About this site
Welcome to Resources For Jazz Guitar! As of today, in October 2024, there is not yet a great deal of material here, but this site will grow to include materials that should be useful for intermediate to advanced jazz guitarists. I have a few major goals for this site.
Goal number one is to provide a serious foundation in music theory for all the concepts I explore here. And by this, I mean at a level similar to what you would find in an undergraduate university course, or in a music theory journal. The reason for this is to promote a deep understanding of how the materials we use in jazz improvising are constructed, and how they relate to one another. I use the term understanding, as opposed to the rote memorization I often see recommended in jazz pedagogy.
I find that much of more popular jazz pedagogy presents ideas, for example, “use this pattern for this progression” without explaining why the pattern works. In order to understand the why, one needs to understand how the patterns and progressions are constructed, and what are the subset and superset relations between various elements. As such, I’ll be using certain contemporary music theory concepts and tools, especially pitch class set theory, that aren’t often seen in the jazz pedagogy context. In fact, I don't expect this site will look very much like any other jazz guitar site, and this is very much by design.
Goal number two is, in a way, the complement of goal number one, and that is to provide actual practice materials to get the concepts into our fingers, so to speak. Ultimately, I will include a large number of exercises, studies, and etudes to facilitate the practice of these materials. My plan is to eventually incorporate these into a series of books.
Goal number three is to create a hub for teaching materials for my private students.
Why are there no comments sections?
Because I don't find them to be terribly useful. However, I welcome any reactions, questions, criticisms, or corrections. Please feel free to contact me by email: resourcesforjazzguitar @ proton dot me
Guitarist bio
Like so many other guitarists, I first took up the instrument as a child and learned to play mostly by ear, learning songs from records and the radio, and playing in garage bands. I began studying in earnest in my teens, studying jazz with local teachers in London Ontario (Franco Cucinelli, Tom Lockwood), playing in a big band (led by Joe Edmonds, who was a wonderful man and a top-notch musician), and doing lots of listening. The guitarists I listened to the most included Joe Pass, Tal Farlow, Lenny Breau, Ed Bickert, Grant Green, and Kenny Burrell. I then took up classical guitar, studying with Ray Sealey, and Alan Torok, both of whom were also composers, and at the same time began studying piano, harmony, and counterpoint with an excellent private teacher, David K. Miller, and at the Western Ontario Conservatory of Music. I took a gap year before university and in addition to the theory studies, I practiced for about 8 hours every day.
During my undergraduate studies in theory and composition, I was still required to keep up my major instrument, classical guitar, and pass a performance jury every year—I'm grateful for this, even though I was already ridiculously overloaded with academic work and composing. It was during this time that I also began teaching privately, something that I found very enjoyable and rewarding. All in all, I was a diligent student, and was awarded with the Western University Gold Medal in Music Theory and Composition.
During grad school, studying composition at the University of Toronto, I was able to focus my time on composing, and of course, complete all the requirements for my doctor of music degree. I didn't have any requirements, or opportunities for that matter, for performing, so my guitarist career went on hold. I was also happy to continue teaching, and taught undergraduate ear training and dictation.
On moving to New York in 1997, I was able to work on some interesting commercial music projects, which included some film and television work, and some pop music engineering. Also at that time, I worked on some demo materials, including guitar and engineering work, with John Legend, who was then still known as John Stephens. In order to earn a living, however, I began working in the technology field, which eventually turned into a 20-year career. With long hours and a very heavy travel schedule, music had to be relegated to a weekend activity. I still kept playing, and also gradually turned my home recording studio (which I had always had in one form or another) into a quite capable setup.
In the early 2010s, I felt compelled to return to jazz guitar. I started occasionally attending the Barry Harris workshop. I joined a combo at the New York Jazz Workshop, and I got a big boost by attending the Jamey Aebersold Summer Jazz Workshop in Louisville. Aebersold really sparked something in me; I recall sitting in a classroom wating for a jazz theory class to start, and with all the students young and old warming up on their horns, I felt moved almost to tears. The guitar facultly was excellent, and I learned a lot from each of them: Corey Christiansen, Mike DiLiddo, Craig Wagner, Zvonimir Tot, Fred Hamilton, and Dave Stryker. From Stryker, I felt strong connection with what I was after musically, and so I continued to work with his materials through his web teaching.
More recently, since 2021 I have been studying with Mark Sherman, the Juilliard-trained and current Juilliard faculty composer, pianist, vibraphonist, percussionist and band leader. During this time, I've been playing in a very good sextet under Mark's direction.
Composer bio
Chester Jankowski is a composer, musician, and technologist based in New York. He earned a doctorate in composition at the University of Toronto in 1998. His music has been performed by leading virtuosi and new music groups including Array Music, Millennium, pianist Stephen Clarke, violinist Scott St. John and many others, with broadcasts on CBC’s Two New Hours and The Arts Tonight. Jankowski studied with Lothar Klein and Gustav Ciamaga at the University of Toronto; with John Weinzweig and Gary Kulesha at the first ever Composer’s Workshop, Academy of Advanced Study at the Festival of the Sound; with George Tsontakis at Aspen; with Alexina Louie, Sydney Hodkinson, Peter Paul Koprowski, Jack Behrens, and David Myska at the University of Western Ontario. In 1997, Jankowski was the recipient of the Sir Ernest MacMillan Foundation composition award, one of Canada’s most prestigious national awards for composers under the age of 30. Since 1997, Jankowski has lived in New York City, where he plays jazz guitar, and continues to compose and record music in a variety of genres in his home recording studio.