Advanced Guitar Study Group

Using The Classic

"Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar - Vol. I"

Presented by

Michael Joyce and the Texas Fingerstyle Guitar Association

Forum (under construction)

Lessons

In 1955 Mickey Baker, an aspiring guitarist and guitar teacher, published a guitar course called "Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar-A Modern Method in How-to-Play Jazz and Hot Guitar."  This critically acclaimed course has become a classic as an introduction to colorful chords and the rudiments of improvisation.  It is 52 lessons written in 64 pages.  The course is written for the guitarist that has a basic knowledge of the common chords, such as C, F, G, D, C7, G7, D7, A min, E min, D min, etc.  As the course was written in the early '50's, Mickey assumed that the guitarist would be playing as a sideman in an ensemble with horns, clarinets, and rhythm, so he asks the student to write everything in the orchestra keys:  Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F, and G.

In the first lesson and many others later on, Mickey tells the student to buy a music writing book and write everything in it for retaining for future reference.  I've interpreted this to be an invitation from the publisher to write out lesson plans, notes, and arrangements.  I've done just that, creating more than 1000 TEF's divided among the lessons.    I've also tried to notate the lessons from a fingerstyle guitarist's approach, but I've also included anything that Mickey wrote concerning using a flat pick.  

I'm sure that Mickey never envisioned a tool such as TablEdit to write the lesson assignments and arrangements.  But it is a wonderful way to go through this course.  Using TE to "loop" an exercise, we instantly have someone to play along with us, and not laugh at our mistakes.

Here are the lessons and my personal notes, one lesson per week for 52 weeks.  My role is as a fellow student and hub for the distribution.  You are only asked to buy Mickey's course, which is still in print,  and I believe retails at $8.95.  Where you buy it is your personal choice.  Another requirement is that you have TablEdit, in one of its three forms:   at a minimum, TEFview, which is freeware and allows the user to read, printout, and listen to a midi recreation of the exercise; the shareware version of TablEdit, which will allow you to create a TablEdit Format (TEF) file up to 16 measures; or the fully functional program.

Here's what I'd like to see from the student (although there is no pressure on anyone to do anything):

As "students" you're on your own to put as much into it as you desire.  The early lessons ask the student to transpose the material to all the orchestra keys.  I've done that for you.  All you have to do is play along.  Later in the course, short solos are created.  Since most are much less than 16 measures, they can be created using the Shareware version of TablEdit.

You can take the TEF's of the exercises in the "orchestra keys" versions, and transpose to guitar friendly keys, which would be D, A, and E (C, G, and F are already done.)  In the lessons where you are asked to create something original, you have the option of sending your work to me, in any form- TE, Guitar Pro, Power Tab, scanned handwritten manuscripts, etc.  I'll take your work and put it into the "Mickey Baker Stylesheet" and the next week include it as an appendix.  If you decide to share your lesson assignments, you'll be asked if you wish to be anonymous or receive credit for what you've done, and your wishes will be respected.  By many students sharing their work, we greatly increase our resources, creating more musical ideas.

Here's a simple and relatively painless way to learn how to use a few new chord shapes, chord substitution philosophies, and be able to take an improvised solo during a blues chorus, vamp chorus, or bridge.  Along the way, I have no doubt that your skills with TablEdit, and seldom used keys like Bb and Eb will greatly improve just from the assimilation.  I can be sure of that, because I know how much I've improved as a musician during this project.

Please contact me at michaeljoyce@hotmail.com with your comments, and shared lesson assignments.

Above all else, let's have fun while learning!