With its complex harmonies and swing feel, jazz is one of the most difficult languages to master on the acoustic guitar. The lessons here cover everything from the very basics of jazz to chord-melody style arranging to note-for-note Eddie Lang and Django Reinhardt transcriptions.
The Captivating Harlem Swing Rhythms of Freddie Green, John Trueheart, Bernard Addison, Morris White, and Al Casey
Freddie Green is synonymous with swing guitar. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1911, Green enjoyed a 50-year career holding down the rhythm chair of Count Basie’s famed big band.
Video Lesson: How to Visualize and Play Chords Up the Neck
In this guitar lesson we will focus on how to play chords “up the neck” in order to learn to play a chord-melody.
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Swing Lesson: Learn to Play Rhythm Guitar Like Freddie Green
In this guitar lesson, learn to play swing rhythm guitar like Freddie Green, the guitarist in the Count Basie band for 50 years.
Video Lesson: Turn Any Song into a Chord-Melody Solo
Try this approach to make a chord-melody version of Django Reinhardt’s iconic interpretation of “I’ll See You in My Dreams.”
Major Swing: Django Reinhardt, His Disciples, and Their Hot Brand of Acoustic Jazz Guitar
Created by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, Jazz Manouche (aka Gypsy jazz) is a vibrant, acoustic blend of classical, Gypsy, dance music, and American jazz
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Acoustic Jazz Guitar Lesson: An Easy Introduction to Swing Leads
Interested in playing swing guitar leads but don't know how to get started? Here I'll show how get the most mileage out of just a few notes—while getting a great workout on the fretboard.
Learn Chord-Melody Techniques from Jazz Guitarist Eddie Lang
Here are some ideas from jazz great Eddie Lang for some new chord melody techniques and textures on guitar, applied to the verse of the old standard “After You’ve Gone.”
Weekly Workout: Add Jazzy Walking Bass Lines to Your Accompaniments
Learn how to play walking bass lines with chords—a cool approach to have up your sleeve, no matter what style you play.
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The Blues in Jazz: Using the Classic 12-Bar Form to Learn Bebop Improv
Explore comping and soloing strategies over a standard 12-bar jazz blues progression, as well as chord substitutions and variations.
Learn Eddie Lang’s Jazz Guitar Interpretation of a Rachmaninoff Prelude
Eddie Lang's jazz guitar interpretation of Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C-Sharp Minor keeps the dark and brooding atmosphere of the original piano piece.
Guitar Lesson: Western Swing Rhythm Essentials
Learn the rhythm guitar techniques used in Western Swing music in this video lesson.
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How to Hold Down the Harmony on Guitar in Tricky Chord-Melody Arrangements
When playing chord-melody style guitar, sometimes you're not sure which chord to use when the melody isn’t a chord tone or moves too quickly. Here's the solution.
Learn a Gypsy Jazz Masterpiece: Django Reinhardt’s Arrangement of “Tea for Two”
One should focus on Reinhardt’s total control of harmony, the sophisticated ways in which he moves the chords’ inner and outer voices
Video Lesson: Learn to Fill the Gaps in Any Chord-Melody Guitar Arrangement
Learn to use tremolo picking on long notes and passing chords over multiple measures of rest to fill space in any chord-melody guitar arrangement.
Video Lesson: Chord-Melody Made Easy(ish) on Acoustic Guitar
Knowing inversions is essential to understanding chord-melody, as it assures that you will have an appropriate voicing to place below the melody.
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Gypsy-Jazz Guitar Lesson: Learn the La Pompe Manouche Style in 6 Easy Steps
The importance of a solid rhythmic foundation is at the heart of Gypsy-jazz guitar. Here's a systematic guide to learning the ins and outs of la pompe manouch.
How to Use Guide Tone Voicings in Fingerstyle Jazz
How to Use Guide Tone Voicings in Fingerstyle Jazz guitar lesson music notation
Guide Tone Voicings
Guide tones are simply the third and seventh notes of a chord (sometimes the third and sixth if the chord is a simple triad or sixth chord). Guide-tone voicings have long been popular with jazz musicians, including guitarists Grant Green, Jim Hall, and pianist Red Garland. Thelonious Monk often used guide tone voicings…
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Woodshed: Learn Oscar Alemán’s ‘You Made Me Love You’
Oscar Alemán had an impeccable sense of swing and played with exciting rhythmic punctuations, a horn-like attack, and sharp attention to detail.
Video Lesson: A Jazzy Arrangement of ‘America the Beautiful’
As with learning anything new, when tackling this jazzy arrangement of 'America the Beautiful,' take it slowly and work on getting a beautiful tone in both hands.
Video Lesson: 8 Picking Tips to Improve Your Tone By Gypsy Jazz Whiz Paul Mehling
THE PROBLEM You’re dissatisfied with the tone and volume of your playing and want to get closer to what you hear from other players. THE SOLUTION The development of tone begins with your pick hand and how the pick strikes the strings. Additionally, the pick-hand techniques offered here will yield…
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Video Lesson: Five Jazz Masters on Rhythm Changes
When George and Ira Gershwin first wrote “I Got Rhythm” for the 1930 musical Girl Crazy, they couldn’t possibly have imagined the effect that this catchy song would have on American popular music. It soon became not just one of the most celebrated tunes in the Great American Songbook, the…
7-Minute Jazz Guitar Lesson: Horizontal Approaches
A great way to break out of old scale and arpeggio patterns is by tackling one string at a time
Video Lesson: All About the Essential ii–V Chord Progression
Given the guitar’s well-established role as an accompaniment instrument, it behooves acoustic players to learn a lot about chords. Backing up your own singing or someone else’s means you’ve probably recognized familiar chord progressions that occur throughout popular music. As you add songs to your repertoire, you’ll likely notice that…
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‘Rose Room’ — Learn a Swing-Jazz Evergreen and a Charlie Christian Solo
In 1917, the pianist and drummer Art Hickman penned the song “Rose Room,” named after the ballroom in the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, where at the time he was leading a band. Jazz aficionados know the 32-bar song through Duke Ellington’s seminal 1932 recording, and also as the…