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Table of Contents
Music
One of the best ways to learn is to play along with music. Here are some great albums that are sorted by difficulty.
Easy
This is great music and it is easy to play along to. Most songs are just a few chords, but do not let that fool you. It is sophicated songwriting played by amazing musicians.
Medium
Probably the most famous jazz album from the last 50 years. The ballads are tough but So What and the two blues tunes are not so bad. The solos are tough too, except for Miles’ solos. This is an album you can learn from for at least a couple of decades.
This is a cool album. You can play along with the chords and maybe pick up some licks.
Books
The Artist’s Way by Julie Cameron
Check out our review of the book. This is a great guide to finding
a higher place and working on music.
DVDs
Listening to Buddy talk about playing the blues is a heart-warming thing. You can tell he is a truly humble person and he imparts his grace unto the listener in an accidental manner. I don’t remember how many times I’ve watched this tape, not really to learn anything but because he has such a great spirit and approach to the guitar.
George Benson: The Art of Jazz Guitar
This is another DVD produced from the same guys. Again just listening to George Benson talk about guitar and seeing how approaches songs and playing is just a happy experience. You can tell he has great love and admiration for music.
Instead of trying to absorb technical details, like what chord he is playing, just relax and absorb what he is saying and playing. I know it had an immediate and profound affect on me. I went to a gig right after watching the DVD and it was like I had woken from a hypotherapy session. I couldn’t figure out what was coming out of my fingers. George Benson is so amazing that I think that if you watch the video go into with an open mind; don’t compare yourself to him. Remember he’s from another planet or something! Just soak up the good vibes!
Gear
These are some GuitarKitchen favorites for gear.
This is a great price ($25) for a tuner/metronome that I like a lot. It works well and does not eat batteries too quickly.
These are great strings for playing jazz. Flatwounds. I think the trebles are the best I have heard and in general they sound good. Anything you will sound good if you make it sound good! But these are my favorites! Check out Big City String too because then you can get extra trebles, which is important. Trebles seem to wear out a lot quicker than out strings.
2020 update: For electric jazz guitar, the Thomasticks are still my favorite, but I usually end up using D’Addario 13s Round-wounds. They sound good, but are more economical. If I was going to record an album or had a really fancy jazz gig, I would consider the Thomasticks. For nylon string guitar, I use D’Addario ProArte mediums or the Augustine Regals. There’s tons of great strings out there!
Online
There’s plenty of good resources on the internet. Here’s a few I like.
Here’s some helpful applications I use to practice with on the computer and different electronic devices.
Metronome
Here’s an open source metronome on the PC. And I am checking out Tempo Perfect for free, you can use it on Mac as well. You can also use the metronome on Garage Band on the Mac.
On iOS, I use ProMetronome and Metronome Onyx and am about to try highly ranked Metronome Plus.
On Andriod, I use ProMetronome and Mobile Metronome.
Clave
Beatcraft
Beatcraft has tons of cool stuff. Basically you can use it as a drum machine to practice or you can program beats for songs. There’s a week trial period, so definitely check it out. I also have some beats you can use to practice.
Transcribe!
Transcribe! is great! Any music you have on your computer can be slowed and looped so you figure stuff out. It even has pitch recognition skills. It has a month trial period.
iTabla
iTabla is awesome! I love practicing with this – it’s very musical. If you’re interested in Indian Classical music, or would like to work on different meters, this is an awesome app.
It’s available on iOS and Android as far as I know.
I’ve been using iTabla a lot recently to learn violin.
Dr. Compas
This is basically the go-to app for practicing flamenco. I don’t usually use it when practicing rumbas, but I do when practicing bulerias and alegrias!
Ear Training
Listening to music, trying to figure out what’s going, and playing with people is better, but online ear training is not so shabby either.
This is a great place to work on your ear in a formal way. If you don’t know much about music theory it’s a good place to start.
I haven’t used this in a while, but it’s a great way to practice, though I would probably use it more if I had a tablet. On a phone, it kind of hurts my eyes after a while b/c it’s a little small.
It will show you how you did afterwards – it shows if you were playing before, on or after the beats, which is really cool!
There’s probably tons of other similar apps, but this one is worth checking out.
Good Guitar Lessons
You can learn a lot from this site. Check it out.
Tab
If you want tab for songs there are plenty of places. Help support real musicians by actually buying stuff, if you can.
This is our favorite place for popular music. Remember – play along to the music!
Scales and chords
All the chords and scales you can shake a stick at!