Mel Bay A Guide to Non-Jazz Improvisation: Guitar Edition - Weissman/Fox - Guitar TAB - Book/CD

Author: Dick Weissman
Editor: Dan Fox
Format: Book and CD
Instrumentation: Guitar TAB

The non-jazz improvisation series is a concept that germinated in Dick Weissman's mind while he was attending music school. He wrote a 15-piece arrangement of the old square dance tune, Cripple Creek, and wanted the trombone to take a solo as part of the arrangement. When the trombonist kept playing a bebop solo that was totally unsuitable for the chart, Dick realized that - in addition to the many musicians who do not improvise - there are even jazz musicians who don't know how to improvise outside the limits of their own stylistic backgrounds.

Fingerstyle and flatpicking techniques demonstrate the use of the guitar as an incredibly versatile instrument that holds its own in a variety of musical genres. Various guitar tunings are included. All examples are written out in traditional and tablature notation.

Contents:

Part One: Basic Techniques of Improvisation

• Chordal Improvising
• Moving to Different Chord Positions
• Adding Notes to the Melody: Passing Tones
• Upper and Lower Neighbor Notes
• First Improvisation: Expanding on a Simple Melodic Figure
• Finale
• Rhythmic Improvisation
• Bile Them Cabbage Down
• Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad
• Sourwood Mountain
• Modes, Scales, and a Mild Dose of Music Theory
  • The Seven Modes as Fingerboard Diagrams
  • Ionian Improv
  • Dorian Mode
  • Phrygian Mode
  • Lydian Mode
  • Mixolydian Mode (Old Joe Clark)
  • Aeolian Mode
  • Locrian Mode
  • Mixed Modes
  • Modes Starting on Other Notes
  • Minor Scales: Natural Minor
  • The Harmonic Minor Scale
  • Hava Nagila
  • The Melodic Minor Scale
  • Podmoskovnya Vyechera

Part Two: Tunes and Styles

• Country and Western Music
  • A Walk in the Country
  • Country Folk Styles
  • Railroad Bill
• Bluegrass Guitar
  • The Eighth of January
  • Little Maggie
• Irish Music
  • The Irish Washerwoman
  • Rhythm Guitar Improvisation
  • Strumming
  • Rakes of Mallow
• Folk Guitar
  • Wildwood Flower
• Waltzes, 3/4 time
  • Waltzing at the River
• Rock and Roll
  • Fifties Rock: Improvising from Chord Progression
  • I VI II V Chord Progression
  • Back to the Fifties
• Country and Folk Rock
  • Nevada Motels
• The Blues
  • Boogie Blues
• Blues Guitar, Slide Guitar, and the G Tuning
  • Open Tunings: Open G Tuning
  • Slidin' Home
• Ragtime
  • Raggedy Rag
  • Risin' River Rag
• Odd Meters
  • Five Times Four
  • li]Odd Meter Rhythm Guitar
  • The Other Bela
• Cajun Music
  • Pardon My French
• Gospel
  • Sunday Sermon
• Spanish and Latin-American Music
  • Spanish Ears
  • Latin-American Rhythm Guitar
• Bossa Nova
  • Brazen Bossa
  • Bossa Nova Rhythm Patterns
• New Age Guitar
  • Aging Rapidly
• The Open D Tuning
  • Chords in the Open D Tuning
  • Sammy's Waltz
  • Jazz Waltz Rhythm Guitar
  • Other Tunings
  • Bunessan
• Improvising Using Exotic Scales
  • Whole Tone Scale
  • Klezmer Music: Scales Used in Klezmer Music
• Composing Your Own Music: Developing an original style
• Recommended Books and Recording
• About the Authors