Know Your Cowboy Grips The goal of this series is to actually put a lick or a chord under your fingers. Here, there’s no more searching for ideas in the sea of jazz theory information. We’ll give you what you need to play and be creative. In this lesson, we will be discussing uncommon uses …
Click Here to Read This Post …Uncommon Uses of Common Jazz Chords
Here’s a straightforward and easy to apply lesson to perk up your chord melody playing. Here are five tips for jazz guitarists of all levels regarding the fine art (and science) of playing harmony and melody simultaneously on the guitar. The Pain Points: In Summary Problem #1: Your chord melody sound like just a “bunch of chords” …
Click Here to Read This Post …Five Chord Melody Tips and Stuff for Jazz Guitarists of ALL levels
Shell voicings for jazz guitar are one of the greatest ways to either go back to basics (to better understand harmony on the guitar) or, plainly, to get started comping. So, forget about memorizing tons of chord shapes. You simply need a few basic chord shells (commonly called shell voicings, or shell chords). Ready? Shell …
Click Here to Read This Post …How to Play Shell Voicings for Jazz Guitar (3-Note Chords)
The task of properly outlining chord changes (or “making the changes” in the jargon) in jazz improvisation can seem like a daunting one. On tunes such as All the Things You Are, you, (the improviser) can be confronted with several choices: arpeggios, scales, guide tones, memorizing licks, etc. But chords change go by so fast, …
Click Here to Read This Post …Improvisation: Making the Changes on All the Things You Are
The year is 2005. I’m warming up on a few jazz standards on my (then new) blue Godin Flat-Five X. The almost sound-proof cubicle is cozy, but wide enough to fit a piano and one all-purpose amp. The air is old and stinky from being recycled by the ventilation system. And I’m thinking to myself, Oh, quite …
Click Here to Read This Post …The Dummies’ Guide to Jazz Standards – for Jazz Guitarists
Let’s be honest: you probably don’t know enough Jazz Guitar Standards tunes to jam with a fellow jazz musician for an hour. And the problem might simply be that you are not taking the necessary steps to really learn the tunes in question. Good news: you’re not alone! 🙂 In the midst of teaching, coaching and creating …