How to Play Jazz Guitar

Complete Beginner’s Guide

In this lesson, you learn how to take chords, scales, and other devices and turn them into jazz guitar lines and comping patterns. 

One of the biggest lessons to learn when playing jazz guitar is that knowing scales, arpeggios, chords, patterns, etc. is the beginning not the end of the journey. 

Often, guitarists think that if they play scale A over chord B then that’s going to equal a jazz line. 

Or, if you play a 13th chord over a 7th chord in a blues, that’s jazzy. 

And while there’s some merit to that idea, it often falls short in the practice room and on the bandstand. 

The missing ingredient to this equation is vocabulary, the devices players use to bring an authentic jazz sound to their playing. 

In this in-depth lesson, you learn exactly how to take any chord, scale, arpeggio, etc. that you know and make it sound like jazz. 

Sounds fun right!?

And, you test those skills with two jazz song challenges over the course of the lesson. 

Have fun digging into these concepts as you take ordinary devices and turn them into jazz lines and comping from day 1. 

Jazz Chord Concepts

The first step in adding a jazz sound to your playing is learning what to do with chords when comping over jazz tunes. 

Often you focus on learning tons of “jazz” chords shapes, but then when you play them over a tune they don’t sound “jazzy.”

This lesson teaches you how to turn any chord into a jazzy-sounding comping device. 

You won’t learn a ton of shapes in this lesson.

What you do learn is how great players such as Joe Pass, Grant Green, George Benson, and others turned chord shapes into jazz music. 

Have fun with these concepts as you get them under your fingers and add them to any tune or progression you’re jamming over. 

Approach Chords

The first chord concept you explore is called the approach chord. 

Here, you play one fret below or one fret above before landing on your target chord. 

This brings a sense of tension and release into your playing that jazz guitarists love to use in both their soloing and comping. 

Here’s an example of both approach chords to try out and to get this sound into your ears.

Now that you know what approach chords are, apply them to this progression with a metronome and over a backing track. 

Using a backing track in this situation is essential to get the tension-release sound in your ears. 

Working up to playing over the track is the main goal of this and any exercise in this lesson. 

When you’re comfortable with approach chords, head down to the next section to take your jazz guitar chord skill set to the next level.

Melody First Picking

One of the biggest roadblocks when exploring jazz guitar is putting too much emphasis on bass notes or plucking/strumming the same way with every chord. 

The first big step into jazz or step forward in your jazz chord playing is to start to think about your chords upside down. 

By this I mean the melody note, the top note of the chord, is the most important, not the bass note.  

The top note is what the soloist and audience hear the clearest when you comp, and the best chord players know this and use it to their advantage. 

Players such as Ed Bickert, and Jim Hall created engaging counter melodies in their comping by focusing on the melody note instead of the bass in their playing. 

Here’s an example of a chord as a whole, then bass first, and then melody first. 

Play all three to compare, and then head down to the next exercise when ready.

You’re now ready to take this approach to a progression. 

Start by playing the chords as chunks, all at once, and then play the melody note first followed by the bottom notes of the chords when ready. 

Play on your own first, then with a metronome, and finally over a backing track when ready.

Have fun digging into this technique as you expand your comping and bring out the melody in your rhythm guitar playing.

Rootless Chords

The final chord concept in this lesson uses chords you already know to create new and exciting sounds in your jazz comping. 

Here, you take any chord you know, then drop the root note off to create a smaller, cool-sounding chord shape that’s more typical of the jazz style. 

As the bass player covers the root note, jazz guitarists often drop the root note from any chord shape in order to make the chords easier to play. 

And, by taking the root note out you can add in other colors that wouldn’t be possible if you were still holding that extra root in your chord. 

To begin, here are four chords, a ii-V-I-VI in C major, to play over the backing track. 

Each of these chords has the root note in the bass of the shape and are tricky to play. 

Play them through, on your own and/or on the track, then when you’re ready move to the next exercise below.

You’re now ready to remove the bass/root note from these chords. 

That’s really it, same shapes, no root notes, new sounds and textures to play within your comping. 

Play these chords on your own and over the backing track. 

Then, add in approach chords and picking patterns from earlier in this lesson to expand these shapes further in your playing.

The final exercise gives you root chords over the A section to Take the A Train and you play as written and without the root over the track.

After this is comfortable, take any other chords you know, drop the root note off, and see what new shapes and sounds you discover in your comping.

Essential Jazz Rhythms

In this section, you learn three essential jazz rhythms that you can apply to any of your comping and chord-work in a jazz style. 

As this section involves rhythms, make sure to count along and have your metronome ready. 

At the end of this section, you take your first challenge as you comp over a jazz blues progression using the concepts you learned so far in this lesson. 

Have fun exploring these rhythms, and when ready head down to the jazz blues challenge below and go for it!

Freddie Green

The first rhythm you learn is one of the most popular and important jazz comping rhythms, the Freddie Green groove. 

Here, you play one chord on each beat of the bar.

Play through this example and keep the volume of each chord even. 

You can play these chords with fingers, pick, or hybrid picking, whatever works for you is cool.

Here’s another example of the Freddie Green rhythm to work on in your studies. 

One of the ways you can level up this rhythm is to play beats 2 and 4 of each bar a bit louder than beats 1 and 3. 

This gives your comping that smooth swing feel that Freddie was known for. 

Start by playing this example as written, then add in those 2 and 4 accents when ready to take things further.

After you have these examples under your fingers, take this rhythm to other changes and tunes you’re working on in your studies.

Charleston

The next rhythm is named after a dance from the 1920’s and is called the Charleston. 

This rhythm places one chord on the beat and one between the beat in each bar. 

Here’s an example of this rhythm, where the first chord is on beat 1 and the 2nd chord is on the & of 2 in each bar. 

Start by playing the chords, then counting along to get the rhythm. 

When that’s comfortable, add a metronome and take it to the backing track when ready.

In this progression, you’re given the chord shapes and the form and you have to add the Charleston rhythm to these changes.

When you have the Charleston down, mix the Freddie Green rhythm into the mix as you work on moving between both rhythms in your comping.

& of 2 and 4

The final rhythm places chords on the & of 2 and & of 4 in each bar, which means no chords land on strong beats. 

This syncopated rhythm, more up beats than down beats, creates a counting challenge and a technical challenge in your playing. 

As you see from this example, when you play the chord on the & of 4, it’s the chord you’re going to, not the chord you’re on. 

For example, the & of 4 in bar one is an Fmaj7 chord, the chord in bar 2 of the progression. 

This is called anticipation, and it’s essential when comping in a jazz style, it’s also tough to get down at first. 

Start with this example and then move on to the challenge below to take this rhythm further.

Here are the first 8 bars to Blue Bossa where you are given the chords and you have to add the & of 2 and 4 rhythms to those shapes. 

Go slow, count out loud, start on your own then add a metronome when ready. 

Lastly, take it to the backing track to challenge your counting and control of the anticipated chords.

Here are the first 8 bars to Blue Bossa where you are given the chords and you have to add the & of 2 and 4 rhythm to those shapes. 

Go slow, count out loud, start on your own then add a metronome when ready. 

Lastly, take it to the backing track to challenge your counting and control of the anticipated chords.

After you can play each of these rhythms, add them to other progressions in your playing and the head down to the comping challenge to test your skill set.

Jazz Blues Comping Challenge

Now that you know how to make chords sound like jazz, time to test your skills over a jazz blues tune. 

Here are the goals for this challenge. 

1. Comp over the backing track with the written chords. 
2. Add in your own rhythms from the examples above. 
3. Add in chromatic chords from the examples above. 
4. Listen to the soloist and react in your comping. 
5. Leave space and focus on supporting the soloist in your playing. 

Now that you know what the challenge is and how to approach it, time to press play on the track, crank your amp, and go for it!

Jazz Soloing Concepts

You now move on to learning how to make scales, arpeggios, and other devices sound like jazz in your solos. 

Oftentimes, as you learn jazz soloing, you come to believe that playing scale A over chord B equals jazz. 

But, that’s the foundation of any musical genre, and so to get that jazzy sound in your playing you have to go one step further. 

That next step is something we call chromatic ornaments, organized chromatic notes that you add to your scales, arpeggios, etc. to sound jazzy. 

In this section, you learn about the three most common chromatic ornaments and how to apply those sounds to your solos. 

Check these ornaments out, work them over backing tracks, sing along, and have fun with them!

Approach Notes

The first chromatic ornament is called an approach note. There are two versions, one from above and one from below your target note. 

Approach notes are where you play one fret below and then your target note, or one fret above and then your target note. 

Try this example first to get the approach notes into your ears, then move on to the exercise below when ready.

You’re now ready to apply approach notes to target notes to a ii-V-I-VI progression. 

Start by playing the written notes over the backing track. 

Then, when ready, add in approach notes. Start with one version, then the other, then mix them both together.

After you work this exercise over the written notes, you can add approach notes to any other note that fits these chords in your playing. 

Try it over the root of each chord, then over pentatonic scales, modes, arpeggios, etc. as you expand on this chromatic ornament in your soloing. 

Here’s a backing track and jazz chord progression to use in your studies.

If you’re stuck on what notes to use, skip down and use the Dm pentatonic scale over this progression to begin.

Passing Notes

The next chromatic ornament is called the passing tone. 

Passing tones are used to connect two diatonic notes either up or down. 

The easiest way to think about passing notes is that if you have two notes on a string, and there are blank frets between them, you can fill those frets with passing notes. 

Try this example first to get passing notes into your ears, then move on to the exercise below when ready. 

You’re now ready to apply passing notes to target notes in a ii-V-I-VI progression. 

Start by playing the written notes over the backing track. 

Then, when ready, add in passing notes. Start with one version, then the other, then mix them both together.

After you work this exercise over the written notes, you can add passing notes to any other note that fits these chords in your playing. 

Try it over pentatonic scales, modes, arpeggios, etc. as you expand on this chromatic ornament in your soloing. 

Here’s a backing track and progression to use in your studies.

If you’re stuck on what notes to use, skip down and use the Dm pentatonic scale over this progression to begin. 

Also, if comfortable, mix passing notes and approach notes together in your solos over this track to blend those ideas in your improvisations.

Enclosures

The final ornament is called an enclosure, and there are two versions in the examples below. 

The most common enclosure is where you play fret above, fret below, and then land on your target note. 

You can also play fret below, fret above, and then land on your target note. 

Try this example first to get the enclosures into your ears, then move on to the exercise below when ready. 

You’re now ready to apply the enclosure to target notes in a ii-V-I-VI progression. 

Start by playing the written notes over the backing track. 

Then, when ready, add in enclosures. 

Start with one version, then the other, then mix them both together. 

After you work this exercise over the written notes, you can add enclosures to any other note that fits these chords in your playing. 

Try it over the root of each chord, then over pentatonic scales, modes, arpeggios, etc. as you expand on this chromatic ornament in your soloing. 

Here’s a backing track and progression to use in your studies.

If you’re stuck on what notes to use, skip down and use the Dm pentatonic scale over this progression to begin. 

Also, if comfortable, mix passing notes, enclosures, and approach notes together in your solos over this track to blend those ideas in your improvisations.

Jazz Soloing Rhythms

In this section, you focus on one of the most important and often overlooked, elements of jazz guitar soloing, rhythms. 

When you learn about jazz soloing, you often see lists of scales, arpeggios, subs, licks, etc., and rarely a mention of rhythms. 

But, rhythms are the most important element when developing a swing feel and when learning to solo in the jazz style. 

You can play a Coltrane solo note for note, but if your rhythm is off it’ll sound terrible. 

And, on the other side of the coin, you can play 1-2 notes in your solo with solid rhythm and feel and it could be the best solo of the gig. 

Rhythm is that important. 

In this section, you learn three essential jazz guitar rhythms, work on exercises to develop those rhythms, and learn how accents are used to develop swing feel. 

8th Note Swing Feel

The first rhythm you explore in this section is the 8th note, with very specific accents to help you develop a strong swing feel. 

Often times you come across descriptions of swing feel that involve triplets and leaving the middle note out. 

But, then you learn to play 8th notes in that way and yet you never sound “jazzy.” 

Even worse, you never hear your favorite jazz guitarists using that rhythm, so you think you’re either doing something wrong or aren’t cut out for jazz. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. 

To avoid this kind of triplet swing, and prevent frustration in the practice room, you’re going to learn accents in these exercises. 

When accenting the up beats in each bar, you create a solid swing feel without counting or thinking about triplets or leaving notes out etc. 

Instead, you focus on digging into the rhythms, getting deep into the pocket, and developing a swing feel like you hear with your favorite players. 

That’s a huge win in the practice room. 

So, what exactly are 8th-note accents?

Here’s an example of one bar without accents and one bar with accents. 

Notice that the &’s of each beat in the second bar is accented, meaning you play it slightly louder than the notes on the beats in each bar. 

This creates a swing feel and the effect of a long and short note on each beat without actually playing a long and short note. 

Check out this first exercise, play the first bar with no accents then add accents into the second bar to hear the difference. 

When ready, move on to the scale exercise below to continue your 8th-note swing feel in the woodshed.

Here’s an example of adding 8th note accents to a C major scale. 

Start by playing the scale without any accents, all notes are equal volume. 

Then, play the scale up and down as you add accents to the &’s of each beat. 

Use a metronome at a slow tempo and only speed up the tempo if you feel the need over time. 

You can even record yourself at this point to hear the difference as sometimes it’s hard to hear when you’re focused on the exercise.

After you can play the above scale with and without accents, repeat that exercise on other frets to take this scale to other keys on the guitar. 

Building a strong swing feel does take time and you took a big step forward in that journey by working on accents in your scale playing. 

Have fun as you continue to develop your swing feel with exercises and in your solos over time.

Triplets

Triplets are the best next step when exploring rhythms beyond 8th notes in your studies.

Triplets feature 3 notes for every beat in the bar and are counted 1-trip-let, 2-trip-let, etc. 

Here’s an example of triplets on a single note to get started. 

After you can play this example, play triplets on other notes to solidify the counting before heading to the next exercise. 

And, as always, count out loud first, without a metronome, then add a metronome in from there. 

Here’s a C major scale played in triplets. 

Start by playing the scale and counting without a metronome, then bring a slow metronome into the mix when comfortable. 

From there, move the scale to other frets to practice bringing this rhythm into your playing in other keys around the fretboard.

After you can play the major scale in triplets, alternate one time in 8th notes and one time in triplets in different keys. 

This prepares you to use both rhythms in your solos and prevents you from getting stuck using only one rhythm for long periods in your solos. 

When comfortable, move on to the next rhythm in your studies, 16th notes.

Double Time 16th Notes

The final rhythm you learn in this section is the 16th note, often called “double time” by jazzers as 16th notes are twice as fast as 8th notes. 

This means that you play 4 16th notes over every click of the metronome, so 4 notes per beat. 

When playing 16th notes, you count them as 1-e-&-a, 2-e-&-a, etc. 

Here’s how that looks and sounds on a single tone. 

Starting with one note is helpful as you can focus on counting before taking this rhythm to larger devices.

Here’s a C major scale to practice with 16th notes. 

Start by playing the scale and counting out loud, no metronome. Then add in a metronome when ready. 

From there, move this scale up and down the fretboard to practice 16th notes in other keys, and take this rhythm to other scales when ready.

Lastly, if you feel ready, it’s recommended to practice two or more rhythms back to back in order to learn how to switch rhythms in your playing. 

To do this, put on a metronome and play the C major scale with 8th notes, then triplets, then 16th notes back to back. 

This prepares you to use all 3 rhythms in your playing when you apply them to the soloing challenge below, and in your playing going forward.

Summertime Soloing Challenge

Now that you’ve explored jazz guitar soloing concepts, you’re ready to test your skill set with a Summertime solo. 

Here are the goals for this challenge. 

1. Solo with Dm pentatonic in 1 or 2 positions over Summertime. 
2. Use chromatic ornaments such as passing notes in your solo. 
3. Use different rhythms, such as 8th notes and triplets, in your solo. 
4. Leave space and develop ideas over your entire solo. 
5. Listen to the band and start to react to what you hear in your solo. 

Now that you know what the challenge is and how to approach it, time to press play on the track, crank your amp, and go for it!