The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
  1. #1

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    I've been playing guitar for many years but am new to jazz. I'm going through The Beginner's Guide to Jazz that I got from this website. Some of the chords are new to me (the voicings). The tab will shows the notes but I'm not sure if which fingers to use and how to position my hand. Is there a website or some other resource available for this task? I have an app called Oolimo which is good for a lot of things but it doesn't do that.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I think most of us have strategies, both mechanical and organizational, toward the fingering of chords with the goal of providing some basic features. For starters, here are a couple of things:

    Long term avoidance of hand problems
    - keeping the fingers curved
    - keeping the fingers close to their natural form (no reverse-bent knuckles)
    - formal guidelines may be instructive
    - - ordering the lay of the fingers (along the neck, across the neck)
    - - - - generally along the neck, fingers 1-4 going up the neck
    - - - - generally across the neck, fingers 1-4 or 4-1 (trying to limit fingering crossed frets or crossed strings)
    - - - - choosing whatever keeps the wrist straight

    Flexibility of access to sounding extensions and alterations
    - using basic forms for maj, min, and 7th chord tones
    - making those forms so that adding extensions or alterations can apply easily to the basic forms

    Speed support
    - using chord fingerings that have the same basic shape of the hand and wrist
    - avoiding as much as possible chord fingering that require unusual hand or wrist orientation

    The classical guitar form has pretty specific rules, but outside of that there is variation. Jazz may be played differently than other forms; sometimes speed is needed between a series of fast chords, sometimes a particular chord is changed by articulating a particular note, or even more so in chord melody... if it does not hurt your hands, allows for modification of tones, and enables playing fast as needed, that may be a good start. A good deal of my strategy is to minimize changes in my hand when playing chords - about 80% of the chords I play all "look the same" from a few meters away, appearing to keep a pretty constant hand shape.

    Some chord fingering strategies are based more directly on scales and harmonic organization, or on approaches that facilitate keeping one's eyes on a lead sheet, pit score, fellow musicians, etc. I expect people with come in an discuss those.

  4. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Benson-GB10
    I've been playing guitar for many years but am new to jazz. I'm going through The Beginner's Guide to Jazz that I got from this website. Some of the chords are new to me (the voicings). The tab will shows the notes but I'm not sure if which fingers to use and how to position my hand. Is there a website or some other resource available for this task? I have an app called Oolimo which is good for a lot of things but it doesn't do that.
    Try this: Jazz beginners/novices II-V-I Progressions

    S

  5. #4

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    First off, good choice to use 'the beginners guide to jazz guitar' from this site. I think it's excellent and gives you just enough to start comping and soloing on standards, and it's free!

    Secondly, I know what you mean on the chord fingerings. I think u need to be open minded to find the easiest way to finger them. I got all of the chords fingerings down from that book eventually, bar a couple. I tended to avoid bars where I could and use individual fingers on the strings instead, that seems to be easier and more flexible in the long run.

  6. #5

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    Yea Benson...

    I posted these 10 to 15 years ago, along with tons of other BS...

    So... all my playing is based on Movable Position Playing.
    First finger determines the position.
    All these fingerings are based off 6th, 5th and 4th string roots
    In general... I use 1st and 2nd fingers for reference, even when I'm using other fingers for roots or lowest notes.
    The point is to create a mechanical method for playing anywhere on the neck without watching, which will reflect what you hear with time. There are other fingerings an voicings but personally they all relate to these basic chords below.
    The end result or goal of the fingerings if for the neck to become one large Grid or pattern that can change seemlessly with the least amount of effort anywhere on the neck ... to reflect the harmony or tonality desired.
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