houndymarcello
Verified buyer
01/17/26
absolutely superb
Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Survival Guide
Essential Concepts & Techniques to Expand Your Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Palette
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About this course
In the jazz guitar tradition, legendary players such as Joe Pass, Lenny Breau, and Tuck Andress have artfully used fingerstyle techniques to expand the harmonic palette and technical possibilities of their instrument.
Sean McGowan’s Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Survival Guide will get your own fingerstyle jazz chops up and running quickly with his highly engaging, accelerated curriculum of concept lessons and performance etudes.
”Fingerstyle is an organic and very rewarding way of approaching the guitar both technically and harmonically, allowing you play complete arrangements of songs as a soloist. It enables you to play multiple parts simultaneously such as walking bass lines, chord structures and melody or solo lines. Fingerstyle also allows you to explore textures simply not possible with a pick.”
Tuck Andress calls Sean, “The most promising young solo guitarist I have ever heard. Guitarists will weep yet laugh with delight as they try to figure out what he’s doing, and history will remember Sean as one of the most important guitarists of his generation."
Fortunately for students of guitar, Sean is also a passionate educator and currently serves as an assistant professor of music and the Guitar Program Director at the University of Colorado Denver. We’re thrilled to welcome Sean to the family with his first TrueFire course, the Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Survival Guide.
Sean organized this survival guide in two sections. In the first section, Sean guides you through 20 essential concepts to help you develop your fingerstyle jazz technique. Each and every concept lesson includes specialized exercises designed to help you get these techniques under your fingers.
In this first section you’ll learn: Warm-up & Stretching, Thumb Muting & Shadowing, Thumb Drops, String Crossing, Speed Rolls, Thumb & Finger Combinations, Adding the Pinky, Finger Combinations, Finger Switching, Holding & Sustaining Notes, Short & Long Articulation, One-Finger Scales, The Guide Tone System, Guide Tone Voice Leading, Chord Voicing Extensions, Walking Bass & Chords, Brazilian Styles, Block Chord Voicings, Artificial Harmonics, and Extended Fretting Techniques.
In the second section, you’ll work through six performance studies, in a variety of keys and tempos, each of which will help you apply the key techniques and concepts from the first section.
All of the key examples and performance studies are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons.
Grab your guitar and let your fingers do the talking with Sean McGowan!
Sean McGowan’s Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Survival Guide will get your own fingerstyle jazz chops up and running quickly with his highly engaging, accelerated curriculum of concept lessons and performance etudes.
”Fingerstyle is an organic and very rewarding way of approaching the guitar both technically and harmonically, allowing you play complete arrangements of songs as a soloist. It enables you to play multiple parts simultaneously such as walking bass lines, chord structures and melody or solo lines. Fingerstyle also allows you to explore textures simply not possible with a pick.”
Tuck Andress calls Sean, “The most promising young solo guitarist I have ever heard. Guitarists will weep yet laugh with delight as they try to figure out what he’s doing, and history will remember Sean as one of the most important guitarists of his generation."
Fortunately for students of guitar, Sean is also a passionate educator and currently serves as an assistant professor of music and the Guitar Program Director at the University of Colorado Denver. We’re thrilled to welcome Sean to the family with his first TrueFire course, the Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Survival Guide.
Sean organized this survival guide in two sections. In the first section, Sean guides you through 20 essential concepts to help you develop your fingerstyle jazz technique. Each and every concept lesson includes specialized exercises designed to help you get these techniques under your fingers.
In this first section you’ll learn: Warm-up & Stretching, Thumb Muting & Shadowing, Thumb Drops, String Crossing, Speed Rolls, Thumb & Finger Combinations, Adding the Pinky, Finger Combinations, Finger Switching, Holding & Sustaining Notes, Short & Long Articulation, One-Finger Scales, The Guide Tone System, Guide Tone Voice Leading, Chord Voicing Extensions, Walking Bass & Chords, Brazilian Styles, Block Chord Voicings, Artificial Harmonics, and Extended Fretting Techniques.
In the second section, you’ll work through six performance studies, in a variety of keys and tempos, each of which will help you apply the key techniques and concepts from the first section.
All of the key examples and performance studies are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons.
Grab your guitar and let your fingers do the talking with Sean McGowan!
What you'll learn
- Perform a complete chord melody arrangement of Stella by Starlight
- Apply cluster voicings to half-diminished and altered dominant chords
- Use chromatic chord substitutions in jazz contexts
- Integrate three independent parts (bass, harmony, melody) simultaneously
- Apply sustain and release technique for melodic emphasis
Release date: 10/13/2017 • 3h 29m runtime
Sample lessons
Speed Rolls
Concept 5
Guide Tone Voice Leading
Concept 14
Walking Bass & Chords
Concept 16
Under the Starlight
Overview
What's included
42 lessons • 24 charts
Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Survival Guide
Hi, I'm Sean McGowan, and welcome to the Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Survival Guide. Fingerstyle is a very organic and rewarding way of approaching the guitar both technically and harmonically, allowing you to play complete arrangements of songs as a soloist. It enables you to play multiple parts simultaneously such as walking bass lines, chord structures, and melody or solo lines. Fingerstyle also allows you to explore textures simply not possible with a pick.
In the jazz guitar tradition, players such as Joe Pass, Lenny Breau, and Tuck Andress have used fingerstyle techniques to expand the harmonic palette and technical possibilities of the instrument. I've organized this survival guide in two sections. In the first section, we'll focus on essential concepts that'll help you get your fingerstyle jazz technique together. Each and every concept lesson includes specialized exercises designed to help you get these techniques under your fingers.
In the second section, we'll explore six performance studies in a variety of keys and tempos, each of which will help you apply the key techniques and concepts from the first section. All of the exercises and performance studies are tabbed and notated, and you'll be able to loop and slow down any of the exercises or studies so you can work through them at your own pace. So, grab your guitar and let's get started!
In the jazz guitar tradition, players such as Joe Pass, Lenny Breau, and Tuck Andress have used fingerstyle techniques to expand the harmonic palette and technical possibilities of the instrument. I've organized this survival guide in two sections. In the first section, we'll focus on essential concepts that'll help you get your fingerstyle jazz technique together. Each and every concept lesson includes specialized exercises designed to help you get these techniques under your fingers.
In the second section, we'll explore six performance studies in a variety of keys and tempos, each of which will help you apply the key techniques and concepts from the first section. All of the exercises and performance studies are tabbed and notated, and you'll be able to loop and slow down any of the exercises or studies so you can work through them at your own pace. So, grab your guitar and let's get started!
SECTION 1: Essential Concepts
The first section of this Survival Guide covers twenty essential concepts and techniques to get you up and running with fingerstyle jazz guitar. You'll learn how to increase speed, build finger independence, and focus on dynamics and articulation exercises for musical expression. You'll also learn a system of organizing useful chord voicings, building extensions, and adding color to your playing using harmonics and extended fretting techniques.
Warm-up & Stretching
Before starting a practice session or performance, it's important to warm up the hands and body, and to stretch all of the important muscles that have a vital role in playing the guitar. This section features some exercises and stretches that loosen up the hands and fingers, forearms and wrists, promote relaxation, and assist with alleviating performance anxiety and stress through breath.
Thumb Muting & Shadowing
An important element of fingerstyle, muting and shadowing with the thumb helps to maintain clarity, achieve control and dynamics, and build speed with single note jazz and bebop lines.
Thumb Drops
Thumb drops are used to imply and outline the harmonic changes of a song while improvising a melodic solo using a fingerstyle technique. The thumb works simultaneously to mute the strings and articulate the roots of each chord change in a complex jazz standard.
String Crossing
An essential component of fingerstyle improvisation is the ability to cross over strings while creating single note lines and chordal passages. This section features a variety of chords and technical exercises to build fluency and control.
Speed Rolls
This section introduces the concept of speed rolls using the thumb, index, and middle fingers of the picking hand to develop and articulate very fast and fluid single note lines, creating speed bursts and rapid flourishes similar to a jazz saxophonist.
+ 35 more lessons
Reviews
13 results
mfrobb
Verified buyer
02/04/23
Fingerstyle jazz guitar survival guide
A very good introduction to the basics required in fingerstyle jazz with opportunities suggested to move on to advanced studies if desired.
thomasbeyer
Verified buyer
09/13/20
Great stuff
rmatzen
09/06/20
Sean is a FANTASTIC teacher!
When it comes to solo jazz guitar, Sean McGowan and Tim Lerch (also here on TruFire) are my absolute favorite players. The great news for anyone wanting to learn solo fingerstyle jazz guitar, is that Sean is just as good of a teacher as he is a player! I find I learn more from Sean's easy going and comprehensive teaching than I have learned anywhere else. If you want to get into solo fingerstyle jazz guitar, Sean is your man! I really hope that there are many more courses to come! Thanks Sean!
jkeith
Verified buyer
07/27/20
Amazing course material
This course is jam packed with premium material. With 20 different concept/technique lessons and 6 performance studies (each comprising 3 sections), you get a complete course with one of the finest jazz guitarists in the world! I'm a big fan of Sean McGowan for both his musical and teaching gifts. I've reviewed some of his other courses, and this one is just as terrific as all his other courses. I'm still amazed at how much quality course material you get for the price on TrueFire.
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