Voicing Modes is a book for all guitar players who want to master their modal comprehension and ability. Focuses on a chord-voicing approach to hearing and practicing modes. For comping, improvisation, reharmonization & composition. With detailed explanations, reference material, tune examples, and 12 modal etudes. 181 pages. YouTube links for performance examples available.
“I have been looking through the book and now remember what a “smart” book it is! You have covered a lot of
stuff!
Wow, I’ll have to get back to you in about ten years if I can digest it all by then! Of course, I just ignore
all
the tablature stuff which I think is an attempt by guitar players to suggest they know something no one else
does!
But, as before, I learned a few things this time in terms of an approach to discussing material. I definitely
think there is no one way or best way to approach the teaching of improvisation. Your approach is consistent and
clear for those that are willing to dig into it! Good work, man!”
-Dan Haerle (Legendary jazz educator, pianist, author)
“Musicians of all types will seriously benefit from the melodic and harmonic concepts
presented in Noel's book. It
unlocks several mysteries, and then some! It takes the age-old 'what scale goes with what chord?' question into
outer space and answers it from there.”
-Mark Lettieri (Guitarist, Snarky Puppy)
“...his new book is the fruit of decades of obsession and depth at a topic about which so many of us thought
there
was little more to understand. Noel is the single most profound person I've ever known on scales and modal
voicings. He is capable of everything from gentle, immediately helpful musical revelations to outright 'I could
spend the rest of my life plumbing the depths of what you're telling me' ones. No matter where you are in your
knowledge of scales and modes, there is more than enough here to immediately add color to what you do, as well
as
to be a reference work until you die...probably from lack of exercise and improper diet. Speaking of which, his
food analogy makes loads of sense and helps keep things accessible. Highly recommended. Get it. Dive in right
now,
then return to the well anytime you need a new drink.”
-Mark Cuthbertson (Fantasticboom)
"Okay I just cracked open Noel Johnston's new Voicing Modes book. In my head I was like 'I get
it, I took lessons
with Noel, I know modes and stuff.' NOPE -- I'm on page 5 and I'm already looking at things differently. For
real,
if you're a musically curious person (in particular if you play guitar, but not exclusively) this is what you
want.
-Chris McQueen (Guitarist, Snarky Puppy)
Some Amazon.com reviews of Voicing Modes version (1st edition):
"This book has been awesome. It's definitely for the more advanced guitar player. If you're comfortable with scales this book it will help you play more interesting stuff. I started having fun just a few pages into. The first Phrygian lesson is great. I showed one of my students and he loved it too."
"...REALLY solid, well laid out material here that will open your eyes and ears, and give you access to some tremendous insights into your fretboard! Creative analogies to enhance your understanding of the harmonic and melodic palette available to you. "
"This is a clear and well-written book on the subject... Spend some time with it and chances are you'll be greatly rewarded!"
"Noel has outlined a very methodical and useful approach to learning modes in an immediately applicable way for guitarists. While the method could be used on the modes of the major scale, Noel instead focuses on less commonly used scales, which helps expand your ears and chops--and also makes this a more unique and essential book for guitarists. I got the book about a week ago and the method immediately made sense to me, but the patterns and etudes were new (to me) and are already helping me break out of a rut of my usual bag of tricks. Highly recommended."
