It’s August, which means it’s time to kick off the Chasing Sound Book Club! We’re starting with one of my favorite guitar instructional books of all time - The Advancing Guitarist, written by Mick Goodrick.
Two of the things I love most about this book are that one, it doesn’t offer a whole lot of hand holding. Mick presents the concepts, and then it’s up to you to make of them what you will. And two, he always offers a bit of humor throughout the book, which makes learning all these concepts (which might take a lifetime) a lot more fun.
I’ve said it so many times in the past, but there are concepts in this book that could be a lifetime of learning. There are concepts and ideas that I come back to down the road, because I’ve advanced as a player. Not many books have held such a lasting impression on my playing, and gave me as much value as this book has.
The book is broken up into three parts:
The Approach - In this first section, Mick breaks down mechanics of playing, and his thought process on what really works. You'll start from learning scales up and down one string, all the way up to his “electric ice-skating rink" approach which has you playing up and down single strings and combining it with position playing.
Materials - In the second section, Mick talks all about triads, intervals, modes, fragments, and much more. You're taking all you learned from section one, and applying it over real musical examples.
Commentaries - This last section is almost like if Mick had a blog, with 20 of his best posts. He covers everything from using a metronome and recording yourself, to making effective use of silence, improvising and more.
So who’s this book perfect for? Anyone willing to really put in the time to learn its concepts, and then come back to it in a year, and start all over again. Trust me, you will learn new things with each new read of this book. It’s partly why I’m doing the book club over here at Chasing Sound. Because I know I’ll learn new things as well. Things that I wasn’t as prepared for the last time I read this book.
There’s no tab in the book, and you’ll have to search on YouTube for any type of accompanying audio for the book, but this is exactly where the book club element comes into play. I’d urge you to join our Discord channel. Not only to learn with other guitar players and read this book at the same time throughout August, but to have a place for feedback on your playing, talk about gear, and connect with other like-minded musicians.
I’ll be reading this book all August, jumping into our Discord’s practice rooms, hopping on YouTube for videos, livestreams, and jumping on social media to talk about why this book is so awesome. I hope you’ll join me this month. I guarantee this book will change your guitar playing if you put the time in!
If you want even more great guitar book recommendations, check out this post.
