Jazz Chords needed pretty badly!!

I imagine there is a chord chart on google..
man, those are some wacked chords.

what would the Ramones have done?

http://www.jazzguitar.be

this site has all kinds of cool stuff for jazz. Chords as well.

Hey Geek . . . if you pm me your e-mail wehn I get home tonight I"ll send you a few fingerings for each of those.

Chords like those are a good exercise for you to really get to know the fingerboard. When you get into 'jazz' chords, there are simply too many voicings available for you to remember them all (the way you'd remember something like an open A, as a fingering). You'll need to know enough about the structure of chords to create these puppies on the fly... I've written a couple of lessons on extended and altered chords that are in the lesson section.

To start with, you need to know the major scale for each root, and the basic structure of chords. Since almost all altered chords have a dominant function, I like to work with dominant sevenths as the 'seed' of the chords I build.

You also need to be familiar with the symbols used in 'jazz chords':

'm' or 'mi' or '-' = lower the third
'º' = lower the third and fifth (in jazz, you also usually add the 6th - the bb7 - unless otherwise specified)
'+' = raise the third
'maj' or 'M' or a triangle or a "crossed" 7: raise the 7th (starting from a dominant chord)
any tones indicated by number must be in the chord
anything after a slash should be your bass note

Here's how it works. Take a nasty looking one: G+7(b9). The symbol says you'll start with a G7, raise the fifth, and add the flatted ninth. So you start with a G7: 353433. The fifth in G is D; you have two D notes in the chord - one on the fifth string and one on the second... you'll need to change both, or change one and drop the other. Doing the former can give you 3x3443. Now you have to add a flatted ninth; in G, that's Ab. You've got one of those pretty handy... make the fingering 3x3444. If that's tough to finger - you can drop the root! (in many jazz voicings you'll need to drop notes; roots and fifths are the best choices, because another instrument like bass will probably pick them up). That gives you a finger-friendly xx3444.

Or take the D+7b9. Start with any old D7 fingering, like x5453x. The fifth is A, which needs to be raised to A#: x54536. Add a b9, which is Eb: x54546. You can drop the root again to make it friendly: xx4546.

Building these chords on the fly takes practice, but it's really the only way to do it - you can't possibly remember the hundreds of voicings you'd need to connect chords smoothly instead of jumping all over the neck. But with practice, you can have your basic set of 60-100 chord voicings, and 'see' the alterations when you need them.

Starting out, just grab as much as you can. If a chord says F11, grab F7 first, then worry about adding a Bb note. If it says D+7(b9), grab D+ first if you can't think of the rest fast enough.

It's ok to play less notes than the chord calls for - as long as you're not playing any notes the chord doesn't call for.

Thanks for all the help guys...
I was trying to figure out some myself, and I got C7(#9) to be: xx9879 is that right?
I have a feeling this is really going to help my rythm playing...

uh, no, not right.

C7(#9) is going to be C-E-G-Bb-D#. You've got B-D#-G-Db. It's a good idea to have the third (E) in the chord, so there's no major/minor ambiguity - and you need to get rid of the Db.

'+' = raise the third

uhm - 'the fifth' right?

Whoops! Yep, raise the fifth :oops: