F13 Jazz Chords Post
F13 Jazz Chords Post

Unlock Your Jazz Potential: 20 Essential Jazzy Guitar Chords

Whether you’re already immersed in the world of jazz guitar or just beginning to explore its captivating sounds, mastering Jazzy Guitar Chords is undeniably the key to elevating your playing.

Jazz chords are known for their rich and complex textures, setting them apart from chords in other genres. To truly capture the jazz sound, you need a diverse vocabulary of these chords at your fingertips.

In this guide, we’ll delve into 20 essential jazzy guitar chord shapes. Learning these will significantly expand your chord repertoire, offering you a wider range of options when playing jazz tunes.

These jazzy guitar chords are versatile enough to be used in virtually any jazz piece. Once you’ve internalized them, you’ll be well-prepared to join in with any jazz ensemble at your next jam session.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

  • Understanding basic 7th chord theory and construction
  • Exploring Jazz Guitar Chord Inversions
  • Essential Major 7th jazzy guitar chord shapes
  • Essential Minor 7th jazzy guitar chord shapes
  • Essential Dominant 7th jazzy guitar chord shapes
  • Essential Half-Diminished and Fully-Diminished 7th jazzy guitar chord shapes
  • Practical methods for practicing Jazz Chord Progressions with these shapes
  • What makes jazzy guitar chords distinctly unique?
  • Effective practice tips for every jazz guitarist
  • Recommendations for jazz guitarists to listen to

To truly master jazz guitar like iconic players such as Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery, and Jim Hall, a structured practice plan is indispensable.

Simply spending hours aimlessly playing your guitar won’t yield significant progress. To truly learn how to play jazz guitar and see tangible improvements, you need to refine your practice methods. The Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle is designed to help you transform your practice routine, ensuring you focus on the elements that truly make you a better musician.

See Real Improvement in 30 Days or Less. Join the Inner Circle today!

Table of Contents

20 Must-Know Jazzy Guitar Chords To Enhance Your Jazz Guitar Skills

Learning these fundamental jazzy guitar chords is a significant stride towards jazz guitar proficiency. They are applicable across all jazz guitar styles, from traditional jazz to jazz fusion, blues, and contemporary jazz.

Internalizing these jazzy guitar chords, along with chord progressions, is crucial for playing jazz at a higher level. Many guitarists unfortunately overlook this essential aspect of musicianship.

These chord types are not only vital for playing jazz songs but also invaluable for discovering new melodic lines and phrases when improvising over chord changes.

If your goal is to become the best jazz guitarist you can be, dedicating time to learn these jazzy guitar chords should be a priority!

Watch this insightful video on essential jazzy guitar chords:

Let’s begin with some fundamental music theory! If you’re already familiar with these concepts, feel free to use the Table of Contents to jump directly to the jazzy guitar chords!

Understanding 7th Chords

Jazz music largely utilizes tertian harmony, meaning jazz chords are constructed using intervals of thirds. While quartal harmony exists, we’ll focus on tertian harmony for this discussion. Western music often uses triads as basic chord building blocks. Triads are simple chords composed of a root note, a 3rd, and a 5th stacked upon it.

Constructing a Major Triad

Here’s an example of a C major triad:

  • C – E – G
  • Root, 3rd, 5th

Constructing a 7th Chord

7th chords introduce an additional layer of harmonic complexity by adding a 7th interval (either major or minor) from the root. This results in a four-note chord that includes the same notes as the original triad, plus the added 7th.

Here’s a C major seventh chord:

  • C – E – G + B
  • Root, 3rd, 5th + 7th

Adding a B to a C major triad creates a C major seventh chord.

The chord’s quality changes when you alter the intervals of the 3rd, 5th, or 7th from the root. For instance, here is a C minor seventh chord (C-7):

Notice how the 3rd and 7th intervals are lowered by a half-step.

Modifying one or more chord tones allows you to create various minor jazz chords, dominant jazz chords, half-diminished jazz chords, and fully diminished jazz chords.

In essence, 7th chords are four-note chords comprising a root, a 3rd, a 5th, and a 7th.

Basic 7th Chord Types

Considering the different combinations of intervals, there are five primary types of 7th chords:

  • Major 7th Chords
  • Dominant 7th Chords
  • Minor 7th Chords
  • Half-Diminished Chords
  • Fully Diminished Chords

We will explore various voicings and chord shapes for each of these jazzy guitar chord types.

Jazz Guitar Chord Inversions (And How To Use Our Jazzy Guitar Chord Charts)

While root position jazzy guitar chord shapes are fundamental, they might not always be practical in live performance, especially on the guitar. This is why understanding jazzy guitar chord inversions is crucial when learning 7th chords.

Let’s take a moment to explain our jazzy guitar chord charts.

Each jazzy guitar chord chart will include:

  • A visual chord diagram
  • Standard musical notation on the staff
  • Tablature representation

Our first example, a root position Cmaj7 chord, will illustrate the format of our jazzy guitar chord charts. They include chord diagrams for learning shapes, along with staff and tablature notation.

We’ll demonstrate inversions using a major 7th chord voicing on the A, D, G, and B strings. We will maintain this string set for all inversions of this chord.

To invert this chord shape to its first inversion, we need to shift each chord tone up to the next tone within the chord structure. For example:

  • C (root) moves to E (3rd)
  • E (3rd) moves to G (5th)
  • G (5th) moves to B (7th)
  • B (7th) moves to C (root)

Let’s continue this process:

Mastering all inversions for each jazzy guitar chord shape ensures you’ll never be stuck when playing jazz chords over your favorite jazz standards.

Key Takeaways About 7th Chords

  1. There are five basic jazzy guitar chord types:
    • Major 7th chords
    • Dominant 7th chords
    • Minor 7th chords
    • Half-Diminished chords
    • Fully-Diminished chords
  2. 7th chords are built upon major and minor triads (and sometimes diminished triads) with the addition of a 7th interval, either major or minor (and occasionally diminished). This creates all the basic chord qualities.
  3. In music theory, 7th chords are typically presented in root position. However, in practice, root position chords are less common on guitar compared to piano. Often, the lowest note (bass note) is not the root. When this happens, the chord is inverted.
  4. Some voicings will include extensions, which might seem unusual if you’re only familiar with basic chords. You’ll see voicings with 6th, 9th, 11th, or 13th intervals. Sometimes, consonant tones like the 5th are omitted and replaced by an extension due to finger limitations!
  5. Extended notes can also be altered. These are called altered extensions. For a deeper dive into extensions and altered extended chords, refer to our article on chord extensions.
  6. Although presented in one key, it’s essential to practice these easy jazzy guitar chords in all keys to become comfortable with these shapes across the guitar neck.

For a more comprehensive breakdown, check out our ultimate guide to 7th chords.

Now, let’s explore our 20 essential jazzy guitar chords, starting with major seventh chords. These chords are shown in root position; practicing inversions is up to you! Exploring all inversions is the most effective method to truly learn jazzy guitar chords and memorize these essential shapes.

Jazzy Guitar Chords: 5 Major Seventh Chord Voicings and Inversions

We begin our jazz chord journey with major 7th chords. As a reminder, a major 7th chord consists of a major triad plus a major seventh interval.

In jazz theory, major 7th jazzy guitar chords are structured as follows:

  • Root
  • major third
  • perfect fifth
  • major seventh

Chord symbols:

  • C△7
  • CM7
  • Cmaj7

Another way to think of major seventh chords is as a major triad with a major seventh added from the root.

  • Major Triad + Major 7th = Maj7 Chord

Common chord extensions for major 7th chords in jazz music include:

  • 6th
  • 9th
  • 11th

  • 13th (octave higher than the 6th)

Here are five essential major seventh chords to internalize. Utilize the chord diagrams to start playing immediately!

1. E-D-G-B String Major Chord (Gmaj7)

Here are the inversions for this jazzy guitar chord:

Remember, chord shapes are transposable on guitar. Move this shape up two frets, and you have an A major 7th chord. Move it down two frets, and you have an F major 7th chord. This is a crucial shortcut for learning jazzy guitar chords on guitar.

2. A-D-G-B String Group Major Chord (Cmaj7)

We previously encountered this jazzy guitar chord, but it’s worth revisiting for completeness!

Here are all the inversions for this A-D-G-B string Maj7 chord:

3. D-G-B-E String Group Major 7 Jazzy Guitar Chords (Fmaj7)

This major chord shape is technically the same as the previous one, but appears different due to its position on a different set of strings. Notice the similarities between them.

Here are all the inversions for this chord type:

4. A-D-G-B String Group Major 9 Jazzy Guitar Chords (Cmaj9)

Things become intriguing when you explore inversions of these chords. Notationally, any chord can be inverted in all positions. However, the physical constraints of the guitar can make this challenging for certain voicings, requiring some adjustments.

For instance, to make the chord playable, we sometimes need to substitute a note. In this example, the root (C) is replaced with the 9th (D). Interestingly, with this fingering, we end up playing an E-7 chord! This is perfectly acceptable, as all the notes remain harmonically sound.

If playing with a bass player, you don’t need to worry about playing root notes, as the bass will establish the root of any chord.

By shifting the 9th (D) in this voicing back down to the root, we return to the Cmaj7/E voicing discussed earlier:

5. E-D-G-B String Group Major 6 Jazzy Guitar Chords (Gmaj6)

This maj6 voicing is frequently used on guitar. However, upon closer examination, it is actually a 1st inversion E-7 chord!

The notes from lowest to highest are:

  • D = 7th of E-7
  • B = 5th of E-7
  • E = Root of E-7
  • G = 3rd of E-7

You can utilize minor 7th chord shapes to play relative major chords with an added 6th.

To explore this further, read our blog post on major 7th voicings and inversions on the guitar.

Jazzy Guitar Chords: 5 Minor Seventh Chord Shapes

In jazz theory, a minor seventh chord is constructed with the following intervals:

  • Root
  • minor third
  • perfect fifth
  • minor seventh

Chord Symbols:

  • Cmin7
  • Cm7
  • C-7

Another way to conceptualize minor seventh chords is as a minor triad with a minor seventh interval added from the root.

Common chord extensions for minor seventh chords are:

  • 6th
  • 9th
  • 11th
  • 13th

Here are five essential minor seventh chord voicings for your repertoire. Refer to the chord diagrams:

6. A-D-G-B String Group Minor 9 Jazzy Guitar Chords

This is a personal favorite jazzy guitar chord shape! It’s ideal as the ii chord in minor ii-V-i chord progressions and major ii-V-I chord progressions.

This minor 9 chord shape works exceptionally well in the following major ii-V-I progression. These particular voicings harmonize beautifully together. Notice how the D note is the highest voice in each chord shape:

7. E-D-G-B String Group Minor Seven Jazzy Guitar Chords

This is another min7 voicing that you will use frequently. Practice this specific min7 chord shape through its inversions (you’ll recognize the 1st inversion shape as the maj6 chord shape we covered earlier).

Here are the inversions for this E-D-G-B string group minor seventh chord:

8. D-G-B-E String Group Minor 9 Jazzy Guitar Chords

This A-9 chord shape might look familiar…

This A-9 chord voicing shares all the same notes as a Cmaj7/G chord voicing. This is another example of a relative major and minor chord voicing relationship (similar to Maj6 chords discussed earlier)!

Cmaj7/G
  • B = 7th
  • E = 3rd
  • C = Root
  • G = 5th
A-9/G
  • B = 9th
  • E = 5th
  • C = 3rd
  • G = 7th

9. E-D-G-B String Group Minor 11th Jazzy Guitar Chords

This min11 chord shape is another personal favorite. Many jazz compositions utilize a natural 11th over a minor chord, making this and similar shapes essential to know (plus, it has a great sound).

10. A-D-G-B String Group Minor 7 Jazzy Guitar Chords

This is another foundational minor 7th guitar chord. Practice this one through all its inversions as well.

For more minor seventh chords, check out our blog post on minor 7th voicings and inversions on the guitar.

BEFORE YOU CONTINUE…

If music theory has always felt confusing, and you wish someone could simplify it, our free guide is here to unlock the secrets of jazz theory for you.

DOWNLOAD FREE GUIDE

Jazzy Guitar Chords: 5 Dominant Chords

Now, let’s explore dominant 7th chords, which offer the most variety among 7th chord types. Dominant 7th chords are built using this formula:

  • Root
  • major 3rd
  • perfect 5th
  • minor 7th

Chord Symbols for various Dominant 7th Chord types:

  • C7
  • C7♭9
  • C7♯11
  • C7♭9♭13
  • C7alt
  • C9
  • C11
  • C13

Dominant chords can accommodate a wide range of chord extensions:

  • 4th (sus)
  • b9th
  • 9th
  • 9th

  • 11th

  • b13th

Dominant chords are fundamental to the jazz sound and are crucial in other genres like rock, blues, and classical music. Musicians and composers across these genres use dominant chords for resolving chord progressions, changing keys, and adding a “blue” tonality to their music.

The dominant 7th sound is incredibly versatile and musically applicable, especially in jazz. It’s wise to spend extra time on dominant voicings due to their importance in jazz and jazz blues.

Dominant 7th chords are often played as extended chords, incorporating 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths, or with altered extensions such as:

  • a b9th or #9th
  • 11th or #11th
  • or 13th or b13th

Here are five essential dominant 7th chord voicings every jazz guitarist should internalize. Refer to the chord diagrams:

11. Dominant 7th Chord on E-D-G-B String Group

This is your standard E-D-G-B string group dominant 7th chord shape. Practice this shape through all its inversions!

12. Dominant 13th Chord on E-D-G-B String Group

We’ve previously seen this jazzy guitar chord shape in a chord progression example (See: 6. A-D-G-B String Group Minor 9 Chords). This is an excellent-sounding dominant 7th chord to master!

F13 Jazz Chords PostF13 Jazz Chords Post

13. Dominant 9th Chord on A-D-G-B String Group

Here’s another essential jazzy guitar chord for comping:

14. Dominant 7th Chord on D-G-B-E String Group

This standard dominant chord shape and its inversions are perfect for chord melodies because it’s positioned on the D-G-B-E string group. This allows you to keep the melody note on top of the voicing as you move through its inversions.

Practice this dominant chord through all its inversions.

15. Dominant 13th/b9 Chord on the D-G-B-E String Group

This rootless dominant 7th chord shape is ideal for altered dominant chords with a b9. The natural 13th makes it a great choice for altered V chords that resolve to a major I chord (the 13th or 6th of a V chord is the 3rd of its I chord).

Want to learn more about dominant 7th chords? Check out our blog post on dominant 7th voicings and inversions on the guitar, and explore tips for memorizing dominant chords.

Jazzy Guitar Chords: 5 Half-Diminished and Diminished Seventh Chords

Half-Diminished Jazzy Guitar Chord

Half-diminished chords are built using this formula:

  • Root
  • minor 3rd
  • diminished (or flat) 5th
  • minor 7th

Chord Symbols for Half-Diminished Chords:

  • C-7♭5

Common extensions for half-diminished chords:

  • 9th
  • 11th

Fully-Diminished Jazzy Guitar Chord

Fully-diminished chords are built using this formula:

  • Root
  • minor 3rd
  • diminished (or flat) 5th
  • diminished 7th (enharmonically equivalent to a major 6th interval)

Chord Symbol:

  • Cdim

Extensions are not typically used with fully diminished chords.

The m7b5 shape is easily derived from any minor chord shape. Simply flatten the 5th of a minor chord. Alternatively, think of it as a diminished triad with a minor seventh interval from the root note.

To create fully diminished chords, take the m7b5 chord and flatten the minor seventh interval to a diminished 7th interval.

Here are essential half-diminished and fully diminished voicings for playing jazz guitar. Refer to the chord diagrams:

16. Min7b5 Jazzy Chord on the A-D-G-B String Group

This is a frequently used minor7-b5 voicing, so it’s essential to learn! Be sure to practice all its inversions.

17. Min7b5 Guitar chord on the E-D-G-B String Group

Here’s another min7b5 chord shape you should practice through all inversions:

18. Min11b5 Chord on the A-D-G-B String Group

This variation of our first chord shape in this category illustrates an extension you can add to minor 7b5 chords. It’s also the starting chord in a cool jazz guitar comping pattern for a minor ii-V progression.

Use this chord shape in the following ii-V-I progression! Simply move the D-11b5 chord shape up a minor third, and you’ll have a G7alt/F chord, which then resolves to Cmaj7/E.

19. Fully Diminished Chord on the A-D-G-B String Group

The next two jazzy guitar chords are fully diminished chords on different string groups. Memorize these jazzy guitar chords as well!

20. Fully Diminished Chord on the E-D-G-B String Group

Half-diminished chords are a staple of the minor ii-V-i progression, found in almost every minor key piece. Diminished seventh chords have various applications, including passing chords and the v°7 chord in the harmonic minor key.

Explore our blog posts on half-diminished voicings and inversions on guitar and diminished voicings and inversions on guitar.

What Makes Jazzy Guitar Chord Voicings Unique?

Applying jazz harmony to the guitar might initially seem challenging. On a piano, the layout is linear: low to high, left to right, with a single axis of pitch.

However, the guitar presents two axes of pitch. You can change pitch by moving up the neck or across the strings.

While this might seem like added complexity, it’s actually a strength. It’s a feature, not a bug. As jazz guitarists, we can play the same notes on different strings, enriching chords with unison pitches and varied timbres.

This means multiple chord shapes can exist for the same chord voicing.

Furthermore, jazz guitarists can go beyond the twelve-tone system by bending notes, accessing microtonal sounds inherent in the blues.

Jazzy Chord Practice Tips For Every Jazz Guitarist (and General Jazz Chord Advice for Aspiring Jazz Musicians)

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Now that you have learned some basic jazzy guitar voicings for all these chords, where do you go next?

In music, the more you learn, the more you realize how much more there is to learn! Once you are comfortable with these voicings, numerous paths open up to develop your personal approach to jazz music. Having the tools is just the beginning; crafting your unique jazz sound is the ongoing journey.

This can involve several aspects depending on your musical aspirations:

  • Practice applying these and other chords to jazz chord progressions
  • Deepen your music theory knowledge
  • Enhance your musicianship through ear training exercises
  • Expand your jazz repertoire by learning jazz standards
  • Study the comping styles and solos of legendary jazz guitarists
  • Begin practicing solo jazz guitar and learn chord melody playing

If you’re ready to take your guitar playing to the next level, check out our comprehensive article covering everything you need to know to play jazz guitar.

In that article, you’ll learn how to practice these easy jazzy guitar chords through their inversions across the entire fretboard. You’ll also discover how to apply these major chords, minor chords, and other chords in common jazz progressions.

Practice ii-V-I Progressions Using These Chord Shapes

Here is a ii-V-I chord progression utilizing some of the chord shapes and inversions we’ve covered.

These chord voicings demonstrate effective voice leading as one chord transitions to the next. Notice how the notes move in stepwise motion during chord changes.

D-7 to G7

  • F remains on F
  • C moves to B
  • A moves to G
  • D remains on D

G7 to Cmaj7

  • F moves to E
  • B remains on B
  • G remains on G
  • D moves to C

This particular chord progression exhibits strong voice leading. Practicing good voice leading when comping is essential to ensure smooth transitions between your jazzy guitar chords. Plus, strong voice leading simply sounds better!

Here’s another example starting with a second inversion D-7 chord:

D-7 to G7

  • C moves to B
  • F remains on F
  • D remains on D
  • A moves to G

G7 to Cmaj7

  • B remains on B
  • F moves to E
  • D moves to C
  • G remains on G

For more information on ii-V-I progressions, check out this article.

Enhance Your Jazz Music Theory Knowledge With Jazz Chord-Scales

Develop your understanding of major and minor triads, scales, chord scales, and chord-scale relationships. Chords and scales are interrelated methods of organizing the same musical information and relationships.

For example, here is a major scale harmonized in triads. The original scale tones are highlighted in color:

This chord scale includes three basic chord types:

  • Major chord: three major triads
  • Minor chord: three minor triads
  • Diminished chord: one diminished triad

Let’s transform this triad chord scale into a seventh-chord chord scale:

This chord scale now features four different types of seventh chords:

  • Major 7th Chords (in red)
  • Dominant Seventh Chords (in green)
  • Minor Seventh Chords (in yellow)
  • a Minor Seven Flat Five Chord (in purple)

This gives us the major diatonic series of 7th chords.

However, harmonized scales are not limited to the major scale. We can harmonize different minor scales to discover altered and fully diminished chords.

Here is the melodic minor scale harmonized in 7th chords:

Understanding the major scale is fundamental to learning jazzy guitar chords, jazz chord progressions, and chord scales.

For further reading on essential jazz chord progressions, explore our article on 9 jazz chord progressions you need to know. Also, for a comprehensive overview of jazz theory, check out this article.

Improve Your Musicianship Through Ear Training

image source: Wikimedia Commons

Highly skilled jazz musicians possess a profound aural understanding of the interval relationships that constitute jazz voicings. They can discern the quality of chords played by a guitarist simply by listening, even without perfect pitch.

To play jazz spontaneously, you’ll need to rely on your ear more than your sight!

Developing your ear is crucial for understanding the musical context of a chord or melodic line, perceiving the interplay between rhythm sections and soloists, and recognizing chord changes as they occur.

Beyond physical memorization of shapes, you need to learn these chords aurally. There are many approaches, but a great starting point is to sing the chords as arpeggios.

Play a single note on your guitar, like the root or the 5th, and then sing the remaining notes of the voicing. This exercise helps internalize pitch relationships and will significantly enhance your musicianship.

Practice identifying chord progressions by listening to your favorite jazz recordings. If that’s too challenging initially, try identifying chord qualities and progressions in backing tracks, which often feature simpler voicings and comping patterns.

Check out our musical interval guide for more on musical intervals and practice methods for memorizing their sounds.

Expand Your Jazz Repertoire

image source: Wikimedia Commons

The most effective way to learn jazz is by playing jazz itself. Jazz standards are the musical canvases upon which jazz musicians create. Learning jazz standards will deepen your understanding of chord progressions, improve your ability to play melodies, and enhance your jazz improvisations.

Moreover, it’s a crucial first step in learning solo guitar playing.

Jazz standards encompass various styles:

  • American Songbook Standards
  • Modal Jazz
  • Bebop
  • Jazz Blues
  • Jazz Waltz
  • Bossa Nova
  • Latin Jazz

If you want to learn effective strategies for approaching chord progressions and learning jazz standards, check out our Learn Jazz Standards The Smart Way Guide.

Study the Comping Styles, Chord Voicings, and Solos of Jazz Guitar Legends

It’s vital to familiarize yourself with the key jazz guitar players who have propelled jazz guitar forward throughout the twentieth century and beyond. Note that many of these guitarists have spanned multiple eras of jazz and played in diverse styles.

This list is intended as an introduction to essential guitar players you should explore.

Early Jazz / Swing Era (1920s-1930s):

This period marked the inception of jazz guitar, characterized by rhythm guitarists providing chordal accompaniment with occasional guitar solos.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Key Players:

  • Eddie Lang
  • Freddie Green
  • Django Reinhardt
  • Charlie Christian

Bebop Era (1940s-1950s):

During this era, guitarists began to play more complex solos, often influenced by bebop pioneers like Charlie Parker, featuring rapid, chromatic lines and sophisticated harmonies.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Key Players:

  • Charlie Christian (a pioneering figure)
  • Barney Kessel
  • Tal Farlow
  • Jimmy Raney

Cool Jazz / West Coast Jazz (1950s-1960s):

Cool jazz was characterized by a relaxed style and a more melodic, lyrical approach to playing compared to earlier eras.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Key Players:

  • Jim Hall
  • Wes Montgomery
  • Johnny Smith
  • Joe Pass

Fusion Era (Late 1960s-1970s):

Fusion blended jazz with rock, funk, and other genres, resulting in unique playing styles and innovative sounds.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Key Players:

  • Larry Coryell
  • John McLaughlin
  • Pat Metheny
  • Al Di Meola

Post-Fusion / Modern Jazz Guitar (1980s-Present):

Modern jazz guitar encompasses numerous styles, including traditional jazz, avant-garde, and world music influences.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Key Players:

  • Bill Frisell
  • Kurt Rosenwinkel
  • John Scofield
  • Peter Bernstein
  • Julian Lage

Use These Easy Jazzy Chords To Play Solo Jazz Guitar and Learn a Guitar Chord Melody

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

The guitar and piano (and double bass!) are capable of playing chord melodies, unlike monophonic instruments. Chord melodies, for those unfamiliar, are exactly as they sound—a single instrumentalist playing both the melody and harmony of a tune simultaneously using chords.

While more common on piano, jazz guitarists have also embraced chord melodies as a significant part of jazz guitar expression.

Though present in folk, bluegrass, blues, and occasionally rock, chord melodies are most prominently featured by jazz guitarists and are a major aspiration for many.

A solid understanding of harmony (the ability to play lines and chords through common progressions), voice leading, and chordal improvisation are essential prerequisites for playing the melody and harmony of a jazz song concurrently.

Start arranging your own jazz guitar chord melodies by learning these three jazz guitar chord melody techniques.

Also, watch our video on how to play a chord melody on a jazz standard to begin with your first song.

Learn how to write walking bass lines for your chord melody arrangements by exploring this article on walking bass lines.

Once you have a few chord melodies under your fingers, you can begin improvising within the idiom, which is an incredibly rewarding experience—whether you play electric or acoustic guitar, or already own a collection of jazz guitars.

Join The Inner Circle To Play Jazz Guitar Like Your Favorite Jazz Guitar Players

If you’ve dedicated countless hours to practicing jazz guitar but feel you’re not progressing, you’re not alone. Many guitarists invest significant time and money in lessons.

However, many don’t realize that the practice of jazz itself requires a specific approach.

If you’re ready for a change and want to see real improvement, consider joining the Learn Jazz Standards Inner Circle. We provide all the resources you need to elevate your jazz guitar playing.

Improve in 30 days or less. Join the Inner Circle.

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *