This section features easy jazz guitar lessons that will help you get started playing jazz guitar on the right foot. The focus is on the four most important aspects of playing jazz: chords, arpeggios, scales, and playing jazz standards.
A definite must-know standard, Autumn Leaves is one of the most commonly called tunes at jazz jam sessions. It can be played in Em or Gm, and therefore is an introduction to tunes that are commonly played in more than one key, forcing you to learn it in both keys. There are also major ii …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Besides learning chord shapes, it’s also important that you develop your right-hand technique. Rhythm is an important aspect of playing chords because it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!
In this lesson you will learn 10 essential jazz guitar chord rhythms that every jazz guitarist should know.
In this lesson, you will learn how to read jazz chords on lead sheets the way they appear in fake books such as the Real Book.
You will learn how to color your chords, use chord tensions and substitutions while making sure your chords don’t clash with the melody.
Bebop is one of the most exciting jazz styles to play on the guitar.
In this lesson, you will learn the basics of bebop: chromatic notes, the bebop scales, bebop motifs and a solo over Scrapple from the Apple in the style of Charlie Parker. Practice the bebop concepts in this lesson and you will get that “jazzy” sound in your guitar playing.
Learn how to play jazz guitar arpeggios and discover how they can improve your solos. Arpeggios are the best tool to improvise over chord progressions and jazz standards and give your solos that instant “jazzy” sound. In this lesson, you will learn all you need to know to start using guitar arpeggios in your solos.
Being able to analyze jazz harmony is an important skill for any jazz musician.
In this lesson, you will learn how to use Roman Numerals for musical analysis and transposing on the guitar. This essential music theory lesson includes full song examples.
Learn these 7 guitar scales and you will be able to solo over almost any jazz standard. Understanding and knowing how to play these scales is essential for any beginning jazz guitar player. This lesson includes diagrams, audio, scale patterns, exercises, and solo examples.
A guide for those that want to take their guitar playing to the next level and are looking for a jazz guitar university program.
Finding and making a choice between the available schools can be though. This guide will help you make your choice.
In this music theory lesson, you will learn what guitar positions are and how they can help you become a better guitar player.
While there are many jazz soloing techniques that use chromatic notes and other outside sounds, not every important concept steps outside the key center. The most popular example of this is the diatonic enclosure, which is built by playing two diatonic notes surrounding a diatonic target note in your lines. Used by just about every …
The Diatonic Enclosure – Application and Practice Guide Read More »
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 …
Maj7 arpeggios are a must-know concept for any jazz guitarist, but they can be difficult to get under your fingers when working these shapes around the entire fretboard. Finding a system to organize your maj7 arpeggios can make playing and soloing with maj7 arpeggios easy, as you will be able to think less about the …
Shell jazz guitar chords are also known as guide tone chords and are the most basic type of chords used in jazz.
Shell chords are a good place to get started because they contain the most important notes of a chord and can be used to build more complex chords.
Jazz guitar chords can be complicated and as a beginner, it’s hard to know where to start. When first learning how to play jazz chords, many of us are intimidated by their sounds and shapes. But, jazz chords don’t have to be difficult to get under your fingers if you begin with the right shapes. …
This listening guide is a top 100 of jazz albums that don’t have a guitar player in the leading role.
If you are looking for a new jazz music to listen to, this is a great starting place.
There’s a ton of jazz guitar books available nowadays, some are great, some are not so great.
This top 50 compiled by our readers is a great place to start if you are looking for a new book to dive into.
Here is a top 100 of best jazz guitar albums, as voted by our readers. If you are new to jazz guitar, this listening guide is a good place to start, with a wide variety of styles and jazz guitarists.
