Chord Solos

"Master Working Guitarist Jack Wilkins explains his learning process using the standards!"

Jack Wilkins is one of the most admired guitarists in NYC. He's "the guitarist all the other guitarists go to see". He's played with Buddy Rich, Chet Baker, Bill Evans and many others. In this video he gives a very generous breakdown of how he approaches practicing, how to develop fingerboard knowledge, and how to learn and develop an approach to playing common standards...and he performs many examples. To have an top working musician provide the "real work" regarding jazz guitar should be of high interest to anyone who is serious. True, the video technology is a bit dated, but the tips he shares more than makes up for that.

Very disappointing. The sound quality was appalling and halfway through was out of synch with the picture, at which point I stopped watching. There didn't appear to have been any preparation for the class by Mr Wilkins and, I hate to say this, I thought it was arrogant and I felt insulted. There was no structure to it whatsoever and it just seemed to be a guy who's considered a great jazz guitarist tossing out random words of "wisdom" and the less able amongst us are supposed to be grateful for that. At the start of the lesson Mr Wilkins dismisses the value of triads, I think the late George Van Eps might have had something to say on that subject. I've given this a rating of two stars (rather than none) because I didn't watch the entire lesson and also because Mr Wilkins did recommend the book Jazz Improvisation I by John Mehegan which is excellent.