Hi, my name is Dirk Laukens and I teach jazz guitar.
I grew up with the music of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but soon after my first guitar teacher (Jo Cassiers) introduced me to the jazz standards So What and All of Me, I got hooked on jazz.
This led me to start studying jazz guitar full-time, first at the Jazz Studio (Antwerp, Belgium) and then at the Royal Conservatory of Music, also in Antwerp.
My guitar teachers at that time were Hendrik Braeckman and Martijn van Iterson. I also followed guest lessons and workshops by John Abercrombie, Jesse van Ruller, Kenny Wheeler, Barry Harris, Maria Schneider, and many more.
In 2003, I started Jazz Guitar Online as a means to document my lessons at the Conservatory. This grew out to the biggest and most popular jazz guitar website it is today, and a thriving forum with over 65,000 members.
Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have feedback or questions about all things guitar-related, I’m here to help!
After years of playing Ibanez, Heritage, and Epiphone, I found my workhorse guitar in this 1973 Gibson ES-175.
I use this Fender Telecaster for more pop orientated stuf. A versatile guitar at a great price.
This digital version of the Fender Twin Reverb has the classic sound of the Twin at half the weight.
The HOF is a great and inexpensive reverb pedal with a lot of possibilities and a great sound.
I have been using these flat wound strings since forever because of their great sound and low tension.
They ain't cheap, but I have yet to find a pick with the same sound and control as these BlueChips.
Make You Feel My Love was written by Bob Dylan for his album Time Out of Mind (1997). The song became a bit of a modern standard and was covered by more than 450 artists including Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, and Adele. Creating guitar instrumentals of pop songs is a good exercise in reharmonization, phrasing,
Nature Boy was written by eden ahbez (his real name was George Alexander Aberle) in 1947 and recorded by Nat King Cole in 1948. Cole’s recording became a no 1 hit for eight weeks and sold over a million of copies. In this lesson, you will learn how to play the melody and chords of
Fly Me to the Moon is one of the most famous and recognizable jazz standards ever. In this lesson, you will learn how to play the chords and chord progression of this popular song. In the chord study below, you will mostly learn basic jazz guitar chords and voicings such as minor 7, major 7,
In this lesson, you will learn how to play the chords of Blue Bossa and a bossa nova rhythm pattern. One of the most common non-swing rhythms that jazz guitarists often play is the bossa nova groove. but learning how to play an authentic bossa or samba groove on the guitar can be tricky. To
Autumn Leaves is a timeless jazz standard recorded by numerous jazz legends, making it a must-know tune for any aspiring jazz guitar player. In this guitar lesson, you will learn a beginner-friendly chord arrangement of Autumn Leaves. This arrangement mainly uses drop 2 and drop 3 chords, two kinds of basic chord shapes that are
Groovin’ High was written by Dizzy Gillespie in 1946. The standard is probably his most famous composition and one of the first famous bebop recordings. In this lesson, you will learn how to play the melody of Groovin’ High. Groovin’ High is based on the chord structure of a 1920s song called Whispering, which was
Billie’s Bounce, one of the most iconic jazz standards from the bebop era, was written by Charlie Parker in 1945 and is one of his most famous songs. The original recording featured Charlie Parker (alt sax), Miles Davis (trumpet), Dizzy Gillespie (piano !), Curley Russell (bass), and Max Roach (drums). The story goes that Billie’s
One of the most common chord progressions in jazz is the blues progression. A “straight” 12-bar blues usually has three 7th chords (I IV V). In jazz, we add more chords to this progression, such as II V I progressions and a more complicated turnaround. Jazz blues also features a different kind of phrasing and
What a Wonderful World was written by Bob Thiele/George David Weiss and recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1967. It was a hit in the UK, but not in the US because Larry Newton (the president of ABC Records) didn’t promote the song on the grounds that he didn’t like it. In this lesson, you will
Moon River was composed by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for the movie Breakfast at Tifanny’s (1961). The song was written for Audrey Hepburn to sing (real) while she accompanies herself on the guitar (not real). In this lesson, you will learn an easy chord melody arrangement of Moon River. Mancini won the Grammy Awards
Georgia on my Mind was composed in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael, who also made the first recording of the song with his orchestra featuring Hoagy on vocals, Eddie Lang on guitar, and Bix Beiderbecke on cornet (his last recording session). In 1960, Ray Charles recorded his famous version, which was a number one hit all
Besame Mucho, one of the most popular songs of the 20th century, was written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez. The bolero is inspired by the Eusebius theme from the first movement of Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor (opus 54). The most famous jazz guitar version of the song was recorded in
Ronny Jordan’s acid-jazz cover of So What (composed by Miles Davis) was the first single of the late English jazz guitarist. It was released in 1992 on his debut album The Antidote and was a worldwide hit. In this lesson, you will learn how to play Ronny Jordan’s version of So What, including the melody
Fly Me to the Moon was written by composer Bart Howard in 1954 and recorded by singer Kaye Ballard in the same year. The song was originally titled “In Other Words” until Peggy Lee, who made the song popular after her performance on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1963, convinced Bart Howard to change it
Learn how to play one of the most popular bossa nova songs ever, Blue Bossa.
In this lesson, you will learn the melody, the chords and how to improvise.
All of Me was written in 1931 by Seymour Simons and Gerald Marks and has since become a popular jazz standard, especially among gypsy jazz guitar players. The song is suitable for beginners because of its slow harmonic movement (most chords last two bars). In this lesson, you will analyze the chords of All of
Days of Wine and Roses was written by Henry Mancini in 1962 for the movie of the same name. The song has since become a jazz standard and popular among jazz guitarists with recordings from Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, Lenny Breau, Bill Frisell, Jimmy Raney, John Abercrombie, Howard Roberts, and many more. The most famous
(Meet) The Flintstones is the theme of the ’60s television series The Flintstones (from season 3 on) and is one of the most recognizable theme songs ever. It was composed by Hoyt Curtin in 1961 and recorded with a big band and the Randy Van Horne Singers. In this lesson, you will learn how to
PG Music’s Band in a Box is well known among jazz musicians as intelligent automatic accompaniment software that makes it easy to produce backing tracks on the fly. I have been using BIAB since the late ’90s and while the earliest versions only used MIDI, the modern version of the program uses recordings of real
In this second installment of “Iconic Guitar Parts”, we’ll have a look at one of the most recognizable movie themes ever, the James Bond Theme, featuring the famous guitar riff played by Vic Flick. Written by Monty Norman and arranged by John Barry, the James Bond theme song was recorded in 1962 for the first
Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise was composed by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II in 1928 for an operetta (a kind of light opera) called The New Moon. Artie Shaw’s recording of Softly (1938) brought the song into the jazz world and made it into the popular jazz standard it is today. In this
Take the “A” Train, composed by Billy Strayhorn in 1939 and first recorded in 1941, was the signature tune of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The title refers to the then recently opened A subway line that ran from Brooklyn to Northern Manhattan. The chord progression of Take the “A” Train is loosely based on another
Don’t Get Around Much Anymore is a classic swing standard written by Duke Ellington, who recorded it with his orchestra in 1940 (under the title Never No Lament). Two versions of the song became a number one hit in the US R&B charts in 1943, the Duke Ellington version and a cover by The Ink
Stompin’ at the Savoy is a swing-era jazz standard written by alto saxophonist Edgar Sampson in 1933, although it is often credited to Benny Goodman, whose recording of the song peaked at number 4 in the 1937 hit charts. Stompin’ was the theme song of the Savoy Ballroom’s theme band, led by Chick Webb. In
Solar is a jazz standard made famous by Miles Davis. The song was actually composed by jazz guitarist Chuck Wayne in 1946 under the title “Sonny”. In this lesson, you will learn how to play the melody of Solar and how to solo over its chord changes. The studies in this lesson expose you to
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) was written by Sonny Bono and originally released by Cher in 1966. Also in 1966, Nancy Sinatra recorded a cover version of Bang Bang, featuring the iconic tremolo guitar part played by Billy Strange. This version of the song regained popularity in 2003 when it was featured as
Mr. PC is a popular minor blues standard in C, written and recorded by John Coltrane in 1959 for his album Giant Steps. In this guitar lesson, you will learn how to play the melody and how to improvise a solo over its chord changes. In case you were wondering, the initials P.C. stand for
In this lesson, you will learn how to combine chords with a walking bass line, a concept that is becoming more and more in demand these days. As club and restaurant owners are cutting budgets, one way to keep our gig as a guitar player is to slim down the ensemble to a duo or
Half-diminished seventh chords are minor chords with a flat five and are commonly used as the first chord in minor-key ii V I progressions. It’s important to have this type of chord with all its inversions under your fingers because they are used in almost every jazz standard. In this lesson, you will learn how
Endings are an important part of your jazz vocabulary because they are one of the most memorable parts for your listeners. The problem is that most jazz standards don’t have a fixed ending (aka coda), so it’s a good idea to have a couple of standard endings up your sleeve. In this lesson, you will
