The Bluesier Side of Jazz for Alto Saxophone and Eb instruments by Andrew D. Gordon and Frank Villafranca was inspired by the piano students Andrew teaches at Shepherd University School of Music in Los Angeles and is dedicated to those students: Jungwon Yumiko Yoko Eunice Sooji Hae Ji and Ok Kyu. As with many students that come from a classical background it is a difficult transition to learn to play Blues and Jazz. When a musician improvises they usually play a variety of riffs or phrases that they have developed and learnt over a period of time and can access these phrases instantaneously whatever key they are playing in to create a seamless improvisedsolo from the phrases they have learnt.Andrew's idea for this book is to create phrases or riffs over two measures of various Blues progressions. He sub-divided each of the 12 Bar Blues progressions used in this book (the chord progression for Watermelon Man is a 16 measure progression) into six sections (two measures each) and within each of the six sections created four different phrases or riffs so that the student has a choice of four different phrases to play over every two measures. They can then create a solo based on which phrase they choose for each two measures. By breaking down these phrases to two measures each he has found that the students have an easier time of learning to improvise than by trying to transcribe a whole solo from an audio recording or leaving them to their own devices in trying to play a solo based on the Blues scale or other related scales.Each of the ten examples are based on common Jazz/Blues chord progressions from Jazz songs such as 'Watermelon Man' 'Blue Monk' 'Tenor Madness' 'Route 66' 'Blue Trane' 'Bag's Groove' starting off with basic I-IV-V chords and increasing in complexity throughout the book. There are over 200 phrases/riffs to choose from that can be learned and applied to many types of jazz songs.The package includes:Book or PDF file30 audio tracks to play on your CD player or computerOver 200 mp3 filesOver 200 MIDI files

Perfect for the student of Jazz. --Michael Brecker 'I encourage the jazz guitar students at the University of North Texas to emulate tenor saxophonists. Greg Fishman's book, Jazz Guitar Etudes, contains idiomatic bebop lines and will be a great tool for any guitar teacher with aspiring jazz guitarists. Thanks, Greg!' Fred Hamilton, professor of jazz guitar, University of North Texas 'These are great solos and etudes! I'm always telling my guitar students to learn lines and phrasing from horn players, and Greg Fishman's book is perfect for this approach. The book is nicely done and very well laid out.' Corey Christiansen Professor of Guitar, Utah State University, Visiting Professor, Indiana University This book is very well put together and very thorough. It gives guitar students the information necessary to obtain a vocabulary based on the bebop tradition, yet ultimately encourages them to improvise on these structures, creating their own lines and ideas. I commend you on meeting this challenge head-on, and for effectively clarifying these concepts in your liner notes. --Steve Cardenas Professor of Guitar, The New School, New York City, member of the Paul Motian Band and Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchesra. The lines are great, the rhythm section is terrific, and I really love the fact that the student guitarist working out of this book gets to play along with both the guitarist on the CD and with your tenor. This book is incredibly well thought out. Congratulations on a fantastic book! --Jack Peterson, legendary jazz guitar professor (retired) from Berklee and North Texas State Just Jazz Guitar's rave review of Jazz Guitar Etudes by Greg Fishman: Jazz Guitar Etudes is an excellent resource for all guitarists and teachers. After releasing a very popular etudes book for jazz saxophone, Greg Fishman collaborated with guitarist Mike Allemena to do a guitar version of the book. The book includes standard notation and tablature. The studies in the book are great written improvised solos over familiar chord progressions such as the blues, rhythm changes, and standards. The book comes with a CD that features a guitar version, a saxophone version, and a rhythm section version of each etude. In addition, Fishman begins the book with concepts in developing jazz lines such as proper voice leading and sequences. The melodic lines are very well designed phrases using the the bebop language. Guitarists can gain so much by playing and analyzing these etudes --Just Jazz Guitar Magazine Endorsed by Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman, Phil Woods, James Moody, Plas Johnson, Mark Colby, Bob Sheppard, Jerry Coker, Gary Campbell, Tim Price, Gary Keller, Chip McNeil and many other teachers and players around the world, this series of saxophone etude and duet books will immediately help you take your playing to the next level. Click a cover and hear a sample... New book release for Jazz Guitar: Jazz Guitar Etudes book and CD Play-along set is now in stock and shipping! This book features master jazz guitarist Mike Allemana playing twelve bebop style etudes. Also includes Greg Fishman playing each etude on tenor saxophone. This allows the guitarist the choice of playing with Mike (guitar) or Greg (tenor). Book also features tablature with Mike's own fingerings! 52 pages, 8.5 x 11 format, ISBN 978-0-9766153-7-8