The Serious Jazz Practice Book
by Barry Finnerty


The book I've been waiting for! Barry quite logically leads you through hundreds of wonderful studies with easy to understand text relating to how each study/pattern is set up and how it relates harmonically to chords and scales. This book will keep you busy for many years and is a compelling method with the overall goal of expanding your jazz vocabulary. It is a great book!”
— Randy Brecker


Barry Finnerty's book is the best book of intervallic studies I've ever seen. Great exercises for any instrument.”
— Mark Levine


This is an exhaustive, yet compact guide to the fundamentals of scale vocabulary, written by an accomplished musician. The section on diminished scales is outstanding.”
— Dave Leibman


This is a really terrific book, as it exemplifies the kind of practice jazz players need to do intuitively. The book has great usefulness and practicality in showing how to develop a personal approach to practicing, which keeps things interesting and fun.”
— Bob Sheppard

  All musicians need to thoroughly learn their scales, chords, intervals and various melodic patterns in order to be complete musicians. The question has always been how to approach this universal task.

  THE SERIOUS JAZZ PRACTICE BOOK provides a unique and comprehensive plan for mastering these basic building blocks of jazz, on any instrument.

  • It takes all the diatonic, pentatonic, chromatic, whole-tone and diminished scales and gives you step-by-step exercises that dissect them into hundreds of useable patterns.
  • The same is also done for all the chord types and intervals inherent in each scale.
  • Many of the exercises are embellished with chromatic notes, giving them that jazz flavor right away.
  • The companion CD has Barry demonstrating how to use the exercises to create great solos.
  • The end result is a method book that will lead the reader to a deep, internalized understanding of the fundamentals of jazz.


    • 162 pages, plus CD.


    Sample Pages

    Page #1

    Track #1
    Track #2


    Guitar legend Barry Finnerty was on some of the most important jazz fusion recordings of the 1970s and 80s, including: Miles Davis "The Man With The Horn," The Brecker Bros. "Heavy Metal Bebop," The Crusaders "Street Life."

    In addition to playing with these landmark groups, Barry has played and/or recorded with many other jazz greats, including: Hubert Laws, Ray Barretto, Airto, Joe Farrell, Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Band, Billy Cobham, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chico Hamilton, and many more.

    Barry also has seven CDs out under his own name. See www.barryfinnerty.com for details.