskennt, ist hier bestens beraten! Nicht ohne Grund weist Robben Ford in seinen Videos und Interviews wiederholt auf dieses Buch hin, wenn es um seine Aha-Erlebnisse geht! Behutsam wird man an gängige Akkordfolgen herangeführt. Mit der Zeit wird man auch ohne Theoriekenntnisse wichtige Zusammenhänge und Verwandtschaften von Akkorden erkennen und in sein Spiel integrieren. Man sollte sich unbedingt die Zeit nehmen und den Empfehlungen des Autors folgen, alle Übungen in die gängigsten Tonarten zu transponieren! Genial finde ich die Nummerierung der Griffdiagramme! So kann man sich mit 33 Griffen durch dieses Buch, aber auch durch wahrscheinlich alle Jazz-Standard manövrieren! Das gleiche Konzept gibt es auch von dem Autor Roger Edison in seinem Buch „Jazz Rhythm Guitar“, welches ebenso sehr gut und leider nur antiquarisch erhältlich ist! Wer nun dieses Nummern-System erfunden hat, entzieht sich meiner Kenntnis. … Im zweiten Teil geht es um Singlenote-Improvisation. Hier werden...

Germany on Dec 06, 2022

Akhil J.: I need help from some one more experienced for understanding these book. I keep it in my shelf.
Material given in the book is excellent

India on Aug 18, 2022

Darwin T.: This book gets you out of the rut of memorizing chords, reading tabs (which you shouldn't anyway if you really want to learn), and cycling thru what you already know. The chord groupings, and the exercises that put those to use, are invaluable for guitarists who want to learn accompaniment (esp. to standards) in all the keys. Not a book on music theory but rather a practical course of study and practice. Learning his chord forms can be difficult--and several can be made more simply--but that preliminary work is well worth the time.

That being said, the major drawback to the book is the author's failure to explain anything. Students don't need to be coddled, but they do need to be helped to understand what they're being asked to do! For example, the author in lesson 4 says you are to transpose the material in the previous lesson into different keys. When you look back at the previous lesson, unless you are already well versed in music theory, you won't understand either the layout of the previous lesson or what is being asked in the new lesson. Each example in the previous lesson begins in "G" and ends in "Gma7." What is this supposed to tell us about the key of the...

United States on Apr 01, 2022

Michael Lopez: This book deserves 5 stars, the author does a great job starting you with the basics such as harmony (including chord exercises to improve technique) and then moving along teaching you must know information for a gigging jazz guitarist like builiding intros, scale runs, jazz blues and rhythm changes standard chord progressions as well as more advanced chord progressions for blues and rhythm changes. I have both books by Joe pass Guitar Styles and Book 1 by mickey baker and both are extremely loaded with information that cannot be easily absorbed in months maybe years. One thing that i really appreciate about Baker is that he gives you the information in a no non-sense kind of way and is strict on how you advance through the material, he advises the reader not to move on until you have completely absorbed transposition, chord changes, etc. this is great because in professional situations you need to have this knowledge second hand and ready to use in an instant. This book can be easily discouraging because you have to know how to use it, how to apply it, and how to teach it to yourself. Thankfully i am a Jazz Studies B.M and these harmonic concepts aren't so difficult to grasp...

United States on Apr 25, 2014

Michael J: Almost every pro guitarist, and a lot of amateur ones, know the Mickey Baker books. A number of jazzers and rockers started out with them- Pete Townsend has said that he learned his chords from Mickey. This was the only specifically jazz oriented guitar method available back in the 50s when Mickey wrote it, and it's been in print pretty much continuously since then. That by itself should should tell you a lot. A lot of guitarists looking for a good jazz self-study course have looked at this book, and wondered if there was really much to be learned from few simple chord exercises and a few dozen riffs. Sure, there were a lot of good chords to be learned from it, but beyond that...?

Actually, there is a tremendous amount of information to be found in this book, but only if you follow Mickey's directions. He doesn't give you a lot of why- just "do this until you have it down." But if you do that, you'll find yourself internalizing a lot of important rules and skills that other teachers spell out. Those hokey sounding chord progressions that Mickey wants you to memorize and transpose to other keys are actually teaching you all the standard jazz substitutions. Mickey does spell...

United States on Jan 11, 2012