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
If you’re looking to level up your jazz playing, learning the right Cmaj7 guitar chord voicings is a great place to start. In this post, you’ll learn one of the most useful and versatile Cmaj7 shapes, how it fits into a ii V I progression, and how to connect it with a scale and melodic line that … Read more
If you’re looking to add tension, color, and voice-leading options to your dominant 7th chords, the D7#5b9 chord should be in your toolkit. In this post, I’ll show you a rootless voicing that moves beautifully through a minor ii–V–I, plus a matching altered scale cell you can use to improvise. As always, I’ll break down how it works, when … 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
When I started learning about different types of scales for jazz guitar, the dorian mode was one of the first things that popped up. No matter where I looked, people were saying this was one of the most important modes to learn. And there were also mixed messages about how to play it – or … 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
Unlock Your Jazz Improvisation Skills 3 Easy Jazz Improvisation Exercises For Beginners Getting started jazz improvisation can seem scary at first. That’s why it’s important to find jazz improvisation exercises designed specifically for beginners to help you get started. Whether you’re new to playing guitar in general, or just new to jazz… learning to improvise … Read more
For me, jazz improvisation was never something that was scary. Partly because I didn’t know much about it, and partly because It just seemed cool to be able to play solos… so that’s what I wanted to do. I was also really lucky – my middle school jazz band director strongly encouraged everyone to improvise… … Read more