Tagged As: How To Play Jazz Guitar
Question:
I am a rock guitarist, I'm not a virtuoso, but I'm pretty competent, I can solo and play the basic variations on chords that have been around in rock guitar for the past couple decades. Recently my friend (who plays trumpet) decided that he wanted to go to a jazz camp this summer and he wanted me to go with him so he'd know someone there, so I've agreed and sent in my form and just thinking about how I'm going to pull this off. Can anyone help me with some of the chords that I will probably be using? How should I finger them? I've noticed that in jazz, some inversions sound good, while others sound awful.
Answer:
Get ahold of a copy of 4400 Guitar Chords It has many examples/positions/inversions in regular old guitar chord diagrams of each of the following chords in all keys: Maj, min, maj6, min6, 7, min7, maj7, dim, aug, 7aug5, 7b5, 7b9, m7b5, 7sus4, 9, m9, 9aug5, 9b5, maj9, 11, aug11, 13, 13b9, 7/6 and 9/6 At the end of each key section it also has some interesting little chord progressions to practice and a few songs in the back. I've used this book for chord reference since I first started playing. Sometimes when I feel in a rut I get that book out and start playing around with some of the more obscure chords and alternate positions. It helps. You'll find that many jazz guitar chords are incomplete and some even lack the tonic altogether. And yeah, you're right, some positions/inversions sound pretty nasty, but it depends if you've got a bassist and a pianist playing along with you or not. They can be somewhat context sensitive. The jazz camp may be like improv classes, they may not get into so much chords as much as focussing on techniques and skills for improvising.
Add to favorites