Jazz Standards

The best way to learn how to play jazz guitar is by playing jazz standards. By applying chords, scales, and arpeggios to jazz standards you transform your technical know-how into real music.

Matador (Grant Green)

Matador (Grant Green)

Matador is the title track from a session Grant Green recorded in 1964, though it wasn’t released until 1979 on the Japanese Blue Note label. It was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s well-known Englewood Cliffs studio, and although the album went unnoticed for years, it features some of Green’s best playing. The album has a

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Midnight Blue (Kenny Burrell)

Midnight Blue (Kenny Burrell)

Kenny Burrell’s Midnight Blue is one of the most iconic soul-jazz guitar standards ever recorded. Released in 1963 on Blue Note Records, it’s the title track of Burrell’s album Midnight Blue, with Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Major Holley on bass, Billy Gene English on drums, and Ray Barretto on congas. If you’re into smooth

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Alone Together for jazz guitar

Alone Together

Alone Together is one of the great minor-key jazz standards, written by Arthur Schwartz in 1932 for the Broadway show Flying Colors. Over the years, it has become a favorite for jazz musicians, with notable recordings by Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Jim Hall, and Pat Martino. The song was first recorded in 1932 by Leo

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Duke Ellington & John Coltrane - In a Sentimental Mood

In a Sentimental Mood

Duke Ellington wrote and recorded In a Sentimental Mood in 1935. Over the years, it has become one of the most recorded jazz ballads and a favorite among musicians for its rich harmony, lyrical melody, and flexible phrasing. In this lesson, you will learn to play the melody of In a Sentimental Mood and a

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Dizzy Gillespie Groovin' High

Groovin’ High

Groovin’ High was written by Dizzy Gillespie in 1945. It became his best-known composition and one of the first famous bebop recordings. In this lesson, you will learn how to play the melody of Groovin’ High combined with chord hits. Groovin’ High is a contrafact of Whispering, first recorded in 1920 by bandleader Paul Whiteman

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Charlie Parker - Billie's Bounce for Jazz Guitar

Billie’s Bounce

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. In this in-depth tutorial, you will learn about the melody and bebop language used in this classic tune. The original recording included Charlie Parker (alto sax), Miles

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Moon River jazz guitar arrangement

Moon River

Moon River was composed by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). The song was written for Audrey Hepburn to sing on screen. She performs the vocal herself, but the guitar accompaniment is not actually played by her. In this lesson, you will learn a chord melody arrangement of Moon

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Lullaby of Birdland

Lullaby of Birdland

Lullaby Of Birdland was composed by George Shearing in 1952 and was intended as the theme song for the legendary jazz club Birdland (NY). It became one of the most popular jazz standards of all time. Lullaby of Birdland is one of my favorite jazz melodies, making it a perfect candidate for a chord melody

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Fly Me to the Moon

Fly Me to the Moon

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

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White Christmas jazz guitar arrangement

White Christmas

White Christmas, written by Irving Berlin in 1940, is one of the most popular Christmas songs. The title track of the featured movie “Holiday Inn”, starring Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby, has become a standard tune for Christmas. In this lesson, you will learn how to play a chord melody arrangement of this great song.

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All of Me

All Of Me

All of Me was written in 1931 by Seymour Simons and Gerald Marks and later became a jazz standard. It’s especially popular with gypsy jazz players, but it works in any style. The harmony of All of Me moves slowly (most chords last two bars), which makes it a good tune for beginners. In this

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The Flintstones Theme for Guitar

The Flintstones Theme

(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

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