Learn how to play Jazz Guitar the right way. Learning to play in this style can be a challenge and you really need to do it the right way.
Do you like the jazz genre? Do you intend to learn this style of music?
If yes, then these tips will come in handy.
Remember that Jazz guitar is one of the difficult styles to play on guitars. It can be quite demanding and requires you to be good in technique when playing it.
How to Play Jazz Guitar – Prerequisites
Well, jazz guitar is not exactly for beginners. You need to have a few months of lessons, understanding of scales and chords, before you decide to take up this style of music.
So you should already know to play the guitar well (chords, scales, songs, etc.).
Remember, jazz uses much more sophisticated (complex) melodies and harmonies than what you hear in most popular music. You need to have developed ear to be able to hear and comprehend these harmonies. So spend time develop your ears.
Substitutions are chords used in jazz guitar that you use in place of straight chords. There are several chord substitutions you can make, and it takes years of playing jazz to understand which chords can substitute where.
Jazz Guitar Licks: How to Incorporate in Your Playing
Learning to play jazz guitar licks is essential for students of jazz as it helps increase fretboard knowledge and understand the minds of the greatest improvisers in jazz history.
Jazz guitar licks are short musical phrases used to outline popular chord progressions.
Jazz guitar licks are known by many names – riffs, licks, lines, phrases, motives, and motifs, just to name a few.
How to Practice Easy Jazz Licks
Here’s how to practice jazz licks:
- Practice the lick at various tempos with a metronome
- Learn the lick in other keys around the fretboard
- Solo over a backing track and use the lick when & where appropriate
- You can personalize the lick by changing the rhythms, adding notes, and taking notes away
- Write a lick or two of your own over the same chords
50 Jazz Guitar Licks You Must Know by Guitarist Frank Vignola
Guitar Lab’s [easyazon_link identifier=”B00I0XJWOE” locale=”US” tag=”keytarhq04-20″ cart=”n”]50 Jazz Guitar Licks[/easyazon_link] You MUST Know! This DVD will teach you some of the most essential and commonly used phrases and licks used in jazz guitar.
Jazz master Frank Vignola presents his hand-picked collection of 50 jazz guitar licks you MUST know, all of them integral elements of the jazz guitar vocabulary for developing motifs and fueling original improvisations.
How to Play Jazz Guitar – 4 Things to Do Right Away
Several of the mainstays of jazz can seem completely foreign to guitarists who started learning classical, rock and metal (these require a totally different chord and scale repertoire.) The good thing is that jazz guitar is easier to learn once you understand the basics of music theory and the techniques used in jazz music.
To become a good jazz guitarist, you need to do the following things:
- Get Good at Comping
Learn to accompany by playing chords (basic chords are okay to begin with). Keep on adding new bag of tricks to your comping skills. - Solo on Standard Progressions
Start small, and keep improving your jazz guitar soloing. You’ll have to solo a lot to discover your true musical voice. - Refine Your Harmonic Skills
Create better performances by starting with the standard progressions and using varied chord progressions/substitutions. - Increase Your Repertoire
Always add to your repertoire; keep on learning new songs (learn melody first, then the chords.)
Right Approach
Here’s what you need to know to learn how to play jazz guitars.
Get a Jazz Guitar
You will first need a good quality jazz guitar. There are plenty of places from where you can buy.
You could buy a basic one as you would be learning on it, or you may go in for an expensive one if you are serious and intend to keep it for a few years.
Just make sure you buy a decent quality one.
Learning Resources
You can definitely find resources online, but it is best to get a method book that focuses on jazz in particular.
Don’t forget to go through online videos, and do listen to lots of jazz music and try to mimic the kind of music they produce.
You also need to train your ears as it helps to listen better, and make adjustments in case something is wrong when playing the tune.
Jazz Teacher
You can always try learning on your own, but if you think that the progress is really slow, and you are struggling with certain concepts, you can go in for a Jazz teacher.
You can definitely learn a lot faster from the expertise of an experienced teacher.
This is the best approach to take in case you want to know how to Play Jazz Guitar.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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