Cecil Alexander is an amazing musician & has been prolific with educational content. I previously reviewed Cecil Alexander’s own products including Assorted Licks & Minor II-V Lines, Pentatonic Licks (Static Harmony) & Pentatonic Licks (II-V-I) & his Picking Masterclass. In addition to all that, he has Jazz Bootcamps at pickupmusic.com.
This new collaboration with Jazz Lesson Videos (Chad LB) is a welcome addition to the jazz guitar pedagogy world. Recently, they also released this lesson video on YouTube which is really a good introduction to the kinds of licks covered in the book.
Having gotten the book first & then watching this video, I feel like I got more milleage from the book AFTER watching this video. Would be great if each phrase had a video breakdown like this to understand the substitution & concepts behind what Cecil is playing!
The licks are all notated in both standard notation & tablature in all 12 keys. However, what that means for the tablature is that the line is moved one fret up each time the line goes up a half step (except when it’s more logical to go back to the open position). There are however no picking indications or right hand fingerings notated so if you want to get Cecil’s specific fingerings, you will need to refer to the accompanying video.
The licks are divided into five categories:
- Diatonic Licks
- Bebop Licks
- Diminished Licks
- Substitution Licks
- Pentatonic Licks
You get 10 licks per category. In addition to the eBook, you also get download links for:
- Phrase Videos (performances of all the licks in the key of C major)
- Phrase Recordings (audio versions of the videos)
- Two backing tracks (one at 150bpm and another at 160bpm).
All in all, this new release is pretty cool especially if you’re a fan of Cecil’s playing & melodic language. If you want to get some new licks & phrases to practice, do check out this book.
Pros: Good licks, cool package, value for money!
Cons: No left hand & right hand picking indications. No video or text explanation of substitutions used for the lines.
TLDR: If you like Cecil Alexander’s playing & have been meaning to get some new jazz vocabulary into your playing, check out this book.
Get the book here: https://www.jazzlessonvideos.com/product-page/50-ii-v-i-licks
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