Jazz Guitar Lessons

Completed

Watch Later

3:06 Chromatic Line Test - Descending Instructor: Nick Granville Level: Advanced Topic: Chords Style: Jazz In this lesson I show a way to move through chord progessions (II, V, I, VI in this case) while keeping a descending chromatic line on the top. This is not easy and will encourage you to find new voicings and ultimately be able to play advanced chord...
Completed

Watch Later

2:53 Chromatic Line Test - Ascending. Instructor: Nick Granville Level: Advanced Topic: Chords Style: Jazz In this lesson I show a way to move through chord progessions (II, V, I, VI in this case) while keeping an ascending chromatic line on the top. This lesson builds on the previous one so if you have not watched that, then do that first. Next st...
Completed

Watch Later

2:51 Jazz in the style of Freddie Green Instructor: Nick Granville Level: Beginner Topic: Chords Style: Jazz In this lesson, I explain the guitar style of Freddie Green, who was the guitar player in the Count Basie Big Band. For any aspiring jazz musician, this is a must style to know how to do. I get asked to play this style very often when playing in big ...
Completed

Watch Later

2:41 Voice Leading: Intro Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Hello once again! In this tutorial we will be covering voice leading. In our example we will take a look at a common jazz standard and how we can approach the changes using drop 2 chord voicings with the proper voice leading technique. We wil...
Completed

Watch Later

2:52 Voice Leading: Demo and Breakdown Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz As I mention in the video, you may recognize this popular jazz standard. NOTE: Please refer to the tab below for the chords. Okay, when it comes to voice leading, the main idea is to swiftly move through the chord changes without many large interva...
Completed

Watch Later

3:06 Voice Leading: Breakdown continued Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Jazz Allow me to explain the chord inversions I've used in order: Bbmaj7 (root) Eb7 (2nd) Abmaj7 (root) Dbmaj7 (2nd) Gm7b5 (root) C7 (2nd) Fm7 (root) F7 (root) F7 (1st) Root Inversion = root note in the bass 1st Inversion = 3rd in the bass 2nd...
Completed

Watch Later

3:06 Voice Leading: Recap and Outro Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz We've come to the end. :( I've taken the liberty to further explain the value of knowing how to voice lead as a guitarist. I apologize for any ranting but I always try to stress the importance of every topic I teach my students. All knowledge is goo...
Completed

Watch Later

2:50 Jazz Blues with Walking Bass Line: Form Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Advanced Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Hello again and Happy New Year! I hope all of you spent your holidays with good company! Why not make your new year’s resolution to learn something different than usual? Maybe some jazz blues comping! ;) In this lesson we'll be covering how ...
Completed

Watch Later

2:15 Jazz Blues with Walking Bass Line: Adding Bass Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Advanced Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Now that we've got the chords down it's time to add our bass line. In this part of the tutorial we will cover some rules to adding a bass line while comping chords. There are two main rules to follow. Rule #1: All bass notes should be quarter note...
Completed

Watch Later

1:32 Jazz Blues with Walking Bass Line: Playthrough Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Advanced Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Onto the real thing! Make sure that all bass notes are played with the thumb or pick. The rest of the chord tones should be played with fingers 1, 2, and 3. If using a pick you'd use fingers 2, 3, and 4. Also keep in mind that the eight notes are ...
Completed

Watch Later

0:48 Soloing in the Style of Mike Stern: Solo Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Hi Guys! For this tutorial I've done something a little different and gone with a bebop solo transcription. The backing track you hear is actually a minor 24 bar blues: i(1) Am - Am - Am - Am Am - Am - Am - Am iv(4) &...
Completed

Watch Later

1:49 Soloing in the Style of Mike Stern: Breakdown Part 1 Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz In part 1 of the break down I've focused mainly on three licks that happen within the first 12 bars of the solo. #1. The first lick is a simple dissention down the A Dorian scale. The important thing to note here is the phrasing (including t...
Completed

Watch Later

2:26 Soloing in the Style of Mike Stern: Breakdown Part 2 Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz For part 2 of the break down we'll be covering two long licks that happen bars 16 - 30 (last 8 bars of the 1st time through the form, into the 1st 6 bars of the 2nd time through the form). #1. The first lick is over the F7 to E7alt progressi...
Completed

Watch Later

2:18 Soloing in the Style of Mike Stern: Breakdown Part 3 Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Part 3 of the breakdown goes over the last 2 big/important riffs. #1. Here is another lick that is intended to imply a tonicization of the IV(4) chord, Dm. This time we take a different approach and play the A altered scale (Bb melodic mino...
Completed

Watch Later

3:49 Soloing in the Style of Mike Stern: Backing Track Instructor: Mike Salow Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz I've included the chord progression as well as suggested scales. Am - Am - Am - Am - Am - Am - Am - Am A Dorian. Over the last 1 or 2 bars you can use D Harmonic Minor or Bb Melodic Minor to lead to the Dm. Dm - Dm - Dm - Dm ...
Completed

Watch Later

0:55 Jazz Blues Etude - Rhythm Part Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Jazz Hey IG, Welcome to the final chapter of my little Blues series. Be ready to dig into some Charlie Parker style jazz blues playing. Once again form, rhythm, melody and harmony are quite a bit more sophisticated than the previous examples. Be sure to...
Completed

Watch Later

2:36 Jazz Blues Etude - Solo Example Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz On to the soloing! This solo consists of several phrases. Some blues-y, some jazz-y. Note how the more jazz-influenced lines are mainly played around the II-Vs and the turnaround bars at the end of the form, while especially the first bit is more bas...
Completed

Watch Later

1:49 Jazz Blues Etude - Backing Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Here's the F Blues Backing. Have fun!
Completed

Watch Later

0:39 Eric Johnson Triads - Chord Melody Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Here’s one of the most exciting applications for these shapes: chord melody! This is just a quick improvisation I came up with. You’ll soon discover how much fun it is to mess around with these shapes. Their sound on the guitar is very p...
Completed

Watch Later

0:39 Rhythm Changes - Introduction Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Hello and welcome to my first IG tutorial! I'm really excited to share some of my knowledge and experience with you guys. So let's dig right in, shall we? So this tutorial is about Rhythm Changes. No, that has nothing to do with odd meters :). Here&...
Completed

Watch Later

1:58 Rhythm Changes - The Chords Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Advanced Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Now it’s time to get into some actual playing! The repeating form for head and solos is AABA and here’s the original progression (the triangle stands for Major7): Here is the progression in roman numerals, which is very useful fo...
Completed

Watch Later

1:08 Rhythm Changes - Solo Etude (Fast) Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Alright, now the fun begins. It’s time to solo! Just like in the previous lesson the amount of chord changes might be a bit overwhelming at first. So what we’re going to do is increase our licks vocabulary by playing through this etude I ...
Completed

Watch Later

1:20 Rhythm Changes - Solo Etude (Slow) Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Here’s the same thing played slow. Note how different the time feel in this type of soloing is. This tempo will help you understand the fundamentals of swing in jazz soloing. Now it’s your time to incorporate these licks into your own pl...
Completed

Watch Later

2:25 Rhythm Changes - Backing Track (Fast) Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Advanced Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Rhythm Changes backing track at 220bpm.
Completed

Watch Later

3:58 Rhythm Changes - Backing Track (Slow) Instructor: Martin Miller Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Backing Track for Rhythm Changes at 134 bpm.
Completed

Watch Later

1:42 Finger Tone Part 4 - Jazz Comping Instructor: Jody Mac Level: Intermediate Topic: Technique Style: Jazz This example is a short jazz comp which connects chords of the diatonic key using a walking bass line. Passing tones are used as a way to get from one chord idea to the root of the next. In standard jazz progressions, a pianist or guitarist will use ...
Completed

Watch Later

1:52 Time Feel - Exercise 2: Explanation Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Jazz Okay, hopefully you were coping well with that last lesson. In the previous exercise our physical metronome and internal metronome were playing on every beat in the bar. The premise of the remaining exercises is to gradually remove more of the physi...
Completed

Watch Later

0:32 Time Feel - Exercise 2: Demonstration Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Rhythm Style: Jazz Here's the video demonstration of Exercise 2. Metronome is set up at 82 bpm on beats 2 and 4 giving me a perceived tempo of 164 bpm. Remember to tap your foot on beats 2 and 4 also and try to match my feel in the video. Try other chord progressions...
Completed

Watch Later

1:57 Free Shell Voicings - Using all the Shapes Instructor: Tom Quayle Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Our last chord progression is going to live firmly in the jazz camp. It's still a blues, but it's mainly called a 'Parker Blues'. Named after the famous sax player Charlie Parker, it differs considerably from our standard blues in a few aspects. Fir...
Completed

Watch Later

2:28 Jazz Polymeter Exercise Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz Hey folks! In this lesson, we're going to learn a jazz rhythm exercise that will help us get familiar with the concept of polymeter. Polymeter occurs when there are multiple time signatures being used simultaneously. For example, a guitarist might b...
Completed

Watch Later

1:31 Jazz Polymeter Exercise - Backing Track 129 bpm Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz Here is the backing track at 129 bpm (beats per minute). Remember, do your best to be aware of the underlying 4/4 groove that the drums are playing, even though you're playing a riff in 7/8. If you ever record yourself playing along to the backing, ...
Completed

Watch Later

1:57 Jazz Polymeter Exercise - Backing Track 100 bpm Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz Here is the backing track at 100 bpm. Remember, do your best to be aware of the underlying 4/4 groove that the drums are playing, even though you're playing a riff in 7/8. If you ever record yourself playing along to the backing, be sure to post it ...
Completed

Watch Later

1:12 I Vi ii V progression - Chord Substitutions Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Welcome Guitar Players! Over the next several lessons we are going to be looking at possible chord substitutions that can be used over a 'I Vi ii V' progression. To begin with, I want you to have a go at this sequence of chords and try and get them...
Completed

Watch Later

2:43 I Vi ii V Progression - Tonic Substitute Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Tonic Substitute The first substitution I want to introduce is called a 'tonic substitute'. It is also known to some as 'two to the right'. In the key of C Major there are 7 chords. That's one chord for each note in the C Major scale. Every Major k...
Completed

Watch Later

2:39 I Vi ii V Progression - minor > Dominant Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Now we are going to experiment with turning some minor chords into Dominant Chords. Dominant chords generally resolve down to a Perfect 5th. You can see an example of this in our progression via the G7 > Cmaj7 movement. Typically in pop and rock...
Completed

Watch Later

2:13 I Vi ii V Progression - Tri-tone Substitution Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Before we get into Tri-tone substitutions, I owe some people the answer to the homework task from last lesson. Am7 contains the notes - A C E G also expressed as R b3 5 b7. If the b3 (minor 3rd) of this chord is C, and we know that the only differen...
Completed

Watch Later

1:49 I Vi ii V Progression - D7 to Ab7 Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz The next chord we are going to manipulate is chord ii (D7), which was earlier a Dm7. Just as in our previous lesson, we are going to identify the 5th of this chord: D F# (A) C. Now we lower it by a half step, giving us Ab. All we do now is use thi...
Completed

Watch Later

1:05 I Vi ii V Progression - A7 to Eb7 Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz For our final tri-tone substitution, A7 will become Eb7. We identify the 5th of A7: A C# (E) G. Lower it by a half step. Eb Build a new Dominant7 chord from Eb. Eb7 = Eb G Bb Db Once again you will see that the 3rd and 7th of both these chords are...
Completed

Watch Later

1:00 Rhythm Changes - Solo Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Hello! and welcome to the Rhythm Changes. This tutorial will have two ends to it. Right now we are just going to learn a 32 bar solo. The solo will be broken up into two 16 bar segments for you to work on. Then I'll introduce you to the chord progr...
Completed

Watch Later

0:41 Rhythm Changes - Solo - pt.1 Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz Here are the first 16 bars of this solo. Be sure to play it with a steady swing and practice it slowly to begin with. Then up your tempo as you become more comfortable with it. Also, I have not indicated any of the legato techniques used. For one, ...
Completed

Watch Later

0:43 Rhythm Changes - Solo - pt.2 Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz This video includes the bridge section and the final 8 bars, slowed down. Once again, take it slow to begin with and keep it swinging. In the next video I will introduce you to the chord changes we are playing over.
Completed

Watch Later

2:52 Rhythm Changes - The Chords Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz The Chords. The chord changes for this tune are possibly some of the most used changes in the history of Jazz. In the first 4 bars we have a I-Vi-ii-V progression, looping. This is commonly known as a 'turn around' and will often be found at the en...
Completed

Watch Later

3:47 Rhythm Changes - Backing Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz Rhythm Changes - Backing Track
Completed

Watch Later

0:49 What Is This Thing Called Love? - Solo Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz What Is This Thing Called Love? A classic tune by the great composer, Cole Porter. In this video I will play a 32 bar solo through the chord changes to this song. Provided below is the tab if you want to get stuck into it right away. Click on the ...
Completed

Watch Later

2:37 What Is This Thing Called Love? - Breakdown Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Hello again. Hopefully this video will give you a better chance to observe the fingerings I have used throughout the solo. Early on in the tune I used some chord fragments in the solo. These were Inversions of Fm6 / Dm7b5. These two chords are actu...
Completed

Watch Later

4:09 What Is This Thing Called Love? - Backing Track Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Have fun with the backing track!
Completed

Watch Later

2:07 Backing Tracks - II V I (quartet) 100bpm Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Beginner Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz II V I Backing Track, quartet format, Key of G, 100bpm
Completed

Watch Later

2:08 Backing Tracks - II V I (trio) 140bpm Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz II V I progression, backing track, in Trio format. Key of G. 140 bpm.
Completed

Watch Later

2:33 Improvisation 'The II-V-I' - Introduction Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz In this tutorial, I hope to enlighten you somewhat in the ways of improvisation. Particularly on the subject of outlining chords. We will be having a look at several short musical phrases and analyzing them in context to the use of what are commonly ...
Completed

Watch Later

3:08 Improvisation 'The II-V-I' - Guide Tones Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Before we start learning to play some lines and understanding what makes them tick, it is important we understand the concept of guide tones. A good improviser will always be able to 'outline' the chord progression he/she is playing through. In our ...
Completed

Watch Later

1:17 Improvisation 'The II-V-I' - Guide Tone Lines pt.1 Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Beginner Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Guide Tones. Part 1 This lesson will contain a lot more discussion about chord tones used than the following, so be sure to read carefully. If there is anything you don't understand please join me in the forums. Let's get right into understanding ...
Completed

Watch Later

1:06 Improvisation 'The II-V-I' - Guide Tone Lines pt.2 Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Guide Tones part 2 Welcome! This lesson has two separate phrases but are all played as one long passage. The Chord voicings used are also tabbed for you, not the rhythms though. I will leave that part of it for you to work out by ear if you wish. ...
Completed

Watch Later

1:04 Improvisation 'The II-V-I' - Guide Tone Lines pt.3 Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz Guide Lines part 3 Before you do anything with this lesson, I want you to just listen to the first half of the video. It is a 16 bar phrase over our II-V-I progression. The chords progression is simply repeated as such, Am7 D7 Gmaj7 Gmaj7 Am7 D7 Gma...
Completed

Watch Later

1:17 Improvisation 'The II-V-I' - Getting a Better Understanding Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Improvising Style: Jazz It's time to open the fretboard up! This lesson will hopefully help you visualize each of the chord/scale relationships over the fretboard a bit easier. All of these exercises are built on the II-V-I progression just as we have been working on them ...
Completed

Watch Later

1:17 Jazz Lines (Bossa #1) Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Jazz Bossa style lines. no.1, This one of the first lines I was ever proud to put my name to, It has since become a common tool in my improvisations. It is based on the first 8 bars of the tune ' Blue Bossa ' Analysis; ======== In bar one the line begi...
Completed

Watch Later

1:39 Symmetrical Scales - Backing Track Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz Use this backing to practice your Diminished scale. The G, E, Db and Bb diminished scales will all sound fine over this.
Completed

Watch Later

6:14 Playing Jazz Stardards - Learning the Form Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Beginner Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Welcome to Part 1 of our tutorial on playing jazz standards. A form is a name used to describe the structure of the song. Two common forms in Jazz Standards are the 'AABA' and 'AABC' form. The letters, A A B and A are references to movements within...
Completed

Watch Later

1:18 Playing Jazz Standards - 4 to the bar swing Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Beginner Topic: Rhythm Style: Jazz Four to the bar swing, otherwise known as 'Gypsy Swing' or 'long short rhythm' is the most commonly used rhythm among traditional Jazz bands. This lesson will be focused on using this rhythm to develop a better understanding of the swing feel. As we...
Completed

Watch Later

2:02 Playing Jazz Standards - Voice Leading 101 Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Intermediate Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Voice leading is something every guitar player should have a basic understanding of, despite what style of music he or she plays. The basic idea behind voice leading is to create some form of melodic motion when changing chords. This motion is creat...
Completed

Watch Later

1:05 Playing Jazz Standards - Chord Melodies Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Advanced Topic: Chords Style: Jazz Alright, hopefully by now you have this chord progression well under your belt. The melody should be memorized, and all the chord voicings we looked at ought to be flowing when you play them. If so, it's time to look at some more creative ways to use...
Completed

Watch Later

1:20 Playing Jazz Standards - Walking Bass & Chords Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Advanced Topic: Chords Style: Jazz As this tutorial is intended to be more of a guide to the various ways we can approach playing through a tune, as opposed to viewing the techniques from an analytical standpoint. I wont be explaining how exactly this bass line arrangement was put tog...
Completed

Watch Later

4:09 Backing Tracks - Autumn Leaves Swing Instructor: Mike Edwin Level: Beginner Topic: Exercises Style: Jazz Autumn Leaves Jam Track Swing/Bop Style 130bpm
Completed

Watch Later

.ii-V-I Licks (Part 1) Instructor: Robert Mussatti Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Jazz I now bring you another installment of licks, and this time, this is going to focus on ii-V-I licks. I have divided this up into 2 parts, with this part focusing on the licks themselves, and part 2 showing a way of how you can put them to use within...
Completed

Watch Later

.ii-V-I Licks (Part 2) Instructor: Robert Mussatti Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Jazz Now, we are going to put these to good use. One way is to take these and play them through ii-V-I's going thru the Circle Of Fifths (Cycle Of Fourths), the main premise is to make the smoothest transition between each progression, using the most app...