Improvising with Mini-Arpeggios

Paul Musso

Nov 2013 · Mel Bay Publications

About this ebook

This book and accompanying audio offer a unique, simplified approach to using arpeggios when improvising. The material is for guitarists of all levels looking to improve their technique and improvisation skills. This method makes it possible to seamlessly incorporate arpeggios into jazz improvisation. Included are over thirty arpeggio-based licks spanning major, minor, dominant, blues and ii-V-I categories. The book also presents straightforward methods for using arpeggios creatively. Most guitarists view arpeggios and scales as separate entities - this book solves this problem by illustrating the relationship between eight simple arpeggio fingerings and scales/modes. Several etudes are also included. These simple mini-arpeggios will provide the reader with an entire world of musical possibilities.

About the author

Paul Musso is an Associate Professor and Area Head of Music Performance in the Music and Entertainment Industry Studies Department at the University of Colorado Denver. Paul has been with CU Denver for twenty-six years. He was director of the UCD jazz and commercial guitar program for fifteen years and has taught over twenty music courses including Fretboard Harmony, Fretboard Melody, Commercial Guitar Styles, Applied Guitar, Jazz Theory, Jazz Guitar History, Songwriting, Improvisation, and Acoustic Guitar Ensemble. Musso has won awards for his college teaching and service as well as Citysearch Denver's Best Guitarist of 2000. His most recent publication, Introduction to Music: An Interactive Approach, was released in early 2012. He is the author of several Mel Bay publications for jazz guitar: Graded Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Solos, Improvising With Mini-Arpeggios and Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Chord Soloing. Paul is a co-author of Mel Bay's Master Anthology of 2000 Jazz Guitar, where Paul shares the bill with guitar greats Johnny Smith, John Abercrombie, Buckey Pizzarelli, George Van Eps, Andy Summers, and many others. Paul is a freelance guitarist and has performed in several diverse jazz, Latin, Gypsy, pop, and classical ensembles including the Colorado Symphony, the Boulder Festival Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra. Paul has performed in venues throughout Europe, Mexico, and the United States including the Roulette in Brooklyn, Ronnie Scoot's in London, the Tijuana Cultural Center, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Westcliff Jazz Festival.