Essential Techniques & Stylistic Approaches for Soul Jazz Guitar

Whether you're looking to jazz up your blues, inject a little soul into your playing, or just nail that powerful soul jazz guitar sound, which was pioneered by the likes of Grant Green, George Benson, Cornell Dupree, Johnny Guitar Watson and other giants of the era - dig immediately into Rory Ronde's Soul Jazz Signatures Guidebook!

"I'll show you solos, licks, grooves, rhythm moves, and key techniques inspired by legendary guitar players from the soul, jazz and funk scene. We'll explore the signature techniques and typical grooves that defined these artists, and I'll show you how to incorporate these moves into your own playing whatever styles you prefer playing."

Rory will guide you through the signature Soul Jazz guitar moves of Grant Green, George Benson, Cornell Dupree, Johnny Guitar Watson, Ronny Jordan, Ernest Ranglin, and even some more contemporary Neo-Soul guitar stylings. Rory will present a variety of ways to style your Soul Jazz inspirations including jazz, hip-hop, funk, and even reggae influences.

You'll play your way through 8 performances studios, each focused on the signature moves and stylings of a legendary Soul Jazz guitarist. Rory will demonstrate over a backing track, and then break the performance down for you, emphasizing the key techniques and approaches that you'll need to infuse the style into your own playing.

Grant Green
"Grant Green was a famous jazz guitarist who influenced people like George Benson. His pure tone, soulful phrasing, and exciting rhythmic feel left a lasting mark on soul jazz playing. In this performance study, we'll take as an inspiration his groovy way of emphasizing chords and single notes."

George Benson - Night Times
"Not only is George Benson a great guitar player, but he's an equally skilled singer. He's also well known for his unique combination of both skills, scatting along with guitar or playing guitar along with his singing. This technique has been imitated many times, but never with the dazzling virtuoso level of Benson. The solo I perform in this performance study was made with Benson's groove, sophistication, and mastery of bebop in mind."

George Benson - Cruisin'
"This performance study is inspired by a composition called "Breezin". The song was written by Bobby Womack and originally performed by a great guitar player named Gabor Szabo. A couple of years later George Benson re-recorded a version and had a lot of success with it. Interestingly, there's also a live version where he shared the stage with Carlos Santana. This song has a prominent place in the history of smooth and soulful jazz guitar. In the following performance, you'll hear lines and grooves in the style that George used for this song."

Cornell Dupree
"Cornell Dupree played a style using double stops and chord melodies that has influenced guitarist to this day. His style contains a lot of space; never filling it up with too many notes. You could say that he mastered the art of playing the right notes, but also when not to play. He could turn a simple melody into a full arrangement. A genuine soul man."

Johnny Guitar Watson
"This performance study is a tribute to both Johnny Guitar Watson, a great blues-funk guitar player, and Wah Wah Watson, another hero of the style. Though they are completely different players, their use of sound - and the wah-wah pedal in this case - was very enjoyable. Literally talking through your guitar!"

Ronny Jordan
"The late British guitarist Ronny Jordan came to the forefront as a player through his work with rapper Guru with a project called Jazzmatazz during the 1990s. From the early beginning, hip-hop artists were always affiliated with jazz in some way. They used samples from old jazz records, from the likes of Grant Green, Joe Pass, and Wes Montgomery. Ronny Jordan style of guitar playing was featured on records in something that became known as acid jazz, a contemporary style that added hip-hop, house and other types of grooves to jazz music. This style was also connected to smooth jazz, where the guitar was already the main instrument. His version of the Miles Davis' classic "So What" was a big success and really defined that period. He made numerous albums. In this performance study, we take Jordan's style as inspiration for the solo."

Ernest Ranglin
"Soulful playing comes in all kinds of flavors and has its examples in all parts in the world. The Caribbean and Jamaica brought forth their own heroes who added an original vibe to the mix. One of those players is Ernest Ranglin, a player who is both groovy and skillful. He mixed jazz with reggae, dub and Caribbean styles. He took reggae songs and famous jazz standards, improvised on them and added a new flavor to it. We'll examine some of his playing with a groove reminiscent of the song Surfin'"

D'Angelo Groove
"In my previous performance study, our focus was on a certain kind of feel and rhythmic approach that came out of the styles of some of the players we have been discussing. In the 2000's up till now, a new style has developed where all kinds of phrasing ideas play an important role. Hammer-ons, embellishments, double stops, octaves, etc. The artist D'Angelo made records where this style again revolutionized guitar playing in general. Many young players nowadays are familiar with the hiphop timing and groove. It has become a language onto itself. A modern revival of soul guitar playing incorporating jazz, soul, funk, rock is what Neo Soul guitar is all about. In this performance study, we'll play a groove in the style of D'Angelo's song "Chicken Grease"."

Rory will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You'll get standard notation and tabs for each of the performance studies. Plus, Rory includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own.

Grab your guitar and let's get soulful with Rory Ronde!