Jazz Guitar Elements

Welcome to your jazz guitar primer! In this collection of guitar video lessons, you'll run the gamut from rhythm to lead, scales to arpeggios, root position to inversions, and beyond! By the end of this guitar video course, you'll be armed with a healthy understanding of the jazz language, loads of chord voicings and soloing strategies, and a wealth of concepts to help you build authentic and effective accompaniments and leads in a jazz style.

Videos

• Beginning Jazz Rhythm Guitar (09:21) - Get started on jazz rhythm guitar the right way by learning the fundamentals of jazz harmony (such as seventh chords, inversions, etc.), chord voicings, ii-V-I progressions, "Rhythm Changes," Freddie Green comping style, and more.

• Beginning ii-V-I Licks (10:01) - Learn the basics of improvising over this cornerstone jazz progression with concepts like chord tones, passing tones, step-wise resolution, modes, arpeggios, extensions (9th chords, etc.), and combining scales and arpeggios in one line.

• Jazz Blues Progressions (11:01) - Get the lowdown on many of the most common 12-bar progressions used in jazz, employing concepts like chord substitution, secondary dominants, the I-VI-ii-V turnaround, a ii-V of IV, diminished seventh chords, extended chords, altered dominants, tritone subs, and the Parker Blues.

• Latin Rhythms (08:57) - Discover the integral rhythmic concepts and techniques used in Latin guitar, such as clave variations, Samba rhythms, fingerstyle patterns, Bossa Nova rhythms, Antonio Carlos Jobim style, bass lines and root/5th bass patterns, rhythmic anticipations, the Montuno, and more.

• Jazz Phrasing (09:32) - In this lesson, you'll learn some trademark concepts used in constructing great-sounding improvisations, regardless of the progression, including chord tones, chromaticism, octaves, triad superimposition, outside sounds, Coltrane changes, and quotation.

• Advanced ii-V-I Licks: Scalar Ideas (09:58) - Continue your ii-V-I studies with these more advanced scale concepts, such as Lydian, dominant bebop, major bebop, Lydian dominant, whole tone, and the altered scale.

• Advanced ii-V-I Licks: Arpeggios (09:56) - In this lesson, you'll expand your arpeggio knowledge and how it applies to jazz improv in ideas like altered V chords and plenty of arpeggio substitutions.

• Jazz Chord Melody (08:45) - Explore many helpful tips and ideas for playing in this rewarding style. You'll learn how to voice chords to put the melody on top with block chords (and their inversions), handle non-chord tones (diatonic and chromatic), reharmonize a melody, and more!

• Wes Montgomery Style (12:15) - Get a handle on Wes's favorite jazz devices, including his right-hand technique (using the thumb for plucking and strumming), octaves (muting technique), the three-finger technique, head statements, chord melody, chord jabs, neighbor tones, pentatonic/blues phrasing, and linear phrasing.

• Outside Playing (09:01) - To wrap up the course, discover several different ways to get "outside" sounds in jazz and fusion, such as transposing melodic sequences, alternative scales choices (whole tone, melodic minor, dominant diminished), outside arpeggios, Holdsworth-style licks, and more!