I am going to be taking some lessons in jazz/fusion guitar. I am really looking forward to it. I have always attempted to just learn other peoples material (Di Meola, Metheny), but struggle a bit with jazz guitar. My lessons won't be starting for about a month due to the teacher being tied up in a project. I created this thread because I have been trying to find a decent free site with some jazz chords/scales that would be good to know going into this course. I find little here and there, but nothing covering all the basics of jazz guitar. Does anyone know of a site like this? Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.
I don,t but the lessons will be huge compared to what you can lern by visiting websites. I think a good aproach for now is to just spend time finding as many ways to play inversions and open voicings of the main seventh chords. They have four notes, you have four fingers. Spend time figuring out all the ways you can play them, without falling back on existing knowledge of shape like barre chords... Try to piece each chord voicing together as you go along. You will definitely encounter melodic minor, so get that one in your head. Many different chords too... But it is less about certain chords and scales and more about knowing how to respond to different harmonic/chord ideas that are frequently changing. Tomorrow i will post a couple youtube backing tracks that are good for practicing fairly basic key changes. If you use a mac, ipad or iphone grab iReal b, and start memorizing chordncharts and learning to plsy those chords, plus improvise with them. But constructing a whole approach takes time and the instructor will help more than anything.
Thanks man. Yea, after making this thread I found a site that covered major, minor, diminished and dominant jazz chords. Man, some of these are fucking insane to switch from one to the other.
Lessons: http://chopsfactory.com/index.html http://www.mattwarnockguitar.com/ Transcriptions: http://www.stevekhan.com/korner1.htm http://www.poparad.com/learn.php This guy's a pianist, but I feel like he's saying some pretty important shit:
A style I like that includes lots of the other extended chords, like 6 and 13 chords is the Brazilian stuff typically played on classical guitar. Anyway, check this out... It's good for practicing a really easy change over and over. You can break it down and play the appropriate scale over each chord, but the best thing is if you let your ear pick the notes for you. Go for simple melodic phrases and just try to feel your way back and forth.
First thing is first, Listen to more jazz. Not just fusion. Don't try to start with fusion if you can't already play Jazz.
Care to suggest some listening for me? Right now I listen to a lot of Frank Zappa, Al Di Meola, Peter White, Pat Metheny, Bela Fleck, Jeff Beck, Wayne Krantz and Scofield. Been listening to a lot of Alex Skolnick Trio and OHMphrey now as well. I realize that is pretty much all fusion for the most part.
This channel has a lot of progressions... the BTs are really repetitive and rarely have more than 4 chords, but still good for working on improvisation. http://www.youtube.com/user/SpeedPickers Some kind of ear training is important too... ideally it's not about memorizing the chord chart and what scales you want to use where, but rather being able to hear a chord and naturally go for the notes you want without even making it that much of a conscious thing like "Oh... G7, ok... G Mixolydian or Lydian Dominant!" I think it won't hurt to include some Miles Davis, Billy Cobham, Weather Report, John Scofield etc. even those are still fusion bands. Plus Davis' jazz stuff. There is so much jazz that a collection won't hurt to have. But for some names (and I have a very shallow knowledge of jazz) there's Coltrane, Mingus, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Wes Montgomery (very influential guitar player), Charlie Chirstian, Stan Gets, Kenny Burrell, Joe Pass, Pat Martino...
Check out a couple of Keith Jarrett albums, Fort Yawuh and Treasure Island. This'll give you a good idea of what you're in for:
Start by listening to swing from the 30 & 40s. Then bop, then cool jazz, then hard bop, then start thinking about the fusion. A lot of the bs-fusion you hear now is just giving you a false impression of jazz idioms & watered down soloing approaches. Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Monk, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Charlie Christian, listen to some of those dudes.
Learn the big band chords and their inversions, then move on to whatever else your heart desires. Listen to the Count Basie Orchestra. Also listen to Bill Evans.
