Jazz Guitar Lessons
You will find in this section the latest jazz guitar lessons: methods, videos, PDFs, Tabs, transcriptions, licks, music theory, exercises, chord and scale diagrams, published on the blog and on the website. The content is regularly updated with fresh articles, so don't hesitate to subscribe to the newsletter.
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All Of Me - Guitar Chord Melody
- By Stef Ramin
- On 03/05/2020
- In Jazz Standards
- 1 comments
A new video is available on the YouTube channel. This is a chord melody arrangement with synced shapes for jazz guitar of the standard All of Me by Simons & Marks.
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15 Jazz Guitar Chords For Beginners
- By Stef Ramin
- On 02/28/2020
- In Chords / Voicings
- 0 comments
Here are 15 basic jazz guitar chord positions that every beginning jazz guitar student must know. They are grouped into five families : - Major seventh chords (Maj7)
- Minor seventh (m7)
- Dominant 7th (7)
- Half diminished / minor seventh flat fifth (m7b5)
- Diminished 7th (dim7)
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Basic Jazz Guitar Chords - Guide For Beginners
- By Stef Ramin
- On 02/15/2020
- 0 comments
Jazz guitar chord voicings present a real challenge for beginners. Many guitarists think they need to know a lot of complicated chords with unpronounceable names to play jazz. But, the truth is that jazz guitar chords are based on easy shapes that you can move anywhere on the guitar neck.
These basic chords are divided into several distinct qualities (minor 7 , major 7 , dimininished 7 , half-diminished, dominant 7). They can be altered or enriched with extra tones as explains in this tutorial.
By studying the basic chord voicing shapes in this lesson you will understand how jazz chords are built, how to play them on guitar and how to apply them to any jazz standard or chord progression.
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Variations Of Jazz Blues Progression - 10 Guitar Exercises - YouTube Video Lesson
- By Stef Ramin
- On 02/12/2020
- 0 comments
A new video has been published on the YouTube channel. It contains 10 exercises with chord shapes and numeral analysis about different types of variations of the jazz blues progression for jazz guitar rhythm.
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Triad Pairs For Jazz Guitar - Theory, Tabs, Exercises
- By Stef Ramin
- On 02/02/2020
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 0 comments
The triad pair system is a technique used by many jazz improviser to build modern improvised lines. It consists of playing two adjacent triads from a scale. The most used are from the major diatonic system, however it is possible to use triad pairs from other scales as melodic minor, harmonic minor and harmonic major. This guitar lesson with tabs, shapes and theory is focused on triad pairs from the major scale only.
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Jazz Guitar Method - PDF eBook - 40 Dominant (Mixolydian) Guitar Licks
- By Stef Ramin
- On 01/27/2020
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 0 comments
A brand new PDF method is available for download. It rounds out the two previous eBooks Ionian jazz guitar licks and Dorian jazz guitar licks. This book contains 40 dominant jazz guitar lines with tabs, audio files and theory based on the Mixolydian mode for beginners and intermediate players.
Package Details:
- 1 Printable PDF file (high resolution).
- 40 MP3 Audio files related to each lick (high quality).
- 1 Jazz backing track.
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Guitar Chord Construction - Theory And Basic Shapes - Essential Guide
- By Stef Ramin
- On 01/18/2020
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 2 comments
This lesson explains how jazz chords are built and how to play them on guitar using common positions. This will help you understand, identify, build and play one of the most important types of chords.
All the shapes proposed in this tutorial are movable and playable anywhere on the fretboard. So, try to play them in all twelve keys.
To simplify learning, the voicings used in this course ensure that the root is always the lowest note, either on the sixth, fifth or fourth string. In other words, there are no chords with third, fifth, seventh or any other note in the bass.
Don't hesitate to create your own chord positions. In the meantime, take a look at the following essential chord shapes proposed below, classified into four distinct categories :
- TRIADS
- (major, minor, augmented, diminished, sus4 and sus2).
- SEVENTH CHORDS (aka tetrads)
- (maj7, min7, dom7, m7b5, dim7, minMaj7, maj7#5, 7b5, 7#5).
- SIXTH CHORDS
- (maj6, min6).
- EXTENDED CHORDS
- (min9, maj9, 9, 6/9, 7#9, 7b9, m11, maj11, 11, m13, maj13, 13, 7b13)
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What Is The Minor II-V-I Progression - What Scales And Chords To Play Over It
- By Stef Ramin
- On 01/02/2020
- 0 comments
The minor II-V-I sequence is equivalent to the major II-V-I sequence, but played in minor harmonic key. It is a must know for any guitarist who wants to learn to solo over tunes in minor keys.
You will find minor II V I progressions in many jazz tunes as Autumn leaves, Blue Bossa, Black Orpheus, Stella by Starlight, The nearness of you, I love you, Speak low, Soul eyes, Valse Hot, Along came Betty, Stablemates, Are you real, I'll remember April, I hear a rhapsody, In your own sweet way, Nuages and many more.
This guitar lesson for beginners explains what is the minor 2 5 1 progression, what scales and what chords can be used for improvising over it.
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Intervals on Guitar - How They Look On The Neck - Shapes and Theory
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/23/2019
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 0 comments
Whether simple or compound intervals are a very important part of music theory. Knowing them allow understand how scales, arpeggios and chords are built. Intervals are useful tools to visualize the notes and understand their relationships on the guitar fretboard. This lesson with downloadable pdf, guitar shapes and theory will help you better figure them out and play them on guitar.
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Harmonization of the Harmonic Minor Scale - Guitar Shapes & Theory
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/15/2019
- 3 comments
This lesson dedicated to the harmonic minor scale explains how to build drop 2 and drop 3 seventh chords from it. This action which consists in stacking notes in interval of thirds starting on each tone of a scale is commonly called "harmonization".
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Wave (A.C Jobim) Guitar Chord Melody Transcription With Tabs
- By Stef Ramin
- On 12/12/2019
- 0 comments
This lesson provides an easy chord melody arrangement for guitar with tablature, standard notation and chord shapes of the bossa nova latin jazz tune "Wave" by Antonio Carlos Jobim.
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John Scofield Solo Transcriptions - 10 Licks
- By Stef Ramin
- On 11/27/2019
- In Licks & Transcriptions
- 0 comments
A new lesson (with YouTube video, analysis and tabs) intended for all jazz, blues, groove enthusiasts and John Scofield fans is now available for free on the website. It contains 10 John Scofield jazz guitar licks transcribed from one of his solo in the tune "Little Walter Rides Again" live at live at Estival Jazz Lugano 2007 with MMW trio (John Medeski, Billy Martin and Chris Wood). They show how Sco used to mix pentatonic scales, blue notes and altered tones.
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Diatonic Arpeggios and Scales - Guitar Chart Infographic
- By Stef Ramin
- On 11/10/2019
- 0 comments
This infographic printable for free provides diatonic arpeggio and scale shapes for guitar practice. It shows the relationship between arpeggios and modes of the major scale.
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Guitar Arpeggios - Guide For Beginners - CAGED Charts and Theory
- By Stef Ramin
- On 11/02/2019
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 2 comments
Arpeggios are the backbone of jazz improvisations, they are easy to learn and play. They are very popular in all styles of music (rock, metal, blues, pop) because they allow to easily outline the harmony and create fluid lines.
It is very important to understand what are arpeggios and how to use them into your jazz guitar solos. This guitar lesson provides the most important arpeggio shapes that any beginner jazz guitarist must know.
In the first part, they are classified into seven qualities : major 7, minor 7, dominant 7, half-diminished, diminished 7, Major 7#5 and minMaj7 using the CAGED system, one of the best methods for learning scales and chords on the whole of guitar neck.
The second part of the lesson shows the arpeggios within the main families of scales namely, major (diatonic), harmonic minor, melodic minor and harmonic major.
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Printable PDF Guitar Method - 40 Minor Licks With Tab and Audio Files
- By Stef Ramin
- On 10/26/2019
- In Jazz Guitar Lessons
- 1 comments
A new printable PDF method is available for download. It contains 40 Dorian jazz guitar patterns with tab, standard notation, audio files, theory and numeral analysis. The licks are suitable for beginners, they are built from the Dorian mode and designed to be played over minor chords. Many theoretical concepts are discussed (arpeggios, diatonic substitution, triad pairs, passing tones, etc)Package Details
- 1 Printable PDF file (High resolution).
- 40 Mp3 audio files (High quality).
- 1 Jazz Backing Track.
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10 II V I Jazz Guitar Licks For Beginners
- By Stef Ramin
- On 10/25/2019
- In Licks & Transcriptions
- 0 comments
The II-V-I sequence is the most common chord progression played in jazz music and a must know for any guitarist who wants to learn jazz language.The II, the V and the I (chords and scales) are constructed based on the corresponding second (II), fifth (V) and first (I) step of the major scale.
In this guitar lesson you will learn what's the 2 5 1 progression and how to play easy jazz lines over a 2-5-1 using the most common scales found in jazz music.
