A while back I posted an article entitled “8 Essential Jazz Chord Forms for the Beginning Jazz Guitarist“. This article focused on the importance of developing your knowledge of seventh chords with their roots located on the 5th and 6th strings. To take this concept further, let’s take a look at the same jazz chords that we learned in last article but with the root(the note “C”) located on the 4th string.
Here they are for CMaj7, Cm7, C7 and Cm7b5:
Identify and pay attention to which notes change with each chord. Practice these chords as well as the ones in the previous article, by playing them up and down the fretboard chromatically.
After you do that, try applying them to some tunes. In fact, that’s what we’ll do in the next lesson. Stay tuned!
I remember when I first started playing jazz guitar. I was simply overwhelmed by everything that I had to learn. So many tunes, chords, scales, arpeggios, licks…. It was crazy. How was I supposed to learn all this stuff in a reasonable time. But I was really passionate about the music and the instrument and I was determined to figure out how to improvise. I bought every jazz guitar book I could find. Some of them were good. Most, however, were very limited (as I later realized). It was just too much!!
One day I was talking to a saxophone player friend of mine and he said something that really stuck with me. He said that when you’re learning to improvise, “you can’t start at infinity”. In other words, you can’t improvise while thinking about all of the ideas and techniques that you could be using all the time. Take one idea at time, work with it—work it into your vocabulary and then move on to the next idea. You actually improve your soloing by purposely limiting yourself and the possibilities when you practice.
This idea eventually led me to an idea that has improved my improvising. What is it? Planning, Structuring and Writing out solos. Now I have to admit I haven’t done this as much as I should. But I’m doing it more and more and I encourage you to do it as well. Of course, this isn’t a novel idea. Horn players do this sort of thing all the time. I don’t think guitarists do this even half as much as other instrumentalists, though and we’re really missing out.
I thought I’d share this excellent video of jazz guitarist George Benson playing the tune, “Take 5″ on the Tom Snyder show sometime in the 80s. This is only the second video I’ve seen of him playing this song. There are some great shots of his right hand technique and some amazing lines. His timing, rhythm and flow are impeccable as always.
Anyone who’s followed my site for awhile knows that I emphasize building your jazz vocabulary by listening to the players you like and working with good transcriptions of solos. The idea being that the more you work those licks and phrases into your own playing, you’ll eventually create your own voice when improvising. This is how you avoid sounding like you’re playing scales!!
If any of you enjoyed my smooth jazz guitar solo that I posted a while back, I want to let you know that you can now get your hands on the tabs and jam track for this solo. This is an awesome way to improve your soloing vocabulary in this style.
First, here’s the video of the solo if you haven’t seen it already:
I’ve put a lot of time and effort into creating an accurate transcription of this solo and the great thing is that you can download it now. Here’s what you get:
Standard Notation – An accurate PDF transcription of all the notes that I played in that solo including chord symbols for the chords played throughout the solo.
Tablature – You’ll know exactly where I played the notes on the fretboard with notation of slides, pull-offs, and hammer-ons.
Fingering – You get my exact fingerings. You’ll be able to use these fingerings as a starting point when learning phrases from the solo.
Jam Track – You can also practice the licks that you learn from this solo with an MP3 jam track.
You can download the PDF chart with MP3 jam track today for only $9.95.
You guys know how big I am on improving your soloing vocabulary and this is an excellent way to do so. Besides, where can you get a solid, fully tabbed out smooth jazz guitar solo like this?
To take advantage excellent offer, just click the add to cart button below and checkout with Paypal.
I thought I’d share this video with everyone. I was pretty shocked when I came across it. It’s an old performance by Norman Brown at GIT(the Musician’s Institute in Los Angeles). Norman studied there in 1983-84. According to Musiciansguide.com, “In 1984, Brown joined the Musician’s Institute of Hollywood as a staff instructor, having completed the school’s one-year vocational curriculum. For ten years thereafter he taught guitar technology, for two days every week, as many as ten sessions per week. Brown became a devoted educator, teaching guitar lessons privately, organizing and hosting guitar seminars, and performing outreach in general.”
In the video, Norman plays a tune he wrote entitled, “The Beginning of a New Creation” and it was the first song he ever wrote. He actually says this at the end of the video. The performance itself is awesome as usual and it displays his talent and maturity even at a younger age.
I hope this inspires you guys! If any of you are interested in the Musician’s Institute, check out www.mi.edu. I believe they still offer the one year guitar program. It probably won’t transform you into a monster guitar player like Norman but I’ve heard it’s an excellent program.
Enjoy! and turn the volume up. The recording is old…and check out the keyboard solo too, Yamaha DX-7!!! Old school!! The guitar he’s playing looks like a Benson model, GB200 or some older variation of it.
I recently came across the free electronic version of Jody Fisher’s Rhythm Guitar Encyclopedia. Just click the picture below to view the book and print any pages. Rhythm is the most important element of successful jazz guitar playing. So, the more you can incorporate a wide variety of rhythms in your playing, the better you will become. Enjoy!
I just wanted to turn you guys on to a jazz guitarist that is local and well known in my area, Oakland, CA. Many of you may be unaware of who he is but Calvin is such a good player that I felt I had to let you know about his playing. He’s been around for a very long time and he’s played with the best in the business. I had the pleasure of going to his house and taking a lesson with him. (It was was certainly worthwhile). Calvin has an excellent command of the instrument but plays in such a relaxed, effortless manner. In fact, his playing and the way he phrases reminds me of Wes Montgomery. Every time I hear him play, he teaches me the value of patience…the importance of letting a solo develop and breathe—-the opposite of most jazz guitarists who often try to be flashy and rush to play as many notes as they can. The following is a video of him playing “I’ll Remember April”.
Ok, I’m back — Helping you build your jazz vocabulary. Here’s a nice jazz guitar lick that can be played over a Dm7 chord. Also, try it over G7 or other chords in the key of C.
To download the pdf chart for this lick just click below and sign up for my email newsletter:
In one of my previous articles, I discussed how important it is to develop a jazz vocabulary so that you actually start sounding like a jazz player instead of just playing up and down scales. I mentioned the importance of learning licks and phrases. But even if you know some licks, it can still be difficult to improvise in a natural and melodic way. That’s why I highly advocate singing what you play. It’s an excellent way to improve your solos.
So how does singing make you improvise better?
When you sing what you play, your solos will take on more of a vocal quality—you will tend to hold individual notes longer, you’ll probably play repeated notes more often, and the melodies that you play will be tend to be less complex. These are good things, especially for players who over-play.
Most importantly, you will increase your use of silence and improve your phrasing. Clearly, if you’re singing what you play, you’re going to run out of breath at some point. Jazz guitar players are notorious for playing too many notes—never stopping to give themselves(or the audience) a break. Horn players, on the other hand, use silence throughout their solos because they have to pause and take a breath. The result is that horn players’ solos tend to sound more natural and conversational. So, by forcing yourself to sing what you play, you’ll be able to incorporate some of this horn-like phrasing into your playing.
Singing also helps you to create a closer connection between the notes you hear in your head and those on the guitar. This improves your ear and listening skills. Finally, you’ll find yourself playing in ways that you would not normally play. Great for keeping yourself from getting stuck in a rut.
By the way, all great improvisers do this in some form or another. Some sing out loud while they’re playing, like George Benson, some hum or sing in their head but they are all singing in some way— believe me. I have a number of jazz records where you can hear ON THE RECORDING the inadvertent grunts and singing of jazz pianists and guitarists as they improvise.
Now if you’re new to this concept, it may feel a little weird to be singing out loud. Especially, if you’re not used to it. But the truth is that it doesn’t matter whether you can sing well or not. The goal is to use singing to improve your phrasing and to help you improvise more naturally. In my experience, the results have been VERY positive.
