Before you is version 1.3 of "Swing & Jump Blues", my humble take on what this music is about.
I have collected this material over the last three or four years and it attempts to define the different ways of accompanying and soloing in a swing setting.

It got to see the light because I got tired.
Tired of looking for a good book that would accurately describe this music.
Tired of listening to hundreds of "guitar players" I've heard at sessions or had the dubious pleasure of playing with mindlessly race up and down the minor pentatonic scale.
Tired of saying: "Don't you HEAR the major third: is there a reason why you don't PLAY it?"

And it was born out of love for this music. A type of music that does not need to be studied like jazz, has the power of the blues and brings a positive, upbeat feel to it.
I'm sure a lot in this book/cd/website needs to be refined, adjusted, thrown out, added, etc.

I hope you will be kind and look at this material as an honest attempt to open up Swing & Jump to a larger audience of guitar players. Not out of a religious "this is the only way to play it" but out of "I love this music, take what you like, it's yours, too".

Matthieu Brandt

December 1997 / November 2004
Last update : november 2004

I owe a lot to the following guitarists and music lovers for their comments on the 1st version of this book/website. Without them this project would've been senseless and a lot less fun. Thanx!

My Teachers: