Jazz Guitar with Martin Taylor: 2-5-1 Progression

In this sample lesson. Martin introduces you to the 2-5-1 progression, which is very important for jazz guitarists.

[makelyaabaisa]

This man is what i call the best teacher! He calm and relax! Thank you! Love from Amsterdam👊❤

[francescomanfredi]

A perfect lesson not only for guitar players and not only for jazz musicians, this simple approach and these chords are the basics of any improvisation, I love triads!

[shanehen]

Learn to start and/or end your lines of the 3rd and 7th of each chord and you’ll make huge leaps in your jazz playing. Ignore the root—or use it sparingly.

[BixLives]

Indeed. If you want to be a serious player who can fall in with any combo, you MUST take instruction, learn to read and KNOW every note on the fret board without thinking.
I prefer the older rhythm styles (e.g., Freddy Green, Dick McDonough, Fred Guy, Eddie Lang, Carl Kress, Billy Bauer, Dave Barbour, etc. —BTW: Django was one of the best RHYTHM players in Jazz History.
The reason that more good players do not play classic Jazz technique is because, they seldom are afforded the opportunity to observe such a player, as such players are now a tad thin on the ground.
After playing with a successful pop band for many years, I has long since stopped listening to the type of music I was playing. Instead of listening to my colleague's work, when I got home, I listened to older Jazz. In general, I listened to Jazz made prior to 1950 as the classic swing, 4 piece rhythm section began to disappear, —particularly in the small combos. This was due to economics. E.g., When Fred Guy retired, Ellington could not afford to replace him; thus, never again would we groove to a 4 piece Ellington rhythm section.
I spent much time trying to divine the techniques of the great 1930s and 40s players from my old 78 RPM sides. I soon realised that my slow pace of learning would never allow me to play as I wanted.
I live in Manhattan, thus I discovered the great Richard Lieberson. Richard agreed to become my teacher, and, for the next 4+ years, Richard turned around over 25 years of bad technique, as well as teaching me theory and to how to read.
Richard has since passed away, but when I see my hands moving on a fret board, I see Richard's hands. I would never have learned to sound or play as I do without Richard Lieberson.
Players like Richard never die. They pass on their knowledge to new players. i can now listen to a Dick McDonough record and correctly learn the guitar part quickly, without sheet music. My writing is far improved and I can play with the majority of musicians.

Find a teacher who can play the music you want to play, reads well and knows theory. The longer you put this off, the lesser player you will be.
If 1-4-5 folk and other Pop forms are what you seek, then you should NOT need a teacher., —A fair ear and modest talent are sufficient for music other than Jazz and Classical.

[betterthantelly]

Warning- do not underestimate how ridiculous this guy is on the guitar if youve just found him. Total master.

[Noodlerification]

I liked it when he used the 3rd and major 7th notes as targets. Sounded like real jazz melodies use that.

[ladjazzz]

Excellenté... I skip the 2 and play 5.1 because 2 is combined in 5 if that makes sense...

[DjangobeatTV]

I'm gonna be annoying here. A 2-5-1 is not a turnaround.

They feature in lots of places in jazz tunes. The 2-5-1 is just a three chord progression and jazz tunes are made of other mini progressions.