Lots of students feel like they need to learn more music theory if they want to play better jazz guitar.
In fact, it’s one of the most common things new students ask me. Especially if they’ve been playing for a while and they feel stuck.
But most of the time, they don’t really need to learn music theory – they need to round out their guitar skills. And learn the right names for those guitar skills.
You see, if you don’t have a good handle on the fundamentals of guitar playing, it’s easy to feel like you’re missing something. And music theory is an obvious place to look for answers.
It’s an area that guitar players are generally weaker at. So it’s easy to think you need to do some serious studying.
Music Theory Can Be Easy to Learn
You can actually learn a lot of music theory just by working on your jazz guitar skills.
In fact, most of the theory you need can come straight from the chords, scales and arpeggios you’re already learning.
Here’s the deal – music theory is mostly knowing what things are called. It’s having the right names to call the things you’re playing.
So when you learn the right terms for the things you’re doing on guitar… you’re learning music theory! Just in a more hands-on way, which is more helpful for you anyway.
You don’t really need to spend time learning theory separately – unless you really want to. I’ve even had students thank me for how much music theory I’ve taught them, when we never really talked about it.
The theory is just baked in to everything I teach – so my students end up knowing theory theory pretty well.
It’s a whole package. You get the skills – scales, arpeggios, chords – that make you play better. And you get the right labels – so you actually know what you’re doing on a musical level.
Once you get into learning it this way, it’s actually not that hard, and not that mysterious.
Desi serna has a great book about learning music theory right on the guitar. Get your copy of Fretboard Theory today. (Affiliate link).
Here’s how you can learn theory straight from the skills you’re already learning
Learning Music Theory From Chords
Chord Construction
When you learn what the chord tones or intervals that make up your chords, you’re learning about chord construction.
If you pay attention to the root (1), third (3), fifth (5) and seventh (7) of your chord diagrams, you’ll quickly learn the difference between a major 7, dominant 7, or minor 7th chord (and more).
(This is actually something a lot of people struggle with – that’s why I give you all of the tools in my chords lessons)
There’s a lot you’ll end up knowing without having to sit and memorize formulas – it’s all right there in your chord lessons.
Voicings
Aside from just knowing what intervals are in your chords, the way they’re put together is another thing you can study.
Different structures like shell voicings, drop 3 chords, and drop 2 chords are not only jazz guitar chord shapes – they’re also chord structures used in jazz arranging (Like for big bands).
So check out the lessons on drop 3 and drop 2 voicings and you’ll not only be a better jazz guitar player, you’ll also have some of the common voicings for jazz arranging projects.
Voice Leading
Your jazz guitar chords can be used to study something called voice leading. This is a great thing to think about once you’re able to play chords more easily in general.
Voice leading is trying to make the smoothest possible musical connection between two chords. (Not the easiest finger pattern, necessarily.)
For good voice leading, the notes themselves (ideally) should move as little as possible from chord to chord. If you take your time, you can look for chord options that let your notes move as little as possible from one chord to the next.
Generally, your next chord is only ever a fret or two away from what you just played.
If you move more than that, you’re probably missing something (Unless you’re using easy jazz guitar chords – then sometimes you just gotta make bigger jumps).
Check out my lessons on easy jazz guitar chords, drop 3 chords, or drop 2 chords to learn more.
Scales
Scale Structures
Learning how scales are constructed is important. Not just being able to play them, but knowing what the intervals should be as you’re trying to spell one out.
But I’ve also known plenty of people who could spell out the half step and whole step formulas who couldn’t really play their scales. You need to be able to do both things at some point.
Luckily, it can be easy to figure out your scale formulas as you learn how to play them.
When you look at the scale degrees (or intervals) that are assigned to each note of the scale, you get a practical view of how to build that scale.
But instead of memorized formulas, you’re learning what each step of the scale should be called.
It’s a much more practical way to look at it – and you’ll end up with a better mastery of the information too.
Check out my lesson on major scales to get started.
Modes
One music theory area that a lot of students are interested in is modes. It’s something everyone tends to wonder about as they get a little more advanced.
Now to a lot of people, modes are kind of a mysterious topic – but they’re really not that complicated.
In fact, if you know your major scales, you have everything you actually need to work on your modes. You just need to know how to practice them so it becomes useful information, not just a piece of trivia.
Start by playing the major scale starting from notes other than the root. Each note of the scale creates a different mode you can play with.
So practice playing the scale starting from the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th note – and you’ll be starting to get the mode patterns into your fingers and your ears.
And if you want to get into even more modes – you can do the same exercise with your harmonic minor and melodic minor scales.
Chord Progressions
Your major and minor scales can help you understand a lot about chord progressions.
Think about a ii V I progression as an example:
- The ii (2) is based off of the 2nd note of the major scale
- The V (5) is based off of the 5th note of the major scale
- The I (1) is based on the 1st note of the major scale
This doesn’t just happen in jazz music – most styles use this logic in some way shape or form. Each note of the scale has its corresponding chord that you can use in progressions.
This can help you recognize patterns in songs, find new chord shapes to use, and organize chord progressions on your fretboard.
Arpeggios
Using arpeggios to learn theory is a little bit more technical – they’re kind of a combination of scales and chords.
The way I think of arpeggios for music theory purposes is closer to improvisation applications than figuring out music theory rules.
When you start paying more attention to your arpeggio shapes, you can start to see how they line up with your scale patterns.
You’ll see which notes of the scale make up different arpeggios you can use in your playing – without having to jump all over the guitar neck.
Arpeggios can help you start outlining your chords in a melodic way – playing the notes of the chord one-at-a-time to create a melody using the notes of the chord.
This is a way a lot of people start learning to improvise and play over chord changes (I know it’s how I got started).
When you line up the arpeggios to the different chords in a progression, you start to see how to create your own jazz lines.
You don’t always need to go to recordings or books to learn ii V I lines – you can create them yourself using your arpeggios.
Try this – play a minor 7 arpeggio for the ii chord, a dominant 7 arpeggio for the V chord, and a major 7 arpeggio for the I chord.
Do your best to figure out the smoothest way to transition to the next arpeggio pattern when the chord changes – and you’re on your way!
Common Threads
Learn the Neck
Each of these skills will help you learn the notes all over the fretboard. You have to find the root note of each scale, chord, or arpeggio in order to use it.
So if you’re methodical about things, you’ll get the whole neck memorized just by working on your guitar playing.
This is one of the main things intermediate players come to me wanting help with – but instead of being a huge task, it can simply be a part of the process.
Connect the Patterns Together
When you go deeper into the scales, chords, and arpeggios I teach here at Jazz Guitar Guide, you’re naturally going to start finding ways to connect your shapes up and down the neck.
If you’re looking for a C to build a scale or chord shape off of, any C on the neck is a potential starting point – and you have shapes for each of them.
It’s just a matter of finding them in different ways:
- String by string
- Random Choice
- From lowest on the neck to highest on the neck
- From highest on the neck to lowest on the neck
Practicing all these ways of finding notes is going to give you a lot of confidence on the neck. Check out my explanation of the CAGED System for Jazz Guitar to learn more.
Interval Shapes
Intervals are one of the most important things to understand in music theory. They’re the smallest building blocks of music.
And they’re everywhere – your scales, chords, arpeggios, chord progressions, you name it.
But each scale or chord shape also gives you a chance to see what these intervals actually look like on the guitar fretboard, instead of in a theory book.
Check out my lesson on intervals of the major scale to learn more.
Conclusion
You don’t necessarily need to learn music theory separately – it can be a part of your everyday jazz guitar practice.
You can learn it by diving a little deeper into the skills that make you a better guitar player.
With the way I teach these topics right here on this site (for free), you can learn a lot of practical music theory that will help you take your understanding of music to the next level.
It’s important for you to remember that a lot of music theory is just labels – knowing what things are called.
So when you learn any of the skills here on this site thoroughly, you’re learning music theory too – not just developing the playing skill.
They were always meant to go hand in hand.
And if you want a book that shows you music theory concepts right on your guitar neck, check out Fretboard Theory by Desi Serna (Affiliate link).
What music theory do you feel like you need the most work on? Let me know in the comments.