Jazz Fusion Theory

[juanf03]

Hello again!

I really like Jazz Fusion and I've listen plenty of music of this style but I would like to know if there're any book or clinic to help me develop this style. Also which theoretical tools are used in this kind of music?.

Thank you so much!!

[Crossroads]

I've recommended this many time here before, but the Scott Henderson DVD is truly brilliant for anyone wanting to learn fusion style electric guitar. It's the only DVD for which I would literally pay 10 times the asking price. So, if you don’t already know that DVD, then get a copy! See link to it below -


Scott Henderson DVD http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/0436450/details.html


That DVD is not really for beginners though, because he does assume you already know all the main scales, modes and arps that he uses. So for example you will need to know how to play min7b5 arps and melodic minor scale patterns all over the fretboard.

If you don’t already know all those patterns of arps and scales, then the first book by Guthrie Govan has by far the clearest and best set of full diagrams that I've found (that's "Creative Guitar Vol-1, Guthrie Govan). What's particularly useful is that all those diagrams are shown across one double page spread of the book, so you can have the book open on a music stand with all the patterns in front of you as you practice.


Govan book/cd http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/042224/details.html


That Henderson DVD is using what’s called a CST approach to playing, ie “CST” = Chord-Scale-Theory. That means you play a specific scale or specific arp over any given chord. However, most jazz guitarists improvise in a different way, not specifically using scales, but instead by playing various chord tones over each backing chord.

OK, so the Scott Henderson DVD is the main recommendation which I wanted give. But if you want to learn about playing via chord tones, which are really the notes of various arpeggios, then the first book by Garrison Fewell is excellent. However, note that he is teaching that technique from the point of view of playing traditional jazz rather than rock-fusion. That’s not a problem, you can still use his approach perfectly easily, but just make your own licks more rocky and upbeat sounding.


Garrison Fewell book/cd http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/0155566/details.html


Another jazz approach to chord tones, which is slightly different to that of Fewell, and a bit simpler, is described in another very good & inexpensive book by Joe Elliot (link below).


Joe Elliot book/cd http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/0442809/details.html


Finally, going back to the CST approach in the Henderson DVD, an excellent supplement to that DVD is the DVD from Don Mock called “The Blues from Rock to Jazz”. Again, that’s not for the faint hearted or for beginners, but the musical examples on that DVD are excellent as a means of extending the practice that you are getting from the Scott Henderson DVD.


Don Mock DVD http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/0441721/details.html


Very last thing - if you want to read about jazz theory, then I like a book called “Jazzology”, which seems to me to give a very clear and modern tutorial of the main elements -


Jazzology http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/0201860/details.html

[juanf03]

great answer!! thanks. I'll check out the Henderson DVD. There's no need to get the other resources since I already know Arpeggio shapes, modes, scales, etc.....I have the tools but not the jazz fusion style developed( I even know how to play classic jazz, but the approach to fusion seems different, that's why I wanted to know what I needed to sound like a fusion guitar player instead of a classic jazz player). Last year I went to see a Henderson show!!

[Crossroads]

I forgot to mention also the following two books by Frank Gambale (links below), which cover all the same use of scales and arps explained on the Henderson DVD. The advantage being that the books give you a printed hard-copy of all the material (saves you transcribing hundreds of pages of stuff from Hendersons DVD) ... it's really one book, but it's split into two bound parts -


http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/033414/details.html

http://www.musicroom.com/se/id_no/033352/details.html



Just to be clear - I would not recommend those books instead of the DVD (the Henderson DVD is definitely the main thing to get), but they do make a very useful hard-copy back-up for printed reference.

[Krah13]

I agree with Crossroads, the DVD's of Scott Henderson are excellent.

[Crossroads]

Just to add a further note of explanation re. that Scott Henderson DVD ... if you listen to Scott Henderson now (or at any time in the last 20 years), he may sound more like blues than fusion. But at the time he made that DVD (actually it was two older video tapes, which have subsequently been re-released on one DVD), he was playing jazz-fusion with Chick Corea and then with Joe Zawinul ... so the DVD is almost all straight fusion style (eg a bit like Allan Holdsworth, which is what I was originally looking for ... though I found Holdsworth’s own DVD 100% useless). In fact, imho Henderson’s playing on that DVD, and his musical examples, are actually far better than what he was playing & recording with Corea and Zawinul.

I remember a few years back a couple of posters here complained that on the DVD his use of synth was "cheesy", OK, but most of the playing on that DVD is not making much if any obvious use of Synth, and for my taste his choice of notes and his phrasing is simply brilliant, so you’ll probably want to transcribe and learn all the masses of stuff he plays on that DVD, ie simply to have all that stuff as a ready-made repetoire of fusion licks and ideas, quite apart from all the basic theory and concepts which he is explaining as a method of improvising.

Don’t overlook those books by Frank Gambale though, because there’s some nice playing examples on there too (on CD’s which come with each book), and the printed hard copy of all the explanations with examples of what to practice etc. is very useful (you could just learn it all from Gambale’s book instead of the Henderson DVD … that’s what he intended his books for of course).