Blog - Jazz Guitar Lessons
Welcome,
This blog covers different topics with several useful lessons both for beginners, intermediate and advanced jazz guitar players.
Whether you're looking for tips on playing jazz guitar, this blog surely has the information you crave and will help you expand your music knowledge and technical skills.
Here below many tutorials grouped into several distinct categories:
Jazz Guitar Licks and Transcriptions
Teacher Spotlight - Jazz Guitar Lessons
Cheat Sheets, Methods, Posters, eBooks
The content is regularly updated so don't hesitate to subscribe to the newsletter to receive the latest posts.
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Autumn Leaves - Easy Chord Melody Arrangement For Beginners - Tabs and chords
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2018-03-31
- In Jazz Standards
- 0 comments
Autumn leaves is one of the most popular non-American jazz standards on pick-up gigs and records. It is a must-know tune for any jazz guitarist and a great choice when you want to play both chords and melody on guitar. This guitar lesson provides an easy chord melody arrangement to play this famous jazz tune.
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5 Tips For Learning Guitar Scales
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2018-03-23
- In Guest Posts
- 0 comments
Learning to maneuver through scales on your guitar will bring about a ton of benefits to you, as a player. First of all, you'll begin to perceive music a little bit differently – you'll find logic where you ought to think there was none, you'll understand how your favorite composers got their brilliant ideas, and, most importantly, you'll get to put the theory into practice.What's more, the whole journey of exploring the theoretical sphere of music concerning the scales isn't all that hard. Essentially, you'll found yourself amidst the crossroads, and you'll have to choose a path – you'll either delve deep into books about music theory, or you'll have to figure everything out yourself.
Regardless of the path you wish to take, mastering and learning guitar scales is, quite frankly, easy. We've brought together a short list of five tips that will make the process even simpler, and more entertaining. -
How To Play Autumn Leaves - Jazz Guitar Chords - Advanced lesson
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2018-03-16
- In Chords / Voicings
- 0 comments
Autumn leaves is a 1945 song composed by French musician Joseph Kosma. The original lyrics are in French, written by Kosma but in 1947 Johnny Mercer wrote the English ones. Since that time it has become a very popular song and surely one of the most played jazz standards.This song is in a AABC form (32 bars), very much appreciated by beginners because the harmonic progression is pretty simple to play and easy to understand. It covers a very important chord sequence found in jazz, the ii-V-I both in minor and major.
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25 Altered Dominant Guitar Chords
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2018-03-04
- In Chords / Voicings
- 1 comments
Altered dominant chords are used to bring tension and an outside flavor to jazz chord progressions.
They generally resolve to an inside chord as the I or a substitute as iii or vi.
They have one or more notes lowered or raised by a half-step, in other words they contain one or more alterations.
These alterations are b9,#9, b5 (#11) and b13 (#5).
Altered Chords are generally used by jazz musicians, composers and arrangers as substitutions for diatonic chords for adding dissonance and spicing up the harmony.
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How To Connect Jazz Guitar Chords (Drop 2)
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2018-03-02
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 0 comments
Drop 2 chords are very important tools in jazz music. They are very useful for comping, chord soloing, harmonizing and building chord melodies.
The first chapter of this lesson provides all the drop 2 voicing shapes, major seventh (M7), minor seventh (m7), dominant seventh (7), half-diminished (m7b5) and diminished seventh (dim7) to play on the guitar neck.
The second explains how to connect them with notes of the major scale.
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What Is a Backdoor Progression And How To Play Over It
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2018-01-27
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 0 comments
In jazz, there are many types of turnarounds and progressions that eventually we all must encounter. A key part of how you practice should be in preparing yourself for these progressions and turnarounds.
Whether that is by learning a shed-full of Parker’s II V I licks, by practicing exercises over progressions or even by learning a new standard.
The end result is that you are better equipped to deal with what is in front of you in the moment on the bandstand.
To this end, I’m going to talk to you today about a progression known as the backdoor progression.
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How To Play Pentatonic Scales Over Giant Steps
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2018-01-16
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 0 comments
Giant Steps is one of those tunes in jazz that sends a bolt of fear through a lot of young or even experienced jazz musicians.
It certainly does that to me anyway! The fast harmonic rhythm and the seemingly distant relationships between the chords means it is a very daunting challenge.
However, there is a very cool and simple way of practicing navigating through these changes and it involves using 3 different pentatonic scales.
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Melodic Minor Scale Exercises For Guitar – Position Shifts
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2018-01-14
- In Scales & Arpeggios
- 0 comments
Learning and playing scales can be an important part of any guitarist’s practise regime.
By playing scales in a variety of ways we can develop our familiarity with the fretboard beyond simply going up and down scales.
In this tutorial we will look at combining two different scale patterns by shifting between them on various strings.
For this we are going to use two patterns of an Eb Melodic minor scale, patterns 2 and 3.
The Melodic minor scale consists of the intervals R 2 b3 4 5 6 7 (R is for the Root note).
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The CAGED Method For Guitar - Scales, Chords And Arpeggios
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2017-12-24
- In Guest Posts
- 2 comments
Welcome to this guitar lesson on the CAGED method!
If you're looking to enhance your understanding of the fretboard, The CAGED method is a powerful system that will help you visualize and navigate the guitar in a more cohesive and comprehensive way.
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Album Review and lick analysis – Monk – Peter Bernstein
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2017-12-22
- In Guest Posts
- 0 comments
The music of Thelonious Monk is music which evokes many different emotions and ideas in a huge demographic of musicians and instrumentalists. With that in mind, the emotions and ideas evoked by legendary jazz guitarist, Peter Bernstein, in this showcase album range from childish playfulness, faithful to the source of the music, to coherent and thorough modern jazz playing in the upper echelons of technical and interactive ability.
It’s been noted previously in reviews, at the time of the album’s release, that a collection of Monk tunes by a guitarist is a rare occurrence that was a huge breath of fresh air to all those who knew about its existence. I’ve never heard such faithful music made with such individualism and taste without any sense imitation. This is most definitely Bernstein plays Monk and not the other way around. -
10 Jazz Blues Tunes Every Beginning Guitarist Should Know
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2017-12-05
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 2 comments
Building Your Jazz Blues Repertoire
A big part of learning jazz guitar means building his own repertoire of pieces. Here is a list of 10 jazz blues songs every beginning guitarist should know.This short list covers a range of jazz blues chord progressions and their different variations (form, tonality, Harmonic structure) with a brief analysis and also represents the most played jazz blues tunes at jam sessions.
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How to Make Sure Your Guitar Is Setup
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2017-11-30
- In Guest Posts
- 0 comments
Taking care of your equipment is essential.
Guest post by Glen Parry
Whether it’s your car, PC, or your guitar, in order for it to work properly and as for long as possible, you need to make sure that everything’s in order.Sure, you could take your guitar to a professional and have them do it for you, but why not learn to do it yourself?
Not only will you save money and time, but you will also learn a thing or two about your instrument.
Here are some quick and straightforward tips that will make setting up your guitar a piece of cake!
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The Blues Arpeggio - How To Mix Major And Minor Triads
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2017-11-17
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 0 comments
What's the Blues Arpeggio ?Traditionally, when a student learns to improvise over a jazz, blues tune, he taught pentatonic scales, major triads or dominant 7th arpeggios, but there is something missing to get this specific and exciting jazz-blues sound, "The Blues Arpeggio". This is a very interesting and important device to use over this musical genre. It is a mix of a major triad and a minor triad, it contains both major and minor thirds, representing one of the most vital elements of the blues. In this jazz guitar lesson we will see how to build the blues arpeggio, how to practice it and how to play it on a blues.
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How to Buy the Best Jazz Guitar Based on Body Type (Guide for Beginners)
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2017-11-16
- In Guest Posts
- 0 comments
Guest post by Aaron Schulman
While there is no absolute best jazz guitar for everyone, there are definitely a few jazz guitar models that would be a best fit for you.
The trick is to learn enough about the different body styles and electronics to understand the sonic qualities that each jazz guitar expresses.
You’ll want to educate yourself both on the different jazz guitar body styles and manufacturers. The more homework you do, the more your understanding will grow and the more confident you will be in your final purchase decision.
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How To Play Jazz Guitar For Beginner
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2017-11-03
- In Guest Posts
- 0 comments
Guest post by Marc-Andre SeguinSo, you've decided to try your hand at Jazz guitar. This article will assume a certain base level of proficiency in the general language of music apart from the specific vernacular that informs jazz music, guitarists specifically. Not because it's a theory article, but because if you hope to learn how to play this music (and any style, really) a little knowledge goes a long way. If you have no background in notated music, theory and harmony please pick up Barbara Wharram's Theory For Beginners. It will open the door.
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The 14 Most Important Jazz Chord Progressions
- By jazz-guitar-licks
- On 2017-10-30
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 8 comments
In this lesson you will learn to recognize 14 important jazz chord progressions as minor and major II-V-I, turnarounds and their variations, how to use diminished passing chords...etc.
You will also find charts with roman numerals to easily transpose these harmonic progressions in different keys and some examples of comping with audio files, tabs and standard notation.
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Guitar Scale Dictionary
This E-book is a printable PDF method including over 700 scale diagrams and formula charts for guitarists. -
Guitar Chord Dictionary
This PDF eBook provides over 550 guitar chord shapes. This is the perfect reference guide to understand how chords are built and how to play them on the guitar neck. -
30 Groovy Jazz Guitar Licks
This downloadable package contains a PDF WITH audio files giving access to 30 groovy guitar phrases mixing jazz, blues and funky licks for beginners. -
172 Arpeggio Shapes For Guitar
This printable PDF is a method dedicated to guitarists of all styles who want to learn build and play the most important types of arpeggios. -
126 Triad Chord Shapes
This handbook for guitar players is intended both for teachers and students. It includes 126 guitar shapes for mastering triads. -
Major Scale Harmonization
This package provides a printable PDF with exercises and audio files to learn how to harmonize the major scale with 3 note chords and their extensions. -
30 Minor Arpeggio Licks
This package includes a printable PDF method containing 30 exercises with tabs, staves and audio files for practicing minor arpeggios on guitar. -
II V I Bundle - 170 Exercises
This bundle contains 4 PDF methods for a total of 170 exercises with tabs, staves, analysis & audio files for practicing scales, arpeggios licks & chords over the 2-5-1 progression. -
Diatonic Licks Bundle
This package contains 120 jazz guitar lines based on diatonic modes as Mixolydian, Dorian and Ionian. PDF format with tabs, audio files and analysis. -
30 Smooth Jazz Guitar Licks
In this package you'll get a printable PDF Method with tabs, notation, analysis, scale shapes and audio files for practicing 30 smooth jazz guitar licks. -
40 II V I Jazz Guitar Licks
This pdf method for guitar contains fourteen 2 5 1 jazz guitar lines with tab, standard notation, analysis, scale charts and audio files. -
50 II-V-I voicings
This printable PDF guitar method provides 50 exercises with audio files, analysis, tab and staves for learning major 2-5-1 chord voicings. -
40 Minor 2 5 1 Chord Voicings
This PDF method contains 40 exercices with tabs, scores and audio files for practicing jazz guitar chords over the minor 2 5 1 progression. -
40 Minor II V I Licks
This guitar method is a printable PDF with tabs, diagrams, theory and audio files providing 40 minor 2 5 1 jazz patterns. -
40 Mixolydian Jazz Guitar Lick
PDF guitar method with tabs, audio files and theory providing 40 dominant jazz guitar lines for teachers and students. -
40 Minor Jazz Guitar Licks
This printable guitar method in PDF format contains 40 easy minor jazz guitar lines based on the Dorian mode. -
40 Major Jazz Guitar Licks
Printable PDF eBook method containing 40 major jazz guitar licks with tab, standard notation and audio files for beginners and intermediates. -
Guitar Walking Bass Lines
This jazz guitar method about walking bass lines and chords is available as a PDF files containing 35 exercises with tabs, analysis and audio files -
101 Dominant Arpeggio Patterns
This printable PDF method provides 101 dominant arpeggio exercises with tab, theory and standard notation for the jazz, blues and rock guitarist. -
49 Essential Jazz Lines
This printable eBook method in PDF format provides 49 jazz solo transcriptions of the greatest jazz musicians. Tab, standard notation, audio files & analysis. -
11 Jazz Blues Studies
11 jazz blues chord studies with tabs, standard notation, analysis, and audio recordings and PDF. -
10 Easy Fingerstyle Blues
This PDF with Tabs and audio files provides 10 easy acoustic fingerstyle blues guitar studies for kids and beginners. -
25 Altered Jazz Guitar Lines
This PDF eBook method contains 25 altered jazz guitar licks with tabs, patterns, scale charts and audio files to master, apply and develop the altered scale. -
40 Blues Dominant Patterns
This printable method is available as a PDF file containing 40 easy dominant jazz-blues guitar lines with tabs, standard notation, analysis, audio files and scale charts. -
25 Pentatonic Licks
This jazz guitar method is an eBook available as a PDF with standard notation, guitar tabs, diagrams, analysis, audio files and backing tracks. You will find in this booklet 25 easy jazz guitar lines with theory using common and rare pentatonic scales. -
25 Soul Jazz Guitar Licks
You will find here an eBook available in PDF containing 25 soul jazz and hard bop guitar licks in the style of Grant Green, Melvin Sparks, George Benson. -
25 Diminished Patterns
This eBook PDF with audio files contains 25 dominant diminished jazz guitar patterns using the half-whole diminished scale and diminished 7th arpeggios. -
6 Tritone substitution licks
This Printable PDF eBook available for free download contains 6 easy jazz guitar licks with tabs/notation, youtube video link and analysis about the tritone substitution. -
10 Minor 7 Arpeggio Patterns
This printable PDF eBook offers 10 easy minor 7 arpeggio patterns with its related YouTube video for beginner guitarists. -
10 Easy Major 7 Arpeggio Licks
This is a printable PDF for beginner jazz guitar players providing 10 easy licks to practice major 7 arpeggios. -
10 Chord Melody Lines
Within this package, you'll discover a set of ten chord melody exercises for beginners. Printable PDFaudio files, a backing track, and a link to the associated YouTube video. -
10 Minor Blues Scale Licks
You'll find here a PDF with 10 easy jazz guitar licks to practice the minor blues scale on guitar.
