The Nutshell Approach – Guitar Bass and Drums

Here is a quick overview of music instruction books for guitar bass and drums written by Jerry Jennings. Each book was written in response to something that seemed missing in the market. Jerry’s years of performing, engineering, writing for TV/film, and of course teaching, have led him to write some really cool teaching materials that can be used by instructors, or just people wanting to learn.

Recommended Titles

Improvising Jazz by Jerry Coker

When I knew nothing about jazz, this book really got me started toward understanding how things worked. I bought mine in 1979, so this is apparently a newer edition from 1988.

Buy on Amazon - Improvising Jazz

The Real Book - Volume I: C Edition 6th Edition

The Real Book is essential for anyone who has ever considered learning jazz. It has melodies and chord progressions for all of the popular standards. I've done many gigs in which every tune we played came from the Real Book. A must have!

(Can't read melodies on guitar? Please have a look at my first book, "The Guitarist's Link to Sight Reading", which addresses that problem.)

Buy on Amazon - The Real Book Volume I C Edition Fake Book (Hal Leonard)

Ted Greene -- Chord Chemistry

I love this classic book by Ted Greene. It's a really cool analogy he draws between the construction and function of chords, and chemistry. I haven't seen it for a long time but just went looking for it. I think I'll have to get another one for myself.

Buy on Amazon - Ted Greene / Chord Chemistry