Reading for the Contemporary Guitarist: Volume 1

By Ian Robbins and TBD

Reading for the Contemporary Guitarist, Volume 1 is intended for guitarists who are preparing for a professional career in music. Assuming you are already familiar with pitch reading in Positions I and V, and with rhythmic notation, this book will arm you with the tools you need to work as a modern guitar player. Authored by Ian Ro

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ian Robbins
• Release date: Mar 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781732996854

Ian Robbins

Ian Robbins graduated from USC with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Studio/Jazz performance. He has had airplay on KJAZ 88.1FM and other national jazz stations as a member of the Bruce Escovitz Jazz Orchestra (BEJO). He recorded on BEJO's 2008 Album Invitation. Invitation spent several weeks in the top half of the Billboard Jazz charts. Ian recently recorded Guitar, Ukulele and Mandolin tracks for a song used for a promotional video for the NBC TV Show This Is Us. Lately Ian has performed with Landau Eugene Murphy Jr.- The winner of NBC's America's Got Talent Season 6. Ian has previously performed/recorded with Barry Manilow, Bonnie Raitt, Wynton Marsalis, Peter Erskine, Toni Tennille, Louis Bellson, Ndugu Chancellor, Stu Hamm, Kurt Elling, Ernie Watts, Marilyn McCoo, Alan Chang, Scott Henderson, and many others. Ian has also done session work for Grammy winning producer Bobby Watson and for Nickelodeon Studios. Recently Ian recorded for the JGAH project in Korea (arranged by Dr. Rachel Yoon), a Korean traditional music group that has performed live over 200 times along to Ian's prerecorded fusion guitar tracks. In 2019 Ian's original music was placed in a film trailer for Berlin, I Love You a movie featuring Keira Knightly, Helen Mirran and Mickey Rourke.Ian is currently on the faculty at Musicians Institute. As part of the Bachelor Degree Program he teaches Guitar Technique, Guitar Reading, Songwriting, Performance Classes in Punk, Blues Rock and Fusion (the latter with former co/teacher Russell Ferrante), Ear Training, Private Lessons and Open Counseling. He also teaches the KPOP, Zawinul and Coffee House International LPWs. In 2019 Ian published his first instructional textbook Beginning Guitar for the Songwriter which will be used in MI's BM of Songwriting and Production classes. In 2020 Ian published Reading for the Contemporary Guitarists Vol. 1-4 which are used as curriculum for MI's BM of Guitar Performance courses.Ian Robbins is also the lead guitarist/singer/songwriter of original punk rock band Get Out™. Get Out™ has released 6 albums and numerous singles, which have sold on 6 continents and performed hundreds of shows. Get Out™'s YouTube channel currently has over 40,000 views (none of which were purchased). They have been endorsed by energy drink company Nitro 2 Go and have gotten airplay on various local stations. The band has performed on LA18 television and has shared the stage with such national acts as Voodoo Glow Skulls, Streetlight Manifesto, MXPX, and Suburban Legends. In January 2015, Get Out™ released Epilogue with the help of drummer Jeff Bowders (Paul Gilbert, Shakira). Epilogue is a 19 minute progressive punk rock epic currently being sold on iTunes and other online distributors. Get Out™ will release their 8th album The Violation of Terms and Conditions in 2022.

Book preview

Introduction:

Why do I need to learn how to read to have a successful guitar career? is a very common question I receive from my students. And it is indeed a valid question as many of today’s guitar icons cannot read written music themselves. With so much musical information available to the guitarist in the form of tablature, the answer may become even more vague to the prospective modern professional.

But let me assure you of the inherent value of learning notation reading, and how it develops not only comprehension of material written for ANY instrument, but also is a window into the arrangement of notes on the guitar neck. Mastering the arrangement of possible pitch sequences helps you arrange to most optimal ergonomic fingerings for any series of notes you might play in melodic or chordal phrases. The guitar is at a disadvantage compared to a lot of other instruments in that there may be up to six different places (depending on the number of frets) to generate the same pitch. Notes must be arranged in a convenient and localized series to make them conveniently playable. Producing the most ideal fingerings is often what separates the best guitar players from everybody else. Examining the fingerings of such virtuosos reveals that they would never choose anything but the easiest possible fingerings to execute a given passage. This means they are more comfortable and therefore receive better results than if they had played the same phrase elsewhere on the neck.

By learning to read in positions, you will be introduced to the possible pitch combinations within a given area and, by proxy, will learn which fingerings are the easiest to execute within said areas. Over time and with a lot of practice, the possibilities become inherent and your fingers will begin to gravitate to the most practical areas when presented with a new phrase idea.

Another benefit to learning written notation is the development of rhythm in terms of both vocabulary and feel. Learning beat duration and drilling all manners of rhythmic variety present the opportunity to develop the right hand, which is helpful in every musical situation. EVERYONE wants to hire a guitar player who is easy to play with time and feel wise and can pick up on rhythmic phrases easily.

Hopefully the preceding paragraphs have sold you on the importance of reading. Now let me explain why this text is different from others currently available.

This text is intended to provide guitar players with the reading skills they need to survive in today’s musical climate. Beyond pitch and rhythmic recognition, you will be introduced to chart reading (which is the majority of the reading you do as a working guitarist of contemporary styles). The charts will be composed in different genres and will apply the concepts of guitar articulation as well. After all, the guitar is unique in the types of phrasing it can produce from hammer-ons and pull-offs, to slides, to bends, etc. You will learn both notated chord reading and slash notation reading so as to be prepared for whatever is put in front of you. Being a confident reader comes from having experience in all facets of playing so I hope this book provides you with the tools you need to boost concentration and self-assuredness with your instrument.

I am assuming you have some reading knowledge at this point. I expect the users of this book to be on the professional path and therefore already are comfortable with basic reading concepts such as meter, note values, barlines, repeat signs, form indicators, and pitch recognition on the staff. You are expected to be fluent in positions I (open) and V. There will be review exercises in the first chapter if you have not been reading in these positions recently. If the review exercises seem impossible, I suggest it may not yet be time for this book. There are numerous beginning reading books available to learn this material. It is best to have a solid foundation before proceeding.

Lastly, I hope this text grants you the gift of time. As you get into your professional career, time is of the essence. If you need to learn a large amount of music for a last-minute gig, the ability to read is a lifesaver! This can drastically reduce preparation time. If no charts are provided, I find it