Jazz Guitar Chords

What makes a guitar chord a jazz guitar chord?

   Most people define jazz guitar chords as seventh chords with or without tensions as opposed to more basic chords like triads.

This music theory lesson teaches you how jazz guitar chords are built and how you can find your own. I can hear you thinking "I just want to play...", but this is a very important lesson that will save you a lot of time and give you a deeper understanding about guitar chords.

Part 1: Basic Guitar Chord Theory
Part 2: Constructing Jazz Chords
Part 3: Chord Tensions
Part 4: Chord Construction System 2
Part 5: How to Play Guitar Chords
Part 6: Solutions to the Exercises

Here you can find the basic guitar chord charts for major, minor, dominant, diminished, shell & other guitar chords. You'll learn all jazz guitar chords that every jazz guitar player should know.

Here you'll find the chord charts for more complicated jazz guitar chords and voicings.

Here you'll learn what drop 2 chords and voicings are and how you can build them.

Very comprehensive guitar chord finder you can use to find chords by name or by inputting notes on the guitar neck. Please allow some time to load...

2 charts that will help you in constructing your own chord voicings. The 1st chord chart tells you the notes of a certain type of chord, the 2nd chart lets you see where the notes lie on the guitar neck.

Here you'll find a list of the most popular chord progressions in jazz, the songs that use them
and the guitar players who play them.

In this lesson you'll learn 20 ways to comp over a II V I VI chord progression, the most frequently used chord progression in jazz.

An overview of the most popular variations of the 12 bar blues chord progression, going from the basic original blues to the Charlie Parker blues.

In this guitar lesson you'll learn the most common variations for the minor blues chord progression. We start with the basic minor blues and add substitutions step-by-step...

This video guitar lesson teaches you how to comp on the jazz standard There Will Never Be Another You.

In this guitar lesson you'll learn to walk on your guitar. Playing chords and walking bass at the same time is fun and very useful when accompanying in duos. This tutorial shows you step by step how to play walking bass guitar.

This guitar lesson continues from the previous lesson about walking bass guitar. This one is a bit more advanced, with different rhythms and chord voicings.

Learn how to apply classical right hand techniques in a jazz context. Playing fingerstyle enables you to produce sounds reminiscent of a piano player.

A guide to Rhythm Changes for guitar players. You'll learn more about the chord progressions and techniques you can use to play these popular and fast standards. With examples...

Here you'll learn what chord inversions are. We'll have a look at a certain kind of basic chord voicings (I call them Bach chords) that make it easier for you to memorize more complicated guitar chord inversions.

In this jazz theory lesson you'll learn all common turnarounds used in jazz.

In this guitar lesson you'll learn how to play the chords of giant steps in a creative way. We'll also have a look at the harmonization of the melody.

This music theory lesson with practical guitar examples will teach you how the famous jazz standard All The Things You Are is harmonically built.

Learn how to play quartal voicings on guitar. These kind of chords, pioneered by McCoy Tyner, are very useful in modal tunes.

Tritone substitution is a very common chord substitution in jazz music. Learn the theory and play some examples.

A short lesson about the mu major chord, characteristic for Steely Dan's signature sound.

In this guitar lesson you'll learn a method of comping that is similar to how piano players play chords.

An eBook for beginning and intermediate jazz guitar players with music theory and chord dictionary. Learn how guitar chords really work!