Easy jazz...

Jazz-Lover

The principle I use to make normal songs jazz is:

On the different harmonies of a Key

Tritones:

I ii iii IV V vi vii
maj m m maj maj m dim

Expantion One:

I ii iii IV V vi vii
maj7 m7 m7 maj7 7 m7 7b5

Expantion Two:

I ii iii IV V vi vii
maj9 m9 m9 maj9 9 m9 9b5

Expantion Three:

I ii iii IV V vi vii
maj11 m11 m11 maj11 11 m11 11b5

Expantion Four:

I ii iii IV V vi vii
maj13 m13 m13 maj13 13 m13 13b5

Guy-Onraet

very cool place to start.
thanks for posting, keep em coming. ?

arjunmenon

Indeed.
Very nice post Jazzlover 8)

chris77

Will give it a try as soon as time permits. Thanks Jazz!

Jazz-Lover

Pleasure. Most important is that you understand the principle behind this. It's easier to understand on a piano... If you press the tritones on each harmony in C Major on a piano, you stay on the white notes. When you start to expand, you simply add another white note on top (starting with the seventh) with one white note in between. So you stay on the white notes / on the notes in the key of C. That is why some have major sevents and some have b7 in the chord structures.

Jazz-Lover

Some moveable shapes I often use:

For m7: E.g. F#m7 2X2222; Gm7 3X3333, etc. (bass pressed with middle finger and bottom 4 pressed with ring finger)

For 9: E.g. B9: X21222; C9: X32333, etc. (bass pressed with middle finger, then index finger, bottom 3 pressed with ring finger)

[See how seemless F#m7 in this way goes to B9]

For maj9: E.g. Dmaj9: X52222; Ebmaj9: X63333, etc.

For 13: E.g. A13: X02002; Bb13: X13113, etc. - often used on V (fifth harmony)

(read more here)

Does this make sense to you?

NorioDS

How about posting a video to show us how this fingering works and sounds ? Will help me a stack.

Jazz-Lover

Hi Norio. I wish I could. Maybe in the future, but things are too hectic at this stage.

By the way, interesting site (norio.co.za), not that I agree to everything though...

NorioDS

Thanks ? Haven't updated it in ages ;/

Keira-WitherKay

great post jazz lover .......

yeah what he's explaining it's basically barre chords for the jazz chords or lets just them the jazzier chords........ the root is ussually the note on the E or A string and then as you shift it up it's the m7/maj9/9 for whatever root note you playing........

actually as jazz guitarists progress they ussually play less notes not more......... to free other fingers up for improv......... so a maj 7 chord could be played with just 2 notes( which techinically makes it an interval not a chord ...since by definition a chord needs to be 3 notes minimum ...a triad ....) but a maj 7 would in full chord tones be I III V Vii but the jazz guitarist would only play the III (which is the note thats definining it's a maj chord......... a minor would be a bIII) and the next important note would be the VII (which defines it as a maj 7 and not a dominant 7th which be be a bVII)

yeah so try learn to play a song using just the 2 note intervals........ it allows space in the mix......... cos ussually if you play guitar in a jazz ensemble you will have a pianist and a bassist ... the bassist takes care of the root .......... so the guitarist needn't play the I note of the chord formula ...... and the pianist ussually plays harmonies so the V is ussually taken care of........... so just the III and VII would be the main ones to play to get the maj7 sound............and not make the ensemble sound too muddy with too many people playing too many of the same notes in unison .

then the guitarist has 2 other fingers free for improv or counter melody lines.......... watch martin taylor play he seldom chords more than 2 notes at a time......... and then plays bass lines and melody with the other fingers in his solo playing ..........

yeah love jazz keep it real

DonovanB

Keira WitherKay wrote: yeah so try learn to play a song using just the 2 note intervals........ it allows space in the mix......... cos ussually if you play guitar in a jazz ensemble you will have a pianist and a bassist ... the bassist takes care of the root .......... so the guitarist needn't play the I note of the chord formula ...... and the pianist ussually plays harmonies so the V is ussually taken care of........... so just the III and VII would be the main ones to play to get the maj7 sound............and not make the ensemble sound too muddy with too many people playing too many of the same notes in unison .

Then you get people who play solo jazz guitar and do all that on one guitar... I love it

Keira-WitherKay

damn right i love solo jazz guitar ......thats what i enjoy most .......... my favourite by far is martin taylor .......

Jazz-Lover

Excellent post, Keira. What you say makes total sense, especially in a band setup. By the way, the principle that not all the instruments should play the same notes in unison, is a general band princible that a band should try to adhere to: the more instruments, less is better. It also makes the band sound more crisp and defined.

What Donovan say is also true. It is also nice to hear all of it on one instrument: bass, chord, lead. It takes a lot of skill though.

evolucian

Martin Taylor is a genius. Anyone read his method book? Complete simplification, love it.

Anyone care to go into the progressions you'd explore with those big chords?

***Quick sidenote: Isn't the IV a #11?