Of course, you want to play the guitar and be completely free to find whatever lick or melody wherever you are playing on the neck. That is the goal of knowing the fretboard.
And you need to have a solid overview so that you can use it while you improvising. In this video, I am going to show you a strategy and some of the best exercises to develop that.
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It is probably mostly a problem you are teaching yourself but organizing your Jazz Practice and getting the right things in there is something that is often going wrong. At the same time, this is so incredibly easy to avoid and all you need to do is take a step back and look at what you are trying to learn without getting lost in the details.
I say it all the time: Learn Jazz, Make Music but for you to make music you need to focus on learning some pieces to make music with and that is very often not on the list when people start practicing and studying Jazz.
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If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.
Bebop is a beautiful but difficult musical language to learn.
Bebop is a beautiful but difficult musical language to learn.
Sometimes it works better to hear how the phrases sound and try to play them. This way you get a feel for how you should phrase them, and add to your bebop soloing techniques.
This started as a lesson on how arpeggios are used in bebop but then I got really into the licks and liked them so much that I ended up just making a lot of really solid traditional bebop lines.
You should check out the licks but also try to isolate small phrases and make your own licks with them. That is how it really becomes a part of your vocabulary.
1 Inserting 2nd voice and using trills
In the example below I am using two voices in the Dm7 line. The 1st voice is on beats 1 and 3 and in between are the counter-point melodies. This way of adding extra melodies is a great way to add surprising skips and have short changes of direction in the lines
2 Using a chromatic enclosure to resolve
Chromatic enclosures are a great way to create suspensions and movement in a line. In this line, the Dm7 line is first suspending the F with a 4-note enclosure. I am also using chromaticism to move from the G7 to Cmaj7.
3 Adding Arpeggios in Scale-runs
Inserting arpeggios in scale melodies is a good way to change things up. This is what is happening with the Am triad on the Dm7 chord.
The G7 line is using a G augmented mixing it up with an Abm triad.
4 Arpeggio Patterns to get large intervals
Using Arpeggios played in inversions and patterns is a great way to have melodies that are closely related to the harmony and add larger, more surprising, intervals.
On the Dm7 I am using a 1531 pattern of the F major triad. The triad of the 3rd. The G7 line has a Bdim arpeggio, again the arpeggio from the 3rd.
5 Voice-leading ideas as great bebop lines.
Many great bop lines are made from voice-leading concepts. This example is turning a Dm7 – DmMaj7, Dm7 Dm6 into a great super-imposed bop line.
Notice how the Dm to DmMaj7 uses basic arpeggios and introduces a large range.
6 2-note enclosure and motivic chromaticism
The line on the Dm7 is starting with a 2-note enclosure. The G7 line is using the G augmented triad and adding octave-displacement.
The last half of the G7 bar is a chromatic phrase that is moved and repeated on the Cmaj7 to develop the melody.
7 Moving phrases on the G7 chord
Another way to move phrases is illustrated on the G7 line in this example. The motif uses a maj7th interval that really makes it stand out.
8 Chromaticism and Maj7 inversions
Chromaticism as a means to suspend the sound of the chord is a good way to keep the line moving forward and also a way to add an outside phrase to a line.
The line below opens with a double-chromatic enclosure resolving back into the chord on beat 3.
9 Extended arpeggios in Bebop Soloing
Using 9th arpeggios is also a good option for bebop lines. The line here below is using a DM9 arpeggio and playing the last part of it as an 8th-note triplet.
The G7 line is using a Bdim arpeggio and breaking up the 8ht note flow with a trill.
10 Triplet and embellishing dim arpeggios
The Dm7 line is using the Fmaj7 arpeggio, again the arpeggio from the 3rd of the chord. This time it is played as an 8th note triplet.
The entire line on the G7 is based around a pattern of a B (or Abdim) that is embellished with passing notes and played in an inversion.
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How Do you play chord solos? It is something we hear people do all the time on our favorite records by Wes, Joe Pass or George Benson. But it does seem really complicated to do.
In this video, I am going to give you an example of an Easy Chord solo and then I am going to talk about how you can practice making your own solos. Another thing that you don’t want to miss is how working on this type of playing is something that can really boost your single-note solos.
Easy Chord Solo on Lady Bird
Exercises to Practice the chords in a melodic way
Some ideas on how to come up with melodies with them
The Chord Solo Transcription
First let’s check out the chord solo:
An important part of any solo is to play strong melodic ideas. If you listen to or play the chord solo you can hear several strong concepts being used in it.
Exercises for Chord Solos and Melody
When you improvise with chords then you can’t think about the voicings you play. You need to practice playing melodies and have the voicings ready. The way you learn to play melodies is by practicing doing that, but also by working on harmonized scales.
If you want to play this :
When you make exercises like this then keep in mind that you should use the voicings that fit for you. There are a lot of options available. A few alternative solutions are shown below:
Harmonizing a scale with Fm7 and Bb7 chords
To give you some more insight into the process here are the harmonizations of the Eb major scale using the Fm7 and Bb7 chords.
The Fm7 is pretty similar to the Cmaj7 example:
Above the Fm13 is a little tricky, but in this case, it is possible to harmonize that with an Fm chord.
On the Bb7 I am harmonizing the chords with the melody notes on the B string.
I do this with 3 note voicings because that makes it easier to combine these with 4-note voicings and make melodies that move across two strings.
A few thoughts on Melodic Structure
The solo is played thinking mostly of the melody I play. That is the best way to approach this way of playing in my experience.
If you listen to the first two bars you can hear a motif that is repeated and developed in bars 3 and 4.
The original motif is repeated in bars 5 and 6 and given a conclusion in bars 6 and 7.
Notice how the melodies are simple and step-wise. They also rely much more on rhythm than complex interval movements etc. This is, of course, a practical thing, but also an important part of why you want to play melodies like this and what you want to aim for.
Listen to Wes Montgomery for this type of melodic approach. Both with chords and single-note lines.
Repetition is also an important way to generate melodies. The Abmaj7 melody below demonstrates that quite clearly.
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We mostly think about jazz chord inversions when it comes to types of chords like Drop2 and triads, but there is a lot more to discover when it comes to using inversion to create beautiful jazz chords.
In this lesson, I am going to start with a Dm7(9) voicing that you are probably already familiar with and then use that and a little voice-leading to create some great voicings and make inversions of entire chord progressions.
Later in the lesson, I will also show you a few great “guitaristic” tricks that are easy to play but sound incredible.
A great Dm7(9) voicing
You probably know this great Dm7(9) voicing and maybe you also use the rootless version.
But from this rootless 3-note chord you can make beautiful voicings like this with inversions:
Putting inversions to use on a progression, not just a chord
If I took the first one and played a II V I in C then that could be this: II V I in C
Since it is only 3 notes you can easily look at how the voices move: F, F, E, E, Eb, D and C, B, B Working through a few progressions like this is incredible for your fretboard knowledge and understanding of chords and voice-leading, even if you don’t use these voicings that in itself is a great exercise.
If you do this in the other postions you get this:
Inversions of Shell-voicings
If you try the same with a Shell-voicing like for example Cmaj7. Below is first the shell-voicing and then the two inversions.
Creating and inverting a II V I for the shell-voicing
Now we can construct a II V I with the shell-voicing and make inversions of these chord sets.
First the basic II V I:
And the inversions we can create from this set of chords:
A great trick with Shell-Voicings
A great way to create some moving voices when you use shell voicings is to move the outer voices in opposite directions.
In this case, that means moving the C, on the D string, up to a D and the B, on the B string, down to an A.
This is a pretty easy thing to play that also sounds great. The basic idea is shown below:
This works great with a lot of voicings. You could use that like this:
Or make a simpler variation like this one:
Another thing that these voicings can do really well is inner-voice movement that could be something like this.
And it also works in this place:
In the last one, it would be the melody which also sounds really good.
If you want to check out some more ideas then check out this video and learn some beautiful chord voicings and inner-voice ideas with 15 rootless II V I voicings.
You can also download the PDF of my examples here:
If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.
What makes a phrase sound like Jazz? Even if you know the chords and can play the right notes there is more to get it to sound like Jazz. This video is going to give you 3 examples of Bebop licks which really use some of the core elements of the jazz sound. I also give you some exercises so that you can get them into your playing and add them to your own solos.
The techniques and the licks
The topic of this lesson is jazz and bebop sounds so it makes more sense to also work with a moving chord progression like the II V I. But at the same time the techniques and exercises will work just as well on static chords, and you can easily convert them.
#1 Lick using Arpeggios and how to use them
The first example here is using arpeggios on the different chords of the II V I.
On the Dm7 the arpeggio from the chord is played with a C# chromatic leading note. On the G7 the melody is created from the arpeggio from the 3rd of the chord: Bø. Here I am adding a scale note between the F and the A.
When you improvise with arpeggios the melodies are created by mixing arpeggios and the scale that fits the chord.
Arpeggio from the 3rd and the Exercise
Something that I have discussed earlier is the concept of using the arpeggio from the 3rd of the chord.
The concept is really simple. Let’s look at a Dm7: D F A C.
You were to build a chord from the 3rd(F) then you would have an Fmaj7: F A C E. Obviously these two chords share a lot of notes and the Fmaj will sound great on the Dm7.
Using that logic we have two arpeggios per chords, the one from the root and the one from the 3rd:
Dm7 – Fmaj7
G7 – Bø
Cmaj7- Em7
Practicing these two arpeggios through the progression could be like this:
#2 Lick using Chromatic Leading notes (and an alteration)
Another very characteristic part of Jazz is the use of chromaticism. Chromatic leading notes and Chromatic enclosures .
This lick is using chromatic leading notes. The two places where they are used are both to lead to a chord tone, so the G# resolving to the 5th of Dm7 and the A# leading up to the B on G7.
Notice how the A# is used to transition to the G7 and in that way really drive the progression and the lick forward.
Practicing leading notes
A great way to work on this is to play through the arpeggios and then add a leading note to each chord tone. This is shown in the example below.
#3 Lick using 8th note triplets
Jazz and especially bop-oriented jazz consists of a lot of 8th note lines. An amazing way to add variation to 8th note lines is to use some 8th note triplets, and especially when playing arpeggios.
8th note triplet arpeggios move quickly over almost an octave range and nicely break up the 8th note flow.
The lick below is using a Dm7 arpeggio played as a triplet and with a chromatic leading note before the root.
Similar to the first exercise this can be used on the arpeggio from the root and equally well on the arpeggio from the 3rd of the chord. This is what the exercise below shows:
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Even if you have lessons you know that most of the time you need to teach yourself and make sure you are improving while you practice guitar. You need to make sure that are getting something out of how you practice and spend your time.
In this video, I am going to talk about how you can easily add something to your practice sessions that will help you evaluate your playing and give you an idea about whether you are progressing. I will also go over 3 things to keep in mind to get the most out of this way of working.
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The fact that you need to improve something in your playing is not the end of the world. In this jazz solo lesson, I am going to discuss how you are able to spot problems and realize that it needs work. Then you can start looking for a good strategy to fix issues and get you on the path to becoming a better Musician.
This Jazz Solo Lesson is a little philosophical and going over 3 very common problems that I come across with students and with my own playing. I also discuss some of the strategies that you can apply to help solve the problem.
Rhythm is the most important part of Jazz, and a big part of having good rhythm is your ability to play in time and feel time. Check out some solid exercises in this playlist:
The PDF with examples for this video is available through Patreon. You can check out my Patreon Page here: https://www.patreon.com/jenslarsen
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This is a question I get very often. And that is in no way strange. Starting to learn Jazz guitar is the beginning of a long journey with a lot of interesting stops along the way.
In this video and post, I will try to give you some places where you can look for the things you feel you need to check out and of course also what you think is interesting.
Learning Jazz, or any other style of music is not a set path the fits everybody. We all take different routes and need to work on different things longer or shorter. That is also the reason that there is no set way to go through this and why I am calling it suggestions. You need to figure out for yourself where to go next. If I have a student learning Jazz it is common that I take a few lessons to figure out what to work on and how to work on it, so expect that when you start working as well.
That said, I will try to make this a little less complicated and stop the information overload a little because I don’t think that is really necessary.
To keep it a bit short I am going to focus on three main topics:
Technique and Scales
Chords
Improvisation and Songs
Technique and Scales
Keep it simple. Start with the Major scale. Don’t overdo technique practice.
Start with one position and one key. You can add positions and keys along the way, with basic exercises.
Start with these exercises:
The Scale
The Scale in 3rds
The Diatonic 7th chords (Maybe Triads first, but many don’t have to)
For more information on what to do work on and how to use it:
It is practical to learn some jazz chords so that you can play chords on songs. As jazz guitarists, we spend more time comping than soloing. It is also a huge help to be able to hear the harmony that you are soloing over.
Especially I would start with a set of diatonic chords for the major scale which is exercise one or two of this lesson: How to play Jazz Chords on Guitar
From that material you can gradually expand chord vocabulary, learn songs and progress into rootless voicings and more complex comping and harmonization ideas.
Improvisation and Songs
This is the most important part of how to learn jazz guitar because this is where we talk about playing music. So it is about using the material that is practiced in the scales.
If you want to play jazz you need to spend time playing the songs and improvising and you should start doing this from the very beginning. Even if you can’t really play solos that sounds like jazz, just by trying you are building repertoire and skills to use later.
Maybe you already feel comfortable with the things I covered here, and you are looking for more challenges and explore the music further. Of course, you can browse the YouTube channel and my Website.
Another option is to join the 3000+ members of the Jazz Guitar Insiders Facebook group and ask there, get inspired by the posts and comments of others:
Or join me on Patreon where you can support and help shape the content on the channel in the future. Patreon is really what has made all these lessons and the channel possible. Check it out here: Jens Larsen YouTube Lessons on Patreon
When you play jazz you are improvising over chord progressions that move through different scales. And you need scale positions that you can connect and have an overview off in a way that makes it easy to improvise solos.
In this video, I am going to go over a basic way to practice and test your fretboard knowledge by taking progressions and use them to work on scale positions on the guitar neck. This will help you memorize the right information in the right context for when you want to improvise solos and will help you become freer when you play.
The 3 Levels
I am going to go over the exercises in 3 levels getting more and more difficult, but the exercises are essentially quite basic. This is about knowing essential chord progressions, scales, and arpeggios in a position and being able to improvise with them.
Working on this is not really something that belongs to every day practice for hours and hours, just go check this and find ways to work on this that also involve the repertoire you play.
2 Approaches
When you work on this type of exercise you can do this 2 ways: Staying in one position and going through all keys or choosing one key and going through all positions. Both are useful and you should try what works better for you.
Level 1 – 1 Position, Basic Scale and Chords
The idea is to work on knowing essential material for a position. If you improvise in G major, then the G major scale and the arpeggios for the basic cadence are essential to know. The same goes for the arpeggio from the 3rd of these chords.
For G major we have this scale position:
And the basic cadence is Am7 D7 Gmaj7.
These arpeggios are shown below:
And the arepggios from the 3rds of these chords would be
Am7: Cmaj7, D7: F#ø, Gmaj7 Bm7.
Once you know these arpeggios you should work on being able to make lines with them in this position on a II V I.
Two examples of this, one with the basic arps and one with the arpeggio from the 3rd are shown below:
Level 2 – Altered Dominant
A logical next step would be to alter the dominant, in this case D7.
Let’s first take a new position for G major:
And for the D7alt I am using an Ab7 and a Cø arpeggio.
Both are found in the D7 altered scale and contain the C and the F# really spelling out the D7 sound.
And the arpeggios from the 3rd (with Cø being the arpeggio from the 3rd of Ab7)
Improvising with these arpeggio sets could yield lines like these two:
Level 3 – Making it a complete Turnaround
The next thing to do is to add a secondary dominant for the II chord. This is one of the most common dominants to come across so it makes perfect sense to add this to the exercse.
First a new scale position:
For the E7alt I am doing the same thing as the D7alt which gives us a Bb7 and a Dø arpeggio.
And then the basic arpeggio positions:
The Arpeggio from the 3rd:
Get Your Changes Playing from Turnarounds to Giant Steps.
If you want to check out some more material on how to really nail changes and still play great lines then check out this lesson on using Target notes on Rhythm Changes:
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If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for topics then please let me know. Leave a comment on the video or send me an e-mail. That is the best way for me to improve my lessons and make them fit what you are searching for.
