Tetrachords for Guitar: A Thesaurus of Four-Note Patterns for Improvisers & Composers

By Dan Cosley

Tetrachords, or four-note patterns, offer various advantages over scalar or modal approaches to improvising and composing melodies through chord changes.

A tetrachord-based linear approach is indispensable for navigating modern improvisational styles due to the general complexity, challenging tempos, and fast-moving harmonic rhythms involved.

Tetrachords for Guitar, a comprehensive 219-page resource, offers clear solutions and stimulates creativity through:

An introduction to using four-note patterns (tetrachords) for melodic improvisation in the style of John Coltrane
A highly-organized 24-day practice plan for mastering 144 of the most common tetrachord permutations, in every key, and across the entire range of the instrumentFour etudes based on John Coltrane's "Giant Steps" and "26-2" chord progressionsAdvice on tetrachord-based melodic improvisation, including detailed resources for creating variations in rhythm and contourThe book's six appendices include comprehensive lists of all of the tetrachords possible within the altered and chromatic scales, as well as suggestions for applying tetrachords to extended harmony and "upper-structures." (Please note: this book does not include TAB; it is presented in standard notation only.)

Quotes on Dan Cosley

"Dan Cosley is a real, gifted musician with genuine skills as a composer. He belongs to a restricted community of guitarists who place music even above the guitar." - Roland Dyens

"Exceptional qualities as a performer, scholar, and human being... Cosley is also a very talented and accomplished composer and improviser." - Ricardo Iznaola

About the Author

DAN COSLEY is a guitarist, composer, and arranger based in Kyoto, Japan. An expert on classical guitar technique and repertoire, as well as jazz improvisation, Dan has successfully prepared students to attend top institutions such as the Berklee College of Music while maintaining full teaching, composing, and performing schedules.

Three intensive years as teaching assistant to renowned pedagogue Ricardo Iznaola strongly influenced Dan's teaching and learning approach. Afterward, he served as a professor of music at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon, where he taught classical and jazz guitar, orchestration, guitar ensemble, notation, and composition.

In 2017, following the closure of Marylhurst University, Dan took leave from academia and relocated to Kyoto, Japan, to intensify his composition and performance activities. Most recently, he has created wayoftheguitar.com, a comprehensive online training system for fretboard harmony, aural skills, and improvisation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1660448042
• ISBN13: 9781660448043
• Release Date: January 2020
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.5" x 11.0"