Dr. Matt’s 20 Essential Jazz Guitar CDs

OK, first let me start off by telling you what this article isn’t. Then I’ll tell you what it is. This isn’t a list of the 20 best jazz-guitar albums of all time or a list of what I think should be the only 20 jazz-guitar albums somebody to own. (This is not the be [...]

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Spread the Guitar Love

I want to try and get some good audience participation going with today’s thread. As I’ve written about before, the hater community is very much alive and well among guitarists. So what I would like to do today is flip the script a little bit and get some publicity for those players that we love [...]

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625 Alive: The Wes Montgomery BBC Performance Transcribed

Wes Montgomery is widely regarded as the greatest jazz guitarist of all time. His work has been dissected, analyzed, and copied millions of times. His influence as a jazz guitarist has thus far been unsurpassed and will probably remain so for a very long time. One would be hard-pressed to find a straight-ahead player who [...]

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Do You Critique Your Own Performances?

Welcome back, everyone. I hope those of you in the U.S. had a happy and safe holiday weekend. Mine was great, thank you very much. During the extended weekend I had a gig with my jazz quintet. It’s been quite a while since we’ve played together. One of the great things about playing jazz is [...]

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Chord Substitutions

One thing common to jazz but found less often in other styles of music is chord substitutions. In its simplest form, this is the process of playing one chord instead the one originally specified in order to spice up the harmony, create different voice leading, or take the song in a different harmonic direction. If [...]

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The Jazz Theory Book by Mark Levine

Whenever you get into a new hobby, line of work, or general area of interest, there is always one book or resource of information that people in those circles dub “The Bible.” “Oh, you must get this book!” “This is the only book you’re going to need!” “Everyone usually recommends you start here first.” It’s [...]

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Daily Exercises in the Melodic Minor and Harmonic Minor Modes by Barry Galbraith

Barry Galbraith was a well-respected jazz guitarist who played with everyone from Miles Davis to Sarah Vaughan. Though he was generally not known outside of the jazz guitar community such as the likes of Wes or Metheny, he made an indelible mark on the instrument and has appreciated a wide range of great players who [...]

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Terrence Brewer: Groovin’ Wes

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Interview with Nick Carver, No Idle Frets Podcast

It’s very hard to argue that the single, greatest benefit of the Internet is the seemingly endless (and complete) exposure one can get to whatever they may be interested in. As I was first getting interested in learning to play jazz, I completely immersed myself in whatever I could find. Every book, CD, magazine, and [...]

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My 45-Year Quest for the Perfect Guitar

We’ve all been there: the endless quest for the perfect instrument. You know, the one that will make you a better player, that feels so comfortable in your hands that you never want to put it down.  Like everyone else, I’ve been seduced by glossy magazine covers of the latest “must have” instruments. Over many [...]

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