# Recommended reading for guitarists!



## JLP2005 (Feb 14, 2013)

From shred to jazz to CHICKIN' PICKIN', 

Are there any recommended books that you guys swear by? I've been itching to pull the trigger on this  and I was wondering--

What readings, if any, do you guys recommend? Any DVD set that you really enjoyed that enhanced your playing? Let's hear it!


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## FireInside (Feb 14, 2013)

This isn't an instructional book but it is an amazing read for ANY musician. Can't recommend it enough!







The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music: Victor L. Wooten: 9780425220931: Amazon.com: Books


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## JLP2005 (Feb 14, 2013)

FireInside said:


> This isn't an instructional book but it is an amazing read for ANY musician. Can't recommend it enough!




You know, I saw a lesson he was giving on the Youtubes yesterday and was very impressed with how he spoke to his students. The particular episode was 'finding the pulse' of a piece of music and keeping it inherently. I'll link it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRmiTta995o


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## celticelk (Feb 14, 2013)

Mick Goodrick: *The Advancing Guitarist*
Philip Toshio Sudo: *Zen Guitar*


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## Repner (Feb 14, 2013)

FireInside said:


> This isn't an instructional book but it is an amazing read for ANY musician. Can't recommend it enough!
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Definitely this! Brilliant read. Such an eye opener, regardless of your chosen instrument.


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## JLP2005 (Feb 15, 2013)

Repner said:


> Definitely this! Brilliant read. Such an eye opener, regardless of your chosen instrument.



I bought the audiobook, narrated by the Woots himself. And he's got little bass diddles in the background. Enjoying it very, very much thus far.


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## Hyacinth (Feb 16, 2013)

FireInside said:


> This isn't an instructional book but it is an amazing read for ANY musician. Can't recommend it enough!
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Echoing this. I found this book at a yardsale a couple years ago and it blew me away.


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## Vinchester (Feb 16, 2013)

FireInside said:


> This isn't an instructional book but it is an amazing read for ANY musician. Can't recommend it enough!
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> 
> 
> ...



Thank you. I read the first pages and it already interests me. Ordered from Amazon for the price of a bottle of wine


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## JazzandMetal (Feb 25, 2013)

I have the guitar aerobics book. It will give you the basics of several different styles, some rhythms and some leads. There is more rock/blues than anything, but there is plenty of metal, country, reggae and jazz in it as well. 

I have progressed more just trying to play songs in whatever style, but it is a good lick book if you stick with it. 


A book I would recommend more than that one is speed mechanics for lead guitar by Troy Stetina. Amazing book. He breaks down the technique to play fast and clean for lead. I am sure his rhythm books rock as well. I also his big sclae book and it is top notch.


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## bondmorkret (Feb 26, 2013)

Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrick is fantastic!


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## Krah13 (Feb 26, 2013)

JLP2005 said:


> From shred to jazz to CHICKIN' PICKIN',
> 
> Are there any recommended books that you guys swear by? I've been itching to pull the trigger on this  and I was wondering--
> 
> What readings, if any, do you guys recommend? Any DVD set that you really enjoyed that enhanced your playing? Let's hear it!



The Advancing Guitarist, maybe the best guitar book written ever.


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## tedtan (Feb 26, 2013)

celticelk said:


> Mick Goodrick: *The Advancing Guitarist*
> Philip Toshio Sudo: *Zen Guitar*


 
I agree with these. There's another I'm thinking of, but drawing a blank on at the moment - I'll post it when I remember it's name.


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## ayaotd (Feb 27, 2013)

Does anyone have any good book recommendations on music theory in general?


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## tedtan (Feb 27, 2013)

^ ayaotd

_Tonal Harmony_ by Kostka & Payne is a forum favorite.


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## Ralyks (Mar 1, 2013)

I just got Guthrie Govans Creative Guitar 1, and I would recommend this to anyone who's ever even touched a guitar.


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## AdamHernandez13 (Mar 1, 2013)

Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner is a fantastic book.

Kenny is actually a pianist, but it's a great book for any musician. Not necessarily a "practice" kind of book, but I believe it allows you to look at developing your skills in a different way that makes your practice more effective, and will pretty much makes your overall musicianship a lot better.


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## Ralyks (Mar 2, 2013)

AdamHernandez13 said:


> Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner is a fantastic book.



I found this book in a bag of free books outside a tiny bookstore when I was wandering around town between classes a few years back. Fantastic book, no matter what your instrument.


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## tedtan (Mar 2, 2013)

AdamHernandez13 said:


> Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner is a fantastic book.


 
This is the other book I was trying to remember a few posts back!


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## celticelk (Mar 2, 2013)

There's actually a thread going on Werner's YouTube workshop vids:

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/music-theory-lessons-techniques/228605-something-every-musician-should-see.html


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## Trespass (Mar 2, 2013)

Werner's advice is poignant no matter field you are in. He really breaks down some keys points of the fear-based culture we are raised and live in.


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## blanco (Mar 2, 2013)

First book i got was john petrucci-rock discipline. Had some really interesting things in it, came with a handy dvd which helped with positioning and things. If i remember rightly i actually stole a fair amount of bits from it to be my warm up because he did a lot of string skipping, sweep patterns and stretching exercises.



Ralyks said:


> I just got Guthrie Govans Creative Guitar 1, and I would recommend this to anyone who's ever even touched a guitar.


This as well. Won't make you play like him but give you a great insight into his style.


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## celticelk (Mar 3, 2013)

I'm getting a lot of mileage lately out of Joe Diorio's *21st Century Intervallic Designs*. It's excellent for breaking up scalar patterns in your lines, and gives you a thorough alternate-picking workout in the process. (Great for building hybrid-picking or fingerpicking dexterity as well!)


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## Ralyks (Mar 10, 2013)

Out of curiosity, has anybody read Mayasa Yamaguchi's books? I'm currently looking into "Symmetrical Scales for Jazz Improvisation" and "The Complete Thesaurus of Musical Scales", all of his books look interesting and they get great reviews on Amazon. Just wondering if anyone here has any experiences with his books.


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## baptizedinblood (Mar 19, 2013)

Chris Letchford's books are pretty good. 

Scale The Summit &mdash; *NEW* Chris Letchford&#39;s "Guide To Tapping" Instructional Book

Scale The Summit &mdash; Chris Letchford&#39;s 6 String Guitar Technique Instructional Book

I've got them both, and the exercises have helped me out immensely. Highly recommend them


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## JLP2005 (Mar 19, 2013)

Funnily enough I caught that Kenny Werner Piano masterclass video on reddit and it was a phenomenal experience. Showed it to all my musician friends.


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## Repner (Mar 20, 2013)

baptizedinblood said:


> Chris Letchford's books are pretty good.
> 
> Scale The Summit &mdash; *NEW* Chris Letchford's "Guide To Tapping" Instructional Book
> 
> ...


I have that second one. Great book indeed.


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## bandinaboy (Mar 20, 2013)

Funny... I thought seeing as how I had a kindle full of books I would have some input, but most of the good ones have been mentioned.
Cannot recommend the Music Lesson enough!
Some have been mentioned some have been not, here are my favorites:

The Chord Factory by Jon Damian - Some what goofy way of presenting some of the coolest voicings of chords you never knew! I have his Improvising book too, which Im am sure is genius, but I havent cracked it open yet!

30-day Guitar Workout by Jody Fisher - Did not expect to gain so much from this book, but I'm on day nine and my accuracy and chordal knowledge has skyrocketed. 

Guthrie Govan Creative Guitar 1 and 2 - 1 for the theory, 2 for the shred!

The Jazz Theory book by Mark Levine - loads of good information and plenty of examples to back up every idea.

Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo - Interesting ways of looking at basic things that often looked over. Great inspiration to practice in here.

Jazz by Pat Martino - The title is vague, but its got a bunch of jazz hotlines that you never knew about! Want to play a jazzy lick? Come no further. 

There are more that are good, but not my favorite. 
But aside from instructional books, don't forget to dive into actual music books, with notes! Get Scores, tab books, signature lick books from your favorite bands!
-The Real Books
-A Hand full of Dream Theater books
-Pat Metheny Song book
-If your into video game music, there is millions of FREE sheet music for it!
-Throw some classical music in there like "The Library of Guitar classics" maybe? 
You know, Charlie Parker always carried a copy of "The Rite of Spring" by Stravinsky with him. Maybe you should too?

And outside the realm of guitar
The Pat Pattison Book Writing Better Lyrics
is actually pretty helpful for composition, song flow, and well uhh Lyrics. Haha

Hope I was helpful! Now get reading!


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## phugoid (Mar 29, 2013)

I found his one useful for basics:
Contemporary Music Theory - Level One: A Complete Harmony and Theory Method for the Pop and Jazz Musician: Mark Harrison: 9780793598816: Amazon.com: Books

Another thing that rocked my world is Marty Friedman's Melodic Control. A very down-to-earth, use-your-ears approach to improvising - it's worth getting the DVD/VHS to have the sheet/tab booklet (and for the man to get his due).


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## Repner (Apr 5, 2013)

The other one I've started using is Troy Stetina's Fretboard Mastery. It's more about helping you get what's in your head onto the guitar through ear training and learning how to apply it to the fretboard. I like to use it alongside online ear training programs like the one on musictheory.net. He intended it to be a companion to the more physical technique based books he puts out.


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## MildlyMoist (Apr 5, 2013)

Guthrie govans book was useful for my creativity. Shoulld give it a go


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## Malkav (Apr 5, 2013)

+1 on the Guthrie books, even if I weren't a fanboy I do think the infomation is laid out well and the writing is structured in a way that never becomes confusing. Gotta remember he did teach at ACM for quite a few years, so he's actually quite experienced


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## tripguitar (Jul 20, 2013)

FireInside said:


> This isn't an instructional book but it is an amazing read for ANY musician. Can't recommend it enough!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



So I had this book on my amazon wish list (because of this thread) and my gf got it for me. I've only read measure one so far but wow. This is just what I needed! Thanks SSO!


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