chords

• Octave Playing - Guitar Lesson With Lines and Theory

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 12/30/2018
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  What's Octave Playing?

  Octave playing is a big part of jazz guitar language, this technique has been popularized by guitarist Wes Montgomery one of the greatest improvisers and jazz genious of all times. Theoretically, the principle is quite easy to understand. You just have to play lines using two simultaneaous notes separated by twelve semitones. In practice, it is more difficult because of the fingerings. Indeed, you have to move two fingers at the same time while keeping the same hand position. This lesson provides guitar diagrams and easy guitar lines for a good mastery of this technique.

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• What's An Inverted Chord - Open and Close Voicings

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 12/16/2018
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  What's An Inverted Chord?

  The notes of a chord whether it is a triad (containing just three notes) or a tetrad (built with four notes) can be reshuffled in different order. The name of the chord will still remain the same, but the bass will not necessarily the root note. This is the lowest note (the bass note) that determines the name of the inverted chord. So, chord inversion simply refers to which note is in the bass. You will find here some example for a better understanding of what are inverted chords.

   

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• Extended Diatonic Arpeggio Infographic

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 11/27/2018
  • In Infographics
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  Extended areggios, Extensions, Upper-Structure of Chords, Superimposition, Secondary Arpeggios, Chords

  

• Extended Diatonic Arpeggios - Upper-Structure of Chords and Superimposition

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 11/23/2018
  • In Scales & Arpeggios
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  When learning how to play jazz guitar, one of the most important device to master is to play each tone of a chord in order to outline a specific progression. This is what we call arpeggios. They are great melodic tools when you want to highlight the chords you are soloing over.

  This article is focused on diatonic seventh arpeggios and their extensions. In a first time, before applying these extensions, it is recommended to have a very strong knowledge of the triads, both the chords and the arpeggios.

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• Major and Major 6th Arpeggios with Chords - Guitar Infographic

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 10/21/2018
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  Major 6 and minor 6 arpeggio shapes with chord diagrams.

  

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• How To Use Triad Chords - Comping Lesson

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 10/08/2018
  • 4 comments

  Triads are one of the first harmonic tools to study. They are very useful for comping and chordal enrichment. Learning close and open triad voicings increase your harmonic knowledge and at the same time help you discover your fretboard. In this lesson you will see the main triad chord shapes including root positions and inversions. You will also find some ideas on how to use triads over a II V I sequence, in order to create interesting melodic movement in your comping.

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• What are Dominant Seventh Chords ?

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 09/29/2018
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  Dominant seventh chords are the most important features in music, you can find them in many styles of music, especially in blues and, of course, in jazz. In this lesson, you will see how to construct drop 2, drop 3 and drop 2 & 4 dominant seventh chords, what is their harmonic function and how to play them on guitar.

   

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• Tetrad Chords Infographic - Drop 2, Drop 3 and Drop 2-4 Voicings

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 09/24/2018
  • In Infographics
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  This guitar infographic enables to learn in a fun way the five main most important chord types found in music thru three kinds of voicings : Drop 2, Drop 3 and Drop 2-4.

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• Drop 2 & 4 Chords - Advanced Guitar Voicings

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 09/14/2018
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  What Are Drop 2-4 Chords?

  Drop 2 and 4 chords are created by dropping down an octave the second and fourth note of a seventh chord in close position. They can be very important tools for composition and arrangement. This lesson with diagrams provides useful explanations on how to build and play drop 2 & 4 chords on guitar.

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• What's a Tetrad Chord - Music Theory

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 09/11/2018
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  What's a Tetrad ?

  A basic chord is built with three notes this is what we call "triad chords" or "triads". Tetrad chords aka "four note-chords" are simply chords containing four notes, “tetra“ is a Greek root meaning four. This means that tetrads have an additional note, a major seventh or a minor seventh. In other words , a tetrad is a triad with a supplementary note. This article will enlighten you on how these tetrad chords are built and how they can be classified.

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• Modes of the Major Scale and Related Chords - Guitar Infographic

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 07/24/2018
  • In Infographics
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  This infographic provide guitar shapes that will help you to make the link between the seven modes of the major scale and their related drop 2 and drop 3 chords.

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• Dominant 7 Chord Altered Extensions - Guitar Infographic

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 05/01/2018
  • In Infographics
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  Dominant 7 Chord Altered Extensions - Guitar Infographic

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• Drop 2 Guitar Chord Shapes - Infographic

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 04/29/2018
  • In Infographics
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  This infographic with guitar freatboard diagrams show how to play all five types of drop 2 chords on the first set of strings (E, B, G and D strings). 

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• Harmonized Major Scale For Guitarists With Shapes

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 04/27/2018
  • In Infographics
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  This infographic with three neck diagrams is a useful reminder for beginner guitarists and composers. It shows how to build a drop 2 seventh chord from each note of the major scale.

   

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• Voice Leading For Guitar - Basic Chords

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 04/24/2018
  • In Chords & Voicings
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  "Voice leading" is a term that refers to the smooth progression of each voice of a chord. This technique consist to move individually one or several voices up or down by a step from one chord to the next. Voice leading is very used by composers and improvisers in order to connect chords instead of bouncing them around. The aim of this lesson is to connect or voice-lead basic four-note chords by moving only one voice. This technique is very fun and should help you learn some of the most important chords used in jazz guitar. 

   

   

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• 5 Jazz Tunes Arranged For Chord-Melody You Need To Know

  • By Stef Ramin
  • On 04/18/2018
  • In Jazz Standards
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  Focusing on jazz standards is surely the best way to accelerate the learning process of jazz guitar, making sure to choose easy songs with a few numbers of chords and melodies that can be easy to hear, play and memorize. When learning jazz guitar, it's very important to spend time learning famous jazz songs, it is an essential part of being a jazz musician. Many guitar students are able to play a ton of chords, arpeggios and scales but they can't play a jazz tune mixing both the melody and the chords.

  Here are 5 easy chord-melody arrangements of popular jazz songs for beginning jazz guitarists. Each lesson is available for free as a YouTube video with guitar chord diagrams overlayed in real time. 

   

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  • Beautiful love (Wayne King, Victor Young and Egbert Van Alstyne)
  • Misty (Errol Garner)
  • Moon river (Henry Mancini)
  • Stella by startlight (Victor Young)
  • Autumn Leaves (Joseph Kosma)

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