Jazz Guitar Lessons
Welcome to the section dedicated to jazz guitar. One of the defining elements of Jazz would be its use of 7th chords, extended chords, and altered chords as opposed to just triads. Other elements essential to jazz are the use of syncopation, emphasizing off beat rhythms and the swing feel. Also, the ability to improvise over the standard chord changes in the piece of music. in these lessons we will study jazz style chords, jazz standards, improvisation, and eventually chord melody.
Intro to Jazz and 7th Chords
In this introductory lesson on jazz Bryan discusses the defining elements of jazz, brief history, and review of major, minor, and diminished 7 chords. As a prerequisite you should have completed the beginner course of Volumes 1-5.
Harmonizing The Major Scale With 7 Chords
In this lesson we will expand on our knowledge of 7th chords and see how they fit together by harmonizing the Major Scale.
Common Jazz Rhythms
In this lesson we will study 2 common jazz rhythms, the Freddie Green rhythm and the Charleston.
The ii - V - I Progression
In this lesson we will study the most common jazz chord progression, the ii - V - I
Autumn Leaves
In this lesson we will learn our first Jazz standard and apply some of the 7th chords we have learned so far in the tune Autumn Leaves. This lesson covers just the harmonic chord progression.
Autumn Leaves Melody
In this lesson we will study the melody of Autumn Leaves. Learning the melody to jazz standards is an important part of learning jazz.
Song Difficulty: 3
Autumn Leaves Harmonic Analysis
In this lesson we will be diving into a harmonic analysis of the jazz standard Autumn Leaves. Understanding the harmonic structure of the tune is an important element in learning the jazz language. It will help develop our ear, recognize common chord progressions, and help with improvisation over the chords.
Arpeggios for II-V-I
In this lesson we will study 3 arpeggios you can use to solo over a II V I chord progression. The arpeggios are all located in the same position using the G Major scale. We will cover an Am7, D7, and Gmaj7 arpeggio.
Autumn Leaves - Chord Tone Mapping
In this lesson we will be taking a dive into the chord tone mapping of Autumn Leaves. Chord tone mapping is the process of mapping out the chord tones for each chord of the progression to give us a better handle on improvising over the tune. For example we will map out the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th of each chord. The targeting of these notes will help us play better, more melodic solos. A great exercise for any tune in any genre.
ii-V-I Riffs
In this lesson we will study a couple basic ii-V-I licks based out of our recently learned arpeggios.