Vi Ii V I Major Seventh Jazz Backing Tracking

This lesson is a complete beginner jazz guitar chords guide. The biggest role you will have as a jazz guitarist is to play chords and comp for other musicians. But with so many jazz guitar chords to learn, which ones should you learn first? The beginner jazz guitar chords with the root on the 6th […]

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This lesson is a complete beginner jazz guitar chords guide.

The biggest role you will have as a jazz guitarist is to play chords and comp for other musicians.

But with so many jazz guitar chords to learn, which ones should you learn first?

The beginner jazz guitar chords with the root on the 6th and 5th strings are the best to learn first due to the following reasons:

• The root for each chord is on either the 6th or 5th string making them easy to locate and provide a smooth transition from barre chords
• There are only two possible ways to play each chord making it easier to hear, play and use each one
• With these 8 chord voicing's you can play thousands over jazz standards
• Used in other styles besides jazz such as pop, rock funk and blues

The four main types of chords that are used in jazz music are major 7ths, dominant 7ths, minor 7ths and minor 7b5 chords.

This lesson focuses on the two ways that each of these chords is played.

The first voicing has the root on the 6th string and the second has the root on the 5th string.

Being able to comfortably use these chords can take anything from a few weeks to a couple of months.

The exercises in this lesson should be carefully worked through and practiced with something else, e.g. learning a tune, transcription, etc.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Major 7^th Chords

The first type of beginner jazz guitar chords we are going to look at are called major 7^th chords.

Major 7^th chords have a sweet and mellow sound.

The first three notes of the major 7th chord are the same as a triad (1, 3, and 5). Major 7ths contain the extension of a natural 7^th, which in the key of C is B.

Major 7^th Chord Formula: R, 3^rd, 5^th, 7^th

Major 7^th Chord Notes in C: C, E, G, B

The diagram below shows two voicing's for a C major 7^th chord.

Symbols for major 7th chords can be maj7 or a triangle.

The A string is not played on the first C major 7^th chord.

Try to choke this string with the first finger which should be hovering across it anyway.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Dominant 7^th Chords

The next types of beginner jazz guitar chords we are going to learn are called dominant 7^th chords.

Dominant 7^th chords tend to sound darker than major 7^th chords and have a bluesy quality to them.

There is only one note difference between a major 7^th chord and a dominant 7^th chord which is the 7^th.

Major 7^th chords contain a natural 7^th whereas dominant 7ths contain a flattened 7^th.

Dominant 7^th Chord Formula: R, 3^rd, 5^th, b7^th

Dominant 7^th Chord Notes in C: C, E, G, Bb

Symbols for a dominant 7 chord can either be a 7 or a dom7.

The flat 7 in each of these C7 voicings is Bb.

Locate the B natural in each of the major 7^th voicings that you have just learned and lower it down a semi-tone to create a dominant 7^th voicing.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Minor 7^th Chords

The next beginner jazz guitar chords we are going to look are called minor 7^th chords.

Minor 7ths are chords are used in minor jazz progressions such as minor ii-V-I's and minor blues tunes.

Besides being used in jazz, minor 7^th chords are used in funk, rhythm and blues, soul and groove based music so they are well worth learning.

Minor 7^th Chord Formula: R, b3^rd, 5^th, b7^th

Minor 7^th Chord Notes in C: C, Eb, G, Bb

Symbols for minor 7th chords can be a minus or lower case m.

To change dominant 7^th chords to minor 7^th chords, locate the third in each dominant 7^th chord (E) and lower it a half step to get Eb.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Minor 7b5 Chords

To complete this study of beginner jazz guitar chords, here are 3 inversions for minor 7b5 chords. There is only a one note difference between minor chords and minor 7b5 chords which is the 5^th.

The 5^th is flattened in minor7b5 chords as the name suggests which means the only note that left alone is the root.

Minor 7^b5 Chord Formula: R, b3^rd, b5^th, b7^th

Minor 7^b5 Chord Notes in C: C, Eb, Gb, Bb

Minor7b5 chords are mostly used in cyclic movement as a part of cadence, e.g. a ii-v-I.

Minor 7b5 chords are sometimes called half diminished chords.

Practice changing through each of the two voicings for each chord.

The example below shows all eight chord types together for ease of practice.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords Practice

Now that you can play and switch between all eight beginner jazz guitar chords, let's look at how to practice them.

Each of the voicing's should be practiced in all 12 keys.

Practicing a chord in all 12 keys gives you the necessary skill to be able to locate it when you need it.

When you are looking at chord charts and playing music, you need to be able to play any of the four chord types in all 12 keys.

You will learn to play each of the four chord types in all twelve keys by playing them through the cycle of fourths.

Many jazz progressions modulate in fourths, which is why jazz musician's practice scales, chords, lines, etc in this way.

To begin our practice in all 12 keys, let's take a C major 7 chord with the root on the E string.

F is a fourth above C. The nearest F is to C is on the 8th fret of the A string.

So, after you have played C major 7 with the root on E string, play F major 7 with the root on the A string.

Continue this exercise until you go round all 12 keys and come back to C.

Say each chord out loud when you are doing this.

When you can comfortably do this, repeat the same exercise with the B major 7th chord.

This will give you the full picture of the fretboard.

Repeat this exercise with dominant 7, minor 7 and minor 7b5 chords.

Here is a note guide for the lower two strings in case you need it.

 Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Chord Studies

Now that you can play the eight beginner jazz guitar chords in all 12 keys, let's make some music.

You will do this by learning three short comping studies.

Each of these studies are short 8 – 12 bar fragments of common chord progressions in different keys.

There is no requirement to memorize any of these studies.

The purpose of these studies is to help you locate and play these chords, so that you can ultimately do this with any jazz standard.

You will also learn about common jazz chord progressions.

Try to only look at the first example of each study to begin with.

When you are comping in a real time situation you will not have chord diagrams, so is it important that you can read a chord chart without diagrams.

There are several ways in which either of these progressions can be played.

I recommend that you experiment playing each progression in different fingerboard positions so that you see the totality of the fretboard.

Each of the studies are in order of difficulty so start with the first study.

There is a backing track for each progression under the chord chart.

Before attempting these studies you will need to:

• Be able to play any of the eight jazz chords in any key within a few seconds
• Locate any root note on the bottom two guitar strings quickly without hesitation

Here are a few general tips that might help you with the studies:

• Play one simple rhythm throughout the piece to smoothly change between the chords first
• Look at that second example for each progression to find an example of how the chords can be played after having a go yourself
• Avoid any big leaps when switching between chords
• Practice slowly to begin with

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Basic Minor Blues

The first comping study teaches you how to use beginner jazz chords over a minor blues chord progression.

The minor blues is a commonly played progression in both jazz and blues.

There are more harmonically advanced versions of the minor blues, but the progression below is the easiest to learn first.

A great traditional blues example of the minor blues progression is The Thrill is Gone by BB King.

This progression is also the basis for minor jazz blues progressions such as Mr P.C.

Harmonically, the progression starts on the I chord, moves to the IV in bar 5, back to the I chord and has a turnaround back to the I chord in bars 9 and 10.

Once you have learnt this progression, check out the next study.

The example starts with the root on the 6th string for Bm7 and switches to the root on the 5th string for Em7.

You can also start the progression with the root on the 5th string and go from there.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Autumn Leaves

Our next study is the first eight bars of Autumn Leaves.

The chord progression in Autumn Leaves starts with a major ii-V-I and modulates to the relative minor.

The minor 7b5 chord is introduced in this example. Note how it has been used as part of a minor ii-V-I.

The study features a variation of the Charleston rhythm pattern used in the first study.

This time the rhythm starts on the and of 1 instead of 1.

This bar is then followed by a bar with the Charleston rhythm starting on beat 1, like in the first example.

This two bar rhythm is repeated for the entire study.

You should ultimately be able to use the Charleston on any beat of the bar.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Take The A Train

Next, let's learn is the A section (first eight bars) of the standard Take The A Train.

The 8 bar chord progression in Take The A Train is used in many jazz standards such as Exactly Like You, So Danco Samba and The Girl From Ipanema.

This progression starts on the I chord, then moves to a secondary dominant chord in bar 3.

The progression turns back again with a I VI II V turnaround in the last two measures.

Rhythmic developments of the first etude are introduced in this study to expand your comping skills.

The first development can be heard in the first bar where the first of the two beats is now a shorter eighth note rather than a dotted quarter note.

The second can be heard in bar 6 where there are two eighth notes on the first beat of the bar.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Misty

Now that you have three swing comping styles under your fingers, let's check out the first 8 bars of Misty.

This chord progression is in the key of Eb and features a modulation to the IV (Ab in this key) in bar 3.

The major 7 chord then changes chord quality from major to minor in the bar after which is a common chord modulation.

The second line of the chord progression features a I VI ii V then a iii Vi ii V which is heard in many tunes.

You will learn a comping style in this etude called "four to a bar" or "Freddie Green style".

Both of these terms mean the same thing which is playing four quarter notes in a bar.

This comping style works particularly well in duo situations without a bassist.

Here are three more beginner jazz guitar chord charts with backing tracks over full standards to conclude this lesson.

I have purposely selected two standards which are 16 bars to make them manageable.

Analyze the harmony first, then use some of the rhythmic techniques from the studies to comp over the standards.

Backing tracks without piano are provided under each chord chart to practice along with.

If you would like feedback any of these comping studies, post a video or audio clip below in the comment and I will reply.

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Tune Up

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Ladybird

Beginner Jazz Guitar Chords – Summertime

After working through each of these studies, you will feel comfortable using beginner jazz guitar chords.

You should then start to look up other standards in a real book and see if you can play them.

When you can instantly comp through any standard at sight, then move on to drop 2 chord voicing's.

I hope that you have enjoyed working through this beginner jazz guitar chords guide.

What are some of your favourite ways to practice jazz guitar chords?

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Vi Ii V I Major Seventh Jazz Backing Tracking

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