Sheets of Sound?

The book is for everyone. It would be tough for a raw beginner unless there is a teacher to help.

There are over 300 pages of exercises, you can pick and choose what interests you. You don't have to following the sweep picking if you don't want to.

You will get out of it what you put into it, just like everything else.

If you want to shred, then shred, if you don't then don't.

What I find best about it is that it opens up different approaches to fingerings, neck positions and patterns that you probably haven't thought of before. For me, I find the approaches creeping into my playing more that just playing an exercise in a solo.

I haven't seen a bad review yet and most comments are accolades.

 

This book is definitely *NOT* about shredding. It's about opening your eyes to view the instrument in a different way. Most folks think this is a physical technique book. It's not. It's a mental technique book. Sure, your prowess on the instrument will grow but the true power and point of the material is in expanding the horizons of what your preconception of how the guitar is supposed be played.

The book is not about a "style". It's about music.

 

OK.....I may be a little slow, but I cant find a cost for the book on the webpage....are they free? .....lol....

 

$29.95+shipping.

However, it's $25 shipped for gearpage members (if you're in the continental US)

There's a thread in the dealers section which tells you how to order at that price.

 

cool thanks, I think order one!!!

 

"if you're in the continental US"

Hmmm it is times like this is really sux to be a Canadian Gear Page member. I myself am considering taking a look at this book. It is on my Christmas list. hehhhe

 

$30 shipped for canada!

 

LOL ;p SOLD!

 

I just got Sheets of Sound. I haven't really gotten into it much, but it seems decent.
I was wanting a book that helps me in the area of applying scales and arpeggios. I'm not sure how much this book does that. It seems to be more exercises oriented. But I've only skimmed through it a little.

 

Look at chapter 6 and chapter 8

 

Ok. Thanks, Jack.

 

Jack -
I checked out chapter 8, like you said. I was reading on page 271 about the diminished chord concept. You were saying how by lowering one note of the diminished scale, you have a dominant chord.
Pat Martino also teaches this, but he didn't explain it clearly. He called the diminished chord the "parental form" and the dominant chords that come from it the "children."
When I was listening to him, I was wondering how that would benefit me.
But in your book you explain - and correct me if I got this wrong - that if the diminished chord (the "parental form") can be used every minor 3rd, then so can the dominant chord (the "children") that comes from it.
And to me, this would be useful in application, whereas when PM explained it, it kind of seemed like worthless info.

 

I think Pat does eventually explain that somewhere but I agree. His methodology sometimes becomes the end instead of the means. I studied with him for a year and it was always interesting.

Once, I copied a lick he played on the Willis Jackson CD, "Bar Wars". It was a ridiculous sounding thing with all kinds of weird and random sounding intervals. I went into my next lesson and asked him what it was. [in deep baritone voice]

I blinked a few times and went back to the lesson material.

A few lessons later, he left the room to get some tea and I looked up on his drafting table and saw something called "12 Chromatic forms for guitar".

Amazingly, one of the forms was the line from the Bar Wars recording. Not sure why he couldn't just tell me that.

Ever since then, I made it a goal to take the mysticism out of theory and improvisation and try to explain the concepts in useable ways. Not all of them can be grasped at first sight but I'll never tell you to sit under a tree as the sun comes up in order to understand it!

 

Ok, so you won't tell us to... but does that help?

 

I thought so at the time.

 

What Pat Martino said kind of reminds me of an article I read by Howard Roberts years ago. he said (I'm paraphrasing) it doesn't matter where you start but where you end up.
And he gave all these different patterns that made no melodic sense. This was back in the 70's. I took it and used it. And it actually can be interesting sometimes to play random notes, then tie them in - remembering what HR said, it's not where you start but where you end up.
Of course I don't make a habit of playing like that. But here and there it's interesting.

And now that I'm getting into Sheets of Sound I can give a good recommendation for it. I'm doing the Pat Martino licks and find them really good.

 

Scott Henderson said the same thing at a clinic I was at in the 80's.... I do it all the time.

Make sure you resolve with conviction!!!

 

That ought to be on your site....

 

Or to quote Ray Gomez...there are no bad notes, only bad resolutions.