Chords

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.

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.

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.

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.

A new video has been uploaded on the YouTube channel. It is a Barry Galbraith comping study named "Like someone". This is the last study from the Barry Galbraith book "Jazz guitar comping series, vol #3" published by Jamey Aebersold. 

Most of the accompaniments studies (comps) in this book are designed to accompany a melody or an improvised solo with bass lines like a pianist would do. It is a very great book to practice jazz guitar comping.

The ii–V–I progression is the foundation of jazz harmony and one of the most important chord sequences every guitarist must master. Found in countless standards, it creates the essential tension and resolution that defines the jazz sound.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to play jazz guitar chord voicings over a ii–V–I progression through five practical exercises, helping you move efficiently across the fretboard while developing a more authentic jazz comping sound.

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to take familiar minor barre chords and gradually “jazz them up” by modifying or adding notes.

This approach not only improves your chord vocabulary, but also helps you understand how jazz guitarists create smoother, more sophisticated sounds from simple foundations.

The tritone substitution sometimes referred to as dominant chord substitution is one of the most popular harmonic technique found in jazz and other styles of music.

It involves replacing a dominant seventh chord with another dominant seventh chord located a tritone (or augmented fourth) away from the original chord's root.

A new video is online on the youtube channel. It is a quick jazz guitar chord melody arrangement with chord diagrams of the famous jazz standard "Stella by Starlight" (Victor Young). 

This lesson breaks down the m7b5 chord, shows how to play it on guitar, and explains how to use it in common harmonic situations like major and minor II-V-I progressions.

Intervals are the building blocks of melody and harmony—the distances between two pitches.

Understanding intervals helps you recognize and create musical relationships, build chords, and develop more expressive solos.

In this lesson, we’ll explore the full spectrum of intervals, from the smallest step (a minor 2nd) to the expansive leap (an octave and beyond).

By mastering intervals, you’ll improve your ear and your understanding of how music works underneath the surface.

Seventh chords (aka four-note chords) represent the backbone of jazz harmony. It is common to extend them with extra tones.

These other notes form the upper structure of a chord which includes the 9th, 11th and 13th.

Adding extensions to chords help to get off the beaten tracks and provides some new harmonic colors to your playing (chord soloing, comping, and arrangement).

This lesson provides useful extended major 7th chord shapes to apply to your playing.

Chord substitution is to replace a chord by another one to add more harmonic interest to a piece, a song or a chord progression.

In jazz music, this technique is widely used by composers and improvisers.

It can be useful to reharmonize a chord sequence or a jazz standard.

This lesson will help you better understand what is the diatonic chord substitution.

This lesson is about a 12-bar blues in the key of Bb included two guitar transcriptions with tabs : a guitar walking bass line for the accompaniment and a guitar improvisation to solo over.

Note that this study is based on a common blues jazz progression? but with a descending chromatic progression in bars 7 & 8 using three dominant 7th chords (Bb7, A7, Ab7) to approach G7 at the end of the bar 8.

Bb7 | Eb7 | Bb7 | % | 

Eb7 | Edim7 | Bb7 A7 | Ab7 G7 |

C-7 | G7 | Bb7 G7 | C-7 F7 | 

Understanding and playing 6th chords—both major and minor—is a powerful way to add richness and color to your guitar playing.

These chords are versatile and frequently used in jazz, blues, rock, and pop music, offering a melodic and harmonic depth that goes beyond standard major and minor chords.

This lesson provides 24 guitar diagrams and voicing charts to play major 6 and minor 6 chords on guitar.

Welcome to this lesson on one of the most iconic and modern-sounding chord voicings in jazz — the "So What" chord. Made famous by pianist Bill Evans on Miles Davis’s legendary tune "So What".

In this lesson, we’ll break down how to play the "So What" chord on the guitar, explore its structure, and learn how to move it around the neck.

Whether you're new to quartal harmony or looking to expand your chord vocabulary, this voicing will open up a fresh, sophisticated palette for your playing.