The Dm11 chord is one of those guitar voicings that instantly adds a modern, open sound to your playing. Whether you’re comping in a jazz combo or arranging solo guitar pieces, the Dm11 chord on guitar offers rich color with very little effort—especially if you use a rootless voicing like the one I’m about to show you. Let’s break it down. What Is … Read more
The G minor major 7 chord (often written as Gm(maj7) or G minor/major 7) is one of the most dramatic and tense sounds in jazz guitar. It shows up in minor key tunes, especially at the end of minor ii V I progressions, and creates a beautiful sense of unresolved tension. In this post, you’ll learn: What Is a G … Read more
The Am7b5 chord (also called A half-diminished) doesn’t show up in every tune—but when it does, it’s essential. Most often, you’ll find it right at the beginning of a minor ii–V–I progression, and it serves as a great entry point into more advanced jazz harmony and improvisation. In this lesson, I’ll walk you through the chord voicing I use … Read more
The D7#9 chord is one of the most recognizable sounds in jazz, blues, and funk — gritty, colorful, and packed with tension. But if you’ve only played it from a chord chart, you might be missing how much power it has in your comping and soloing. In this post, we’ll break down: What Is a D7#9 Chord? … Read more
The Dm7 chord (short for D minor 7) is one of the most useful voicings in jazz guitar. In this lesson, we’ll cover a versatile Dm7 guitar shape that works on the top four strings — perfect for comping or solo guitar. You’ll also learn how to voice-lead it into a full ii–V–I progression, how … Read more
The G7b9 chord is one of my favorite ways to add instant tension and color to a V7 chord. Whether you’re comping through a jazz standard or looking to spice up your ii–V–I progressions, this rootless voicing sounds rich, feels great under your fingers, and is easier to move around than you might think. Let’s … Read more
There are many tools available for learning to play scales on guitar, and most of them are rooted in traditional music education. Some focus on reading notation, while others rely on tablature (TAB), which is essentially a simplified version of notation for guitar. However, in my experience, the best tool for any guitar player is … Read more
Key centers are kind of an old-school way to approach jazz improvisation. Used correctly, they make your life easier. By giving you one scale to play over a progression, key centers let you think less. And listen more. It’s interesting to me. Because this was actually the first way I learned to improvise – back … Read more
Sometimes it’s hard to know how to get into jazz guitar. Especially if you’re already pretty good at a different style, like rock or blues. I’ve heard from some of my older students that they always wanted to get into jazz – but it just seemed too intimidating. That there’s too much to learn. They … Read more
Jazz guitar gets kind of a bad rap for being too complicated to learn. And when it comes to playing jazz guitar solos, I actually kind of get it – especially the way that it’s usually taught. Most of the time, the advice you get about playing solos in jazz is overly technical. There’s a … Read more