The Serious Jazz Practice Book, for All Instruments, by Barry Finnerty. 162 pages, CD an understatement, as this is a compact but thorough guide to the fundamentals of scale vocabulary. The author is a veteran guitarist whose credits include recording with Miles Davis, and what he has presented in these pages could well be a lifetime of practice and a springboard of improvisational ideas for any jazz player who can read music.

Playing the Changes, a Linear Approach to Improvising on Guitar, by Mitch Seidman and Paul Del Nero. 120 pages, CD included, $1995. Written by two professors of ear training at Berklee College of Music, the concepts presented here began as a series of core courses at Berklee, where jazz students learn to develop an intuitive, linear sense of improvisation. The goal is to base improvisations on a few good notes which naturally lead to others, and the lessons are as much about listening as playing. This is serious stuff, but it sounds like fun, too, and will probably enhance your listening enjoyment as well as your solos.

Technique Exercises for Guitar, Lessons and Licks for Improving Your Speed, Power & Clarity, by Jean Marc Belkadi. 40 pages, CD included, $1495. As the subtitle suggests, this is a series of exercises, aided by 81 demonstration tracks on the accompanying CD. Sections are devoted to stretching (both vertical and horizontal), alternate picking, string skipping, sweep picking, tapping, legato, and chord exercises. Think of it as a musical trip to the gym, you probably don’t go for the joy of being there, but for what the exercises enable you to do elsewhere. Presented in both standard notation and tab.

Ukulele Fretboard Roadmaps, the Essential Patterns that Pros Know and Use, by Fred Sokolow and Jim Beloff. 80 pages, CD included, $1495. OK, so you’re enjoying strumming a ukulele, maybe backing up some vocals, but what comes next? Time for an instrumental solo? Maybe a chord melody bridge? Whoa! Suddenly you need more chords, and a better understanding of how scales and progressions work on an instrument with a tuning that’s a bit different than guitar or mandolin. Leave it to Fred Sokolow, Mr. Fretboard Roadmaps himself, to explain moveable chord formations and variations, minor pentatonic scales, and other useful stuff, while giving you a chance to learn cool tunes like “Hesitation Blues” and “Betty and Dupree” along with standard uke favorites. Standard notation and tab, and highly recommended!

The Gibson 335, Its History and Its Players, by Adria Ingram. 115 pages, $29.95 Long left in the shadow of the more famous Les Paul solidbody models, Gibson’s ES-335, and the many variants of similar shape and construction, has recently begun to get far more recognition. Thi book covers Gibson’s thinline semi-hollow body models (sometimes also called semi-acoustic) from 1958 through to the present. The author has written many books and magazine articles on a variety of Gibson guitars. There are lots of great photos throughout, and it’s the best explanation of the progression of changes to my favorite electric guitar model that I’ve ever read (I don’t play electric guitar, but if I did, it would have to be an ES-335)