jazzjourney

Vorwort

Like many guitarists, I first came to the guitar through rock music in my youth. I spent a lot of time emulating my major idols, practicing songs, licks, and riffs, and I was a member of a rock band. My first encounter with jazz came in the form of an online video featuring the jazz guitarist Bireli Lagrene. For me, it opened up a completely new world—a world full of harmonies and sounds I had never heard in this way before.

From that moment on, jazz and jazz guitar captured my full attention, and I was determined to study jazz guitar in order to immerse myself more deeply in this wonderful world. However, I quickly realized that gaining access to the world of jazz was not so easy. I was faced with an incredible variety of recordings, artists, sheet music, techniques, and chords that I had never encountered before. Step by step, I began to explore this world, discovering artists and their recordings, learning new scales and arpeggios, studying jazz forms and compositions, and seeking out jazz teachers who helped me understand this world of jazz more and more.

After I thought I had learned a lot about jazz and jazz guitar, I applied to the University of Music in Osnabrück. I was accepted, and soon realized that I actually knew very little about jazz. The world of jazz was even bigger than I had imagined. I had to take the hard road and practice a lot to learn in four years of study what other colleagues had known or mastered for much longer.

For this reason, I know that guitarists coming from other musical backgrounds often struggle to connect with jazz music. This is why I began writing this book. It is intended to help all guitarists not only get started with jazz guitar but also gain an overview of the many subjects one encounters during a jazz studies program. Each individual topic could easily fill many more books. This book represents a reflection of the topics and practice goals I went through during my jazz guitar studies. You will gain a solid overview and exercises covering a wide range of jazz guitar topics.

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