I currently have eight books for sale.

(Just click on the book to link to more information or click the description below it for the full description.)

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I have six print editions/pdf books available here:

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Symmetrical Twelve Tone Patterns is a 284 page book with a large reference component  and about 100 pages of extensive notated examples and instruction.

Symmetrical Twelve-Tone Patterns book description

My GuitArchitecture method replaces the standard approach to learning guitar (rote memorization) with a simple, intuitive two-string approach that anyone can learn. This method, where players can actually see scales on a fingerboard, is called sonic visualization, and it can be applied to any scale or modal system.

In this volume of his Fretboard Visualization series, I’ve used my two-string method to present the pentatonic minor scale in an easy, intuitive and musical manner.

This book not only demonstrates how to “see” the scale all over the fingerboard, but also shows how to use the scale in a variety of contexts and presents strategies that can be applied to making any scale more musical.

The Scott Collins Fretboard Visualization Series: The Pentatonic Minor Scale is an invaluable resource for guitarists who are looking to break through to the next level in their playing.

Pentatonic Visualization book description

In The GuitArchitect’s Guide To Chord Scales, I show you how to make your own scales to use over chords and how to derive chords from whatever crazy scales you come up with in an easy, intuitive and musical way.

Over the course of its 190 pages, the Guide To Chord Scales not only offers extensive instruction and approaches, but also acts as a reference book covering chord scale options ranging from three notes right on up to the full twelve note chromatic.

While devised as a guitar resource for instructional, compositional and/or improvisational material – this book can be a vital component in any musician’s library.

Chord Scales book description

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In The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes: Harmonic Combinatorics, I’ve gone into the nuts and bolts of chord construction and analysis by taking a systematic approach to generating thousands of chord variations that can be utilized intuitively in any key.

In addition to being a vast harmonic resource, I also show the reader ways to make melodic lines from this material allowing the book to double as a melodic resource as well

Harmonic Combinatorics book description

In The GuitArchitect’s Positional Exploration, I’ve taken an introductory guitar exercise and turned it on its head to reveal deep possibilities in not only in positional visualization, but in technical awareness as well.

This book shows how to take a simple idea and creatively develop and modify it through melodic, harmonic and rhythmic variations that can be applied to your own music as well.

Positional Exploration book description

In this volume of the GuitArchitecture series, The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes: Melodic Patterns, I’ve used my two-string visualization method to create a reference book of thousands of melodic variations.

With this information, you will be able to create a near infinite number of unique riffs and melodic phrases, which you can use individually or combined to compose or improvise your own music.

The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes: Melodic Patterns is an invaluable compositional and improvisational resource for both guitarists and bassists.

Melodic Patterns book description

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and have two Kindle titles available here:

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“Selling It Versus Selling Out” is an alternative approach to the dusty music business books you’ve seen before.

If you’ve ever read a music business article and wondered, “Well that’s interesting, but what does it have to do with me?” – this is the book for you.

Spanning 26 essays, “Selling It Versus Selling Out” integrates a music business mindset with a musician’s world-view in a seamless way. It offers music business advice that applies to daily real-word dilemmas faced by working musicians.

Selling it Versus Selling Out E-Book descriptions

 An Indie Musician Wake Up Call” (Aka What Louis CK, Amanda Palmer, David Lowery and Emily White Really Means For The Working Musician) is a prog rock manifesto delivered as a punk rock intervention.

The book is comprised of two related essays that address the real impact that Amanda Palmer’s recent Kickstarter campaign and Louis CK’s crowdfunding release has on working musicians (hint: not much), and the REAL problem musicians face with the David Lowery/Emily White NPR debacle (hint – it’s not strictly file sharing).

An Indie Musician Wake Up Call is a rallying cry for real steps musicians will need to take in the 21st century to move forward and establish their careers.

An Indie Musician Wake Up Call E-Book descriptions

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And finally, thanks again to everyone who has supported me by purchasing editions of the book!  It’s greatly appreciated!

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About the series:

Back in 2008,  I wanted to write a guitar based book about my sonic visualization process I call GuitArchitecture.  My thought was that it would be a combination of instruction and reference and different in scope from anything I had seen (outside of perhaps the Van Epps series).

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That initial book, The GuitArchitect’s Guide To Modes, became a 2000+ page monstrosity that had too much information for publication.  Two things have happened with that book:

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• The core of the book (approximately 250 pages) is being excerpted, adapted and serialized on the web (and may be published for people who want an expanded hard copy in 2013).

• The bulk of the book has been broken down, edited and expanded  into a multi-volume that’s been released over 2011-2015.  The time line for these is below.

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(For those of you who are interested in the books and the approach, you can read (quite a bit) more about the story behind the books here.)

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2012-2013

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All of the following editions are available in print or digital (PDF) form.

Several books were released as preliminary editions  in 2011, with final editions (i.e. bound copies) released in 2012.

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• The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes: Melodic Patterns 

• The GuitArchitect’s Positional Exploration 

• The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes: Harmonic Combinatorics

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The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Chord Scales was the first guitar book completed and released in 2012.  The plan is to publish at the leisurely pace of 1 or 2 books a year (between GuitArchitect’s Guide To books and other books) for the next three years.

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• The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes: Chord Scales (Released 3/12/2012)

• The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Symmetrical Twelve-Tone Patterns (Released 2/1/ 2013)

• The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes: Modal Arpeggios (Expected to be released in 2014)

• The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes: Modal Pentatonics (Expected to be released in 2015)

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About the text that started it all:

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There are several reasons behind my decision to serialize The GuitArchitect’s Guide to Modes on the site for now:

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• Almost all of the information in the books draw from material and approaches in the initial text, and ethically I had a problem selling a book to people with every other page stating, “for more information about this – see The GuitArchitect’s Guide To Modes.”

• I wasn’t happy with the writing style in the initial book.  Additionally, my pedagogical approach shifted from the first draft and I wanted a chance to make the material more accessible.

• From a promotional standpoint, it made sense to have a lot of free information up to drive traffic to the website.  This blog as a place I promote things that I’m working on, plug my releases, performance services/musical gun for hire/ writing services and teaching.  In posting material from the book, I can make this the most informative site that I can where people can go to casually check out material and gain information and hip them to – what I believe to be – a really innovative book series that’s different from anything else out there.

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Still, some people have indicated that they would like a hard copy of the book, so it is very likely that an (expanded) version of the modes book will get released in 2013 or 2014 as well.

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And finally, thanks again to everyone who has supported me by purchasing editions of the book!  It’s greatly appreciated!

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