How to Play Jazz Guitar (26 Beginner Lessons)

Practice smart, play with heart!

To sum up this (‘intro’ to jazz guitar) course:

1) Learn the Music from the Greats
2) Practice Makes Progress
3) Sing what you Play and Play what you Sing!
4) Focus on groove, musicality, and developing your ear
5) Enjoy the Musical Journey!

I’m writing this course to (hopefully) help others learn the basics about jazz guitar. 

I’ve been blessed with many great teachers and this course hopefully can share some of the best parts of the different teaching and playing styles that I have learned. (And what I wished I had known at an earlier point in time! And what want to work on to get better myself, too!)

Questions? Ideas?! Lessons & Coaching!

Questions, ideas, comments? Please leave a comment and/or send a message!

Also, if you’re interested in personal coaching and lessons, please check out:

• Skype/Zoom/FaceTime online guitar lessons
• Correspondence Guitar Coaching & Lessons!

The Guitar Kitchen Beginner Jazz Guitar Course

As you can tell this course is a work in progress. I’m continually updating the lessons, etc.  Here’s what is currently available – thanks and best wishes!

Learning Jazz Guitar – Practice Ideas, etc Podcast #1!

Please check this podcast out for an overview of some of the ideas I talk about here in relation to learning music, learning jazz, learning jazz guitar, and learning about learning. I also mention Wynton Marsalis’ 12 practice tips, too.

Introduction to the Lessons

1. Ideas for Learning to Play Jazz (Bebop, 2nd Line, Swing)
2. Play what you sing, Sing what you play
   • Play what you sing, sing what you play!
   • Learning Songs: Listen, Sing, Play
   • Playing what they’re singing
3. Playing 4 on the Floor! (Classic Jazz Guitar Groove)

Beginner Jazz Guitar Course

1. Learn Jazz Guitar, Day 1, So What by Miles Davis
2. Practicing Jazz Groove (Slow Blues with Oscar & Count Basie)
3. Learn Jazz Guitar, Day 2, So What by Miles Davis
4. Practicing Jazz/Swing Groove, C Jam Blues
5. So What & Slow Blues Revisited
   • Quarter note chord comping
6. 3 Great Ways to Start Improvising in a Classic Jazz Style (Podcast #2)
7. Standards: Learning Autumn Leaves (Cannonball/Miles Version, Chords)
8. F Blues: How to Start Learning Jazz Blues in F (Guitar Chords)
9. Learning to Second Line (for Guitarists)!
10. Bebop-Baroque Musical Connection
    • D minor Gigue, Partita II, JS Bach, Solo Violin BMV 1004
    • B minor Double (Sarabande), Violin Partita #1 (BMV 1002)
11. More Great 2nd Line Grooves!
    • Learning to groove with Rebirth Brass Band
12. Learning about some Jazz Chord/Scale Relationships
    • Creating diatonic chords from a major scale
13. Jazz Guitar Ideas – Count Out Loud – Improve Time and Groove !
14. Learning some Latin Jazz Guitar Ideas – Salsa & Mambo
    • How to Play Salsa Guitar!
15. Great Tunes and Albums (for Learning about Jazz Guitar)
16. Improve Solos – Right Hand Groove (Jazz Guitar version)
17. Learning to Groove with the New Birth Brass Band!
18. Great Jazz Guitar Practice Tool 
    • Learn to Create Your Own Backing Tracks!
19. Standards: Softly as a Morning Sunrise
20. How to Create a Simple Jazz Solo
    • Keep Your Jazz Improv Simple & Smile (Beginner Ideas)
21. More Diatonic Chords/Scale Theory
    • Creating Diatonic Guitaristic Chords from Major Scales
22. Ideas for Solo Jazz Guitar Stylings
    • 7 Ideas for Playing Solo Jazz Guitar
23. Improve Jazz Guitar Groove (Right Hand Swing/Triplet Etude)

Ideas for Practicing and Learning Jazz Guitar

Pick the “easiest-to-learn” songs & grooves first

Considering starting by playing along with the “easiest” songs, that you like most and are most popular.

Peace and Love and take care!

Please, please – Contact me if you have any Questions, Comments, Ideas!

Please comment below and/or write me a message.

• Learning Jazz Guitar FAQ!

Do you want to play like Wes or John McLaughlin?

I do, too!

I’m also here to tell that you pretty much can, but that you never will play like anyone but yourself (that’s a good thing!)

So don’t worry about it too much. 

Sure you can learn every single solo that Wes played, but in the end you’ll always sound like yourself.  You’ll sound like you playing like Wes and John McLaughlin. That’s fine.

Let your heart speak and relax your mind. I know I used to worry about this a lot but realized that it was important but not worth losing a lot of sleep over the issue.

1. Learn from the masters

One of the simplest and most powerful pieces of knowledge I have acquired over the years is: learn from the masters. 

This mean playing along with your favorite recordings and learning the melodies and solos and feels of their music.  There is no shortcut because learning from the masters is the quickest way to gain mastery!

Benefits (of Learning from the Greats)

Cultivate the Ear

You will need to listen closely to what everyone is doing, harmonically, melodically and rhythmically. sing along with the song whenever possible. Plus, (IMHO), one’s ear will also benefit from hearing very beautiful music.

Time & Groove

You will learn from the best and get a good feel. Line up your time with the bass and/or drums (IMHO).

Musical Ideas

In one 5 minute recording you will probably be exposed to over a 100 new musical ideas, especially if you listen closely.

A lot of what they have learned will be digested and presented to the listener in an unique and artistic way.

Chops with Musicality

You’ll be focused on the music instead of your hands, which will relax them, and you will improve your technique without thinking about it.

And the techniques that you utilize while focusing on musicality will be immensely musical and practical, too, since they are being developed within a highly musical context.

Structure & Timing

Practicing the melody over the solos will help you solidify the melody.

This is something I find challenging for sure – becoming very solid within the chord progression is one of the fundamental building blocks of improvisation music.

Also, you’ll hear how many great musicians have approached and interpreted the “same” melodies, harmonies, grooves, etc.

2. Practice Makes Progress!

Just keep on working on – and hone your practice methods and ideas as you go!

• Musicality: Nature, Nurture & 10,000 hours?

3. Sing what you Play, and Play what you Sing!

We delve into this more in Intro Lesson #2.

Connecting your voice, your ear and your instrument is one of the greatest ways to improve one’s musicality (IMHO)

4. Enjoy the Musical Journey

Best wishes to everyone and enjoy the journey!

So let’s get started!

I am still an apprentice striving to become more fluent in the art and science of jazz guitar.  I hope that I will be able to guide you on a part of your path to mastery.

3 main elements of learning jazz guitar

To simplify the concepts, I am going to group the learning process (for this course) into 3 elements: learning from the masters, guitar technique and musical fundamentals. 

Each lesson we’ll work on each of these elements.  Each elements is usually divided into 3-5 parts.  Again, you could explain and organize the learning process in many ways, I am just going with a way that I believe will facilitate the learning process.

Learning from the masters

1. Developing Groove and Time by playing along to the tracks
2. Learning the melodies (and chords) as played
3. Learning (from) the solos
4. Playing along with masters!

Guitar Technique

1. Melodies
2. Scales
3. Arpeggios
4. Chords
5. excerpts from classical violin – mostly Bach Solo Violin works

Musical Fundamentals

1. Sing what you play, play what you sing!
2. Songs (including Structure)
3. Rhythm and groove
4. Melodies
5. Improvisation
6. Chord/Scale relationships

Lesson-to-Lesson “Beginning” Jazz Guitar Overview

Ideas for Learning Jazz Guitar and Music in General (Intro Lesson #1)

Ideas for Learning to Play Jazz (Bebop, 2nd Line, Swing)

In this intro lesson, we go into more depth about the learning ideas discussed above (learning from the greats, groove, playing along with great tunes, and enjoying the journey).

Learn some great fundamental ideas about learning music in general and jazz. Let’s start by learning the melody to C Jam Blues by ear! (The melody has 2 notes – both from the C major scale)

Play what you sing, Sing what you Play! (Intro Lesson #2)

Another important concept (that I wish I had realized/learned/practiced earlier) – practice singing when you play melody and/or groove.

Also, do the reverse, practice playing what you sing be it melody, bassline, beat. Don’t worry what style it is, etc. Just have fun with it.

Most people can’t sing in the whole range of the guitar, so take a few minutes to play in a register on the guitar that works for your voice!

• Play what you sing, sing what you play!
• Learning Songs: Listen, Sing, Play
• Playing what they’re singing

Four on the Floor aka Quarter Note Groove! (Intro Lesson #3)

The quarter note groove (with the backbeat and syncopations) is the basis for a lot of great music – especially (this music we call) jazz.

Please check out this fundamentally important part of the music!

Playing 4 on the Floor! (Classic Jazz Guitar Groove)

So What by Miles (Lesson One)

Now we shift gears from the Intro Lessons – which covered the set the stage by some fundamental philospohies, basic concepts and frameworks of learning jazz.

Let’s check out So What, one of the most classic tracks from the 50s!

So What (basically) consists of two chords/scales D minor and Eb minor. And the same chord form played in D minor and also Eb minor.

Learn Jazz Guitar, Day 1, So What by Miles Davis

Miles Davis‘ solo on So What

1. Learn and practice the songs 2 basic chords – D minor and Eb Minor.
   • The D minor and Eb minor are usually played as a minor 7th, 9th and/or 11th
2. Learn/practice the form of the song AABA
3. Practice the chords along to the actual tune
4. Begin learning major scales – learn how the relate to the tune
5. Understand the basic scales (D Dorian Minor and Eb Dorian Minor) used to play on So What.

Don’t worry too much about getting everything right, just check out these ideas and play along with the recording.

We’ll be coming back to So What a lot, so you’ll have plenty of chances to fill in all the details.

Remember this is just to get things started and to start the ball rolling – it’s not to learn everything at once – just to get a taste for different songs and grooves.

This is one of my favorite recordings (everybody has their own) and I’ve been listening to it for over 30 years – I still hear new stuff all the time – it’s a process!

The Blues with Oscar Peterson and Count Basie (Lesson Two)

Practicing Jazz Groove (Slow Blues with Oscar & Count Basie)

1. Let’s switch it up and start checking out the blues!
2. It’s a slow, great feeling groove blues in C.
3. Practice your Right Hand Groove – play quarter note groove along with the recording (just muted strings – not chords)
4. Play Chords along with Recording
5. Pick out a few notes that Oscar and Count are playing
6. Try creating some of your own simple melodies – focus on groove and time.

So What by Miles (Lesson Three)

So we come back to check out So What some more.

Everyone has their favorite tunes – this is one of mine – it’s so relaxing and refreshing to tune up my guitar, put this track on and play along! My point is that (for me and maybe you, too) this is a song that you can keep playing, enjoying and learning from for many, many years – so don’t feel like you should feel in a rush to learn everything in a week or something.

Learn Jazz Guitar, Day 2, So What by Miles Davis

• Keep playing along with the track
• Work more on chords and scales
• Begin to start soloing and learning Miles’ solo

C Jam Blues with the Oscar Peterson Trio! (Lesson 4)

Practicing Jazz/Swing Groove, C Jam Blues

Here’s another Oscar Peterson blues to check out. The band swings so hard! Amazing! And a great track to play along with, too!

Besides learning the melody, one of the main points of checking out this tune is to start focusing (and dialing) in the strumming hand (right hand if you’re playing righty, left if lefty).

1. Another great track with Oscar Peterson, who has amazing time and feel!
2. This is an up tempo C Blues
3. Practice this like you practiced the Slow Blues in lesson 2
4. But first check out how Ray Brown is tapping keeping time on bass – do this first – IMHO, Ray Brown’s tapping pretty much sums up how to swing – really feeling the spang-a-lang

So What? Revisited and Chill Quarter Note Comping (Lesson 5)

• Keep playing over Miles’ solo and try soloing over Bill Evan’s solo.
• Focus on quarter note chord comping. If you haven’t already started, do this with the 2 Oscar Peterson Blues and So What.
• Four on the floor – a simple concept, but not so easy 🙂 If all the great jazz bassist and drummers play four on the floor, then we guitarists should (at least) be able to as well.
• While this “cool jazz” style doesn’t usually have quarter note comping on guitar, I still believe it’s a great way to help internalize the groove for us guitar players.

3 Greats Way to Start to Learn to Improv (Classic Jazz) – Lesson 6

3 Great Ways to Start Improvising in a Classic Jazz Style (Podcast #2)

Learning a Standard: Autumn Leaves with Cannoball and Miles (Lesson 7)

Learning Autumn Leaves (Cannonball/Miles Version, Chords)

Here’s the overview of (one way) how to learn and enjoy Cannonball Adderly’s classic take of Autumn Leaves.  

• Remember it’s about playing along with the recording.  
• Do the quarter note chords.  
• Play along with the guys on the song.  
• Learn the melody (try to learn it by ear – its in Bb major/G minor).
• Practice your own solos – have fun with this!
• Remember Practice Makes Progress!

New Orleans, Second Line, and the Roots of Swing & Jazz! (Lesson 8)

Learning to Second Line (for Guitarists)!

Learn about some of the major roots of (the music we call) jazz coming for New Orleans! And learn the chords to Bourbon Street Parade, as played by Wynton Marsalis.

After these lessons about 2nd Line you will have some knowledge of the quarter-note style, the 2nd Line style and a bit of the more Modern, ‘New York‘ comping styles.

Check out Learning to Second Line.

Wynton with Herlin Riley and Reginald Veal and do a great rendition of a classic NOLA tune.

Here’s a great set from Emmet Cohen featuring Patrick Bartley with Kyle Poole on drums and Russell Hall on bass. They do a great job of playing from a wide range of style within the jazz idiom, and include old-school NOLA grooves.

The Bebop-Baroque Connection (Lesson 9)

Start looking at the D minor Gigue, Partita II, JS Bach, Solo Violin BMV 1004 or B minor Double (Sarabande), Violin Partita #1 (BMV 1002)

While it may not immediately make sense to play Baroque music, it’s a great way to improve soloing abilities, and to hear melody/chord relationships different musical genres.

A lot of bebop improvisations (and therefore a lot modern jazz) have a lot in common with baroque melodies. IMHO.

• Also, keep playing along with the Miles‘ solo and quarter note comp over the other solos for both Autumn Leaves and So What. And the blues, too!

If you’re still learning to read musical notes, that’s okay – remember focus on your ear! But you may want to start learning to read as well. Just remember to develop your ear, too! You can start learning these both by ear and reading the chart. Remember, just like in jazz – play along with the greats in European classical music, too!

To get started reading music, please check out Learn to Read Music – it’ll get you started on reading music on the guitar.

As an aside – Chopin is another great composer who has a lot of musical ideas well suited for the jazz idiom.

Practicing Bach for Jazz Guitarists

I originally learned about this practice idea from Jim Hall, who said he practiced the Bach Violin Solo Partitas and Sonatas.

Also, Bill Evans (and obviously Keith Jarrett – he recorded a lot of Bach) practice Bach, too.

And in terms of classical music, Charlie Parker mentioned (to Paul Desmond) that one day he was hoping to go to Paris to study composition. And don’t forget that Miles went (briefly) to Julliard, Herbie Hancock played with the CSO as when he was 11, and Oscar Peterson studied classical piano (according to RCM), too, among many others.

More Great 2nd Line Grooves! (Lesson 10)

More 2nd Line! Learning to groove with Rebirth Brass Band. This is a change of pace from focusing on “jazz” scales and chords. Let’s focus some more on groove and learning to 2nd Line!

Learning about some Jazz Chord/Scale Relationships (Lesson 11)

Now let’s focus some more on the left-hand! Learn about Chord/Scale Relationship in the major scales – Creating diatonic chords from a major scale on the guitar fretbaord.

Improve Your Groove – Count Out Loud (Lesson 12)

Practice counting out loud while you play 4 on the floor comping patterns.

Counting out loud is a great way to improve your musicality, timing, and understanding of a songs structure.

Learning some Latin Jazz Guitar Ideas – Salsa & Mambo (Lesson 13)

How to Play Salsa Guitar!

I love salsa music!

Why should jazz guitarists learn salsa/mambo?

Salsa and mambo are some of the great influences of both New Orleans style jazz/second line & swing and Bebop – Afro-Caribbean grooves in North America.

That way I see it (IMHO) – for New York-style jazz aka Bebop, the Cuban/mambo influence started in the 30s/40s. Charlie Parker and Dizzy. It probably started sooner in NOLA because Cuba was so close (less than a day away via boat).

I think a lot of jazz musicians, when you say “play something Latin“, it means play something Brasilian. Brasilian music is very, very beautiful. But I think it didn’t really start being played (much) in jazz until the Bossa Nova came to the US in the 50s/60s, so a little bit after the mambo.

Salsa is a “generic” term that encompasses a lot of different Caribbean styles that center around Puerto Rico and Cuba.

I think everyone – a certainly every jazz musician – really has a great opportunity to open their ears to some of the roots and amazing grooves of salsa and mambo!

Understanding the clave and the tumbao (for me) has really opened up tons of musical journeys and ideas. And clave and tumbao have also helped me understand/hear how jazz, reggae, calypso, second line, mambo, Brasilian styles like samba, bossa nova and baião, rumba flamenca, etc all somewhat relate rhythmically.

Great Jazz Guitar Tunes and Albums (Lesson 14)

Great Tunes and Albums (for Learning about Jazz Guitar).

While you’re practicing and thinking about all the other stuff previously mentioned, please check out some of these great tracks that really feature “jazz guitar” in some way or another!

Focusing on Right Hand Groove (Lesson 15)

Improve Solos – Right Hand Groove (Jazz Guitar version) – a lot jazz guitarist (myself included) sometimes get so caught up in the left-hand (if you’re playing righty), that we might forget that the timing, groove, phrasing and feeling come a lot from the right-hand. Here’s some great exercises to start checking out that will help your soloing. Maybe not in a day, definitely over time!

Second Line Stylings of the New Birth Brass Band (Lesson 16)

Develop Your Ear and Your Groove – New Birth Brass Band!

Great Jazz Guitar Practice Tool – Create Your Own Backing Tracks! (Lesson 17)

Learn to Create Your Own Backing Tracks!

This is a great way to practice some of the chord changes you’re learning, plus whichever tunes/grooves/chord progressions that may come your way in the future. And then you can practice soloing/melodies over the grooves you’ve created! A great practice skill to improve musicality!

Standards: Softly as a Morning Sunrise (Lesson 18)

Apply what you’ve learned about learning tunes and playing quarter-groove to Softly As a Morning Sunrise

How to Create a Simple Jazz Solo! (Lesson 19)

Keep Your Jazz Improv Simple & Smile (Beginner Ideas)

Improve Your Jazz Guitar Groove – Triplet & 6/8 Etudes! (Lesson 20)

Improve Jazz Guitar Groove (Right Hand Swing/Triplet Etudes)

More Diatonic Chords – Using Open Strings for Some ‘Modern’ Sounds (Lesson 24)

Creating Diatonic Guitaristic Chords from Major Scales.

Learn about some of the John McLaughlin and Pat Metheny type sounds by checking out how to incorporate open strings with diatonic triads to create more guitar-like harmonic richness.

Lesson 26: When the Saints

Day 29: Start playing Milestones – play the comping/melody with the piano player throughout the song. Learn the chord form on the 6th string for a minor 7th and 9th (with no root), learn the two scales.

Ideas for Solo Jazz Guitar Stylings (Lesson 30)

Starting out playing solo jazz guitar. Check out 7 Ideas for Playing Solo Jazz Guitar.

Here’s some more of the lessons I am working on …

Lesson 18: Summertime

Lesson 19: Blue Bossa

Lesson 20 – Fly Me to the Moon

Lesson 21 – Equinox

Good music is good music!

More Lessons Coming Soon!

Lesson 22 – Freddie Freeloader

Check Out More of the Bird-Bach Baroque-Bebop Connection (Lesson 23)

Lesson 24: All Blues

Lesson 20 : Little Sunflower – D minor, bridge Eb maj7 to D maj7

Lessons 21-23: keep playing So What, solos comping, transcribing, do same for Little Sunflower

I’ve Got Rhythm

Canteloupe Island

All of Me Sidney Bechet

Minor Swing

Oye Como Va

Summertime Sidney Bechet

Equinox Coltrane

Mercy Mercy Cannonball

Mr PC

remember Grant Green and Wes!

Soloing Techniques

• Theme and Variations
• Theme, counter-theme and variations
• scales
• bebop
• baroque
• arpeggios
• harmonic substitutions
• rhythmic variations

Basic Ear Training for Jazz Guitarists

• learning easy jazz melodies by ear
• jazz solfeggio
• rhythmic/groove beatboxing/solfeggio

Practice Makes Progress!

I’m still working on these ideas/classes and lessons. I am still very much a student, so I hope these ideas help you – I’m trying to share what has helped me or what I would like to work on (and to remind myself to practice), too.

All the best!

If you have any questions, comments, ideas – please comment below and/or contact me!

Peace and Love!