I'm a near-beginning guitarist (on the cusp of intermediate),
advanced on several other instruments, but my two cents' worth:

No single book is the be-all and end-all of musical information. In
terms of compendia of scales, chords, etc., the Slonimsky book is
useful; "Patterns for Jazz" by Coker, et al is quite useful, although
as a guitarist you have to figure out how to apply the information to
the guitar.

In terms of learning about how to apply chord/scale information, it's
hard to beat traditional, "classical" theory textbooks such as Walter
Piston's "Harmony" and "Counterpoint," and Persichetti's "Twentieth
Century Harmony." Anything published by Jamey Aebersold is useful for
chord/scale theory, applications, and ear training (in a mainstream,
modern jazz context, but there's a lot of carryover to other styles).

BTW, it's good to see this list becoming active again.

Best regards,

Keith


--- In The-Guitar-Cafe@yahoogroups.com, Douglas Baldwin
<coyotelk@...> wrote:
>
> While I don't doubt the sincerity of those who point to resources
for "every scale" and "every chord" (and why no interest in "every
rhythm?"), I believe that there are several aspects to music and
learning that should be addressed before claims of "every" whatever
are made.
>
> First, we should consider the texts that address these issues that
have already been published. In my experience, the best books are
the "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" by Nicholas Slonimsky
and "The Scale-Chord Synopticon" by Kathleen Powell and John Fowler.
I suspect that Joseph Schillinger's "Schillinger System of
Composition" covers the same ground, but I don't own a copy - I've
only seen it a few times in my life, and it's really expensive to
buy. So before I get all excited about anyone's book of "every" chord
or scale, I'd like to know how they might differ from these texts.
>
> Second, as we delve into these explorations of "every" this
and "every" that, we might wish to define just what a "chord"
or "scale" is. (The Scale-Chord Synopticon does this extremely well,
by the way.) Is a group of any five notes played simultaneously a
chord? If those same five notes are played in a logical ascending or
descending order, are they now a scale? Or an arpeggio? Comments?
>
> Third, we might ask ourselves, once we have amassed this valuable
pile of information, what are we going to do with it? It's very much
like holding up a telephone book and announcing, "this book has all
of my friends in it!" Sure it does, and it also has a lot of people
you'll never meet at all. To me, scales and chords are like friends.
I have a few that I wish to know very well, a few that are
acquaintances, and many that are not relevant to my life.
>
> Fourth, it can be quite a project to apply just a few scales (and
their modes), or just a few chords (and their different inversions
and voicings), or just a few rhythms to the guitar.
>
> I'd like to hear from someone who has found a book or approach to
scales, chords, rhythms and/or musical patterns (in general or on the
guitar) that sheds light on the organization and use of musical
information, not just the collection of same.
>
> One more thought: a few years back, I decided to figure out all the
possible fingerings of all voicings and inversions of a single major
triad on the guitar (excluding open strings, and allowing for a seven-
fret limit playable with four fingers and the thumb around the neck).
I put it aside after I'd written down about 300 different block
diagrams. Anybody know how many major triad fingerings are in Muriel
Anderson's book or the "everychordandscale" files?
>
> Douglas Baldwin, coyote-at-large
> www.thecoyote.org
> coyotelk@...
>
> "Life! Life!
> Clouds and clowns!
> You don't have to come down!"
> - Sly and the Family Stone
>