The Biggest Misunderstanding About Jazz Chords And How To Quickly Fix It

The way you think about Jazz chords is most likely wrong, and that is because you have been taught to think about chords in the wrong way from probably the first guitar lesson you ever had. Joe Pass has some advice, and if you use that, then you can get VERY far!

3 Reasons You Will Regret Not Working On Chord Soloing

Joe Pass: The PERFECT Jazz Blues:

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Content:
00:00 Jazz Chord Problems
01:06 Making Jazz Chords Simple!
02:55 Adding Melody Not Extensions
04:47 Making Chords Into Music
05:52 Chromatic Chords - Melodic And Visual
07:18 It Is Already A Chord Solo!
08:21 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page!

My name is Jens Larsen, Danish Jazz Guitarist, and Educator. The videos on this channel will help you explore and enjoy Jazz. Some of it is how to play jazz guitar, but other videos are more on Music Theory like Jazz Chords or advice on how to practice and learn Jazz, on guitar or any other instrument.

The videos are mostly jazz guitar lessons, but also music theory, analysis of songs and videos on jazz guitars.

My Gear:

[affmusic]

I’ve been a professional jazz guitarist for 35+ years, have taught tons of guitarists, teach at a university, etc - and I want you to know that I have shared some of your videos with my students with the words “here is a very clear example of what I showed you”… thank you, you are a terrific resource, and you are appreciated.

[stevenshorkey]

If I had the light bulb moment I think I had, this is the jazz version of rock "power chords"= two note chords played on the 5th and 6th strings. Instead, you play the jazz two-note cord on the 3rd and 4th strings, and add your "color" with the 1st and 2nd strings. Amazing!! Love this.

[CyrilleBriegel]

Interesting video! I agree with this concept. But here's my 2 cents about this:
Any musicians should be able to understand that a C13 or C7b9 or C7#11 and so on is basically a C7.
Any extension added in a chord chart is just a guide for anyone not familiar with the tune to avoid playing notes that would clash with the melody. Or sometimes the melody would require a specific extension in a chord. There are so many ways of harmonizing a melody. For example, when I see a C9, it doesn't mean that I have to play the 9th in that chord. That just tell me that I might want to avoid playing a flat 9th.
When you see a chart with extensions on the chords, it just quickly helps to figure out the harmonic structure of a song (what scales the melody is based on, etc...). As I said, chord charts are just a guide. In the end, it's always the ear that decides what to play. When a chord chart is complete and accurate, it gives a better overview of the song's harmonic content. From this, it's up to the musicians to decide what to do with it

[zackguitar]

Despite earning a degree in jazz guitar and music education, I’ve struggled with chord solos because I used to see them as thousands of individual ideas rather than groupings. That screenshot of the fretboard with 2 bass strings, 2 chord strings, and 2 melody strings is one of the most profoundly simple and effective approaches I’ve ever seen. I love everything about your recent videos after discovering your channel from the Paul Davids collaboration. Well done!

[greenturbo]

You are a great teacher . I've actually learned a lot in the last 10 days from watching you videos.

[petergraham]

LOVE this!! Use the Bass Player - he or she is there for a reason!! I have to say, having started to think like this - as a BAND member, not a guitarist - a few years ago has simplified and improved my playing noticeably! I used to think like a solo pianist - I have to play EVERYTHING in EVERY song. Then I learned to hear my band, to listen to what they were doing, to realise that the audience hears an ENSEMBLE piece, nit individual instruments, so started to focus on what I NEEDED to do to add to my spectrum of sound, if you will, and using the bass player was the absolute core to this. It totally freed up my playing and I stopped all worries about barre chords and even my bass string notes, and learned simple chord inversions like this video, to minimise me jumping all over the neck, and to add the right colour to the song in the right place! It's not perfect by any means, and does tax my amateur brain 😂 but I LOVE the results so far! GREAT video Jens 😎

[timothydaniels]

Boy, did I ever need this lesson. I spend all my time fretting ( excuse the pun) about my fingers being too short. These more compact chords will help.

[robertjamesonmusic]

You are the best jazz teacher on YouTube!

[jorgtr]

8 concise minutes of good info, no filler. thank you for thinking more about music and not youtube.👏👏👏

[randallwimer]

I remember sitting down with a Joe Pass LP in 1975 and trying to figure out this cool sounding move he used on the IV chord in a Bb blues. Took me FOREVER, at least in my memory. The melody was just C, B, Bb with a chord on each note. After exhausting my recently acquired knowledge of "jazz chords" I stumbled on the actual line: the top 4 strings of an Eb13, 5th fret, moved the chord up a fret, released the 4th finger for an E9 and moving that back a fret to an Eb9. It was an excellent way to internalize the keep it simple principle. Thanks for the reminder and your extremely clear explanations.

[irawhitlock]

Pure gold. I hope they’re paying you well cause you are an excellent teacher. My comments on here always sounds like flattery but I’m really being sincere. Ty so much Jens. You’ve really enriched the musical lives of me and my kids.

[jack]

Musicians!
Pay very close attention! Larsen Is knocking it out of the park with this music lesson! Save the post ! This is the good stuff! 🎸😎👍

[fencore]

As the floyds said once, "the gold is in the" Jens Larsen's channel. THANK YOU !!!

[MrZootalores]

"get to the main sound of the chord, envision the chord without the bass strings"...a lot of good information here for all players even if they're not playing Jazz

[ericplummer]

Been playing bass in church for about the last 25 or so years, and put guitar (my 1st love way on the back burner). But this makes me want to pick up my strat and start learning diad and triad riffs!
Moocho thanks.

[sumtin]

You have been posting some amazing stuff recently as always, but recently there has a been consistent quality uploads with loads of jazz guitar wisdom and I would confidently say your the most reliable and seemingly caring jazz guitar teacher on all of the internet. It’s easy to tell that really want to help people learn without any ego.

[jessicasherman]

This is a wake up call!. Makes so much sense. Thanks.

[Idontknowhoiamanymore]

The information is gold, but I also really appreciate your video production edits. Thank you

[Tanauan]

This, and learning to organize the chord by bars, was what made learning jazz easier for me.

[peskyfervid]

It is important, when accompanying a singer, to be very careful about passing tones. As a singer, I've had keyboard players who were fond of their ability with passing tones drop them while my ear is trying to hear another tone. That's a bit like hitting a giant pothole in the road at high speed. It's also true that often the chord extension is really just the melody note added to a simpler chord. So you don't necessarily have to play that extension as long as the chord you play doesn't interfere with the singer. And one last thing; if you are accompanying yourself on guitar, as a solo performer, you do need that bass note in the chord (most of the time).