Jazz Guitar
- Thread starter Daniel Leo
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You can always skip around a bit. Hit up some of the more exotic scales like Harmonic and Melodic minor. Those lessons contain some cool chords and progressions to get ya goin. I wouldn’t worry about the scales so much unless you think it won’t overload your brain while working on the Major and Pentatonic scales.
What Syn mentioned about using chord progressions to get started is a really good idea. Learning how to navigate chords not just from moment to moment (This chord. *Play* Next Chord **move hand up a few frets** *Play* Ect…) but using each note in a chord as line between different harmony, for me at least, was what got it all moving. Jazz is equal parts melody and rhythm, but as much so (and often excluded) harmony.
Play some 2-5-1 chords in major & minor – Am D7 G & Am D7 Gm, respectively. Get your ear used to that and then work on more difficult voicings, e.g. Am7 D9 GMaj7 & Am7b5 D7b9 Gm9. As you play through the chords, look at one string at a time and see what note changes are being made. Some notes stay the same – some change. These are notes you can use when you solo – in addition to the obvious G major & minor scales that play over these changes.
I’m sure Tristan can add a lot more to this in terms of movement and harmony!
I’m sure Tristan can add a lot more to this in terms of movement and harmony!
Whoaaaahhhh It’s been a month since I got back you on this! Syn mentioned I should elaborate on my point, and I tried filming a video essay about it a few times and ended up all rambly and useless…. SO… I’ll just do that in writing.
Here’s a really good exercise to get into your ears and your mind. It isn’t a DIFFERENT exercise, but something you can add to what you already do. If you have a loop station, perfect. If you have a piano, perfect. If you have a keyboard and logic (or whatever it is) perfect. If you have a friend who plays guitar, EVEN MORE perfect. When you go to practice your scales, don’t just play the notes up and down. First, play the CHORD that goes WITH the scale: AKA: record yourself vamping with a loop station or logic, or play it on your piano (and hold the pedal down), or have your friend vamp with you. Then play your scales very slowly and listen to what every note sounds like with your chord. ALL the notes are important, that’s why they’re all there!
Then try different scales for the same chord. Play a major chord. From the root, play the ionian (natural major), Mixolydian, and Lydian modes. Spend a LONG time on each one, as if you were practicing the scale in itself, but against the chord. Play a minor chord, practice your dorian, Aeolian (natural minor), Phrygian, Harmonic and Melodic minor. Not all at once! but spend a LONG time on EACH one.
I’m not saying practice all your scales and be able to shred them, and I’m far from saying go sit on a mountaintop and levitate, I’m saying Practice your scales. Practice your arpeggios. Practice playing the chords. But don’t do these things in a vacuum of scales OR arpeggios OR chords, think of all these things as being connected together. That intersection is where music starts to take hold.
If you go to my riffs I have a video of me playing some solo jazz guitar. It’s not really the melody on its own, and it’s not just the chords, it’s that every note in the chord, including the melody, is creating the sound. The melody in the beginning is a part of the chords that go beneath them. Think of this idea. Not just “I can play this scale on this chord” but play your single notes as if they are parts of chords below them. You just have to think about the individual notes you play in this way.
ANYWAY Daniel. I hope you see this and I hope it helps you. If it doesn’t, that’s totally cool as well! I hope you can teach me something soon as well! Take care!
Here’s a really good exercise to get into your ears and your mind. It isn’t a DIFFERENT exercise, but something you can add to what you already do. If you have a loop station, perfect. If you have a piano, perfect. If you have a keyboard and logic (or whatever it is) perfect. If you have a friend who plays guitar, EVEN MORE perfect. When you go to practice your scales, don’t just play the notes up and down. First, play the CHORD that goes WITH the scale: AKA: record yourself vamping with a loop station or logic, or play it on your piano (and hold the pedal down), or have your friend vamp with you. Then play your scales very slowly and listen to what every note sounds like with your chord. ALL the notes are important, that’s why they’re all there!
Then try different scales for the same chord. Play a major chord. From the root, play the ionian (natural major), Mixolydian, and Lydian modes. Spend a LONG time on each one, as if you were practicing the scale in itself, but against the chord. Play a minor chord, practice your dorian, Aeolian (natural minor), Phrygian, Harmonic and Melodic minor. Not all at once! but spend a LONG time on EACH one.
I’m not saying practice all your scales and be able to shred them, and I’m far from saying go sit on a mountaintop and levitate, I’m saying Practice your scales. Practice your arpeggios. Practice playing the chords. But don’t do these things in a vacuum of scales OR arpeggios OR chords, think of all these things as being connected together. That intersection is where music starts to take hold.
If you go to my riffs I have a video of me playing some solo jazz guitar. It’s not really the melody on its own, and it’s not just the chords, it’s that every note in the chord, including the melody, is creating the sound. The melody in the beginning is a part of the chords that go beneath them. Think of this idea. Not just “I can play this scale on this chord” but play your single notes as if they are parts of chords below them. You just have to think about the individual notes you play in this way.
ANYWAY Daniel. I hope you see this and I hope it helps you. If it doesn’t, that’s totally cool as well! I hope you can teach me something soon as well! Take care!
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