Progressive metal player turned jazz newbie

Farb3y0ndth3sun · #1 04-04-2011, 01:39 PM

Hey guys, the name's Eddie. I've been playing guitar for about 7 years now but I've always been more of the metal riffer type. I feel like I lack versatility in every sense. I've done a lot of practicing over the years but it was mostly geared towards being able to play hectic metalcore and progressive metal riffs and licks[Dream Theater, Opeth, Periphery, Animals as Leaders, Between the Buried and Me, etc] I can barely improvise and my chord vocabulary is quite limited. Can you guys point me in the right direction? I'd really like to start learning everything I can about this amazing genre not to mention playing it. Keep in mind, I know almost nothing about about comping, chord charts, and playing over chord changes so if you could help me out by starting at the bottom it would be VERY much appreciated. Cheers!

Eddie

mr. beaumont · #2 04-04-2011, 01:45 PM

If we're starting at step one, it's ALL about chords.

Jazz chords are usually a little juicier--harmonized to at least 4 notes. My suggestion would be to get as fluent as you can in maj7, m7, 7, m7b5, maj9, 9, m9, 13, 7b5, 7#5, 7b9, chords...start with the first four types, as the others are basically add ons. Learn how to make them and learn what notes are in them--just memorizing grips will give you nothing.

Learn every chord you can in at least 3 different places. Chords, chords, chords.

Farb3y0ndth3sun · #3 04-04-2011, 01:52 PM

Do you have any recommendations on places I can read up on building chords pertaining to jazz? I've got a basic understanding of theory so I wouldn't be starting from rock bottom.

mr. beaumont · #4 04-04-2011, 02:25 PM

Well, I'll toot my own horn for a VERY BASIC lesson on my website (it's the only one on there so far)--I'm learning more about production, so the quality is low--I'm going to redo it this week, actually, but it WILL get you started at least.

Fretboard knowledge will be key, because after you get the most basic chords down you're going to want to do some exploring to find others. Chord formulas are all based off the major scale--if I wrote something like R, b3, 5, b7, would that make sense?

You'll want to find formulas for all of those chord types I mentioned--if you can't find them, give me a day or two and I can post a "common jazz chord formula" thread.

Kman · #5 04-04-2011, 03:23 PM

How good a player are you now? if you are an experienced rock player you might want to get some jazz guitar transcription books and start delving into those. You can get some Wes Montgomery or Joe Pass books that come with CD's. This will give you an idea of what the style is and introduce you some great jazz guitar playing right away. While your doing this learn a little bit of theory each day. Get a real book and a jazz guitar chord book. There are a lot of great Jazz guitar materials out there to get you started.

23skidoo · #6 04-05-2011, 07:22 AM

Here's a link to Dirk's instructional site, the one associated with this forum. He has a good explanation of chord construction and use, with diagrams....even an ebook you can download. I'm new to jazz also, coming from a bluegrass/rock background and this got me started nicely.....

Jazz Guitar Chords | Guitar Chord Charts | Lessons