Joe Pass Dominant Chords
Joe Pass was a legendary player and a master of comping, chord melody, and chord soloing.
Since there’s a ton of dominant chord shapes out there, I’ve written out a few of my favorites that I’ve pulled from Joe’s playing over the years.
These are chord shapes that Joe comes back to time and again over 7th chords in concerts and on records.
By learning these chords, you remove the guesswork and jump right to the exact shapes Joe preferred to use in his playing.
Have fun learning these chords and adding them to your chord melodies, comping, and chord soloing over jazz standards.
Joe Pass Dominant Chords - Dom 7th
The first group of Joe Pass dominant chords are 7th chords, which contain some or all of the intervals 1-3-5-b7.
Notice that some of these shapes are variations of each other, such as the first two voicings.
As well, some contain the same interval structure but are on different string sets, such as the first and fifth chords below.
Knowing this allows you to alter your own voicings, creating multiple variations and moving them around the fretboard just like Joe.
Joe Pass Dominant Chords - Dom 9th
In the next set of Joe Pass dominant chords, you learn 9th voicings, which contain different combinations of 1-3-5-b7-9 intervals.
Since we only have so many fingers, some shapes allow you to play all 5 notes, while in others you have to eliminant one or more notes.
To fully explore these shapes, make note of which intervals Joe leaves out, so you can use that information when playing your own 9th chords down the road.
Joe Pass Dominant Chords - Dom 13th
Again, as with 9th chords, Joe eliminates a few notes to play 13th chords on guitar.
This is because 13th chords contain some of the intervals 1-3-5-b7-9-11/#11-13 in their construction.
Joe liked to use a variety of note combinations with 13th chords, and I’ve included some that use 4, 5, and 6 notes in the musical example below.
When using these chords in your playing, be aware of the low-end notes as they can sometimes sound muddy.
Adjusting your tone to accommodate those lower bass notes goes a long way to playing these chords successfully.
Joe Pass Dominant Chords – 7alt
The last set of Joe Pass chords are 7alt chords, using a variety of alterations such as b9, #9, #11, and b13.
When choosing the right altered sound in your comping and chord soloing, it’s good to have a few options under your fingers.
This way, like Joe, you have different shades of color to use when the moment’s right, elevating the musical moment when jamming.
Play through each of these chords, keep the ones you like, and shelve the ones that don’t speak to you.
Come back to those chords later to see if they better to you with time.
Often, with a bit of time your ears become more accustomed to altered chords and old shapes you didn’t enjoy suddenly are your favorite chords to use.
Joe Pass Dominant Chords Practice Tips
Here are three exercises that I like to do to get these chords securely into my comping, chord melody, and chord soloing.
1. Play a jazz blues and use only one of these shapes for every chord. Repeat until you have 3-4 chords down. Then mix all those chords together over the tune.
1. Play these chords while singing the bass note, then the melody note, of each shape to bring your ears into your practice routine.
3. Write out a comping study in the style of Joe Pass that uses these chord shapes.