View post (New to playing Jazz- No jazz course?)

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ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,368
ChristopherSchlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Joined: 08/09/05
Posts: 8,368
11/07/2022 12:16 pm

This thread in my forum has a path for learning jazz.


https://www.guitartricks.com/forum/t/36491


If you just in the beginning learning stages, then I encourage you to keep working through the blues course.  It will help you build basic skills you will need to just start learning jazz.  If you have the time to spare you can start working your way through the dominant 7th chord tutorials in my list at the same time.


manXcat mentioned Jens Larsen.  Larsen is an excellent player & teacher for breaking into jazz style guitar.  But no matter who you work with (me, Jensen, someone else) you are going to have a considerable level of technique at your disposal.


Also, keep in mind that learning jazz guitar can easily become a very time consuming goal. :) A good, knowledgable teacher is invaluable. But in my personal estimation, the first and foremost thing to do if you are serious about jazz is to learn tunes. As in "standards" from the "great American song book". Real Books of tunes are a good resource in this respect. Listen to a lot of jazz. Learn to play the melody and chords (separately at first, then together later as a "chord melody") to tunes by George Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Irving Berlin, Richard Rogers, Fats Waller, W.C. Handy, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, etc. The classic performers are Gershwin, Ellington, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. Gershwin & Ellington's tunes, in particular, are the foundation & backbone of the jazz standard repertoire.


I have some of those standards on my page.  And I have about 4 or 5 more public domain standards on the way starting next year.


Hope that helps!


Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor

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