Chord Tone Soloing. A Guitarist's Guide to Melodic Improvising in Any Style

Customer Reviews

Great for beginner/early intermediate students

2008-06-20
The title of the book is a litle deceptive. I would have guessed that it would be about arpeggios, when in fact it covers scales/modes as well. Of course, as you play the scales, the chord tones are the connecting points. In short, I can see how this book could be useful for a guitarist who wants to move beyond the basic rock stuff and start playing music with a more sophisticated harmonic basis. However, if you're already conversant with using scales and arpeggios over chord changes, you're not going to pick up anything new here.

Barrett's a Great Teacher!

2008-06-03
Chord-Tone Soloing is one of the few books on the market that looks at a very important topic in guitar playing. Athough most amateurs are unaware of it, the majority of great guitar solos, especially those that aren't blues based, are very tied into chord tones, and most great players, whether they are fully conscious of it or not, hit chord tones at just the right moments in their solos. That's why theirs sound so much better than ours do!

In this book Barrett Tagliarino, who is much more concerned with teaching than he is showing off, tells you what notes to target and just as importantly, when to hit them. Indeed, there is a lot in here about timing, which is something those of us who have never practiced with a metronome or had formal training need some help with. I'm not just talking about having a "natural" sense of rhythm; I'm describing the ability to hit certain tones on certain beats so they really stand out. Barrett explains this quite well.

If you are wondering why just wanking around the pentatonic scale doesn't sound right in some songs, or if your soloing is in a major rut, check out this fine book. And give it time--many of these exercises take practice and patience, but in the end, your soloing will be vastly improved.

WAY too basic.

2008-04-23
I was expecting intermediate to advanced instruction from this book about chord tone soloing. This book starts from VERY BASIC instruction, and works itself up to basic/intermediate soloing. The first solo in the book, as the author calls it, consists of two notes! Just two, in order, played over and over. Don't buy this book unless you are a very basic beginner!

TJL Chord tone soloing

2008-01-22
Excellent for any musician who wants to know how to play solos over changes. Highly recommended - I bought this for a friend as well!

Really great!!

2008-01-18
This book is helping me more than any other book I have ever had. I went to GIT for nine months, completed a one year professional guitar certificate through Berklee School of Music (online) and have been studying music for over 25 years.

Barrett Tagliarino, you are awsome!!!

What do you do in between strumming chords?!

2007-12-27
Learn how the professionals create monster solos with this easy-to-use book/CD pack! The accompanying CD includes 68 tracks of exercises, licks, solo examples, and play-alongs. Includes all necessary foundation materials; detailed instructions on how and what to practice; essential concepts for players at every level; developing your real-time melodic reflexes; soloing over any progression in any style of music; using chords as an endless source of ideas; and more.

If this doesn't get you soloing...

2007-12-17
You can't teach creative improvisation, but you can teach the prerequisites, and Tagliarino's books are the best organized, most approachable methods of understanding the guitar and its relationship to music that I've come across. He doesn't just give you the concepts, he quizzes you on them and gives you good practice materials. Used in combination with a live teacher, or alternatively, a lot of self-discipline, they are great stuff.

Fantastic book that covers territory most other books ignore

2007-12-02
I've been a guitar player for over 20 years and a guitar teacher for the past 5, and this book is one of the best I've come across. Whenever I show a student scales, they want to know how to turn those scales into music. I can remember having the same frustration when I was starting out. The information in this book answers that question, and clarifies a lot of the confusion about playing a solo. This book is clearly written, absolutely packed with information, and - most importantly - that information is presented in manageable, fun chapters. This book has given me a whole new excitement about playing. A guitar instruction classic.

If you want to learn soloing, this is the book!

2007-08-03
I have several students in this book right now and they all love it! It is such a methodical, seemingly simple approach - yet it covers so much. I highly recommend this book.

Good book

2007-05-09
This book is the advanced user manual for your guitar. If you already know the basics such as chords and scales then this book is EXACTLY what you need.

Basically it covers the how and why of music and how you the guitar player should think about it. Be forwarned this is not a book that will make you better overnight. In fact there is a chance that you will feel as though you have gotten worse at first. My reccommendation for those that can afford the time is to buy this book and use it right along side a good relative pitch ear training program....seriously. If you want to be a good musician then the methods in this book will provide the how and why while your ear will be responsible for the when.

I have A LOT of guitar books...as do most of you reading this. This book teaches you the way to think about the guitar. It will take a lot of serious practice to ingrain the material in these pages, but those that do will transition for ok players to real players.

Plain and simple: Best book I've bought in a long time.

One draw back. The sound tracks are corney sounding...but that's a very minor issue in light of what this book provides.