Are you stuck trying to memorize 1000s of chords without knowing how to use them?

Instead of wasting hours just staring at pages of chord diagrams, I discovered a method to get a lot more out of the jazz chords you already know. It is so easy it almost feels illegal.

So in this video, I’m going to show you that method, the 2 positions you want to focus on for chords, and how it makes it easy to expand the chords you already know,  add fills to them,and move around the neck while comping.

Jazz Chord Prison

When I was starting out with jazz, I learned a few basic voicings like these:

And they work. You can play through a song with them. But when I listened to Joe Pass, there was a lot more going on:

But the two are actually closely connected. The chords in second example are simple versions of the basic chords in the first example. That’s why you can do so much more with them.

That is also how Joe Pass approaches things, making it practical as he says here:

“I don’t believe in playing anything that’s real hard if it’s real hard forget it uh uh because it takes you so long to finger something like that that by the time you get it you can’t do anything else”

Let me show you how that works.

Jazz Chord Breakout

I sort of discovered this by accident.

First, I tried to play melodies by changing the chords I was playing, but that was difficult and really felt like hard work:

Then I realized I didn’t need the root all the time.

I played the complete voicing at the beginning of the bar and just left out the root.

The chords moved more smoothly, they were easier to play, and I had a finger free to add a melody on top.

Check out how that sounds, and then I’ll break down how it works:

The concept is simple, I’ll start with one position and add the other one later. Instead of playing the full chord every time, leave out the bass note and add a melody note instead.

For Am7 you get this:

You still hear the Am7. The 3rd and the 7th are what give the chord its sound, and in a band the bass player has the root covered anyway.

Now go through the notes you can put on top:

I left out the F# because it doesn’t really work that well for the II V I. look at these as the same Am7 with a different melody note, not as a row of new chords to memorize.

You can also take away some notes and get a few more variations:

And then you can combine those with the other ones that you had

If you do this with the D7, adding a b9, #9 and b13, you get this:

Notice that I am not really thinking in a scale here.

I found these notes by listening for what sounded good as a chord and what I could actually use when playing.

The same approach for the Gmaj7 gives you this set of chords:

This is still one position, but you can already play stuff like this:

If you want to work through the examples and exercises at your own pace, without trying to memorize them off the video, download the free PDF I made with all the examples. The link is in the description.

This also opened up the fretboard for me, but only after I started looking at these chords a different way.

Let’s get into that.

The Triad Trick

Once I started seeing the rootless chords inside the basic voicings, I could play the II V I like this:

What I realized was that two of those chords are triads:

This is a C major triad. For now, we’ll ignore the D7, but the Gmaj7 voicing is a Bm triad.

So if you use a C major triad as a rootless Am7 chord, you have 3 places you can play an Am7, just using the inversions:

And the same goes for Gmaj7 with the Bm triad inversions:

Now for that D7. Look at what happens going from Am7 to D7 with the rootless chords:

The only thing that changes is that the G moves down to an F#.

And of course you can do the same for the next inversion, find the G move it down and play the Bm triad for the Gmaj7.

A complete II V I:

And it works in the third one:

as well:

So the triads give you a full II V I in three places on the neck, from two triads and one note that moves down a fret.

If you want to get better at jazz guitar and jazz chords, and you like videos like this one, then subscribe to the channel. I publish new videos every week.

This gets even more useful once you combine it with the other common position for basic voicings.

Let’s take a look at that.

The Other Set Of Chords

The other set of chords you can treat the same as the first set, but the result is a little different.

I am sure you know these:

And without the root, that becomes this:

Notice that these aren’t triads like the first set. There are more extensions in the voicings, so you get something else.

But these work the same way — you can easily expand them and add other melody notes, just like the previous set.

For the Am7:

And a practical set for the D7. Here I change a few things to keep the grips easy — that’s the Joe Pass idea from earlier.

Finally, the Gmaj7 has these variations:

And now you have the freedom in this position to play something like this:

If you want my help adding rhythm and melody to your jazz chords like this, check out my Jazz Chord Craftsmanship course. You’ll be able to lock in with the groove and comp through a song, turning the chord symbols into music. The link is in the description.

Now that we have two main positions, let me show you how to play phrases that move across the neck using triads to connect the two chord positions.

Connect The Fretboard

A single triad voicing connects the two positions already in one phrase. Let me show you:

If you start higher on the neck you can move down like this:

As you can see the melody moves down using the C major triad on beat 4:

Full voicings, two rootless, and the triad moving down to D7 chord.

What really makes this work is the melody. If the top line makes sense across the chords, then the voice leading takes care of itself.

You’re not moving voicings around and hoping they connect — you’re playing a melody and letting the chords follow it.

And you can use the same triad to move up from the low position to the high one:

Leave out the root

Find the triads inside

Let the melody connect them

Don’t forget the free PDF with all the examples from the video, including the phrases from this last part. It’s the easiest way to get these voicings and techniques into your playing. The link is in the description.

You don’t need bigger chords or more diagrams. Instead, leave the root out of the basic voicings you already know, so you have room to add a melody and learn variations of the chord.

Use the triads inside those voicings to connect the positions, so you can move a phrase across the neck without thinking about voice leading.

That’s how chord playing becomes melody and phrases, not just chord symbols and correct notes.

Use It In Chord Melody

One of the most fun things to play is chord melody. You take a song and play it on the guitar like you’re a whole orchestra. And it’s built on exactly what you just learned — a chord with a melody on top.

So check out my chord melody lesson on Autumn Leaves next. It’s a great way to put this to use on a full song.

Learn Jazz Make Music

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