Jazz Music On Guitar

Jazz uses very many scales. It's probably some of the most "literate" music around. Jazz guys know a lot of theory and put it to use, so it often has a very well arranged feel to it. That doesn't mean that all jazz is good music, just that it's usually got solid construction. Lots of strange chords and chord substitutions are involved. There are also a bunch of traditional chord progressions, which musicians will improvise over. Many of those prograssions also have popular reharmonizations (chords substitutions) to go along with them.

Jazz is characterized by syncopated rhythms, extended chords, and improvised solos. There are a lot of different scales used: major, minor, bebop, dorian, lydian, and chromatic are probably the most common.

In the November 2004 issue of GWA Frank Vignola implies that use major seventh, major sixth, dominant seventh, and minor sixth are typical jazz chords in Johnny Smith type jazz.

I'm curious and trying to pick out some pieces from other parts of GWA about the subjects. Can anyone tell me, is and F major with the thumb on the either 2nd or 3rd fret on the E and A string any type of these chords? Paul McCartney says that he calls it a jazz chord although some jazz guitarists might get annoyed by that. Is it any of those types of chords or just a chord that sounds jazzy?

The sevenths are the 'basic' chords in jazz - you won't see a lot of simple triads as you do in rock music. All the chords you listed are sevenths (a minor 6, like A-C-E-F, can be rearranged F-A-C-E to be the major seventh a minor third lower)

If you have an F chord, F-A-C, and you add the second fret of the E and A string - I think that's what you're saying - you get F#-B-F-A-C. You can put these in order as F-A-C-Gb-B, which is 1-3-5-b9-#11. If you use the third fret, you have G-C-F-A, which is F-A-C-G, an Fadd9 chord.

Altered chords are used a lot in jazz, so these might sound 'jazzy', but you'll probably not see jazz guitarists using them. Heavily altered chords usually include a b7, and a major chord with an added 9 would probably be done as a 6/9 chord at the end of a tune.

Thanks a lot. I got a hit to my udnerstanding though stumbling upon David Hodge's lesson for Moondance. It definatly sounds like what a jazz band would play, yet it's in major and minor keys. And the chords are, although the lesson discusses playing with added sevenths, just normal chords. Any idea why this works?

I do Moondance with all 7ths (minors & dominants)... and then dress it up with a few substituted chords and extensions. I don't think I've seen it performed by anyone with just triads - except for the descending line at the very end.

I do Moondance with all 7ths (minors & dominants)... and then dress it up with a few substituted chords and extensions. I don't think I've seen it performed by anyone with just triads - except for the descending line at the very end.

It's the perfect tune for this, as the progression is so simple and recognizable. One can play pretty far afield and it still sounds like Moondance. It's also a good tune on which to learn comping.

I don't think anyone's mentioned the strong tension-release element present in many styles of jazz. This is often embodied in playing "out" and returning to "in," as in moving the lead line out of the predominant key and resolving back in key. Clever resolution of tension-filled passages and note progresssions that move in-out-in key is often what people are hearing when they say a single line part sounds "jazzy."