Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery

As with most other books of Joseph, this is also a nicely paced book, easy to read and play along. I would highly recommend it to intermediate players who are stuck in a rut with chord shapes and voicings and want to get more out of their chordal playing. It is not a must to start out with the first part of this book (this is part-2) unless you are a stickler for such modalities (though there are a few references to Part-1 like the "Diminished Substitution"). The book starts off on an even keel introducing you to Drop 2 voicings and the shapes that need to be gripped first in group 1 and then later in group 2 and 3 string sets on the guitar (G1 = strings 1,2,3,4) (G2 = strings 2,3,4,5) (G3 = strings 3,4,5,6), or what can be called as the Top, Middle and Bass string sets. The interesting things are the exercises he uses to practise playing the inversions like "connecting the inversions with walking bass lines from scales", "skipping inversions", "practising in P4's, P5's" etc. He goes through the four basic chord types (Min7, Dom7, Min7b5 and Maj7) before going to alterations and extensions. He then deals with Drop 3 and Drop 2+4 voicings. I liked the Cyclic Exercises that he mentions at the end for practising these chord families (and shapes) well. In fact these are recommended exercises in any chapter. He rounds it by addressing the other four basic chord types at the end i.e. (minMaj7, Dim7, Min6 and Maj6), and the different ways of viewing these chords. All in all, a great book!

Great ideas to practice if you're in a rut

I was feeling stuck, playing the basic chord shapes, with this book i start to understand new ways to change what I'm playing

Méthode très claire et progressive.

The clearest, most systematic chord book I know. I wish I had this book much earlier. Be prepared for a lot of time studying to absorb this material.

This is THE book i was looking for! It's perfect for people who's trying to get over bar chords, and tired to using all the same chord patterns all the time. I would buy it again.

Its no secret, jazz guitar is all about chord voicings. If you are an intermediate or advanced student of jazz guitar, you need this book. Once mastered, the outlined technique will allow you to play all the chords for any progression within the confines of a 4 or 5 fret area of the guitar neck. No more jumping from one are of the fretboard to another 25 Major ii V I Licks for Jazz Guitar. (25 Guitar Licks for...) . The exercises are carefully planned to allow a gradual, natural absorption of the theory and technique required to play any and all jazz chord voicings.