Jazz Guitar Chords Online

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:20:38 +0000

Learning jazz chords online can be confusing and frustrating to
say the least. Just when the budding jazz guitarist thinks
they’ve stumbled onto something along comes another version of
the same song with a completely different set of chords.

For our present discussion, we’ll limit our observations and
suggestions to learning jazz chords online, however a quick
browse through any well stocked sheet music store will reveal the
same issues that any aspiring jazz guitarist must learn to
overcome.

The choice of chords the guitarists selects has a significant
effect on the soloist’s choice of notes in their solos and
presentation of the melody.

There’s an endless list of possible chords, chord inversions,
chord substitutions etc. that can totally blind side the newbie
jazz player. In fact, the task is often so overwhelming that the
avalanche of information swamps the guitarist with an enormous
amount of stuff they do not have to learn.

So,before trotting off to another jazz guitar website in search
of the lost chord, here’s a few things to think about to pin your
ear on straight!

Focus your jazz studies on specific objectives: a great idea is
to learn the chord changes to “jazz standards”.

Jazz standards are tunes that working musicians are likely to
encounter at any time. Too often, guitarists with a rock or
country background wishing to move into jazz don’t know the tunes
that are the common currency of players in all styles of jazz.

Here’s a sample list of 20 jazz standards:

1. Autumn Leaves

2. All The Things You are

3. All Of Me

4. Ain’t Misbehavin’

5. C Jam Blues

6. I Got Rhythm

7. Have You Met Miss Jones

8. Out Of Nowhere

9. I Cover The Waterfront

10.Satin Doll

11.Misty

12.Summertime

13.St.Louis Blues

14.Watch What Happens

15.Lullaby Of Birdland

16.Sweet Georgia Brown

17.Georgis

18.Take The ‘A’ Train

19.Stormy Weather

20.There Will Never Be Another You

There are many books that show how to use chord substitutions,
but if the basic chord changes are not known, substitutions and
embellishments often confuse the improviser and the listener.

When the musician is learning jazz guitar chords online, it’s
essential to learn the basic set of chords for the jazz
standards.

Chord substitutions to basic chords are usually determined by the
melody notes and the style of music being played.

The point is that guitar players can become totally absorbed in
jazz chord manuals that teach chord substitution etc., without
firstly learning the basic set of chords.

Keep in mind that while the melody of a jazz tune is usually
presented in an accurate manner in standard sheet music, the
harmonic changes are rarely suitable for a jazz performance.

Once the guitarist learns the skills of being able to uncover the
basic chord changes to jazz standards, they can then re harmonize
the harmonic background many different ways to reflect the way
they wish to present a particular piece of music.

Understanding how to strip back the chords also helps the
guitarist see many similarities in the small number of chord
templates that thousands of jazz tunes are composed over, which
helps us remember tunes.

I repeat, The essential skill to learn is to be able to ’see’
(de-code), and ‘hear’ the basic set of chords.

The purpose of learning the basic set of chords when you are
learning jazz chords online is to help the jazz player learn the
basic changes and allow the player to add embellishments and
substitutions on a solid framework.

By: Mike P Hayes

Essential Jazz Guitar Scales

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:12:59 +0000

Learning jazz guitar can be intimidating and overwhelming for a beginning student. Unlike styles like rock, blues, and classical, jazz guitar demands that a musician master a wide variety of skills, including jazz guitar scales.

If you are absolutely fresh on jazz guitar, the first thing you’ve got to wrap your fingers around is the major scale and its modes. It’s the reference against which all other scales are defined. Learn them in position as well as up and down single strings. It’s also cool to practice them in one, two, and three octaves.

Once you’ve got those under your fingers and in your ears, it’s time to start learning the melodic minor scale on guitar. The difference between a melodic minor scale and a major scale is only one note, the flat third. The melodic minor scale also has some really cool sounding modes, like lydian dominant which works over a 7#11 chord.

It’s also important to learn your pentatonic scales. Most guitarists coming from a rock, blues, or country background are already familiar with the minor and major pentatonic scales, and if you aren’t you have to check them out. The blues scale is also useful.

A common trap that students of jazz guitar fall into is only practicing scales up and down. Of course, it’s important and is the first step to mastering jazz guitar scales. But if you’re at a point where it’s comfortable to play ascending and descending scales and you feel comfortable with the notes, the next step is to start practicing intervals and sequences. Also, try to vary the rhythm in your scale practice.

Learning jazz guitar scales is an essential part of mastering jazz guitar.

By: Scott Anderson

Jazz Festivals » Country Background

Jazz Guitar Chords Online

Essential Jazz Guitar Scales