Blues

In this jazz guitar lesson, you will learn 11 variations of the minor blues chord progression and 2 guitar chord studies over the minor blues.

Comping over a minor blues tune is an essential skill for any jazz guitarist, as minor blues tunes are some of the most commonly called songs on jam sessions.

Blues is a predecessor of jazz, and both genres have always been heavily intertwined. The type of blues played by jazz musicians is more complex than traditional blues, but both have the same characteristics.

In this lesson, you will learn 6 variations of the jazz blues progression going from the basic original blues to more modern variations like the bebop blues changes.

In this lesson, you will learn how to play traditional blues rhythm guitar.

You will study an essential blues rhythm riff to add to your blues playing + chords that will help you move beyond open and bar chords.

  Though closely related in form and harmonic movement to its major blues cousin, the minor blues requires an understanding of a number of new scales and modes when first learning how to solo over this common jazz form. In this lesson you’ll learn all the scales needed to improvise over a minor blues. Though scales such as melodic minor and Phrygian dominant might seem out of reach at this point in your studies, by learning how…

  The first thing I learned to play on guitar was the blues, and I guess that’s the case for the majority of guitar players. Blues has it all, it has a very expressive form and sound, and is the best structure to master the core elements of jazz playing, such as keeping the form, giving each chord its own sound and the use of substitutes. One of the difficulties I had during my early years of…

Listening to Wes Montgomery play jazz can be both a liberating and intimidating experience. For a guitarist still learning the ropes of chord soloing, trying to play like Wes is daunting from the get-go. As far as chord soloing goes, Wes is known for his incredible speed, rhythm, and musical sensibility. Using familiar shapes, most commonly drop 2 chords, Wes Montgomery played some of the greatest chord soloing lines in jazz history. Ted Greene, the chord chemist…

  When learning how to play arpeggios over the jazz blues chord progression, or any tune for that matter, the easiest approach you can take in is to learn the arpeggio shapes within one position on the fretboard. This means that you’ll be able to play arpeggios over each chord in the progression without moving your hand up or down the fretboard, or with a minimal movement up and down the fretboard. By doing so, you will…

  One of the albums that many guitarists check out when first exploring the jazz genre is Kenny Burrell’s Midnight Blue record. As well, since it was covered by Stevie Ray Vaughan, a lot of players are drawn to the classic tune “Chitlins Con Carne.” When learning how to play in the style of Kenny Burrell, especially like a tune such as Chitlins, one of the key elements to explore is mixing chords and single-lines during each…

  Here’s a cool tune, called Full Count and written by jazz and blues guitarist Chuck D’Aloia. Originally, the song is played fustion-style, have a look at this video for Chuck’s recording:     Here’s my recording of the melody, played in a more classic jazz style:     Here’s a backing track you can use to practice:   The A part of the melody is played over a rhythm changes in G. The main building block…

  When practicing something new, it’s always a good idea to put the thing you’re practicing in a musical context. Often when I try to incorporate a new concept or fingering into my playing, I make a little tune out of the new material. Here’s an example of such a tune. This exercise will teach you how to play 9 and 13 arpeggios, as well as their respective chords. Audio & Notation/Tabs     Backing Track Here’s…