I previously reviewed a book by Rodney Jones back in 2021 when he released Hip Guitar Lines. That was a really cool book with unique lines and ideas.
With this release, we get a new book collecting 58 lines that are intended for detailed study over a year. The premise is if you really learned a line inside out (pun intended), one line per week for a year, you would get so much from that experience. Instead of making it only 52 lines (52 weeks fo the year), we get an addional 6 lines, making it more than a year.
The explanations and variations of each examples are really helpful and in this book Alex Levine extends the lines into different variations that help put in context both the musical perspective of the line and the more guitaristic technical side of things. All the lines are excerpts from actual improvisations/performances that Rodney did, and Alex selected the best lines for the book.
The original recordings excerpts are included, and with each line there’s a version where the line is looped 10 times in a row so that you can listen to it repeatedly to internalize it, or play along with the line.
All in all, this is a good book for anyone who wants to get real world ideas into your playing, and using those as a basis for practice. That being said, this book is best for intermediate or advanced players. If you’re new to jazz guitar improvisation, this is not the book for you.
Pros: Interesting out of the box lines with detailed analysis and practice suggestions.
Cons: The book is built more like a masterclass rather than a step by step method for developing jazz lines. Therefore this is not for someone looking for a method kind of book. This is not that.
TLDR: If you’re the kind of player who is patient and into deep study of lines for single note improvisation, this book provides on possible path to be able to play and create stronger phrases when you’re taking a solo. Recommended more for intermediate and advanced players.
You can buy this book (both physical & eBook versions) here: https://www.melbay.com/Products/31209M/58-lines.aspx
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