Playing the Changes: Guitar
A Linear Approach to Improvising
- Suggested Retail Price: $19.95
- Format: Book/CD
- Pages: 128
- Dimensions: 9 x 12
- ISBN: 0-634-02223-7
- SKU: 50449509
- Publication Date: May 01, 2006
Related Online Courses & Programs
Jazz Guitar 201: Advanced Jazz Guitar Improvisation
This course explores the advanced techniques that great jazz guitarists use in order to successfully solo over chord changes found in both traditional and modern jazz compositions.
Guitar Improvisation Techniques
Learn to play a great guitar solo! Guitar Improvisation Techniques is designed to help guitarists who may have learned the technical aspects of playing, but lack the theoretical application of the musical elements that make up a strong solo that moves the listener.
Gary Burton: Jazz Improvisation
Learn the art of Jazz improvisation from Gary Burton, one of the most renowned improvisers in the jazz world. Learn different types and styles of compositions from the perspective of the improviser, and take an in-depth look at how mental, harmonic, and melodic processes contribute to the instinctive skills that an improviser puts to use when taking a solo.
Specialist Improvisation Certificate Program
This program will help you master the art of spontaneous expression to become a more confident and creative soloist. You’ll begin by refining how you hear music with ear training. Next, you’ll learn how some of your favorite musicians create the music you love by transcribing their solos.
Master Guitar Certificate Program
From rock to jazz or folk to metal, what separates the great guitarists from the rest is their mastery of the skills taught in this program. From basics like chords and scales to nuances like improvisation techniques, form, control, and inflexion, this certificate program will take your guitar playing to the next level. Few accomplished guitarists have reached their peak alone, and Berklee’s faculty is unparalleled when it comes to delivering the personalized instruction and feedback that will help you turn the fretboard into a playground packed with unlimited possibilities.
Bachelor of Professional Studies: Guitar
Develop the skills to become a professional guitar player. Through private lessons with Berklee's renowned faculty and a rigorous program of study that spans contemporary music styles, you will develop your unique sound, improve your technique, increase your musicianship, and harness technology to create professional-sounding recordings.
Create more expressive solos!
Effective improvisation can add fun and individuality to guitar solos. In Playing the Changes—Guitar, Mitch Seidman and Paul Del Nero present a unique improvisation strategy based on ear training and a linear interpretation of note relationships.
In this technique, improvised lines are derived from the harmonic construction of chord progressions. Learn how to choose appropriate notes by listening for the tendencies of pitches within modes and tetrachords—groupings of four notes in a scale. In Playing the Changes—Guitar, you’ll explore the possibilities of focused and linear improvisation, and develop your ability to create musically effective melodies with greater freedom and depth of expression.
Comprehensive, step-by-step instruction will guide you as you:
- Develop an expectation of sound—an intuitive sense for which notes to choose and where your chosen notes will lead the melody
- Master the movement of notes over modes and harmonies
- Use and learn from the examples on the included CD
- Become comfortable improvising over jazz standards such as “Blue Bossa,” “Tune Up,” and “Long Ago and Far Away”
- Create your own chord pads to use as you practice recognizing the tendencies of pitches within chord progressions
- Tablature included
If you can read traditional notation and chord symbols, have a basic understanding of functional harmony and have a basic technical capability, you can use this book to learn how to improvise and become more expressive and creative in your music making.
“Very thoughtful and insightful book by Mitch Seidman and Paul Del Nero. This is geared to an intermediate to advanced level of student, but a beginner can certainly find good practice material. The tetrachord ideas are a unique way of addressing the problems of improvisation. If students apply themselves to the exercises, much progress can be made. Highly recommended!”
—Jack Wilkins, Guitarist and Educator
“Mitch Seidman and Paul Del Nero have assembled an impressive and comprehensive book of patterns, exercises, and etudes that really get inside the secrets to jazz improvisation and open up new possibilities to the guitarist at any level of their development. Complemented with a great sounding CD of many different examples, I know I. myself’, will find it helpful for a long time to come. Great job, Mitch and Paul!”
—Duke Robillard, Award-winning Blues Guitarist
“Playing the Changes is a nuts-and-bolts, hands-on method for soloing. Real concepts that will yield real results. A great piece of work!”
—Joe Beck, Jazz Guitarist
“Playing the Changes—Guitar: A Linear Approach to Improvising presents a great way to develop ear training, melodic and harmonic awareness, and the corresponding technique on the guitar. The clearly laid out and demystified program builds a sensitivity and understanding that will enrich any player’s improvisational skills, transcending stylistic boundaries. A great contribution to a complete musician’s education!”
—Howard Alden, Jazz Guitarist, Concord Recording Artist
Authors
Paul Del Nero
Paul Del Nero has a B.M. from Berklee College of Music, and has a M.M. from New England Conservatory of Music….
Mitch Seidman
Mitch Seidman has a B.M. from Berklee College of Music, and a Mus.M. from Boston University. He is a guitarist, and…
