The Jazz Guitar Chord Compilation

Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

The Jazz Guitar Chord Compilation Published by www.fundamental-changes.com ISBN: 978-1-910403-35-8 Copyright © 2014 Joseph Alexander The moral right of this author has been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher. www.fundamental-changes.com Also By Joseph Alexander

Audio recorded by Pete Sklaroff and Available From www.fundamental-changes.com/audio-downloads

Cover Image Copyright © ShutterStock: Miguel Garcia Saaved

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Table of Contents Introduction to the Compilation .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Guitar Chords in Context .................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter One: Basic Theory, Chord Types and Construction ................................................................................. 7 Chapter Two: Basic Common Chord Voicings ........................................................................................................... 15 Chapter Three: Diatonic Extensions to Dominant 7 Chords ................................................................................ 21 Chapter Four: Chromatic Alterations to Dominant Chords ................................................................................. 26 Chapter Five: Root and Guide Tone Voicings ............................................................................................................. 31 Chapter Six: Using Rootless Guide Tone Voicings .................................................................................................... 38 Chapter Seven: Rootless Guide Tone Voicings with Extensions ........................................................................ 42 Chapter Eight: Applying Extended Guide Tone Voicings ...................................................................................... 50 Chapter Nine: Diminished 7 Chords ............................................................................................................................... 55 Chapter Ten: Major and Minor 6 Chords ..................................................................................................................... 60 Chapter Eleven: Major and Minor 6/9 chords ........................................................................................................... 68 Chapter Twelve: Minor/Major7 Chords ....................................................................................................................... 72 Chapter Thirteen: Major 7b5 and Major 7#5 Chords ............................................................................................. 74 Chapter Fourteen: Building Extended Chords with Diatonic Substitutions ................................................. 78 Conclusions and Introduction to Part Two ................................................................................................................. 87 Quick Chord Reference Guide ........................................................................................................................................... 89 Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery ............................................................................................................................... 91 Chapter One: Voicings and Inversions .......................................................................................................................... 92 Chapter Two: Fm7 Drop 2 Voicings ............................................................................................................................... 96 Chapter Three: Dominant 7 Drop 2 Voicings .......................................................................................................... 102 Chapter Four: Minor 7b5 Drop 2 Voicings ............................................................................................................... 108 Chapter Five: Major Seventh Drop 2 Voicings ........................................................................................................ 113 Chapter Six: Drop 2 Chord Sequences ........................................................................................................................ 118 Chapter Seven: Adding Natural Ninths to Chords ................................................................................................. 123 Chapter Eight: Adding Other Diatonic Extensions ................................................................................................ 132 Chapter Nine: Altering Dominant Chords ................................................................................................................. 134 Chapter Ten: Drop 2 Chords -‐ Middle Strings ......................................................................................................... 139 Chapter Eleven: Extensions and Alterations ........................................................................................................... 149 Chapter Twelve: Drop 2 Chords -‐ Bass Strings ...................................................................................................... 151 Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Chapter Thirteen: Drop 3 Voicings – Sixth String Root ...................................................................................... 156 Chapter Fourteen: Drop 3 Chords –Fifth String Root ......................................................................................... 165 Chapter Fifteen: Drop 2 and 2 Voicings – Sixth String ........................................................................................ 169 Chapter Sixteen: Drop 2 and 4 Voicings – Fifth String ........................................................................................ 173 Chapter Seventeen: Converting Chord Structures ............................................................................................... 177 Chapter Eighteen: Cyclic Exercises ............................................................................................................................. 184 Conclusions and Further Study .................................................................................................................................... 185 Voice Leading Jazz Guitar ............................................................................................................................. 186 Chapter One: Simple Paths ............................................................................................................................................. 189 Chapter Two: Extensions and Rootless Voicings .................................................................................................. 199 Chapter Three: Voicing Exercises and Practice Ideas ......................................................................................... 210 Chapter Four: Secondary Dominants ......................................................................................................................... 222 Chapter Five: The Tritone Substitution .................................................................................................................... 236 Chapter Six: Voice Leading with Substitutions ...................................................................................................... 246 Chapter Seven: More Substitution Exercises .......................................................................................................... 254 Chapter Eight: Application .............................................................................................................................................. 260 Conclusions and Further Study .................................................................................................................................... 266

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Introduction to the Compilation This compilation brings together three best-selling and complimentary jazz guitar chord books. Originally designed as a threepart series, these books combine to take you through the first basic concepts in chord structures and playing, right through to advanced voicings and substitutions enabling you to gain limitless creative freedom on the guitar. Each book is a step-by-step guide with hundreds of musical examples you can download for free from www.fundamental-changes.com/audio-downloads. Guitar Chords in Context is designed to give you an immediate, practical understanding of how all of the basic chord forms are constructed, played and used. Each chord is thoroughly discussed, analysed and built from first principles. Every chord is given with a root on the 6th, 5th and 4th strings so you will always have a convenient fingering to reach for, wherever you are on the guitar neck. Part One is about understanding, hearing and applying the essential concepts of chord construction. Some basic common substitutions are introduced when appropriate, either to help us reach extensions, or to vastly simplify a complex chord structure. The prerequisite to Part One is the ability to play the basic ‘open’ position chords, such as D, G and C etc. It will also be very helpful if you are comfortable with barre chords and the locations of the notes on the bottom three strings of the guitar. Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery focuses on specific chord structures, their inversions, voicings and voice leading. It covers ‘drop 2’, ‘drop 3’ and ‘drop 2 and 4’ chords on all string groups. Any ‘7th’ chord can be played in four different inversions: with either the root, 3rd, 5th or 7th in the bass. These concepts allow a lot of voicing possibilities and hundreds of wonderful musical opportunities. It sounds like a lot of work, but even with just a few ‘drop 2’ voicings you will quickly add massive depth to your rhythm guitar playing and quickly find that your vision of the guitar neck increases dramatically. Each concept is taught in a tangible, well-paced, musical way and throughout the book there are hundreds of examples to make sure you’re learning every chord in a cohesive way. The idea is to build chord ‘licks’ around common sequences to contextualise and internalise useful musical statements. Voice Leading Jazz Guitar goes beyond chord shapes and inversions. It teaches you to see the neck of the guitar as groups of intervals that add rich harmonies and tensions to otherwise standard progressions. Using common ‘workhorse’ tunes you are introduced to essential substitutions and concepts to aid voice leading through the changes. These concepts, such as secondary dominant chords, tritone substitutions, extensions and alterations allow you to move just one or two notes between each chord to create elaborate, musical rhythm guitar parts. Throughout each book, the emphasis is on playing and context, rather than simply giving you a lot of rules and theory. Download the audio examples so you can hear the effect of each technique in action. Music is about using your ears; you need to hear something to know when it can be used. The knowledge gained by working through this book, both in terms of chord vocabulary, substitutions, voice leading and fretboard freedom will greatly benefit you, whatever your musical interests. Don’t forget that you get all the audio examples in this book free from www.fundamental-changes.com/audio-downloads. Have fun! Joseph.


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Guitar Chords in Context Introduction In over twenty-five years as a guitarist, I have come across many different chord dictionaries that profess to show you every possible chord that is playable on the guitar. Some of these are massive tomes that probably do exactly what they promise, although I have always found most of them extremely unusable. These chord dictionaries may be well organised and comprehensively researched, but I have always found that without showing some sort of practical application in which to use the chord they have always been of limited benefit. After a few such experiences, I realised that instead of reaching for a chord book, the best possible use of my time was to learn how chords were constructed and named and how the guitar neck functioned in terms of note and interval location. By learning how a chord was constructed, where it came from, and how it functioned, and armed with the fretboard knowledge to be able to see where the notes/intervals actually were on the guitar, I quickly realised that I would never need a chord dictionary again. I can now construct any chord I want instantly because I see the guitar neck in terms of intervals. Another limitation of traditional chord dictionaries is that they do not generally show how to use a chord in any sort of context. It’s all very well to know how to play a m(Maj7) in four inversions, but if you don’t know when to play it this information is somewhat redundant. In this book I have tried to give realistic musical examples and some sort of context for each of the chords discussed. The majority of chords come up fairly regularly and you will often see them in rhythm charts, especially if you are playing jazz or fusion. There are a few chords at the end of the book that crop up occasionally and are far less common. Part One of this series is organised in terms of usefulness! One final limitation I have found with traditional chord dictionaries is a lack of aural examples. If you’re learning a chord you should be able to hear that you’re playing it correctly. To help with this I have included over one hundred audio examples that you can download for free from www.fundamental-changes.com/audio-downloads. You can hear every chord played in at least three different voicings and every example chord progression is also recorded to help you musically understand the function of each example.

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Chapter One: Basic Theory, Chord Types and Construction A chord is defined as any group of three or more notes played together. They are normally formed by stacking notes on top of each other from a particular scale. Most of the chords in this book are formed from harmonising the major scale. To form a chord, we simply stack alternate notes from a scale. For example, in the scale of C Major: CDEFGABC

We take the first, third and fifth notes (C E and G), and play them together to form a C Major chord. (C) D (E) F (G) A B C Example 1a:

If you notice, we took the first note C, then skipped the next note (D) and landed on the third note E. We repeated this process and skipped the fourth note (F) and landed on the fifth note G. The notes played together in this way are called a triad. The first, third and fifth notes of a major scale form a major chord. This is true of any major scale. This chord is given the formula 1 3 5. The formula 1 3 5 gives us the notes C E and G, however, we can alter any of the notes to form a different type of chord. For example, if we flatten the third we generate the formula 1 b3 5. Using the root note of C again, we now have the notes C Eb G.


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Example 1b:

As you can hear, this structure has a very different sound from the previous major chord. Any chord with the structure 1 b3 5 is a minor chord. In fact, any chord that contains a b3 is defined as a minor sound. We can also flatten the 5th of the chord. The structure 1 3 b5 is not very common in music although it does sometimes occur in jazz. However, the structure 1 b3 b5 occurs frequently. It is called a diminished or occasionally a minor b5 chord. The formula 1 b3 b5 built on a root of C generates the notes C Eb Gb. Example 1c:

This is a bit of a stretch to play on the guitar, but the notes do not have to be played in this order. They can be played more comfortably like this: Example 1d:

To achieve this voicing I moved the b3 of the chord up by one octave. As you can hear, the diminished chord has a dark and sinister air to it. The three triads you have learned so far are

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1 3 5 Major 1 b3 5 Minor 1 b3 b5 Diminished or just ‘Dim’ Most chords you come across in music, no matter how complicated can normally be categorised into one of these basic types. Jazz chord progressions however are normally formed from richer sounding ‘7th chords’ which are the focus of this book. There is, however, one more permutation that crops up occasionally, it is the augmented triad, 1 3 #5. From a root note of C, the notes generated by this formula are C E G#. There are two tones between each of the notes of the chord. Example 1e:

Two useful voicings of the augmented (Aug) triad are Example 1f:

Finally, there are two types of triad that do not include a 3rd. These chords are normally named ‘suspended’ (or just ‘sus’ chords), as the lack of the 3rd gives an unresolved feel to their character. In a ‘sus’ 2 chord the 3rd is replaced with the 2nd of the scale, and in a sus4 chord, the 3rd is replaced with the 4th of the scale. In C, the notes generated by the formula 1 2 5 are C D and G Example 1g


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The notes generated by the formula 1 4 5 are C F and G. Example 1h

It is first important that you learn to play some useful chord voicings of these basic triads as they do sometimes occur in jazz chord charts, especially in early ‘swing’ jazz. In any chord, it is acceptable to double any note. For example, a major chord could contain two roots, two 5ths and only one 3rd. There were rules to govern their use in ‘classical’ times, although these days there are common chord shapes or ‘grips’ on the guitar that are frequently used. As the focus of this book is on 7th chords, which are more common in jazz, only a few of the basic triad chord shapes are shown here. Major Chord Shapes: Example 1i:

Minor Chord Shapes: Example 1j:

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Diminished (minor b5) Chord Shapes: Example 1k:

Augmented (major #5) Chord Shapes: Example 1l:

Suspended 2nd Chord Shapes: Example 1m:


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Suspended 4th Chord Shapes: Example 1n:

You probably already know most of these shapes, but if you don’t, my advice is to ignore them for now while we get focused on 7th chords. You can come back to these voicings as a reference when you need them. To create a major 7th chord we simply extend the ‘1 3 5’ formula by an extra note so it becomes ‘1 3 5 7’. Instead of C E G we now have C E G B: (C) D (E) F (G) A (B) Example 1o:

In these voicings, I have changed the order of the notes to make the chord playable on the guitar. The chord is now voiced 1 5 7 3. As the major 7th’s chord formula is 1 3 5 7, you might expect that the minor 7th’s formula would be 1 b3 5 7. This, however, is not the case. To create a minor 7 chord we add a b7 to a minor triad. The formula is 1 b3 5 b7. 12


The formula 1 b3 5 b7 built on a root note of C generates the notes C Eb G Bb. Example 1p:

Once again, the notes in the lower chord voicing have been rearranged to make the voicing playable on the guitar. As you’re probably wondering, a minor triad with a natural 7 on the top 1 b3 5 7 is called a “minor major 7th” or m(Maj7) chord and we will discuss these structures in chapter twelve as they are an important sound in jazz. They are given this name because they are minor triads with a major 7th added on top. When we extend a minor b5 chord to become a 7th chord, we once again add a b7, not a natural 7. In fact, it is a general rule that if a triad has a b3, it is more common to add a b7 to form a four-note ‘7th’ chord. As you can see in the previous paragraph, this is not always the case, so be careful when applying that ‘rule’. A (diminished) minor b5 chord with an added b7 has the formula 1 b3 b5 b7 and generates the notes C Eb Gb Bb when built from the root note of C. This chord is named ‘Minor 7 flat 5’ or m7b5 for short. It also is common for m7b5 chords to be referred to as ‘half diminished’ chords. Example 1q:


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Finally, we come to one of the most common chords in jazz; the dominant 7 chord. It is formed by adding a b7 to a major triad. 1 3 5 b7. With a root of C this formula generates the notes C E G Bb. Because of the fundamental major triad 1 3 5, this chord is a ‘major’ type chord, but the added b7 gives it an extra bit of tension. Example 1r:

These four chord types can be summarised: Chord Type

Formula

Short Name

Major 7

1357

‘maj7’

Dominant 7

1 3 5 b7

‘7’

Minor 7

1 b3 5 b7

‘m7’

Minor 7 b5

1 b3 b5 b7

‘m7b5’

It is the modern way of thinking that all chord types in jazz function in one of the above contexts. We will discuss this at length later, although what this means in simple terms is that even a complex chord, such as C7#5b9, can be viewed in its simplest form as just C7. This idea of chord ‘types’ or families is especially useful when we’re starting out playing jazz chords, or when we’re given a particularly difficult chord chart to read with little preparation time. 14


Chapter Two: Basic Common Chord Voicings Now that we understand how the most common chords are constructed, we can begin to learn some useful voicings. The voicings in this chapter are designed to ‘get you through the tune’. They are the first jazz chord voicings that most guitarists learn, and will remain a part of your vocabulary from this point forward. We will begin by learning three voicings of each of the fundamental chord types, maj7, 7, m7, and m7b5 and we will apply them to a common jazz chord progression that uses these chord types. It is important at this point that you know where the notes are on your guitar fretboard as we are now learning ‘movable’ barre chord forms of each chord. For example, we will learn a barre chord ‘7’ shape and if you want to play this chord as a C7 you will need to place it so that the root note is C. If you wish to play it as an F7 you will have to move it so that the root note is F. In order to do this you should at least be familiar with the notes on the bottom three strings:

We are going to learn to play the following chord progression using three different jazz chord voicings.

As you can see, this chord progression uses each of the chord types from the previous chapter once. Let’s begin by learning voicings of these chords that have their root on the 6th string. The numbers written on the notes are suggested fingerings. If you find it easier to use different fingers then please feel free to use them. You may find it easier to play the Fm7 chord ‘up an octave’ at the 13th fret, this is also fine.

Spend time learning these chords and gradually join them together until you can play example 2a:


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You will notice that when using these chord voicings your hand is moving around a great deal on the fretboard. Don’t worry about this for now as when you have a few more voicings under your fingers you can start to smooth out the movements. Next, learn the same common chords voiced with the root on the 5th string:

Again, work towards playing the same chord sequence using just the 5th string voicings: Example 2b:

Before moving on to learning these chord types with a 4th string root, try combining the 6th and 5th string chords to voice the chords closer together. Try beginning on a 6th string for the Gm7b5 chord and then move to the closest voicing of the C7 chord when you change. Always look for the closest possible voicing when you change chords. One way of doing this could be:

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Example 2c:

Another way to practice this is to begin on the 5th string voicing of the Gm7b5 chord and repeat the same process. Example 2d:


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By changing strings in this way we can always create smoother ‘voice leading´ between each of the chords in the chord progression. (Voice leading is the technique of arranging chords so that each note moves the smallest possible distance during each chord change). It is also easier to play these chords at speed because our hand is not moving such great distances. Now let’s look at these common chords played with a 4th string root.

Try playing the same chord sequence just using these chords. This example may be a little more difficult as many people are not as familiar with the note names on the 4th string as they are with the 5th and 6th strings. Take your time and persevere. Example 2e:

As before, these chords jump up and down the neck a lot, so we can combine them with 5th string chords to make them flow more easily. Try beginning the chord sequence on a 5th string Gm7b5 and then move to a 4th string C7. Example 2f:

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We could also change the chord voicing we use for the final Dbmaj7 in this sequence. If we play it as a 6th string root chord, the voicings will flow together more smoothly: Example 2g:

Try starting the chord sequence on different strings and see how closely you can voice-lead the chord progression. Here is just one possible ‘route’ through the changes starting on the 6th string:


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Example 2h:

Try finding ways through the following two chord progressions using the voicings discussed in this chapter: 1)

2)

Begin by playing through each progression using chords all with roots on the same string, then combine the 6th and 5th string voicings. Next combine the 4th and 5th string voicings and finally find the closest chord voicings using roots on all three strings.

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Chapter Three: Diatonic Extensions to Dominant 7 Chords In jazz, it is common to add diatonic ‘extensions’ and chromatic ‘alterations’ to dominant 7 chords. A natural or ‘diatonic’ extension is a note that is added to the basic 1 3 5 b7 chord, but lies within the original parent scale of the dominant chord. In other words, to form an extended dominant chord we continue skipping notes in the scale, just as we did when we originally learnt to form a chord. We can extend the basic 1 3 5 b7 chord formula to include the 9th, 11th and 13th scale tones. These extensions occur when we extend a scale beyond the first octave. For example, here is the parent scale of a C7 chord (C Mixolydian): C

D

E

F

G

A

Bb

C

D

E

F

G

A

Bb

C

1

2

3

4

5

6

b7

1/8

9

3

11

5

13

b7

1

Notice that in the second octave, if a note is included in the original chord it is still referred to as 1, 3, 5, or b7. This is because the function of these notes never changes in the chord: A 3rd will always define whether a chord is major or minor and the b7 will always be an essential part of a m7 or 7 chord. The notes between the chord tones are the notes that have changed their names. Instead of 2, 4 and 6, they are now 9, 11, and 13. These are called compound intervals In very simple terms you could say that a C13 chord could contain all the intervals up until the 13th: 1 3 5 b7 9 11 and 13 – C E G Bb D F and A In practice though, this is a huge amount of notes (we only have six strings), and playing that many notes at the same time produces an extremely heavy, undesirable sound because many of the notes will clash with one another. The answer to this problem is to remove some of the notes from the chord, but how do we know which ones? There are no set rules about which notes to leave out in an extended chord, however there are some guidelines about how to define a chord sound and what does need to be included. To define a chord as major or minor, you must include some kind of 3rd. To define a chord as dominant 7, major 7 or minor 7, you must include some kind of 7th. These notes, the 3rds and 7ths are called guide tones, and they are the most essential notes in any chord. It may surprise you, but these notes are more important than even the root of the chord and quite often in jazz rhythm guitar playing, the root of the chord is dropped entirely. We will look more closely at guide tone or ‘shell’ chord voicings in the next chapter, but for now we will examine common ways to play the extensions that regularly occur on dominant chords in jazz progressions. To name a dominant chord, we always look to the highest extension that is included, so if the notes were 1, 3, b7 and 13 we would call this a dominant 13, or just ‘13’ chord. Notice that it doesn’t include the 5th, the 9th or the 11th but it is still called a ‘13’ chord. As long as we have the 3rd and b7th a chord will always be a dominant voicing. We will begin by looking at a fairly common voicing of a D7 chord. In the following example, each interval of the chord is labelled in the diagram. In D7 the intervals 1 3 5 b7 are the notes D, F#, A and C.


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Example 3a:

The ‘triangle 3’ symbol is shorthand for ‘major 3rd’. As you can see, this voicing of D7 doesn’t include the 5th of the chord (A). Here is the extended scale of D Mixolydian (the parent scale of D7). D

E

F#

G

A

B

C

D

E

F#

G

A

B

C

D

1

2

3

4

5

6

b7

1/8

9

3

11

5

13

b7

1

We can use this voicing of D7 to form a dominant 9 or ‘9’ chord. All we need to do is add the 9th of the scale (E) to the chord. The easiest way to do this is to move the higher-octave root (D) up by one tone and replace it with an E. Example 3b:

Look carefully to make sure you understand how I replaced the root of the chord with the 9th of the chord to form a dominant 9 or ‘9’ chord. The intervals contained in this chord voicing are now 1, 3, b7 and 9. We have the 1, 3 and b7 defining the chord as dominant and the 9th (E) creating the extended dominant 9th chord. Dominant 11th or ‘11’ chords are less common and need some special care because the major 3rd of the chord (F#) can easily clash with the 11th (G). We will gloss over 11th chords for now and come back to them later, although the most common way to form an 11 chord it to lower the 5th of a dominant chord by a tone. The lowering of the 5th is generally voiced one octave above the 3rd otherwise a semitone clash between the 3rd and 11th can occur. Here is another voicing of a D7 chord, this time it does contain the 5th: 22


Example 3c:

By lowering the 5th (A) by a tone to the 11th (G) we form a dominant 11 or ‘11’ chord. Example 3d:

Dominant 13 chords are much more common in jazz than dominant 11 chords. They are normally created by raising the 5th of a dominant 7 chord by one tone so that it becomes the 13th (6th). It is common to include the 9th of the scale in a 13th chord, but it is by no means necessary. By combining the last two ideas we can form a D9 chord with the fifth on the 1st string of the guitar: Example 3e:

By raising the 5th by a tone we can reach the 13th degree (interval) of the scale. The chord is given first with the intervals shown, and then with the recommended fingering: Example 3f: Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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As I’m sure you’re starting to see, adding extensions to dominant chords is simply a case of knowing where the desired extension is located on the fretboard and then moving a nonessential chord tone to that location. The above 13 chord can also be voiced slightly differently to achieve a subtly different flavour. We could replace the 9th with the 3rd: Example 3g:

In this voicing there are two 3rd which is completely acceptable. You will probably find the preceding version with the 9th included to be a slightly richer sound. This approach can also be applied to a dominant 7 chord voiced from the 6th string of the guitar. Here are the root, 3 and b7 of a D7 chord with a 6th string root: Example 3h:

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The 5th and higher octave root of this chord are located here:

If you remember, we can raise the 5th by a tone to play the 13th of the chord, and we can raise the root of the chord by a tone to target the 9th. Example 3i:

The third diagram shows a 13 chord which includes the 9th. It is still a 13th chord whether or not the 9th is present. The following two ‘shell’ voicings are extremely useful fingerings to know, as it is easy to add extensions to them while keeping the root of the chord in the bass. However, as you will learn in chapter fourteen, diatonic extensions are often added by the clever use of chord substitutions that replace the original chord.


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Chapter Four: Chromatic Alterations to Dominant Chords While diatonic extensions (9, 11 and 13) are added to a dominant chord, it is also extremely common to add altered or chromatic extensions to a dominant chord. These alterations occur mainly at points of tension in a jazz progression, such as the dominant chord in a ii V I (two, five, one) sequence. A chromatic alteration is a note that is added to a dominant chord that is not a 9, 11 or 13. We can account for every possible chromatic alteration by simply raising or flattening the 9th or 5th of the chord, in fact there are only really four possible altered extensions; b5, #5, b9 and #9. To see why this is true, let’s look at a little bit of theory. Here is the two octave scale of C Mixolydian, the parent scale of C7: C

D

E

F

G

A

Bb

C

D

E

F

G

A

Bb

C

1

2

3

4

5

6

b7

1/8

9

3

11

5

13

b7

1

And here it is laid out on the guitar neck:

The 5th of the scale is the note G and the 9th is the note D. I can sharpen the 5th (G) to become a G# to create a #5 tension. I could also achieve the same result by flattening the 6th or 13th note (A) to become an Ab/G#. For this reason, a b13 interval is exactly the same as a #5. The chords C7#5 and C7b13 are the same. If you look at the fretboard again, you will see that a #11 (F#) is identical to a b5 (Gb). A similar thing happens with the 9th of the scale however in any dominant chord you would never flatten the 3rd because it would change the quality of the chord from dominant to minor 7. Remember dominant = 1 3 5 b7, and minor 7 = 1 b3 5 b7. By flattening the 3rd of a dominant chord we have changed the chord quality and it is no longer dominant, unless there is another major 3rd sounding in the chord. I can sharpen the 9th (D) to become a D# and create a C7#9 sound. I can also flatten the 9th to Db to create a 7b9 sound. Unlike the 3rd however, it is acceptable to remove the root note from any chord, so as you will see in chapter 9, it is possible to raise the root by a semitone to create a b9 sound. We cannot raise the b7 of the chord because it would change the chord quality from dominant 7 to major 7. In summary: b5 = #11 and #5 = b13 so the only true altered extensions to a dominant chord are b5, #5, b9 and #9. You will see chords written down like C7#11b13. This isn’t wrong, it’s just a question of terminology. The key is to realise that C7#9b13 is the same as C7#9#5. The reason I teach b5, #5, b9, #9 is because it makes the chords much easier to understand and play on the fretboard.

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Working with a D7 chord, to make these examples easier to play, here is a fretboard diagram showing the 1 3 b7 shell voicing of a dominant chord in black, and the 5th and 9th intervals marked in white:

I can create any altered extension by simply moving the white notes up or down by one semitone. Example 4a:

The same is true when we use the dominant 7 shell voicing with a root on the 6th string:


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You can fret this: Some of the altered extensions in this position can be a little hard to reach so quite often these voicings are played rootless. Here are a few of the altered extension permutations available in this position. Example 4b:

These approaches can be taken with a dominant 7 chord with the root on the 4th string too, although in the basic root position voicing we learnt earlier, we must omit the root when adding a #9 or b9. The following example uses a G7 chord as the basis for the alterations.

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The easiest alterations to add are the #5 and b5, although often the root note will be raised a semitone to create a rootless 7b9 chord. Example 4c:

Quite often in jazz chord charts you will simply see the symbol ‘alt’. For example ‘D7alt’. This means that the composer has not specified a particular altered extension for a dominant 7 chord and so you can use whichever one you feel works best with the music. It is also important to know that just because a chord chart says ‘7’ it doesn’t mean that the chord must be played as a ‘straight’ 7 chord. If the dominant chord is static (not moving), it is normally fine to add in as many natural extensions as you like. For example, four bars of D7 could be played like this: Example 4d:

If a dominant 7 chord is functional (resolving to another chord) then a basic ‘7’ chord can normally be substituted for any dominant chord with a natural extension or chromatic alteration. A chord progression like this: Example 4e:


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Could be played in any or more of the following ways: Example 4f:

Example 4g:

Example 4h:

Try playing through the following examples beginning from different root notes, and substitute any diatonic or chromatic extensions you like for the dominant chords you have learnt already. 1)

2)

3)

We can take the same approach when adding chromatic alterations to major 7, minor 7 and m7b5 chords, the secret is simply to know where the alterations are on the fretboard. In the next chapter we will look in more detail at shell or ‘guide tone’ voicings of the four basic chord types and look at how we can use simple shapes to deal with complex extensions.

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Chapter Five: Root and Guide Tone Voicings As we have already learnt, guide tones are the 3rd and 7th of any chord. Even without playing the root, we can almost completely define a chord by just its 3rd and 7th. You will learn in book two that two related dominant chords can share the same set of guide tones, but for now we can define almost any chord by its root, 3rd and 7th. To recap, Chord Type

Interval Formula

Major 7

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Dominant 7

1 3 5 b7

Minor 7

1 b3 5 b7

Minor 7b5

1 b3 b5 b7

A slight complication arises with the minor 7b5 chord because it has the same guide tones as a minor 7 chord. This is not necessarily a problem because although they share the same guide tones, by playing just the b3 and b7 we are not defining whether the 5th is natural or flattened. In other words, we are not adding any extra information and the guide tones sound fine whether the chord is m7 or m7b5. We could also just add the b5 into the m7b5 voicing as you will see in this chapter. We will begin by examining a fretboard diagram with a root note marked, and the b3, 3, b7 and 7 highlighted. This example is in the key of C.

By playing the root note and any 3rd or 7th we can define the most important tones in any chord.


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Example 5a:

Play through the above examples and listen to the effect that changing only one note has on each voicing. Can you hear the qualities of each chord described by just these three pitches? Of course, you will have noticed that the m7 and m7b5 chords share the same guide tones as mentioned in the introduction. Don’t worry about this for now, but if you are desperate to hear the guide tone voicing with the added b5, you can play the following chord:

Try playing through the following progression using just these root and guide tone voicings based on the 6th string. You can hear it in example 5b:

Now we will move on to look at root and guide tone voicings with a 5th string root. Here is the fretboard overview:

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And here are the root and guide tone voicings for each chord.

Once again, in the m7b5 diagram, the b5 is not a guide tone and is optional. For now I would suggest ignoring it. Once again, play through the following progression just using root and guide tone voicings on the 5th string:

It is important to know that in this position, the 3rds in each chord can be played on the fourth string, one octave lower. By playing the 3rd on the fourth string, we can use the following map of guide tones:

This means that the previous root and guide tone chords can be played:


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Now, let’s combine the root and guide tone voicings from both the 6th and 5th string roots and play through the same sequence in a much smoother movement: Example 5c:

Try this approach starting on the 6th string also: Example 5d:

Or

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Example 5e:

Listen to the difference between using different voicings of the root and guide tones. The voicings with the 3rd on the second string tend to be a little brighter than the ones with the 3rd on the fourth string. Finally, we can learn the guide tone voicings with a root on the fourth string:

As you can see, once again there are two options as to where we voice the 3rd, either on the third string or on the first string. They’re both good voicings but playing the 3rd on the first string creates slightly easier fingerings. Experiment to find your favourite sounds and voicings. The four chord types can be voiced with a fourth string root in the following ways:

Again, begin by playing through the same chord just using the voicings with the root on the 4th string:


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Then try combining 4th string and 5th string roots. Here is one possible route through the changes: Example 5f:

Finally, try combining all three string groups and find as many routes through the changes as you can. Here is one beginning from the 4th string. Example 5g:

Try taking the same approach with the following progressions: 1)

2)

3)

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Root and guide tone voicings are extremely useful when comping jazz guitar rhythm, especially when you’re playing with a bigger band or any line up where there is a piano. Pianos and horn sections can often provide a great deal of harmonic information, and by overplaying on the guitar we can sometimes clash with these other instruments unless parts are worked out quite carefully. By playing root and guide tone voicings we are playing just the basic (yet important) chord information and we can focus more on providing a musical rhythmic accompaniment to the ensemble. In the next chapter we will look at how we can remove even the root notes from these voicings before learning to add in natural extensions and chromatic alterations to the basic shell voicings.


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Chapter Six: Using Rootless Guide Tone Voicings As mentioned in the previous chapter, the defining notes of any chord are the 3rd and 7th. If we only play these two intervals we can define almost any chord. In this chapter we will look at how we can convey the correct harmonic information, even in very complex progressions, with just two notes on each chord. Consider the following progression:

From what we have learnt so far, we have quite a few approaches we can take when playing this line of chords. One solution could be the following sequence. Example 6a:

These chord voicings work very well in a small band setting, perhaps when accompanying a singer or in a small trio without a piano. If the band gets bigger it is often likely that we will want to reduce the amount of notes we are playing and let other instruments take care of extensions and alterations. It is likely that there is another instrument playing a bass line, possibly an upright bass or organ pedals. In these contexts guitarists often reduce the amount of notes they are playing to just guide tone voicings without the root. You have already learnt where these notes lie on the guitar neck in conjunction with the chord root, but now let’s try playing them in isolation and see if we can still ‘hear’ the harmony of the chord progression implied by these chord tones. To play these voicings, visualise the roots of each guide tone voicing shape, but don’t actually play them. It may help you at first to finger the full chord, but only strum or pick the desired tones. One way to play through the previous progression using guide tone shapes is shown in the following example. I am visualising the roots of the chords on the 6th and 5th strings:

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Example 6b:

When you have this example under your fingers, compare examples 6a and 6b. Play through example 6a and then immediately play through example 6b. While example 6b certainly doesn’t have the ‘richness’ of example 6a, you can certainly hear the harmony moving as described in the chord symbols. By using guide tones in this way we can easily convey the important information in a chord sequence while leaving a lot of room for other instruments in the band to play their parts. The previous example throws up an interesting and important point. As you may know, the ‘ii V I’ (two five one) progression is the most common chord sequence played in jazz music. The ii V I is formed when we harmonise the 2nd, 5th and root degrees of a major scale. It is rare to find a jazz standard that doesn’t include at least one, if not many ii V I progressions. The final two bars of example 6b form a standard ii V I progression. As this chord sequence occurs so often in jazz it is very important to start forming a ‘dictionary’ of different ways to play these chords. Using rootless guide tone voicings in this way is one of the simplest ways to navigate the chord sequence as we only change one note each time. In a normal ii V I, the b7 of the ii chord will always fall by a semitone to become the 3rd of the V chord. The b3 of the ii chord stays the same and becomes the b7 of the V chord. When the V chord moves to the I chord, the b7 of the V chord will always fall by a semitone to become the 3rd of the I chord. The 3rd of the V chord stays the same and becomes the 7th of the I chord. This is easier to see in the following diagram.

Knowing that this movement is always the same in a ii V I is very useful as it allows us to make the smallest possible movement to define a new chord. It is also a great way to start to learn how chord intervals move on the guitar neck as chords change. This is fantastic when it comes to soloing as we already know where the strongest notes from each chord lie on the guitar. Look back to the first two bars of example 6b. Can you see that these chords are a series of unresolved ‘ii Vs’? The guide tones have the same movement as the chords in bar three, but they do not resolve to a tonic maj7 chord as the final chords. This kind of sequence is very common in jazz and it is used in tunes such as Blues for Alice by Charlie Parker where there are many substitutions to the original harmony. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Study bars one and two of example 6b to make sure you understand how the guide tones are moving. Notice that in these cycles, only one note is moving each time. Try playing through example 6b using guide tones based off the 5th and 4th strings. Remember to only visualise the root note, don’t play it. Another common chord progression in jazz is the ‘vi ii V I’ (six, two, five, one) sequence. The chord qualities often vary in this sequence (often VI and ii are played as dominant chords) but in its natural form the vi chord is a minor 7 (hence the small Roman numeral figure: vi denotes minor, VI denotes major, VI7 denotes a 7 chord). A vi ii V I sequence in the key of G might look like this:

We have looked at a few ways you could play through this sequence, however if we reduce it to just guide tone voicings we could play it like this Example 6c:

As I mentioned before, the qualities of these chord progressions often change. Here is an example of the same sequence but this time each chord is played as a dominant 7. Example 6d:

Try playing the above example both with and without the roots, and also play it while visualising the root of the E chord on the 6th string (12th fret). You will notice that you only need to move the guide tones down by a semitone (one fret) each time to play through this entire sequence.

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Practice using guide tone voicings without roots on all the examples in previous chapters. You can also easily find jazz chord charts online or in a ‘fake’ book. In particular, you might want to begin by studying jazz blues tunes such as Billie’s Bounce or Blues for Alice, and Rhythm Changes tunes, such as I Got Rhythm or Anthropology as they contain a lot of common chord movements. Try playing complete tunes just on adjacent string sets, i.e., the 2nd and 3rd and 3rd and 4th strings. Keep your guide tone movements as close and as smooth as possible. Remember to ignore any natural or chromatic extensions to chords. If you see any major 6 or minor 6 chords, for now play them as Major 7 or minor 7 chords. The more practice you do at this kind of rhythm playing, the deeper your understanding of jazz chord movements will become. Breaking a jazz tune down into its essential elements is an excellent way to hear the tune properly, and this will in turn lead to better chord playing and soloing. One other reason that guitarists like rootless guide tone voicings on the middle strings is that they give us lots of room to add walking basslines below, and melodies above the basic harmony. We will look at these concepts in book three.


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Chapter Seven: Rootless Guide Tone Voicings with Extensions It is common to use voicings that consist of ‘rootless guide tones plus an extension’. In this scenario we will play the guide tones as we did in the previous chapter and add a little colour by selecting an appropriate extension or chromatic alteration. This idea is an extremely easy way to add depth and richness to your comping without overpowering the rest of the band. The secret is to know your fretboard in terms of intervals from any root note. We will begin by picking a root note and learning where all the natural extensions lie in relation to it. As it is a common jazz key, we will work in the key of Bb.

The notes on the 3rd string may not always be very useful to us as often we will be playing a guide tone on that string, although there will be some occasions where we wish to omit the 3rd of a chord in favour of the 11th. Don’t forget we can also move the 3rd of the guide tone voicing to the 5th string if we need to access an extension on the 3rd string although this kind of voicing can be quite bassy and muddy in a low register. To refresh our memory, here are the guide tones of a Bb7 chord placed next to the extensions in the previous diagram:

We can now combine these diagrams when we wish to play a guide tone plus extension voicing. For example, here are two great voicings of a Bb9 chord.

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Example 7a:

or The following is an excellent ‘13’ voicing. Example 7b:

You could play a ‘true’ Bb11 chord in the following way. Example 7c:

‘11’ chords often need to be handled with care as the 11th/4th is only a semitone distance away from the major 3rd. Always try to put them in different octaves. Also, it is important to note that 11 chords are similar but not the same as a 7sus4 chord. Both chords include the 11th (4th), however a 7sus4 chord omits the root to form a suspended chord. In this case we can simply raise the 3rd by a semitone to account for the sus4. The following diagrams clarify this concept.


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Example 7d:

Example 7e:

A ‘sus’ chord does not contain a 3rd. A ‘9’, ‘11’ or ‘13’ chord contains a 3rd plus an extension. Now let’s move on to adding altered extensions to our dominant 7 guide tones.

Once again, a useful extension (the #9) is located on the 3rd string, so we might have to drop the 3rd down an octave to be able to play this note comfortably. Also, the b9 and #9 that are located on the 1st string can be quite a long way from the guide tone pair. In this case it is sometimes possible to raise the b7 guide tone up by an octave to make a more convenient fingering.

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(Don’t play the root in this example) As with all these voicings, the range of the guitar that you use will depend very much on which chord voicings preceded and follow the current one. Some common altered dominant guide tone plus extension grips are Example 7f:

Of course, it is perfectly acceptable to combine natural and altered extensions in this way. Example 7g:

These chord shapes are all movable, so practice playing them in different keys. It is important to visualise them based around the root note on the 6th string. We will now look at the natural extensions of a dominant 7 chord with a root on the 5th string. Here are the natural and altered extensions of a D7 chord. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Notice the higher octave 3rd highlighted in the first diagram. Using these two diagrams, we can construct any natural or altered extension or a combination of the two. Example 7h:

Example 7i:

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Example 7j:

Try combining the 6th-string and 5th-string guide-tone-plus-extension voicings over the following chord progressions. See how many ways you can find to navigate the changes. The following chord sequences can be quite tricky at first. You may wish to add in the root notes to help visualise the chords before later omitting them in order to play just the guide tones and extensions. Again, find as many jazz chord charts as you can and apply these techniques. You will quickly find yourself starting to see the fretboard purely in terms of intervals from any root note. This is extremely desirable for quick chord construction and articulate soloing. 1)

2)

(9) = include the 9th in the 13 chord. 3)

The same extensions apply whether you are using major 7, minor 7 or minor 7b5 guide tones. The following diagrams show all these possibilities with roots on the 6th and 5th strings. They are all shown in the key of C. Root notes are shown by white squares, guide tones are shown by black circles and extensions are shown by white circles.


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Minor 7 / Minor 7b5 Guide Tones with Extensions

Major 7 Guide Tones with Extensions

*Maj7#9 and Maj7b9 are both extremely rare to see, although the sixth mode of the harmonic minor scale harmonises to become a maj13#9#11 chord so maj7#9 chords may occasionally crop up. Just make sure that the #9 is voiced an octave above the major 3rd. With Maj7-type chords, some care must be taken when naming b5 and #11 intervals which are often used interchangeably, although this is theoretically incorrect. Maj7b5 implies that the natural 5th has been replaced with the b5, whereas maj7#11 implies that there could be a natural 5th and a #11 in the chord, although this is not common practice with guitar voicings.

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Dominant 7 Guide Tones with Extensions

b5 = #11 #5 = b13 These two pages are two of the most useful in this book. They summarise every basic chord voicing and show how any simple or complex chord can be fretted with just three or four notes. I suggest that you copy out the diagrams on these pages and stick them onto the wall where you practice. Make an effort to memorise these intervals and use them in your playing.


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Chapter Eight: Applying Extended Guide Tone Voicings The last three chapters contained a great deal of information that should take a few weeks to memorise and incorporate. It will be useful to look at a few approaches to help you internalise and quickly access these chords. We will begin by looking at a common chord progression that contains all of the basic four chord types.

Begin by making sure you can play this progression with the chord shapes in chapter two with roots on the 6th, 5th and 4th strings, and that you can easily move between chords on adjacent strings. This process is described in detail in chapter two. Next, play through the chord sequence using just root and guide tone voicings. Find as many possible routes as you can through the changes. This process is described in chapter five. When you have gained confidence with these voicings move on to adding just one extension to each chord. Use the same extension on each chord where possible. We will begin with ‘9th’ chords and playing the root of the first chord on the 5th string. Example 8a:

These chords could be voiced in the following way:

* When practicing guide tone voicings in this way, m7b5 chords always pose a problem. The above Gm9b5 chord is almost impossible to fret so it requires us to leave out one note. If we’re sticking to ‘true’ root + guide tone voicings then we should clearly leave out the b5, but that gives us exactly the same shape as a m9 chord which doesn’t really help us to distinguish between the two chords. We could play the b5 on the 5th string as in the following diagram, but that means leaving out the b3. (If we play the b3 on the 2nd string then we can’t add the 9th!) This is actually a fairly good choice of voicing; even though the 3rd is not played, the ear seems to fill in the gap.

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Another alternative is to omit the root, although that doesn’t really fit in to the root and guide tone system we’re learning. It is a great voicing in certain contexts, but played in isolation it can easily sound like a min/Maj7 chord with a root on the 4th string:

What’s the answer? Well, the truth is there is no consistent way to organise every single chord type due to the organisation of the notes on the guitar neck. My advice would differ depending on your ability and comfort level with this kind of material. I would definitely suggest that your starting point should be omitting the b5 and fretting the chord with the same shape as the m9 voicing above in order to develop a consistent system. Do, however visualise the possible b5 locations and try to incorporate them into your playing at a later stage. Next, move on to playing each chord as an 11 voicing where possible. Example 8b:

Major 7 chords with an added natural 11 are quite rare due to the semitone clash between the 3rd and 11. Most often you will see the 3rd omitted to form a sus4 chord. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Major 7#11 chords are quite common so my suggestion is to begin by using #11s on major 7 chords. You will notice in some of the diagrams above I have also included the 9ths of the chords in triangles. These are optional and can be added if you wish. Remember that just because a chord says ‘13’ it doesn’t mean you can’t add in the 9th or 11th. For now though, I suggest you focus on adding just one extension to the guide tones. The idea of this exercise is to allow you to learn the fretboard in terms of intervals. Keeping it simple will speed up the process. Now repeat the process with ‘13’ chords. Maj13th chords need attention in their voicing. There is a potential semitone clash between the 13th (6th) and b7th. Make sure the 13th is always in a higher octave than the b7th. Example 8c:

Before moving on, repeat this section but this time play through the chord progression using rootless chords. For example, the previous exercise would be played: Example 8d:

This may seem like overkill, but going through this process will really open up some new fingering possibilities for you and give you many options when you start to add melodies and walking bass ideas in book three. It will also greatly help you to internalise the locations of the intervals on the neck, and later to start recognising common chord substitutions which will be tackled in great detail in book two. Now go through the same steps but apply the process to the chords using voicings starting on the 6th string. This is your starting point for exploration:

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Example 8e:

Remember, keep it simple and methodical; the objective is to learn the locations of the extensions in this position. The next stage is to begin to incorporate altered extensions on to the dominant chords. You can use the previous progression and add altered extensions to the C7 chord, although because there is only one dominant chord in the progression it will take a while to internalise the sounds and permutations available. I suggest using the following progression to help you introduce altered extensions to the dominant chords.

Begin by adding one extension for each chord. In the following example I add a #5 (b13) to each dominant chord. Example 8f:

Change the altered extension you add each time and work in both positions on the neck. If you have problems fretting any of the voicings you may have to revert to using rootless voicings occasionally. As you gain confidence try combining two different altered extensions. The possible combinations are b5

b9

b5

#9

b5

9

5

b9

5

#9


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You can also combine the 13th with an altered extension if the fingering pattern allows it. Remember that altered extensions are most appropriate for progressions where the dominant chord is functional. This means that the dominant chord is moving to another chord, normally one that is the distance of a 4th or 5th away. When the dominant chord is static it is often inappropriate to add altered extensions in this way, although there are some exceptions to both rules. The following sets of chord changes are great workhorses for trying out new extension ideas and for developing a range of chord change licks that you can apply to many common jazz progressions.

---

Of course, there are many, many jazz progressions you can apply these concepts to. Get yourself a copy of The Real Book and pick a few tunes at random to test yourself. This is the best kind of practice.

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Chapter Nine: Diminished 7 Chords Now we have looked at how the most common four ‘7th’ chords are formed and played we will take a look at some structures that fall slightly outside the system we have been using so far. The chords in the following chapters are all very common occurrences in jazz. We will begin with the diminished 7 chord. As you learnt in chapter one, a diminished triad consists of the scale intervals 1 b3 b5. A diminished 7 chord adds a bb7 (double flat 7) interval to this triad to give the formula 1 b3 b5 bb7. In the key of C this formula generates the notes C Eb Gb Bbb (A). The diminished 7 chord occurs naturally when you harmonise the 7th degree of the harmonic minor scale. While the bb7 is enharmonically the same note as the 6th, this structure is always seen as a 7th voicing. When laid out on the fretboard, you will notice that the notes of a diminished chord have an unusual quality.

Each note is a minor 3rd (one-and-a-half tones) apart. This has some far-reaching theoretical consequences but for now it is important to realise just one thing: The notes in the chords of C Dim7, Eb Dim7, Gb Dim7 and A Dim 7 are the same. This symmetry leads to some interesting possibilities in terms of modulation (key changes) which we will study in part three. Diminished chords have an instantly recognisable sound, and were commonly used in old-fashioned horror movies and by J.S. Bach! You can fret diminished 7 chords with roots on the 6th, 5th and 4th strings. Example 9a:


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To create that classic Hammer-Horror sound, try moving a diminished 7 chord up or down by the interval of a minor 3rd: Example 9b:

Try this with each of the three chord voicings above. While the diminished chord is used as a defined sound in its own right, it is very commonly used as a substitution for other chords. We will be taking a detailed look at common chord substitutions in Part Two but we will cover one very important diminished 7 substitution now. Compare the chords of C7 and C# diminished 7: Example 9c:

Can you see that the chord of C# diminished contains exactly the same notes as C7, apart from the root, which has been raised by a semitone to become a b9 interval? You can see this in the following diagram of intervals.

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A C# diminished chord contains exactly the same notes as a rootless C7b9 chord. This has been one of the most common substitutions in music for a long time. For reasons of convenience and for building a consistent system of substitutions, many jazz musicians see this substitution as building a diminished 7 chord on the 3rd of a dominant chord. Remember, diminished 7 chords are symmetrical so C# diminished 7 contains the same notes as the following chords: C# Dim7 – E Dim7 – G Dim7 – Bb Dim7. For reasons that will become clear in chapter fourteen it is normally easier to see a chord substitution built on a chord tone like the 3rd, as opposed to a non-chord tone like the b9, even though they are technically the same thing. This substitution works beautifully every time you encounter a functional dominant chord. All you need to do to imply a 7b9 chord is play a dim7 chord on the 3rd of the original dominant chord. For example, in the chord progression

We can substitute the chord E dim7 for the C7 chord to create a C7b9 sound: Example 9d:

Because of its symmetrical nature, there is no reason we can’t use more than one diminished substitution on the C7 chord. Try moving the diminished chord up by three frets before resolving to the FMaj7 chord:


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Example 9e:

Different voicings of the same chord are called inversions. As long as you play with good rhythm, you can play as many voicings of the diminished 7 substitution as you like in place of the original dominant 7 chord. Although it is a little dated, this is the first chord substitution that many jazz musicians learn as it gives instant access to an altered dominant sound. The diminished 7 chord can be a little difficult to finger at first. One tip for the voicings on the 5th and 6th strings is to develop your finger dexterity by first fretting a dominant 7 chord and then quickly altering it to the dim 7 fingering. For example, try moving between the following fingerings:

I would recommend fretting the 6th-string dim 7 chord with the following fingering:

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One common use of the diminished 7 chord is in bar six of a jazz blues: Example 9f:

Using the E Dim 7 chord in bar six has the effect of creating an Eb7b9 chord which adds some tension before resolving back to the Bb root of the progression. Try using a diminished substitution for each of the dominant 7 chords in the final two bars of the progression. Instead of

Play a dim 7 chord on the 3rd (or b9) of each 7 chord:

Practice this diminished substitution with voicings based off the 6th, 5th and 4th strings. Remember the following rule: “Any functional dominant chord can be replaced with a diminished chord built on the 3rd to create a 7b9 sound.” Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Chapter Ten: Major and Minor 6 Chords Major and minor 6 chords are used frequently in many types of music, especially in early-era jazz. They are extremely useful to know. Major 6 chords have the formula 1 3 5 6. Minor 6 chords have the formula 1 b3 5 6. In modal contexts you may occasionally need to play a b6 on a minor chord although that is fairly uncommon.

Major 6 chords There are two ways to think about major 6 chords, either as the triad (1 3 5) with the added 6 or as a major7 chord where the 7th has been lowered by a tone. Both approaches are useful. Major 6 chords are often seen notated as simply ‘6’ or ‘M6’ for example C6 or CM6 although the former would be more common. You can play major 6 chords with roots on the 6th, 5th and 4th strings in the following ways: Example 10a:

Examine the following diagrams and you will see why a major 6 chord can be thought of as a major 7th with the 7th lowered by a tone: Example 10b:

Major 6 chords are fairly bright-sounding and are normally used as a direct substitution for a major or major 7-type chord. 60


For example, in the chord sequence Example 10c:

you could certainly play the following. Example 10d:

Although many older chord charts state major 6, a more modern approach would be to replace the major 6 chord with a major 7th. Play through the following chord progression beginning from the 6th, 5th and 4th strings

Substitutions for the Major 6 Chord Study the notes in the chord of C6 1356=CEGA

If we rearrange the order of the notes to ACEG Can you see that we have perfectly spelled out an A Minor 7 chord? With a root of A, the notes A C E G give us the formula 1 b3 5 b7. We can use an A minor 7 chord as a direct substitution for a C6 chord. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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To put this in more general terms: “To create a major 6 sound we can play a minor 7 chord based off the 6th of the original chord”. With substitutions like this it is important to use a fairly high register voicing of the substitution otherwise there is a danger of the substitution not being heard in the desired way. If the root of the substitution is too low, the listener might hear it as the true root of the chord when in fact it is an extension. For example, if the bass player is playing a C bass note or figure we can use an Am7 voicing to make the listener hear a C6 chord. Here are two voicings of Am7, one low and one high: Example 10e:

The second voicing sounds much better because it is in a higher register, even though it contains the same notes. A general rule is that you want extensions i.e., the 6th to be in an ‘upper’ voice so the listener hears them as intended. When I am using substitutions in this way I often aim to play them on just the top four strings, or at least voice them on the top half of the guitar neck when playing chords with the root on the 5th string. Experimentation is the key here so trust your own ears. In Part Two of this book we will be learning many inversions of common chords, so you will have many ways to voice any chord structure. With this information it will be easy to always use a higher register voicing of a substitution chord. For now, test yourself by working out which minor 7th chord you can use as a substitution to create the following chords: 1) G6 2) Bb6 3) F6 Answers below.1 For practice, work through the following chord progression using both the root position ‘6’ voicings from earlier and by substituting a m7 chord on the 6th degree of the maj6 chord. Bb6 – Bb D F G Eb6 – Eb G Bb C G6 – G B D E D6 – D F# A B

1

1) Em7, 2) Gm7, 3) Dm7

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1)

2)

Minor 6 Chords Minor 6 chords have the formula 1 b3 5 6. They can be seen as a minor triad (1 b3 5) with an added 6, or as a minor 7 chord with the 7th lowered by a semitone. In the key of C the formula 1 b3 5 6 generates the notes C Eb G A. Minor 6 chords are often used directly in place of m7 chords but sometimes the use of a m6 chord has some subtle implications when soloing. Minor 6 chords can be voiced from the 6th, 5th and 4th strings in the following ways. (Key of G) Example 10f:

The following diagram shows that a m6 chord can be seen as a m7 chord with the b7 lowered by a semitone:


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The following progression is one of the most common in which a minor 6 chord is used. Notice the minor/Major7 chord which you will learn more about in chapter twelve. Example 10g:

This sequence can be played:

As you can see, the root of the chord descends by a semitone with each chord change. If you see a m6 chord on a chord chart it is normally there for a specific reason, either the melody note of the tune is a 6th, or more likely the chart is telling you that this chord is the tonic chord in a melodic minor progression. Without wading too deeply into music theory, the tonic (I) chord of a melodic minor scale harmonises to become a minMaj7 (pronounced “Minor Major 7th”) chord. It is a minor chord with a major 7th and has the formula 1 b3 5 7. This is somewhat of a ‘tense’ chord and not really as stable a sound as you might look for in a ‘home’ chord. Minor/Major 7ths are great chords, but they do have a very particular flavour which is not always appropriate for a minor ballad as you heard in the previous example. Often, a composer’s solution is to replace the tonic mMaj7 with a m6. (Although for a great use of a mMaj7 chord as a tonic, check out Miles Davis’ version of Solar) If you’re soloing and you see a m6 chord, a good first choice scale is often melodic minor.

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Substitutions for the Minor 6 Chord Just as we could substitute a m7 chord built on the 6th of the major 6 chord, we can do a similar thing for the minor 6 chord. Look at the notes in the following diagram:

If you rearrange the notes to A C Eb G, you can see that you have perfectly spelled out an Am7b5 chord. With a root of A, the notes A C Eb G give us the formula 1 b3 b5 b7. This means that a m7b5 chord played a 6th above the root creates a m6 chord. To transfer this concept to other keys, simply count up a major 6th from the root and play a m7b5 chord on that note. For example, to create a Gm6 chord, you would play an Em7b5 over a G bass note. To create a Bm7 chord you would play a G#m7b5 chord over a B bass note. On which note would you substitute a m7b5 chord to form the following m7 chords? Answers below.2 1) Dm6 2) Am6 3) F#m6 One of the nice things about the guitar is that it can be a very visual instrument. If you know what a major 6th interval looks like on the guitar you can always quickly find the correct substitution.

2

1) Bm7b5, 2) F#m7b5, 3) Dm7b5 Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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The major 6th interval will always look like this with a 6th string root:

We know from chapter two that we can play a m7b5 chord with a root on the 4th string in the following way:

By combining these two diagrams we can show that one good way to visualise the m6 chord is

All you need to do is visualise the notes on the highest three strings on the same fret as the root of the 6th chord. The same method works for forming a major 6 chord with a m7 chord:

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These visualisations are a good starting point when learning these chord substitutions, but with practice you will quickly learn to instantly apply important substitutions effortlessly and instantly. We will learn much, much more about substitutions in Part Two of this book, but for now try to find as many different ways as you can to voice these important 6th chord substitutions.


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Chapter Eleven: Major and Minor 6/9 chords Major 6/9 chords can be a slightly ambiguous sound as they contain two extensions and no defining 7th degree. Also, when voiced on the guitar, the 3rd is quite often omitted. The formula for a ‘true’ Major 6/9 chord is 1 3 5 6 9 although the chord tones that are included will often depend on finding a convenient fingering on the guitar. Major 6/9 chords are often used as the final chord in a jazz tune to create a particular ‘ending’ sound that you will have heard in numerous outros. They are often used as a direct substitution for any major or major 7-type chord because they add richness and colour to the progression. In the key of C, the formula 1 3 5 6 9 generates the following series of notes: CEGAD You will virtually always want to voice the 6 and 9 extensions in a higher octave than the root. As a true major 6/9 voicing is a five-note chord, at least one note will normally be omitted on the guitar. These major 6/9 chords are often played as rootless voicings that omit the 3rd. While omitting the 3rd may seem to be ‘against the rules’, the human ear is very good at filling in the gaps, especially when these kinds of chords are played in the correct diatonic context. We will look at some unique features of 6/9 chords that omit the 3rd later in this chapter, but for now learn these basic voicings of the major 6/9 chord in the key of G: Example 11a:

The next set of diagrams show how you can voice minor 6/9 chords: Example 11b:

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Minor 6/9 chords make great substitutions for any ii chord in a progression. In the following ii V I sequence in F Major, I have used a minor 6/9 chord for the ii chord, and a major 6/9 chord for the I chord. Example 11c:

Try playing through the same sequence in different areas of the neck and exploring as many ways to use these voicings as possible. There are some great tricks you can use when voicing 6/9 chords with no 3rd. In the following diagram, the 6/9 chord is voiced on the top four strings of the guitar and this voicing does not include a 3rd. You should learn this shape as it is a very common guitar voicing. The root of the chord is marked in for your reference – it is optional. Example 11d:

One interesting feature of 6/9 chords is that you can move the root up a 4th (across a string) and create another 6/9 chord with a different voicing:

Try playing through the following chord progression: Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Example 11e:

Due to this feature, you can get two voicings out of the same shape simply by sliding the 6/9 chord structure up and down. For example, the chord A6/9 can be played as Example 11f:

or In fact, this idea is used as a common ending. Listen to and learn the following common jazz ending. Notice how I use the open A string to provide a bass note to the final two 6/9 voicings: Example 11g:

As shown in example 11b, 6/9 chords can be used as both a major I and major IV chord. They can also be used as a dominant chord voicing which would imply a ‘13’ sound, however as they do not contain a b7 degree they are not usually a common voicing. If you use6/9 chord voicings that does not include the 3rd, they also make excellent Dorian chords. Sometimes in music a chord can simply be written to give the rhythm player freedom to use their own interpretation of a specific tonality. You may see written over a long, static chord progression something like “C Dorian” or “C Lydian”. The composer wants you to use voicings and extensions that imply a particular modality. For “C Dorian” you would want to emphasise the b7 9 11 and 13th extensions. For “C Lydian” you would wish to use voicings that accentuate the #11.

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The formula for the Dorian mode is 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7, so the above 6/9 voicing with the formula 1 5 6 9 can be used to imply the extensions of a minor 6/9 chord with no b3. For this reason, it is a useful tonic voicing for both the harmonised major and the harmonised Dorian scale. As the Dorian mode is built on the second degree of the major scale, the 1 5 6 9 voicing works as a harmonisation of chord ii. If you wished, you could play the first four chords of the jazz standard Autumn Leaves in the following way:

Example 11h:

6/9 chords are very versatile chords that can be used in a wide variety of different contexts.


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Chapter Twelve: Minor/Major7 Chords The m(Maj7) chord occurs naturally in music when you harmonise the tonic chords of both the harmonic and the melodic minor scales. It has the formula 1 b3 5 7 and in the key of C this generates the notes C Eb G B. Harmonic Minor = 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7 Melodic Minor = 1 2 b3 4 5 6 7 As discussed in the section on minor 6 chords, composers often avoid using the m(Maj7) chord as a tonic resolution point due to the unstable nature of this chord. Useful guide tone voicings for this chord include the following. Example 12a:

They can be played in the following ways as full 1 b3 5 7 chords. Example 12b:

These chords are rarely used anywhere other than as a tonic chord in a progression that is derived from either the harmonic or melodic minor scales. We have already looked at one common progression that uses the m(Maj7) chord:

In the above progression, the tonic note (G) can be heard descending by a semitone as you move through the voicings. 72


To recap, you can play the above progression in the following way:

Minor(Maj7) chords crop up fairly commonly in minor-key jazz tunes such as My Funny Valentine and Solar.


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Chapter Thirteen: Major 7b5 and Major 7#5 Chords The Maj7b5 Chord As we learnt in chapter seven with Maj7-type chords, some care must be taken when naming b5 and #11 intervals which are often used interchangeably, although this is theoretically incorrect. Maj7b5 implies that the natural 5th has been replaced with the b5, whereas maj7#11 implies that there could be a natural 5th and a #11 in the chord, although this is not common practice with guitar voicings. This means that a Maj7b5 chord technically contains the intervals 1 3 b5 7. A Maj7#11 chord could contain the intervals 1 3 5 7 and #11. The larger voicing is possible on the piano where there is the facility to spread the notes in a dense chord far apart, but on the guitar this is not always an option for us. Generally guitarists will normally omit the 5th in a Maj7#11 chord so it becomes interchangeable with a Maj7b5 chord. The Maj7#11 chord is formed naturally when we harmonise the 4th degree of the major scale. It is the definitive ‘Lydian chord’. Here are three common voicings. Example 13a:

As you may expect, this chord can be used directly in place of the IV chord in a major progression.

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Example 13b:

It is sometimes also used in place of the tonic chord in jazz endings. Example 13c:

Try using the Maj7#11 chord as both a substitute for the IV chord in a major progression and as a ‘colourful’ I chord.

The Maj7#5 Chord The Maj7#5 chord occurs naturally in both the harmonised melodic minor and harmonic minor scales. It is formed when you build a chord on the b3rd degree of either scale. The formula for a Maj7#5 chord is 1 3 #5 7. From a root of C this generates the notes C E G# B. Unlike the Maj7#11 chord there is no ambiguity here regarding #11s and b5s. You will never play a natural 5th and a #5th in the same chord. Despite being a ‘legitimate’ chord built from a scale degree of common scales, the Maj#5 isn’t a particularly common sound in music. You can voice a Major7#5 chord in the following ways on the guitar.


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Example 13d:

Maj7#5 chords are quite often played rootless because they can be viewed as a simple major triad played over a bass note. For example, in a Maj7#5 chord in the key of G (above) we have the notes: G B D# and F# We can rearrange these notes to reveal a B major triad (B, D# and F#) which when played over the G root create a Maj7#5 chord. This can be seen more easily in the following diagrams.

One name for this kind of ‘triad-over-a-bass-note’ voicing is a ‘slash chord’ because it can be defined as an X Triad / Y Bass note. In this case, the chord ‘GMaj7#5’ can be seen as ‘B Major / G’. To form a Maj7#5 sound we can play a major triad one major third above the root. To form a CMaj7#5 sound we can play an E Major Triad over C. How would you use a slash chord voicing to form the following chords? 1) DMaj7#5 2) EMaj7#5 3) BMaj7#5 Answers at the bottom of the page.3

3

1) F# Major / D 2) G# Major / E 3) D# Major / B

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Slash chords can be a tricky concept to put into practice at first. Begin by learning the 1 3 5 major triad shapes in the previous diagrams and then learn to quickly place them on the major 3rd of the desired root note. Using Maj7#5 Chords The most common use of a Maj7#5 chord is an altered home chord. The following progressions show two typical examples of it in context. Example 13e:

Example 13f:


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Chapter Fourteen: Building Extended Chords with Diatonic Substitutions Until this point in the book we have generally been selecting specific intervals to form particular types of chords. In this chapter we will look in more depth at the idea of diatonic substitutions. We will go into much more detail in Part Two of this series, but for now it is important that you understand some essential concepts before moving forward. A ‘diatonic’ substitution is one where the substitute chord originates from the same key or harmonised scale as the original chord. The most common use of this principle is to build chords with natural extensions by continually ‘stacking’ intervals above a bass note. For example, let’s take the scale of C Major: C

D

E

F

G

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

A

B

C

(1)

2

(3)

4

(5)

6

(7)

1

(9)

3

(11)

5

(13)

7

1

We know we can build a CMaj7 chord in the following way: 1 3 5 7 (C E G B) A CMaj9 chord that contains every note is formed with 1 3 5 7 9 (C E G B D). A CMaj11 chord is formed with 1 3 5 7 9 11 (C E G B D F). And a CMaj13 chord is formed with 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 (C E G B D F A). As previously discussed, we do not normally wish to include every note in these extended chords so we often discard less important intervals like the 5th and the root when constructing them. Another way to reach the higher extensions of a chord is to use a substitution. By building a new 7th chord from one of the chord tones of the original chord we can reach the ‘upper structures’ (extensions) easily and use chord forms we already know to imply a richer, extended chord sound. Look at the notes in CMaj9; C E G B D. If we get rid of the root (C), we are left with the notes E G B D. These notes form an Em7 chord. By playing an Em7 chord over a bass note of C we have created a CMaj9 sound. The following example shows this concept played on the guitar. The root (C) is included just for your reference. The Em7 chord is shown in black dots and the intervals as they relate to the root note of C are given.

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Example 14a:

By simply using an Em7 chord in place of a CMaj7 chord we have created a CMaj9 sound. The note C is not played in this voicing which is often desirable as other instruments, such as the bass, will normally be playing it. The rule is that we can always play a m7 chord on the 3rd of a Maj7 chord to create a Maj9th chord. In fact, we can use a ‘7th’ chord built on the 3rd of any other 7th chord to extend it up to the 9th. If we know the harmonised major scale, we can always simply jump a 3rd to find out which 7th chord to use as a substitution. Here is the harmonised scale of C Major. I

ii

iii

IV

V

vi

vii

CMaj7

Dm7

Em7

FMaj7

G7

Am7

Bm7b5

In the previous example, we used chord iii (Em7) as a substitution to form a CMaj9 chord. Interval from C

1

3

5

7

CMaj7

C

E

G

B

E

G

B

Em7

9

D

Now, let’s form a Dm9 chord in the same way. Interval from D

1

b3

5

7

Dm7

D

F

A

C

F

A

C

FMaj7

9

E

This can be viewed on the guitar in the following manner:


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Example 14b:

By building a Maj7 chord on the b3rd of a minor 7 chord, we create a rootless m9 chord. The same process can be used to build a dominant 9 chord. To form a dominant 9 chord, we can play a m7b5 chord of the 3rd of a dominant 7 chord. Putting this into the key of C, we can use the Bm7b5 chord to imply a rootless G9 sound. Interval from G

1

3

5

b7

G7

G

B

D

F

B

D

F

Bm7b5

9

A

On the guitar this looks like: Example 14c:

Finally, to create a m7b5b9 sound, we can play a m7 chord on the b3 of the original m7b5 chord. In the key of C this would mean playing a Dm7 chord over Bm7b5. Interval from B

1

b3

b5

b7

Bm7b5

B

D

F

A

D

F

A

Dm7

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b9

C


Example 14d:

Every substitute chord in this context is taken from the harmonised major scale. When each of the degrees of the major scale are harmonised we generate the following sequence of chords. This may seem like a lot of rules, but because these examples derive from the harmonised major scale (which always harmonises in the same way) these rules are constant. In other words, to form a Maj9 sound, you can always play a m7th on the 3rd. Here is a summary of the last few pages: Original Chord Type

Substitution on the 3rd

Rootless Extended Chord

Maj7

m7

Maj9

m7

Maj7

m9

7

m7b5

9

m7b5

m7

m7b5b9

To test yourself, work out which chord could you build on the 3rd of the following chords to form a ‘9th’ voicing.4 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8)

FMaj7 EMaj7 Gm7 Bbm7 F7 A7 Gm7b5 Dm7b5

If we want to reach higher extensions we can simply build 7th chords from the 5th or even the 7th of the original chord. It is important to remember that as the substitute chord gets further away from the root of the original, we are replacing more chord tones with extensions and so the original tonality can be harder to hear. Take a look again at the harmonised C major scale. I

ii

iii

IV

V

vi

vii

CMaj7

Dm7

Em7

FMaj7

G7

Am7

Bm7b5

4

1) Am7, 2) G#m7, 3) BMaj7, 4) Dbmaj7, 5) Am7b5, 6) C#m7b5, 7) Bbm7, 8) Fm7 Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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To build a CMaj11 chord we can play a G7 chord on the 5th of CMaj7. Interval from C

1

3

5

7

CMaj7

C

E

G

B

G

B

Em7

9

11

D

F

Example 14e:

Played over a bass note of C, the chord G7 gives us the chord tones 5, 7, 9 and 11. You will notice that the defining major 3rd is now omitted (although in the case of a CMaj11 chord this is possibly desirable due to the clash between the 3rd and the 11th). When we use these kinds of substitutions on the 5th and 7th of a chord, we include more extensions but less of the original chord tones. In Part Two of this series we will learn how to voice the most important chord structures in many different inversions, all over the neck. This is often the best time to start applying upper structure substitutions as we can easily control the range and pitch of the added extensions. Another concern is the range in which the substitution is played. It is always going to be better to play these substitutions on string groups 1 to 4, 2 to 5 or even just higher up on the neck where the extensions will not clash with chord tones played by other instruments. There are many different instrumental line-ups, ranging from solo guitar right through to big bands and using chord substitutions in this way can often depend on the density of the harmony and the parts played by other instruments. Bearing all this in mind, let’s continue our look at building 7th chords on the 5th of each original chord type. Remember that all the substitutions we are using are diatonic to the harmonised major scale. By simply counting up five notes from the root of the chord and looking at the following chart, we can easily see the substitution we need to use to create an 11th chord. I

ii

iii

IV

V

vi

vii

CMaj7

Dm7

Em7

FMaj7

G7

Am7

Bm7b5

To form a Dm11 chord we can play an Am7 chord on the 5th.

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Interval from D

1

b3

5

7

Dm7

D

F

A

C

A

C

Am7

9

11

E

G

Example 14f:

To form a G11 chord we can play a Dm7 chord on the 5th. Interval from G

1

3

5

b7

G7

G

B

D

F

D

F

Bm7b5

9

11

A

C

Example 14g:

Finally, we can play a FMaj7 chord on the 5th of Bm7b5 to create a Bm11b5b9 chord: Interval from B

1

b3

b5

b7

Bm7b5

B

D

F

A

F

A

Dm7

b9

11

C

E


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Example 14h:

To summarise 7th chord substitutions on the 5th you can use the following table. Original Chord Type

Substitution on the 5th


Maj7

7

Maj11

m7

m7

m11

7

m7

11

m7b5

Maj7

m11b5b9

Finally, before we look at some uses of these types of chords, I will summarise the extensions that are created when we use 7th chords built on the 7th of each chord. Original Chord Type

Substitution on the 7th


Maj7

m7b5

Maj13

m7

Maj7

m13

7

Maj7

13

m7b5

m7

m13b5b9

Great care must be taken with these substitutions built on the 7th as now the substituted chord has only one note in common with the original chord. Using Diatonic Substitutions As you might imagine, diatonic substitutions built on the 5th and the 7th are a lot less common than substitutions built on the 3rd. When we build a 7th substitution from the 3rd we’re only losing the root and replacing it with a 9th. As you’ve heard throughout this book, the 9th is a very acceptable extension and can be used almost anywhere. Try playing through the following progression using backing track one. Example 14i:

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This time, build a 9th chord on the Cm7 chord by using a substitution on the b3. The notes of Cm7 are C Eb G Bb So you can use chord EbMaj7 to create a Cm9 sound. Play the progression again over backing track one, but this time substitute EbMaj7 for the Cm7 chord. Example 14j:

Repeat the exercise, but this time use the substitution on the F7 chord. To create a ‘9’ sound we play a m7b5 chord on the 3rd. Example 14k:

Finally, repeat the process but this time build a BbMaj9th. To create a Maj9 sound we can play a m7 chord on the 3rd. Example 14l:

As we are playing these substitutions with a strong bassline on the backing track, it is easy to hear how the substitution functions to build a 9th on each chord. If you have a strong rhythm section or backing track you can normally add in as many 9th substitutions as you like. Try combining the three substitutions above: Example 14m:

Try this with and without the backing track and notice how the context of the chords changes. Using this system to build chords on the 5th or 7th to access the higher extensions of the chord, it is normally useful to have a strong sense of key. These kinds of voicings are often used over static chord vamps where there is not much harmonic movement. Even then, they need to be played with good rhythm and placement. Over an eight bar vamp of D Minor 7, we can easily begin to use upper structure substitutions to add interest and movement to the static harmony. The 7th chords built on the b3 5 and b7 of D minor are


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Interval from D

1

b3

5

7

Dm7

D

F

A

C

F

A

C

E

A

C

E

G

C

E

G

FMaj7 Am7 Cmaj7

9

11

13

B

Backing track two is a Dm7 vamp. Practice superimposing the chords of CMaj7, Am7 and FMaj7 over this vamp. Return to Dm7 every now and then to resolve your chord line. Play all the substitution chords with a root either on the 5th string or the 4th string to keep the extensions from clashing with the rhythm guitar part. Example 14n:

Going forward, it is important that you understand these types of substitutions although they really are just the tip of the iceberg. Experimentation is the best way to internalise them but don’t get too complex too soon. The concept of building a 7th chord from the 3rd of an original chord is an important one so make sure you have memorised and can apply these voicings in all keys. Here are the most important ones to learn for now, just to refresh your memory. Original Chord Type

Substitution on the 3rd


Maj7

m7

Maj9

m7

Maj7

m9

7

m7b5

9

m7b5

m7

m7b5b9

Very soon, you will stop having to think about these formulas because the chord shapes will become second nature and magically appear on the guitar neck in front of you. The ultimate goal is to be able to see the fretboard simply as intervals from any root note. This happens much faster than you would expect, especially when working with these kinds of substitutions. Practice over static chord vamps, for example, practice playing voicings of F#m7b5 over a 32 bar vamp of D7 to create a D9 sound. Keep it simple and work on one chord type at a time. Remember that once you know the patterns, these substitutions work in the same way in every key and the secret to making them work is to use high register chord voicings.

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Conclusions and Introduction to Part Two Part One of this series has covered a great deal of harmonic material, from the basics of how common chords are formed right through to some important substitution concepts. What I want you to take from Part One (apart from a vastly improved chord vocabulary!) is the conceptual information contained here. You have learned how to form, play and apply every common chord structure in contemporary music and I hope that if something comes up that you’ve not seen before, you can return to first principles in order to quickly build a usable voicing. Remember, that if you’re in doubt in a live situation you can always rely on playing just the correct triad if you don’t have the full chord voicing already under your fingers. If it’s really tough, it’s OK to sit out for a bar. We’ve all done it! Part One has focused on developing an excellent grounding in the basics. You have learnt a minimum of three root-position voicings of each chord discussed in the book. You can play these with roots on the 6th, 5th and 4th strings. These will get you through virtually any gig. Equally importantly, you now have an understanding of how chords are formed and which notes you can omit in complex structures. The most important thing you can do now is to internalise this information. The quickest way to do that is simply to play. Get yourself a copy of The Real Book and start playing through some tunes. You will learn a lot about music very quickly. Experiment by changing chord qualities. If you see a m7 chord, try changing it to a m6, m9 or a m6/9. You will immediately learn to recognise when these substitutions can be applied. About Part Two In Part Two of the series, we look at getting more artistic and musical with how we choose to play the important chord structures introduced in this book. We will be taking an exhaustive look at advanced chord voicings, inversions and substitutions. The way a chord is voiced on an instrument has a huge impact on its sound. In Part One, we learned that a 7th chord is built by stacking the root, 3rd, 5th and 7th degrees. The chord of CMaj7 can be written like this:

However, the notes do not have to be played in this order. The chord can be inverted so that a different note is in the bass. By raising the bottom note (the root) of the chord by an octave, the lowest note (the 3rd) becomes the bass.

This chord voicing is still a CMaj7, but due to the different inversion of the notes, it has a different musical quality. As there are four notes in the chord, it can be inverted four times (including the root position voicing):

Each of these inversions is a legitimate voicing of a CMaj7 chord and each has a subtly different flavour. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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While the above voicings are not necessarily useful to play on the guitar, it is very important to know this principle of inversions because are some very useful and important ways to structure and voice every 7th chord by applying the concept of ‘drop voicings’. The most common chord structure played in jazz guitar is the ‘drop 2’ voicing. It is created by dropping the second highest note of the chord down by one octave. It is voiced like this:

The second chord in the above diagram is a root position CMaj7 chord played as a drop 2 voicing. There are four inversions of the root position CMaj7 chord and each one can be played as a drop 2 chord. Notice in the above example that this chord is voiced on just the top four strings of the guitar. These four-string chords can be transferred across to the 2nd-5th string and 3rd-6th string groups. This gives a total of twelve chord shapes on the guitar to voice these drop 2 chords. Other chord types that will be taught are ‘drop 3’ voicings and ‘drop 2 drop 4’ voicings. This may seem daunting, but if you’ve ever listened to jazz guitar chord melody players like Joe Pass, and wondered where all those beautiful chords come from, this kind of study is the best place to start investigating their mastery of the guitar. There is a very useful, structured way to learn all these voicings which I will teach you in Part Two of this series. Not every chord type in every voicing is useful, and knowing which avenues to pursue and which to avoid will save you hours in the practice room. The outcome of this type of study is that you will gain complete command over your fretboard and be able to voice beautiful, complex chords with ease and precision. I personally spent years learning jazz guitar soloing, but the thing that really helped me understand the fretboard was learning these amazing voicings. Part Two also goes into much more detail about the practical application of chord substitutions. In Part One we covered the basics of diatonic chord substitution. This will be expanded upon and applied musically using the ‘drop’ voicings described above. Because we will have many more chord voicings to choose from, it is easy to create some beautiful, complex chords just by using the structures we already know. As always many recorded musical examples will be given. In Part Two, we will also look at ‘non-diatonic’ substitutions. The idea once again is to use the 7th structures we already know to create chords with chromatic or ‘altered’ extensions. This technique is most commonly applied to functional dominant chords to add chromatic tensions as described in chapter seven and is similar to the diminished substitution ideas in chapter eight. By knowing how to substitute simple 7th voicings for dominant chords, it is easy to create rich, complex, altered dominant textures. Part Two of Guitar Chords in Context teaches you how to advance your chord skills quickly, systematically and musically. It will truly open up the guitar neck for you.

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Quick Chord Reference Guide Chord Type

Construction

Notes Often Omitted On Guitar

Maj

135

Min

1 b3 5

Dim (mb5)

1 b3 b5

Aug (Maj#5)

1 3 #5

Maj7

1357

Min7

1 b3 5 b7

7

1 3 5 b7

m7b5

1 b3 b5 b7

Dim7

1 b3 b5 bb7

m(Maj7)

1 b3 5 7

m(Maj9)

1 b3 5 7 9

5

Maj9

13579

5


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Chord Type

Construction

Notes Often Omitted On Guitar

m9

1 b3 5 7 9

5

9

1 3 5 b7 9

5

m7b9b5

1 b3 b5 b7 b9

1

m9b5

1 b3 b5 b7 9

1

Maj11

1 3 5 7 9 11

3, 9

Maj7sus4

1 5 7 11

m11

1 b3 5 b7 9 11

1, 5, 9

11

1 3 5 b7 9 11

1, 5, 9

m11b9b5

1 b3 b5 b7 b9 11

1, b5, b9

Maj13

1 3 5 7 9 11 13

1, 9, 11

Maj13sus4

1 4 5 7 9 11 13

1, 5, 9, 11

m13

1 b3 5 b7 9 11 13

1, 5, 9, 11

13

1 3 5 b7 9 11 13

1, 11

7 alt

1 3 5 b7 +

1, 5

Any of b9 #9 b5(#11) #5(b13)

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Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery Introduction Part One of this series took a look at the construction of almost every chord type used in modern music. Three root-position voicings were given for each chord in order that you might have sixth, fifth and fourth string roots for each one. These three voicings will allow you to play the rhythm part of virtually any piece of music, especially in jazz, where complex and altered chord sounds are common. You should be able to quickly find at least one ‘grip’ for a chord to enable you to play through the progression. Part One also deconstructed the fingerboard into intervals around a root note so you can quickly construct any chord from ‘first principles’. Part One is by no means a prerequisite for Part Two, although understanding chord construction and being able to locate intervals on the neck will be a great help moving forward. In Part Two, we are focusing on the concepts of chord voicings and inversions. Both of these ideas are conceptually fairly simple: If we have four notes in a chord, voicings and inversions are simply different ways to organise these notes. These concepts will be discussed at great length throughout the book. The reason for the study of voicings and inversions is to create a rich tapestry of sounds and textures that can be used to create music. If you listen to guitarists such as Joe Pass, Tal Farlow, Jim Hall, Martin Taylor or Barney Kessel (among many others) then you will find that the majority of their approaches to playing rhythm guitar can be broken down to many of the techniques in this book. Even players who are not associated with the ‘chord melody’ style use many different voicings and inversions in their rhythm guitar ‘comping’. You only need to listen to Mike Stern, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Pat Metheny, John Scofield and hundreds of others to hear that their rhythm parts rarely rest on just one voicing for each chord. By moving through chord inversions, voicings and using ‘chord licks’ great modern guitarists add massive depth, interest and movement to even the most static of chord progressions. The concepts discussed in this book are by no means limited to the guitar. You will hear these techniques used by piano and vibe players and arranged among the wind, brass and string sections of almost every orchestra. The voicings taught here are standard musical arrangement devices whether they’re played on a single guitar or piano or split across multiple instruments in an orchestral section. Undoubtedly, this book contains a huge amount of information which may take months or years to internalise. The trick to incorporating this kind of information is to put it into context as soon as possible. Please, please do not learn the concepts in this book as a set of rules. Take one small idea at a time and actually use it in your playing. Try it in different keys and in different musical situations. The goal is not to memorise every concept all at once; it is to make gradual small improvements in your playing. I have tried to organise the material as logically as possible and keep the information given as useful and practical as I can. There are occasions where I have included certain voicings for completeness although realistically there might be better options to use in their place. These occasions are clearly marked with an explanation of why they’re not commonly used and what to use instead. You may have come across the 80/20 rule stating that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort. By focusing on the chords and techniques that are commonly used by the great jazz guitarists and not worrying about the things that are theoretically possible, you will quickly make massive progress in your music. As with the other books in this series, I believe that music is best demonstrated with plenty of notation, diagrams and actual audio examples. You can download all the audio examples and backing tracks in this book from www.fundamentalchanges.com/audio-downloads completely for free. They will truly help you improve more quickly. As always, take it slowly and have fun. Joseph Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Chapter One: Voicings and Inversions The phrase ‘chord voicing’ refers to the way the notes of a chord are arranged, both in musical notation and on our instrument. In Part One, I pointed out that a ‘7th’ chord contains four notes; the root, third, fifth and 7th of the parent scale. The easiest way to arrange these notes is to stack them one on top of each other. For example, the chord of C Major 7 (CMaj7) has the formula 1 3 5 7 which generates the following notes: C, E, G and B. These notes can be stacked up in the following manner: Example 1a:

Notice how the notes C, E, G and B are voiced in order from low to high. When the chord tones are in order like this (1 3 5 7) it is called a close position chord. N.B. this is close as in ‘near-by’, rather than close as in ‘shut’. The above example is a perfectly legitimate way to voice a CMaj7 chord, however, a much more common way to voice chords on the guitar is to use ‘drop’ voicings. There are three main types of drop voicings playable on the guitar: Drop 2 Drop 3 Drop 2 and 4 What musicians mean when they say ‘drop voicings’ is that one or more of the notes in the chord structure have been lowered by an octave. For example, in a drop 2 voicing, the second highest note is dropped by an octave. This concept is shown in the following example. (Don’t worry about playing the examples in this chapter, just make sure you are comfortable with the concepts described here.) Example 1b:

In the above example, you can see that the second highest note (G) has been dropped by an octave and is now below the root of the chord (C). 92


The resulting drop 2 voicing is still a CMaj7 chord, but it now sounds quite different to the original close position voicing. In a drop 3 voicing, the third highest note is dropped by an octave. Example 1c:

Finally, drop 2 and 4 chord voicings have both the second and fourth highest notes dropped by an octave. Example 1d:

In example 1d, both the G and C are dropped by an octave to form a new voicing of the CMaj7 chord. Drop 2, drop 3, and drop 2 and 4 voicings are commonly used chord structures in music. Much of this book will be about exploring their practical application in guitar playing. There is one other essential point to understand before we look at applying these voicings on the guitar. It is the concept of inversions. When the root of the chord is played in the bass, that voicing is said to be in root position. In the context of a CMaj7 chord, this means that the root note of the chord (C) is the bass note (lowest) in the voicing. Here are two ways to play a CMaj7 chord in root position: Example 1e:


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Both of the above chords are CMaj7 in root position (they both also happen to be close voicings). To create an inversion of the chord, we can simply move the bottom note of the voicing up by an octave. By doing this we are putting the third of the chord (E) in the bass. Example 1f:

Again, don’t worry too much about playing these ideas on the guitar, just focus on learning the concept. These particular voicings are tricky to play on guitar and not very useful. You will learn how we make them useful in the next chapter. The second chord in the previous example is called a first inversion chord. The chord has been inverted via raising the bass note an octave so that the third of the chord (E) is in the bass. We can repeat the same process of raising the bass note to create second inversion and third inversion chords. The following example shows how a root position chord voicing becomes a first, second and third inversion chord by raising the bass note an octave each time.

Even if you don’t read much music, take a moment to study the above diagram. The chord starts off in root position with the root of the chord (C) in the bass. In the second chord, the bass is moved up an octave so that the third (E) becomes the bass note. In the third chord, the bass note (E) is moved up again so that the fifth (G) becomes the new bass note. Finally, in the fourth chord, the bass note is moved up by an octave yet again so that the 7th (B) becomes the new bass note. If I was to repeat the process one more time, can you see that the chord would return to a root position voicing? It would be the same as the chord in example 1e. This concept of inversions is extremely important because it allows us to create four voicings of any four-note chord. Any of the three drop voicing structures discussed above can be played in four inversions. When you consider that many of the drop voicings can be played on different sets of strings, and that there are four main chord types (Maj7, min7, ‘7’ and m7b5), you can quickly see that we can be left with a bewildering array of chord voicings and melodic opportunities. Don’t despair however! This book discusses all of these opportunities in an organised, contextual way. We will examine how each of the chord voicings is best used musically and how to develop ‘chord licks’ that cover a wide variety of common progressions. If you really want to develop your rhythm guitar knowledge and work towards mastery of the guitar, this kind of study is essential. When approached in the right way, this kind of practice isn’t nearly as complex as it sounds and is a fun, rewarding way to approach the guitar. It’s also extremely expressive, musical and impressive! 94


You may have heard the phrase “learn the theory and then forget it”. This is exactly what I want you to do now. All you need to know is that drop voicings allow us to arrange a chord in different ways, and inversions are simply chord voicings with a different note in the bass. We will begin by examining and musically applying the most common ‘drop 2’ guitar voicings.


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Chapter Two: Fm7 Drop 2 Voicings Drop 2 voicings are some of the most widely used, versatile chord voicings that are used in modern music. They are not instrument specific and can be played on any harmonic instrument or ‘shared out’ between the parts of a horn, brass or string section. Throughout this section, we will be splitting the guitar into three string groups, the first (high E) to fourth (D) strings, the second to fifth strings and the third to sixth strings. Drop 2 chords are most commonly played on the highest two string groups (1 – 4 and 2 – 5). We will begin by learning the four voicings for a drop 2 Fm7 chord played on the top four strings. Pay very careful attention to where the root notes (squares) are in the following diagrams. By knowing where the root notes are you will find it is much easier to transpose these chords into other keys later. Example 2a:

Begin by playing slowly through the four voicings. Remember that the final voicing can be played at either the thirteenth or first fret. To help you memorise the shapes, practice the following ideas over backing track one. Don’t worry too much about playing in a regular rhythm, just work on smoothly transitioning between the four shapes.

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1) Ascend and descend through the four voicings. Example 2b:

2) Practicing moving between pairs of chords, for example between the root and first or the first and second inversions of Fm7. Example 2c:

3) Try skipping inversions by playing root – second then first to fourth inversions. Example 2d:

Finally, try simply jamming along with backing track one and playing these voicings whenever you like. As mentioned previously, the key to using these chords effectively is always to know where the root note is in each voicing. The following diagram shows where all the F notes are located on the top four strings. Learn your voicings in the context of these root notes.


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One useful tip is to listen to great piano players like Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Bod Powell and listen to how they phrase chords rhythmically, especially while ‘comping’ under the solos of other musicians. The next stage in internalising these chord voicings is to join them up by adding a walking bass line between the lowest notes in each chord shape. To do this, we will imagine that we are in the key of F Minor and use the F Minor (Aeolian) bebop scale to ‘walk’ between each voicing. The F Minor Bebop scale can be played like this along the fourth string of the guitar:

Begin by playing the lowest possible voicing of the Fm7 chord:

Notice that the lowest note in this voicing (Eb) is contained in the F Minor Bebop scale above. Play the above chord on beat one of the bar, and on beat two play the next note of the F Minor Bebop scale (E) before playing the next available voicing of Fm7 on beat three. Example 2e:

Continue moving between Fm7 voicings as you ascend the neck in the above manner. There is one scale note between every chord voicing. Here is the full sequence ascending.

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Example 2f:

You might have to think carefully about your fingering between the second and third inversions of the Fm7 chord. Now try descending through the four voicings. Example 2g:

Don’t worry too much about staying in a strict rhythm at first, just see if you can play through the examples without making a mistake. As you gain in confidence try to join up the ascending and descending examples with no gaps. Example 2h:


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Walking bass lines are a subject unto themselves and will be covered in Part Three of this series when we look at chord melody playing. In the context of learning chord voicings, however, they are an excellent musical tool that helps you to memorise and form drop 2 voicings quickly and accurately. Keep in mind that Fm7 will not always be the tonic chord in a key. For example, it could be the ii chord in the key of Eb Major or the vi chord in the key of Ab Major. In these circumstances we would use different scales to derive the notes for the bass line. These would normally be strongly related to the tonic key of the progression. In this book, the Fm7 will always be the tonic chord in the progression unless otherwise stated. Before we move on, make sure you can form these m7 voicings in other keys. As mentioned, knowing each chord in context of its root note is the secret to playing them in other keys. Learn the minor 7 chord voicings in the following keys. 1) 2) 3) 4)

Bb minor Eb minor C minor G minor

The root notes are shown on the following page:

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Practice using all the techniques on to help you internalise the chords and also try adding the walking bass line as you move between voicings. Also, you should flick forward to chapter eighteen where there are exercises based around common musical cycles. These exercises are the key to developing your ability, vision and creativity as a guitarist. The exercises in chapter eighteen are challenging, but they are the ones which will help you master any chord type, voicing or inversion quickly and masterfully. After every chapter in this book it will be worthwhile to apply the exercises in chapter eighteen to any new chord voicings or inversions. Next, we will stay on the top four string group and take a look at the dominant chord of Fm7: C7.


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Chapter Three: Dominant 7 Drop 2 Voicings In this chapter we will explore the inversions of the C7 drop 2 chord voiced on the top four strings. The dominant 7 chord is extremely common in jazz and is often altered with chromatic tensions (which we will discuss in chapter nine). It is essential you master the dominant 7 chord voicing before moving on as we will be doing a great deal of work with it later in this book. The four, drop 2 voicings for C7 are played as follows. Remember to pay great attention to the locations of the root notes in each shape. Example 3a:

Playing these chords from low to high on the guitar neck gives us the following. Example 3b:

Repeat the steps in chapter two to memorise and use these voicings. 1) Ascend through the voicings from lowest to the highest. 102


2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Descend through the voicings from highest to lowest. Move between pairs of chords, gradually ascending or descending the fretboard. Skip chords and play alternate voicings ascending and descending the neck (as in example 2d). Jam along with backing track two, a static C7 groove. Join the chords up with a walking bass line.

For the walking bass line I would suggest using the C Mixolydian Bebop scale below although this will change depending on context. Example 3c:

With a walking bass line, the four voicings of the C7 chord can be played in the following way: Example 3d:

Once again, using walking bass lines is quite tricky, but very effective. Begin by going very slowly and not worrying about playing in rhythm. As you improve, start using a metronome and focus more on playing in time. When you are feeling more confident with the bass line connections, try playing the dominant 7 voicings with root notes of F, G, Bb and Eb. The next stage is to learn the C7 voicings in a musical context. We can do this by combining them with the Fm7 voicings in the previous chapter. The V – I progression is the most common chord movement in music. By linking the chords C7 and Fm7 together we will quickly master some of the most important chord movements on the guitar. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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To begin with, find the voicings of C7 and Fm7 that are closest together on the guitar neck. These chord pairings can be seen in the following examples. Example 3e:

Example 3f:

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Example 3g:

Example 3h:


105

Try joining these chord sequences up into a longer line that ascends the neck. Example 3i:

Or descends the neck. Example 3j:

This time, instead of thinking in terms of closest chord pairs, ascend a voicing each time so that the melody note always raises in pitch where possible. Example 3k:

Finally, reverse this idea so that the melody always descends when possible.

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Example 3l:

You can practice all of the above examples over backing track three, a repeating C7 to Fm7 vamp.

As always, practice these ideas slowly and make sure you have completely memorised all four voicings of each drop 2 chord before trying them in different keys. Play the ideas shown in examples 3i to 3l in the following keys. 1) 2) 3) 4)

Bb minor (F7 – Bbm7) Eb minor (Bb7 – Ebm7) C minor (G7 – Cm7) G minor (D7 – Gm7)

Try taking these progressions through some of the exercises in chapter eighteen. We have now looked at many ways to play through the minor V I progression using drop 2 chords on the top four strings. In the next chapter we will introduce chord ii in a minor key; the m7b5 chord.


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Chapter Four: Minor 7b5 Drop 2 Voicings We have now studied both the minor tonic and dominant 7 chord in the key of F minor. To extend this progression we will add in the ii chord Gm7b5, with which we can form the important minor ii V i progression. The four drop 2 voicings for Gm7b5 are played as follows. Remember to pay great attention to the locations of the root notes in each shape. Example 4a:

Repeat the following steps in order to memorise and internalise the sound of these voicings. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Ascend through the voicings from lowest to the highest. Descend through the voicings from highest to lowest. Move between pairs of chords, gradually ascending or descending the fretboard. Skip chords and play alternate voicings ascending and descending the neck (as in example 2d). Jam along with backing track four, a static Gm7b5 groove. Join the chords up with a walking bass line.

Use the following Locrian Bebop scale to join up the chord voicings.

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Example 4b:

With a walking bass line, the four voicings of the Gm7b5 chord can be played in the following way: Example 4c:

Remember, using walking bass lines is quite tricky, but very effective. Begin by going very slowly and not worrying about playing in rhythm. As you improve, start using a metronome and focus more on playing in time until you’re increasing the metronome speed and easily fretting each chord. When you are feeling more confident with the bass line connections, try playing the m7b5 voicings with root notes of Eb, C, Bb and Db. To reinforce these m7b5 chord voicings and to put them into a musical context, we will now learn them in conjunction with the C7 and Fm7 chords from the previous two chapters. You may remember that one of the best ways to practice these chords is by finding the smallest movement possible between the chord changes. As you already mastered moving from C7 to Fm7 in the previous chapter, adding in the Gm7 to form a full minor ii V i shouldn’t take too long. To save space, the following four chord sequences are combined into one line of notation below.


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Example 4d:

Example 4e:

Example 4f:

110


Example 4g:

Examples 4d – 4g:

These ideas are very effective when descending the neck: Example 4h:

One very effective technique is to use voicings that cause the melody note on the first string to ascend with every chord change. By starting at different points on the neck there are at least two different ways to achieve a constantly ascending melody.


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Example 4i:

Example 4j:

Practice the same sequence of chords but this time find ways to make the melody on the first string descend on every voicing. You can practice the ii V i chord progression in this chapter with backing track five:

You will probably already know that the minor ii V i progression comes up extremely frequently in jazz music. By getting these common sequences under your fingers you will always have interesting and melodic ‘chord licks’ to play. Knowing these kinds of changes inside out is also essential for when we start adding chromatic tensions to the V chord in chapter nine. Don’t forget to practice these sequences in other keys. Some of the most useful ones include Bb minor, G minor, D minor and Eb minor. Try taking these progressions through some of the exercises in chapter eighteen.

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Chapter Five: Major Seventh Drop 2 Voicings We have now looked at three of the four main ‘7th’ chord types in modern music, m7, ‘7’ and m7b5. The final chord quality that we need to examine (for now) is the major 7th or Maj7 chord. Continuing to work in the key of F minor, there is a major 7th chord on the sixth degree of the scale; DbMaj7. With a DbMaj7 chord under our fingers we will be able to play another common musical progression: iim7b5 - V - I - bVI which becomes Gm7b5 - C7 - Fm7 - DbMaj7 in the key of F minor. As this chord sequence uses all four types of 7th chord, it is an excellent practice vehicle to use when learning how these voicings work on the guitar. The four drop 2 shapes of DbMaj7 that you need to know are as follows. Example 5a:

These can be arranged from low to high on the guitar neck in the following way. Example 5b:

As always, repeat the following steps to memorise and internalise the sound of these voicings.


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1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

Ascend through the voicings from lowest to the highest. Descend through the voicings from highest to lowest. Move between pairs of chords, gradually ascending or descending the fretboard. Skip chords and play alternate voicings ascending and descending the neck (as in example 2d). Jam along with backing track six, a static DbMaj7 groove. Join the chords up with a walking bass line.

The notes of the bass line can be taken from the Db Major scale but in this context it is a little trickier to use due to the voicings that are a semitone apart between the 7th and the root. Example 5c:

Study the following example and notice how I use an approach note pattern in the bass to keep the chords on the beat. Example 5d:

Make sure you can play these voicings in the keys of Bb, C, Eb, F and G. Remember to be absolutely certain where the root note is in every shape. We have now covered the four basic ‘7th’ chord types, Maj7, m7, 7 and m7b5. Let’s combine them in the following minor ii V i VI chord sequence: Gm7b5, C7, Fm7, DbMaj7. Begin by finding the closest possible way to move between these chords in each position on the neck. The following examples are combined in one line of notation below the diagrams to save space.

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Example 5e:

Example 5f:

Example 5g:


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Example 5h:

Examples 5e – 5h:

Notice that only one note changes between Fm7 and DbMaj7. Try these sequences ascending and descending the guitar neck. You can also practice ideas where you make the melody note on the first string ascend or descend on every chord change.

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Example 5i:

Another way to approach this sequence could be to play the first two chords in one ‘position’ and the second two in a higher or lower position. Example 5j:

Finally, try playing each four voicings of each chord in one bar. Try to organise your playing so that the chord change happens between different voicings on each repeat. Example 5k:

You can practice this idea with backing track seven. Try taking these progressions through some of the exercises in chapter eighteen.


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Chapter Six: Drop 2 Chord Sequences Until now, we have been working towards building the minor ii V i bVi progression (Gm7b5 - C7 - Fm7 - DbMaj7) but there are, of course, many other ways to use these four chord types. The majority of jazz standards are written using almost exclusively the Maj7, m7, 7 and m7b5 chord types studied so far. Of course, other chords are used too, but by being familiar with these main harmonic building blocks, you will quickly be able to navigate any set of chord changes you come across. To reinforce your understanding and fluency, study the following commonly occurring examples. We will begin by harmonising a full scale and using drop 2 voicings to play through it. These are the chords that are built on each degree of Db Major scale: Scale Degree

I Maj7

iim7

iiim7

IVMaj7

V7

vim7

viim7b5

Example Db Major

DbMaj7

Ebm7

Fm7

GbMaj7

Ab7

Bbm7

Cm7b5

in

To begin, find the lowest possible voicing of DbMaj7 on the guitar neck and then ascend through the chord-scale using a drop 2 voicing on the top four strings each time. Example 6a:

Notice that all of the voicings in the previous example have their root located on the second string.

This time, we will play the same harmonised scale but use a different voicing of each chord to keep the root located on the first string. The lowest note on the first string that is included in the scale of Db Major is F (first fret).

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As we want to keep the root notes of each chord on the top string, we will play the same sequence of chords beginning from the Fm7 chord. Example 6b:

Now begin from the lowest available drop 2 voicing with its root on the third string.

Scale Degree

I Maj7

iim7

iiim7

IVMaj7

V7

vim7

viim7b5

Example in Db Major

DbMaj7

Ebm7

Fm7

Gbm7

Ab7

Bbm7

Cm7b5

The lowest available drop 2 chord we can play with a root on the third string is Ab7. Ascend through all the chords in the key of Db Major using drop 2 chords, while keeping the root of each chord on the third string.


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Example 6c:

Finally, find the drop 2 chord with the lowest possible root on the fourth string.

Scale Degree

I Maj7

iim7

iiim7

IVMaj7

V7

vim7

viim7b5

Example Db Major

DbMaj7

Ebm7

Fm7

Gbm7

Ab7

Bbm7

Cm7b5

in

The lowest possible drop 2 chord you can play in the key of Db Major with a root on the fourth string is Ebm7. Once again, play though the following Db Major scale harmonised to 7ths. Every drop 2 chord now has a root on the fourth string. Example 6d:

These kinds of exercises are extremely useful and frequently used in music. They should be practiced in as many keys as possible, but you can prioritise the keys of C Major, Bb Major, Eb Major and F Major. The previous four examples showed how to ascend through a harmonised scale using drop 2 chords with roots on the top four strings. Once we found the lowest possible drop 2 voicing we could play, we ascended the neck using voicings that kept the root on the same string. 120


This time, we will ascend through the harmonised scale although we will now keep our hand in just one position on the neck. This kind of exercise really tests your fretboard knowledge. To make the exercise slightly easier, we will move to an easier key. This time, we will play the chords in the harmonised C Major scale: Scale Degree

I Maj7

iim7

iiim7

IVMaj7

V7

vim7

viim7b5

Example in C Major

CMaj7

Dm7

Em7

Fm7

G7

Am7

Bm7b5

Play through the harmonised C Major scale using drop 2 chords, but make sure every note is contained between the open string and the fifth fret. It is OK to use open strings in chord voicings and sometimes there will be more than one option for each chord. Example 6e:

Repeat this exercise beginning on successively higher voicings of the CMaj7 chord and keep all your voicings played within a span of five frets. As always, try this exercise in common keys. Next, we will look at the Major ii V I sequence and use it for our exploration into extensions, substitutions and chromatic alterations of drop 2 chords. Staying in the key of C Major for simplicity, the ii V I progression is formed by the chords Dm7 - G7 - CMaj7. Using the drop 2 voicings we have already covered, play through the ii V I sequence in all four positions. Example 6f:


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As with the minor ii V i and ii V i bIV chord sequences in earlier chapters, practice ascending and descending the neck with major ii V I drop 2 voicings on the top four strings. You can practice using backing track eight to help you hear your ideas in context:

Don’t forget that you can play this chord sequence so that the melody on the top string either ascends or descends. Here is one way to achieve this. Example 6g:

If you’re feeling adventurous, you could add in the VI chord to the ii V I progression. Play it as either a m7 or a 7 chord. In the key of C, the ii V I VI progression is Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 Am7 (or A7). Spend as much time as you can internalising the progressions in this chapter. Try working on a new key each day. Pay particular attention to the location of the root note in each voicing. In the next chapter we will learn how to easily create chords with natural extensions using these fundamental drop 2 7th chord building blocks.

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Chapter Seven: Adding Natural Ninths to Chords When we’re playing rhythm guitar, it is important to know that just because a chord symbol, such as CMaj7 may be written, it does not necessarily mean that CMaj7 is the only chord we can play at that point. Often, one simple substitution we can make is to play a CMaj9 instead. We must be aware that CMaj9 is a richer texture than a CMaj7 chord, but in terms of its harmonic function, CMaj9 is normally interchangeable with CMaj7. If there is any issue with playing a 9th chord, your ears will quickly tell you! It is fair to say that any 7th chord (Maj7, m7, 7 or m7b5) can normally be substituted with a 9th chord. You may run into a few issues with a m7b5 voicing depending on whether it is derived from the major scale or a harmonic/melodic minor scale, but these days m9b5 is a common texture in music so let the ultimate judge be your ears. You may remember from Part One of this series that a chord’s root is not an essential note to play in a chord voicing. This is especially true if we’re playing in a situation where there is a bass player, pianist or organ player playing the root notes of each chord. If they are taking care of the roots, it allows us to play richer harmonies that do not include the root. The easiest way to create a 9th-type chord is to simply move the root of our chord voicing up by one tone. For example, by taking this voicing of CMaj7 and moving the root up by a tone, I have created a rootless CMaj9 chord. Example 7a:

This principle can be applied to any voicing of the CMaj7 or other 7th chords. Example 7b:


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You may recognise all of the chord shapes on the right-hand side of the previous examples as m7 voicings. This was previously discussed in Part One of this series in the context of substitutions. The notes in a CMaj7 chord are C E G B D. The notes in an Em7 chord are E G B D. The chord of Em7 can be seen as a rootless CMaj9 chord. Musicians will often play an Em7 chord instead of a CMaj7 chord to create a CMaj9 harmony. This concept can be summarised by the following rule: Any Maj7 chord can be substituted for a m7 chord built on the third of the original chord to create a Maj9. For example, instead of GMaj7 you could play Bm7 to create a GMaj9 sound. Instead of DMaj7 you could play an F#m7 chord to create a DMaj9 sound. This may seem complicated at first, but with the right practice you will quickly begin to see substitution opportunities easily. They will become part of your chord ‘licks’. To incorporate these ideas into your playing, practice the following exercise. Play through a major ii V I progression in C, but instead of playing a CMaj7 chord on the tonic, move the root of the chord up by a tone and play a CMaj9. Try to visualise the new chord as both a CMaj7 with the root raised and as an Em7 chord voicing. Practice this concept over backing track eight so you can hear how the added 9th affects the sound. Backing track eight:

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Exercise 7c:

Notice how the voice leading has changed in the previous sequences. Only one note changed between the G7 and CMaj7 chords. By developing our knowledge of substitutions we can easily create melodic, flowing chord lines. ‘9’ Chords The idea that we can raise the root of a chord to become a 9th can be applied to almost any chord-type. To create a dominant 9 chord we can raise the root of a dominant 7 chord by a tone. Example 7d:

All four voicings of the G7 chord can be treated in this way. They are played as follows.


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Example 7e:

As you may have noticed, by moving the root of a ‘7’ chord up by a tone, we create a m7b5 chord built on the third of the original chord. All of the G9 chords in the previous example can be seen as Bm7b5 chords. Try playing through the ii V I progression again, but this time substitute every G7 chord for a G9 chord. Example 7f:

Of course, it should go without saying that any CMaj7 chord can be substituted for a CMaj9 in this progression. Work through the previous example again but use CMaj9 chords. Example 7g:

As you progress through these ideas, you will find more and more ways to play through the ii V I chord sequence. My advice is to simply find some ‘pathways’ through the changes and memorise them as chord licks so that you’ve immediately got something to play. As you gain more experience, you will be able to improvise with these kinds of voicings and play more freely. 126


m9 Chords The m7 chord can be made into a m9 by raising the root by a tone. Example 7h:

The four voicings of Dm7 can be turned into m9 chords in the following way. Example 7i:

As you can see, by raising the root of a m7 chord we are creating a Maj7 chord built from the third of the original chord. In the previous examples you can see that a Dm9 can be seen as a rootless FMaj7 chord. Once again, return to the major ii V I progression and play Dm9 chords in place of each Dm7. Example 7j:


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You now have two options you can play for each chord; either a 7th or a 9th voicing. See how many ways you can find to combine these textures. Try practicing moving up and down the neck or just staying in one position. Here is one way to play through the sequence around the fifth fret area. Example 7k:

Try experimenting in all areas of the neck in this way. m7b5b9 Chords The m7b5 chord is most commonly viewed as being built on the seventh note of the major scale. This concept can be seen in the following table: Scale Degree

I Maj7

iim7

iiim7

IVMaj7

V7

vim7

viim7b5

Example in C Major

CMaj7

Dm7

Em7

Fm7

G7

Am7

Bm7b5

When the m7b5 chord is extended to become a 9th, it is important to note that the correct extension in this context is b9, not simply a 9. This is because the distance from the seventh to the eighth note in the major scale is a semitone. A b9 interval is formed when the distance between the root of the chord and the 9th is one octave plus a semitone. A natural interval 9 is formed when the distance between the root of the chord and the 9th is one octave plus a tone. In the case when Bm7b5 is functioning as chord vii of C Major, the note C is only a semitone above the note B. This forms a b9 interval. Another important place the b9 interval occurs is on chord iii of the major scale. This would be the chord of Em7 in the key of C. The distance between E and F (the 9th of E) is also a semitone, so chord iii in the C Major scale will harmonise ‘correctly’ to Em7b9. However, the m7b5 chord also occurs in the harmonised melodic and harmonic minor scales. In these situations it harmonises to become a m9b5 chord (a m7b5 chord with an added natural 9 which is an octave and one tone above the root). To summarise, a m7b5b9 chord is a m7b5 chord that has an added 9th a semitone above the root. A m9b5 chord is a m7b5 chord that has an added 9 one tone above the root. This information may seem a little daunting at first and when you put it in the context of having to learn multiple voicings for each chord it can seem a little scary. As I mentioned in the introduction, some chord voicings are simply not a priority to learn immediately, and m7b5b9 and m9b5 chords are fairly low down in order of importance. My advice is this: You are virtually never going to come across a situation where it is essential to play either a m7b5b9 or m9b5 chord. If you ever see it written, you can always play a m7b5 chord and be perfectly musical. 128


Of course, if you know where the root is in a m7b5 chord, you can simply raise it by a semitone or a tone in order to get the desired harmony. We already know the chord voicings for Gm7b5 so let us examine one of those shapes again with the intervals marked.

Hopefully, you can immediately see that by raising the root of the m7b5 chord by a semitone we create an easy m7 voicing built on the b3 of the m7b5 chord. In this case the substitution is Bbm7 in place of Gm7b5b9. The previous ideas can be summarised as follows: Any m7b5 chord can be substituted for a m7 chord built on the b3rd of the original chord to create a m7b5b9 chord. The remaining three inversions of the m7b5b7 chord can be seen below.

Play through the following sequence and change each m7b5 voicing into a m7b5b9 chord.Try playing this over backing track four, a Gm7b5 vamp. Example 7l:


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The m7b5b9 chord can almost always be used in place of a m7b5 chord but you do need to be careful as there will be some occasions where a m9b5 chord should be played. Your ears will alert you quite quickly to these circumstances although it should be said that the m9b5 tonality is a bit more modern and hip. For now, practice the m7b5m9 chord in the context of a minor ii V i. Play through the following sequence, first with a m7b5 chord and then by playing a m7b5b9 chord (m7 chord built from the b3). Use backing track five to help you hear these voicings in context. The chord changes are played at half the frequency of the following examples. Example 7m:

Make sure you can play this sequence descending the neck and also in other keys. Example 7n:

Don’t forget that you can play C9 or Fm9 chords in place of the C7 and Fm7 chords too.

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Example 7o:

When you have read chapter nine, you will also be able to add chromatic alterations to the C7 chord. You can also mix up the voicings so that you are not always ascending or descending the guitar neck. This kind of practice will give you greater control over the melody that the top note of each voicing creates. Example 7p:


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Chapter Eight: Adding Other Diatonic Extensions In Part One of Guitar Chords in Context, the available extensions of each chord type were discussed in detail. One quick way to add a diatonic extension to a drop 2 chord is to raise or lower the fifth. To create an 11th chord we can lower the fifth by a tone and to create a 13th we can raise it by a tone. Not every voicing of each chord type allows for easy fretting when applying this technique, but when combined with substitution ideas, this kind of diatonic extension of a ‘7th’ voicing can be a very worthwhile area of study. Study the following voicing of a Dm7 chord. The interval of each note is indicated.

As you can see, the fifth of the Dm7 chord (A) is located on the second string. If I wish to create a m11 chord I can simply lower the fifth by a tone. To create a m13 chord I can raise it by a tone. You may remember that it is common to include the lower extensions of an extended chord: For example, it is quite common to include a 9th in a 13th chord. These ideas are shown here. Example 8a:

Experiment with these chord voicings using backing track nine, a Dm7 vamp. Try to hear and feel the effect that adding 9ths, 11ths and 13ths can have on the texture of the harmony. Unfortunately there is insufficient room in this book to detail all the possible ways to extend each type of 7th chord that has been covered so far. However, here are all four voicings of each chord with their intervals shown. If you follow the concepts described so far, it will be straightforward to create any kind of chord extension just by altering one or two notes.

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Remember, not every chord voicing is easy to adjust. Often, by raising the fifth of a chord it can make the voicing into a very large stretch or even simply unplayable. My advice is to only work with the easiest voicings as there are plenty of other ways to create extended chord tones by the use of substitutions. Note that it it is uncommon to add an 11th to a Maj7 chord due to a clash between the third and the 11th.


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Chapter Nine: Altering Dominant Chords Altered dominant chords are created when a chromatic tension is added to a ‘7’ chord. Tensions are added by either altering one or more of the chord tones in a dominant chord or by the use of substitution. This chapter deals with the concept of altering existing drop 2 structures. In music, especially jazz and fusion, chromatic tensions can be added to virtually any functional (resolving) dominant 7 chord. As you learnt in book one of this series, there are only four types of tension that can be added to a dominant chord: b5, #5, b9 and #9. Some of these tensions can be referred to enharmonically (they have two names). A b5 may be written as a #11 or a #5 written as a b13. For our purposes, these are the same intervals. To refresh our memory, take a look at how this standard dominant 9 chord can be altered to encompass any combination of tensions we wish to include.

The drop 2 ‘7’ voicings we have studied so far can be treated in the same way. We learnt in the previous chapter that we can create a ‘9’ chord by raising the root of a ‘7’ chord by a tone. This gives us four drop 2 voicings we can use to create chromatically altered chords. The key to being able to quickly alter chords is to understand where each interval lies on the fretboard. For example, in the following ‘9’ chord, the intervals are located as follows. The diamond root is shown just for your reference:

By simply moving the fifth or the 9th up or down by a semitone, we can create any rootless chromatically altered dominant chord. Play through the following example to understand how this works.

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Example 9a:

Of course, all these permutations can be a lot to memorise, so I would advise that you take just one or two voicings and work with them in the context of a ii V7 I or a I VI7 ii V7 progression and find some voicings that you like the sound of and that provide good voice leading. Don’t be too quick to dismiss a tension that you do not immediately like. The successful use of these altered tensions is often hugely dependent on context and the chord voicings that immediately precede and follow them. You may wish to begin your investigation with the ii V I progression (Dm7 G7 CMaj7) as it only includes one dominant chord to work with. In the I VI7 ii V7 progression, (CMaj7 A7 Dm7 G7) you can use altered dominant chords on both the V and the VI chords (A7 and G7). Here are a few ideas to get you started. Example 9b:

Example 9c:


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Example 9d:

As you can see in examples 9c and 9d, I have also added chromatic alterations to the A7 voicing. Once you can see any dominant 7 voicing from the perspective of where its intervals lie on the fretboard, it is easy to understand how to add tensions. Here are the four dominant 7 drop 2 voicings with their intervals and available alterations marked.

Play through the major ii V I progression in each position on the guitar and add in one or two available chromatic alterations to the G7 chord. Not every alteration will be convenient in every position, so stick to the ones that are easy to play. You can combine natural and altered tensions, such as G9b5, or just use one such as G7#5 or G7#9. As you gain confidence, start to also include chords like CMaj7, CMaj9, Dm7, Dm9, Dm11 and Dm13. When you’re comfortable with the major ii V I, try adding in the VI chord (A7) as in example 9c. You can also experiment with a minor ii V I progression. In the key of C this would be Dm7b5 - G7 - Cm7. You will start to hear that certain tensions on the dominant chord tend to lead to different notes. For example, a #5 on the dominant chord often looks for a minor resolution, for example G7#5 - Cm7. Example 9e:

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It is possible to string together long, interesting chord sequences that ascend or descend the guitar neck. Example 9f:

If you are struggling to see how any of these altered dominants are formed, refer to the diagrams on the previous page. On the following page there are some common chord sequences for you to practice. Use drop 2 chords on the top four strings to play through these progressions and add diatonic extensions or chromatic alterations to the voicings as you see fit. You can always play more than one voicing of the same chord in one bar. Changing voicings can give us a multitude of new melodic possibilities when playing rhythm guitar. Finally, remember that 11ths don’t normally go on Maj7th chords and 13th chords may or may not include the 9th. Write down your favourite sequences of voicings and use them whenever you get the opportunity. Don’t forget to practice in all of the common key centres. Here are some progressions to get you started. 1)

2)

3)

4)


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These chord progressions are taken from some very common jazz standards. These sequences come up time and time again, so by working on them here you will be prepared for the majority of music you see. Remember, one of the most useful things you can do is to create and memorise chord licks that navigate the changes. They will be invaluable to you as you start to add more extensions and chromatic alterations to your chords. Here are some useful practice ideas: 1) Begin by playing each chord progression exactly as written to make sure you know the basic drop 2 voicings. 2) Play through the voicings keeping the melody note on the top string either ascending or descending. It is not possible to always move in the same direction, but you should normally be able to come very close. 3) Select just one chord quality (Maj7, m7, 7 or m7b5) and play it each time as a 9th chord. Repeat this three more times until you have played each quality as a 9th. Then play all the chords as 9ths 4) Repeat step two with 9th chords. 5) Pick one chord quality and substitute it for an 11th or 13th. Don’t play 11ths on Maj7 chords. Repeat for each chord quality and then play all chords with that quality. 6) Play all chords as written but add one chromatic alteration to each dominant chord. Repeat with two chromatic alterations. Don’t forget to combine natural extensions with chromatic ones, i.e., 13b9 or 9#5. Play with the melody note ascending or descending the neck or in one position. 7) Play all chords as 9ths and add one or two chromatic extensions to each dominant chord. The previous list of practice steps are extremely efficient in helping you to master any chord progression. Not only will you learn the chords and the myriad of possibilities you will begin to open up the guitar neck and see every chord in terms of its intervals allowing you to quickly alter voicings and improvise with chord textures. We will keep coming back to this list, but for now it is time to move on and look at how to play drop 2 voicings on the middle and bottom four strings of the guitar. With the basic concepts, structures and practice techniques now covered you will find that developing your chord knowledge right across the guitar will comes much quicker as you progress through this book.

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Chapter Ten: Drop 2 Chords - Middle Strings The last thing that any book on chord voicings should become is ‘just a list of chords’. However, the difficulty in writing this book is that the techniques that you have used to learn drop 2 voicings on the top four strings can also easily be applied to drop 2 chords on the middle and bass four strings. For this reason, this section will deal with drop 2 voicings on the middle strings in a briefer way than the previous chapters. Each chord voicing will be given with some choice exercises and tips to help you internalise and use the voicings musically. Every voicing will immediately be shown with its intervals marked so that you can immediately begin to see the possibilities for extensions and chromatic alterations. We will begin by looking at the drop 2 voicings of Fm7 on the middle four strings of the guitar. Example 10a:

It has to be said that the first inversion of the m7 chord can be very awkward to finger, especially lower down the neck. I always begin forming the chord by placing my third finger on the fourth string and then building the rest of the chord. Quite often I will simply substitute this chord for an AbMaj7 (Fm9).

To internalise these chord shapes, play through them from the lowest to the highest voicing and vice versa. You can also skip between alternate voicings of the chord. Try joining up the chords with a walking bass line using the F Minor Bebop scale.


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Example 10b:

It’s OK to use an AbMaj7 chord instead of the Fm7 on the first inversion voicing if you need to. You can practice using these chords freely over backing track one. Now, let’s combine these chords with the drop 2 voicings on the top four strings. Practice moving between adjacent voicings of each chord in the following way. Example 10c:

Dominant 7 Drop 2 Chords Dominant 7 drop 2 chords can be voiced in four inversions in the following way: Example 10d:

Practice playing these chords ascending and descending the neck over backing track two. Skip positions and work with a metronome to increase your speed and precision. Link the chords together using a C Mixolydian Bebop scale bass line. 140


Example 10e:

You can also practice linking the chords on the top four and middle four strings. Example 10f:

Try example 10f again but this time descend the neck. Now try linking the chords C7 and Fm7 using drop 2 voicings on the middle four strings. Practice these both ascending and descending the neck. Example 10g:

Practice moving from a C7 chord on the middle strings to an Fm7 chord on the top strings:


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Example 10h:

Remember to practice the previous exercise backwards as I – V is also a common chord movement that you should be familiar with. Finally, practice the above sequence again but this time begin with the C7 voiced on the top four strings and play the Fm7 chords on the middle string set. Try these exercises in the keys of C minor, Bb minor, G minor and D minor. m7b5 Drop 2 Chords The four inversions of the m7b5 chord can be played in the following way on the middle four strings. Example 10i:

Begin as always by playing these voicings from the lowest to the highest. Without using open strings, the lowest available voicing is the second inversion chord. Play these chords both ascending and descending the guitar neck. Use a metronome to help you increase your speed and accuracy when playing these chords. You can also try phrasing them musically over backing track four, a Gm7b5 vamp. Join each chord voicing together with a walking bass line taken from the notes of the G Locrian Bebop scale.

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Example 10j:

Work with the backing track and a metronome to increase your speed and fluency. Next, play the Gm7b5 chord moving from the middle to the top four string groups. Play this idea ascending and descending. Example 10k:

Now let’s link the Gm7b5 chord in with the C7 – Fm7 progression that you practiced in example 10g. Begin with all the chords played on the middle four strings. Example 10l:

Practice this progression both ascending and descending the neck, before practicing moving the voicings across the string groups.


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Example 10m:

Of course, with three chords there are many ways you could voice the previous example. You could play one chord on the middle two strings and two on the top four. You could play two chords on the top strings and one on the middle four. You could also play the first two chords in one position and then ascend the neck to a new position on the Fm7. See how many ways you can find to navigate these changes while moving between string groups. This kind of exploration is the best way to memorise the chord voicings and to see how they function together in a musical sentence. Work with backing track five to help you phrase these chords musically or a metronome to help you increase your speed and accuracy. Maj7 Drop 2 Chords The four inversions of the DbMaj7 chord are as follows. Example 10n:

The first inversion voicing is once again a tricky shape to fret. Drop your thumb down very low on the guitar neck to help you manage the large stretch. If you are struggling, you can substitute it for an Fm7 chord (creating a DbMaj9 sound as described in chapter seven). Practice playing these voicings ascending and descending the neck before linking them with a walking bass line using the Db Major scale.

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Example 10o:

You can practice these voicings with backing track six, a static DbMaj7 vamp. Now link the drop 2 voicings on the middle and top string sets. Play this example ascending and descending the guitar neck. Example 10p:

Finally, we can add the DbMaj7 voicings into the chord sequence we have been working with. DbMaj7 is chord bvi in a minor ii V I bvi progression. Begin by playing the chord sequence ‘in position’ on the middle four strings. Example 10q:


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The next step is to work towards freely changing between the middle four and top four string voicings as you play through this progression. With four chords in the sequence there are virtually limitless ways to arrange the voicings but you should prioritise alternating between string groups starting on both the middle and top string groups. Example 10r:

Example 10s:

Bear in mind that you can ascend or descend to the next chord at any point in the progression to give a huge amount of possibilities for navigating this progression on just these two string groups. Let your ears be the judge of how to play through this sequence most effectively. Use backing track seven to help you master this sequence, each chord is played for one bar. Remember that this is just an exercise to help you memorise and become fluent with these voicings. Play through the earlier examples in order to get some ‘real world’ experience of how these chords can function. Finally, refer to exercise 6a where we found four different starting points from which we could ascend the harmonised scale of Db Major. For example, the lowest note in the scale of Db Major that we can voice a chord below on the B string is the note Db (without using open strings).

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Scale Degree

I Maj7

iim7

iiim7

IVMaj7

V7

vim7

viim7b5

Example Db Major

DbMaj7

Ebm7

Fm7

GbMaj7

Ab7

Bbm7

Cm7b5

in

Keeping the root of each chord in the scale on the B string, play up through the harmonised Db Major scale. Example 10t:

Next, find the note on the third string that you can use to voice a chord without open strings (Ab). Begin on Ab7 and ascend the harmonised Db Major scale keeping the root of each chord on the third string. Example 10u:

The lowest available note on the fourth string is F (Eb is available but the chord voicing of Ebm7 uses open strings). Begin with Fm7 and ascend the harmonised scale keeping each root on the fourth string. Example 10v:


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Finally, the lowest note available on the fifth string is Bb. Start with Bbm7 and ascend Db Major. Example 10w:

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Chapter Eleven: Extensions and Alterations As all the conceptual information regarding adding diatonic extensions and chromatic alterations is given in chapters seven to nine, all I will provide in this chapter is the chord shapes for natural ninth extensions and the chromatic alterations available on dominant 9th chords. Work through chapters seven to nine again but this time substitute those chord voicing diagrams for the ones in this section. Fm9 Voicings

C9 Voicings

Gm7b5 Voicings


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DbMaj9 Voicings

C7 Altered Voicings

Incorporate the chromatic alterations into your playing by using the exercises given in chapter nine. Remember to incorporate just one chromatic alteration at a time into a dominant chord and that not every chromatic alteration is easily available in each voicing. If a chord shape is too difficult, simply play something else.

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Chapter Twelve: Drop 2 Chords - Bass Strings The following two chapters contain 7th-chord drop 2 chord voicings on the bottom four strings. These chords can be useful as they have a particularly resonant character, although they can often be somewhat ‘bassy’ and unsuitable for use in an ensemble. I would suggest that the voicings in this chapter are not an immediate priority for study as it is more common to use drop 3 voicings on the bottom strings, especially when using the root position voicings. For now, treat this as a ‘reference’ chapter and come back to it when you are successfully using the drop 3 voicings as part of your normal playing. Fm7 Voicings Example 12a:

With a walking bass line. Example 12b:


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C7 Voicings Example 12c:

With a walking bass line. Example 12d:

Gm7b5 voicings Example 12e:

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With a walking bass line: Example 12f:

DbMaj7 voicings Example 12g:

With a walking bass line. Example 12h:


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Extensions and Alterations The following voicings show the drop 2 chords on the bottom strings extended to include the diatonic 9ths and the available chromatic extensions on dominant chords. Fm9 Voicings Example 12i:

C9 Voicings Example 12j:

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Gm7b5b9 Voicings Example 12k:

DbMaj9 Voicings Example 12l:

C7 Altered Voicings


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Chapter Thirteen: Drop 3 Voicings – Sixth String Root Drop 3 chords are normally among the first chords that most jazz guitarists learn. They are most commonly voiced with their bass note played on the lowest (sixth) string and are easily spotted by their characteristic string skip between the bass and middle voices. As described in chapter one, a drop 3 voicing is formed by dropping the third highest note in a close position chord down by an octave. Notice that there is an unplayed (fourth) string between the bass note and the rest of the chord.

One of the benefits of using drop 3 voicings is that there is a discernible gap between the bass note and the upper structure of the chord. This gap allows us to create guitar parts that have low-register bass lines and mid-range chordal structures that leave harmonic ‘head-room’ for a melody to be played above the guitar part. The best way to master drop 3 chords is to learn them one chord quality at a time. Most people find these chords easier to voice when the bass note is on the sixth string, so this is where we will begin. The four drop 3 voicings of Fm7 are played in the following way. Example 13a:

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The third inversion of the m7th chord can be a bit tricky to finger at first. One very useful thing to notice is that if you raise the bass note on the bottom string and place it on the top string, you create a drop 2 chord. This is very handy when it comes to memorising and recalling the chords. For example, compare the following two chords.

and You can easily see that the b3 has moved from the bass to the top string. This pattern is true for any drop 3 chord, so if you’re struggling to remember a voicing, simply play a drop 2 chord and flip the highest note onto the bottom string. Remember the steps we took to help us memorise these chords: Ascend through the voicings from the lowest to the highest as shown above, and then descend through the voicings from highest to lowest. Example 13b:

Move between pairs of chords, gradually ascending or descending the fretboard. Example 13c:


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Skip chords and play alternate voicings that ascend and descend the neck. Example 13d:

Jam along with backing track one, a static Fm7 groove Join the chords up with a walking bass line. Example 13e:

You might find that working on just bar three of the previous example is beneficial when learning the fingering of the third inversion m7 chord. One exercise we can add into the mix is to move between the drop 3 and drop 2 chord voicings that are available in each position of the neck. Notice how I ascend the neck by moving up a position on the top four strings. Make sure you apply this exercise to the other three ‘7th’ chord types given in this chapter. It is a beautiful exercise for linking together everything we have covered so far.

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Example 13f:

Next, try taking the four voicings through the cycle of fifths and cycle of fourths sequences in chapter eighteen in order to help you master the fretboard. Playing in all keys with each of the voicings is an important step towards internalising each chord fingering and mastering the fretboard. Don’t forget to play in each position of the neck. This kind of practice is difficult at first but will soon greatly benefit your playing. Now let’s examine the drop 3 voicings of the C7 chord played off the bottom string. Example 13g:

Repeat the steps you took with Fm7 to learn the C7 drop 3 shapes. The progression is shown with a walking bass line here.


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Example 13h:

Take each of the four dominant 7 chord voicings around the cyclic exercises in chapter eighteen Try linking together the C7 and Fm7 chords in each position on the neck. Example 13i:

Another idea you could try is to play two voicings of each chord per bar before changing to the closest possible voicing of the following chord: Example 13j:

As you gain confidence with the drop 3 dominant 7 voicings, start to learn the following m7b5 voicings.

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Example 13k:

As always, repeat the previous steps to help you learn, memorise and incorporate these chord voicings into your playing. The four voicings of the Gm7b5 chord can be joined with a walking bass line in the following manner. Example 13l:

Take each of the four m7b5 chord voicings around the cyclic exercises in chapter eighteen. Now incorporate the Gm7b5 voicings into a full minor ii V i progression in the key of F. Play the following example freely at first to give yourself time to think of the chords, before using a metronome to force yourself to play in time. Don’t worry about mistakes at first, stay in rhythm.


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Example 13m:

Practice the ideas shown in the previous example, but also spent time exploring ii V i sequences that cause the melody (top) note of each voicing to rise or fall on every chord change as you ascend the neck. This melodic idea was first shown in example 4i and can be applied to any chord sequence. Use the cyclical chord progressions in chapter eighteen to practice this minor ii V i sequence. Use each chord in the cycle as the new tonic key, so when the chord in the cycle says ‘C’, play a minor ii V i into the key of C (Dm7b5 – G7 – Cm7). These kinds of exercises are mentally demanding, so begin by using just one or two key centres per day, before building up to playing the full sequence after a week or two. Finally, we will study the drop 3 voicings of the major 7th chord with the bass notes played on the bottom string. Example 13n:

With a walking bass line, the DbMaj7 inversions can be played in the following way.

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Example 13o:

Go through the same steps to learn the Maj7 voicings as you did with the previous voicings. Don’t forget to do the cycle exercises in chapter eighteen with all four inversions. Finally, let’s add the DbMaj7 chord into the minor ii V i progression to create a ii V i bvi progression. Play through the following chords slowly and freely so that you can begin to master these shapes before using a metronome to speed up. Example 13p:

You can practice these chord voicings with backing track seven. Try experimenting with rhythm and phrasing. Practice trying to keep the melody note either ascending or descending, or by playing more than one inversion of each chord in a bar. Go slowly! These voicings are very common in jazz guitar playing, and it’s important that you know them. Now that we have covered the four most common 7th chord shapes, you can practice ascending and descending the harmonised major scale, just as you did in earlier examples. Find the lowest possible chord voicings with roots on the sixth, fourth, third and second strings and then ascend the neck in a similar way to example 6a. Begin with the harmonised Db Major scale.


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Scale Degree

I Maj7

iim7

iiim7

IVMaj7

V7

vim7

viim7b5

Example Db Major

DbMaj7

Ebm7

Fm7

GbMaj7

Ab7

Bbm7

Cm7b5

in

Example 13q: (Root on second string – second inversion voicings)

Example 13r: (Root on third string, third inversion voicings)

Example 13s: (Root on fourth string, first inversion voicings)

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Example 13t: (Root on sixth string, root position voicings)

You should also work on other common jazz chord progressions such as the major ii V I and the major I VI ii V progression in all the common keys. Find your favourite ways to navigate these changes and memorise these sequences of voicings as ‘chord licks’. You should also practice with the earlier chord charts and with the cycle exercises in chapter eighteen. Even with just a few different ways of navigating the changes, when you combine these with your earlier drop 2 sequences you will find you have plenty of interesting ways to voice your chords. As your skills progress, you will find it easier to improvise creative rhythm parts as you play through chord charts. Finally, here are the altered dominant chord permutations for drop 3 chords.


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Chapter Fourteen: Drop 3 Chords –Fifth String Root Just as with drop 2 chords on the bass string, I don’t consider that learning the drop 3 chords with roots on the fifth string is a high priority. They are important, but I would suggest leaving their study until you have mastered drop 2 chords on the top and middle four strings and all of the drop 3 inversions with a sixth string root. That said, I would definitely suggest that you learn at least the root position voicings of each chord in this section as they’re used fairly frequently. It might be worth incorporating the root position voicings, and then spending your time working with the other ‘priority’ chord-types mentioned earlier. When you start studying the chords in this section, repeat the steps that you took in chapter thirteen to memorise and contextualise them in a musical way. All of the common drop 3 chord voicings with roots on the fifth string are listed below. Fm7 Voicings Example 14a:

C7 Voicings Example 14b:

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Gm7b5 Voicings Example 14c:

DbMaj7 Voicings Example 14d:

C7 Altered Voicings

Begin to incorporate the above chords into your playing just as you learned to do with the chord types given earlier in the book. In addition to the methods already given, one very useful practice exercise is to link drop 3 chords that are on adjacent string groups. For example, you could link the Fm7 voicings in the following way.


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Example 14e:

Try this with all the other drop 3 chord types and then start combining sixth and fifth string voicings into common progressions. For example, you could play the minor ii V i vi in the following way. Example 14f:

There are many ways to combine drop 3 chords across string groups in this way. Remember that you can practice keeping the melody note ascending or descending, or simply practice staying in one position. When practicing chord progressions using drop 3 voicings, remember to incorporate chromatic tensions into dominant chords as soon as you are confident with the basic inversions. Not every tension will be available or easy to play in every position so focus on adding the tensions that are convenient and easy to reach. It is rare to add a chromatic tension as a bass note to a drop 3 voicing, so in the diagrams above chromatic tensions are also shown on the first string. Remember that you will often be playing these chords in a band setting and by adding a tension in the bass register you will be clashing with the bass player. If you’re playing unaccompanied, an added tension in the bass part will often simply sound like a wrong note. Drop 3 chords are useful when accompanying vocalists in a two-piece setting because they contain a low bass note and a midrange chord structure, but in larger ensemble settings they can sometimes get in the way of other instruments (such as the bass) when the voicings are played in a low register. Joining drop 3 chords across both the sixth and fifth strings with a walking bass line is an excellent practice goal. All too often you hear guitarists playing four bars of the same chord voicing in a small band setting. Even by just using drop 3 voicings we now have eight different ways we can play the same chord. Moving fluently between them will add life and interest into your rhythm guitar comping. There will be more about walking bass ideas in Part Three of this series.

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Chapter Fifteen: Drop 2 and 2 Voicings – Sixth String Drop 2 and 4 chord voicings are certainly less common than the other voicings covered so far in this book but they do have a fairly distinctive sound and once again by using them we are able to play a structure consisting of a bass note plus a mid-range chord structure. Drop 2 and 4 voicings are formed by dropping the second highest and the fourth highest (lowest) notes in a close position chord by an octave.

As you can see, drop 2 and 4 voicings create widely spaced chords that can be tricky to fret at first. Care must be taken to mute the unused strings so as not to add unwanted notes! As with drop 3 voicings, drop 2 and 4 voicings can be played with a bass note on either the sixth or the fifth strings. In this chapter, drop 2 and 4 chords are given with voicings on the sixth string. Learn them in the same way as you learned the drop 3 voicings. The walking bass line examples in this chapter are particularly difficult and walking bass lines are more commonly used with drop 2 and drop 3 voicings. Make sure you’re practicing the ideas that will give you the greatest benefit. Fm7 Voicings Example 15a:


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Example 15b:


Example 15d:

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Gm7b5 Voicings Example 15e:

Example 15f:

DbMaj7 Voicings Example 15g:


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Example 15h:

Altered Dominant Voicings

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Chapter Sixteen: Drop 2 and 4 Voicings – Fifth String Drop 2 and 4 chords with bass notes on the fifth string tend to be slightly easier to play than those with bass notes on the sixth string. The walking bass line examples in this chapter are particularly difficult and walking bass lines are more commonly used with drop 2 and drop 3 voicings. Make sure you’re practicing the ideas that will give you the greatest benefit. Fm7 Voicings Example 16a:

Example 16b:


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Example 16d:

Gm7b5 Voicings Example 16e:

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Example 16f:

DbMaj7 Voicings Example 16g:

Example 16h:


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C7 Altered Voicings

As with the drop 2 and 4 voicings based off the sixth string, I would suggest that the chords in this section are of a lower priority than the drop 2 and drop 3 chords covered earlier. However, if you enjoy the sound of the 2 and 4 structures then by all means prioritise them in your playing. By practicing what you enjoy hearing you will develop your own unique voice and style. Whatever you decide to practice, make sure you practice it thoroughly in all common keys. Use the exercises in previous chapters to help you incorporate these voicings into your playing and make sure you practice the cyclic exercises in chapter eighteen to heighten your fretboard skills.

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Chapter Seventeen: Converting Chord Structures So far in this book we have addressed the four most common chord qualities in jazz guitar, the Maj7, m7, ‘7’ and m7b5. There are, of course, other types of chord qualities that haven’t been addressed and while they don’t appear as regularly in music as the types covered so far, they are, nonetheless, essential to know. The other most commonly occurring chord qualities that you will encounter are minor/Major7, Diminished 7, Maj6 and Min6. In this chapter we will address each of the above chord qualities in turn and demonstrate how each one can be easily accessed by making adjustments to chord structures that you already know. Throughout this book, the importance of knowing where the root note is in each voicing has been stressed and, from chapter seven onwards, each chord has been given with its constituent intervals clearly marked on the diagrams. By now, you should be starting to quickly recognise and locate chord intervals on the guitar neck. Intervallic recognition is very useful and is one of the things that sets apart guitarists who have studied hard. By understating interval location, we can immediately create any chord from the standard four chord structures covered so far.

Minor/Major 7 Chords We will begin with the ‘minor/major7’ or ‘m(Maj7)’ chord which has the intervallic structure 1 b3 5 7. It is literally a minor chord with a major 7th added. You can think of it is a m7 chord with a raised 7th. To access the m(Maj7) sound, we can simply play any inversion of a m7 voicing and raise the b7 by a semitone to become a natural 7. Example 17a:

This process will work with any m7 chord provided you know where the intervals lie on the guitar neck.


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Example 17b:

To practice playing m(Maj7) chords in context, I would suggest that you use them in place of the tonic in a minor ii V i progression because this is when they most commonly occur in music. You can work with these ideas over backing track ten:

All you need to do is look back over the minor ii V i exercises from previous chapters and focus on raising the b7 of the tonic Fm7 chord so it becomes a natural 7th to create the m(Maj7) tonality.

Diminished 7 Chords Diminished 7 chords can be viewed in a few different ways. The formula for a dim7 chord is 1 b3 b5 bb7 (double flat 7), so one way to view them could be as a m7b5 with a flattened b7. Example 17c:

While this is a valid way to form and view dim7 chords, it is not a particularly musical application of diminished chords. Whereas m(Maj7) chords are fairly frequently used in place of m7 chords, dim7 chords are not often written in place of m7b5 chords.5 The most common use of dim7 chords are as substitutions for functional dominant chords. For this reason it is useful to view dim7 chords as adaptations to dominant 7 chords.

5

OK, They are sometimes, but the theory of this is beyond the scope of this book.

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The theory of ‘the diminished substitution’ was covered in Part One of this series, so only a quick recap will be given here. “By playing a diminished 7 chord on the third of a Dominant 7 chord we create a 7b9 sound”. This is easily seen in a chord diagram. Here are the chords of C7 and E Dim7. Example 17d:

As you can see, the notes in E Dim7 are identical to those in C7 but with just one change: The root of the C7 chord has been raised by one semitone to become a b9 chromatic tension. “To create a Dim7 chord we can simply raise the root of any dominant 7 chord by one semitone”. Remember, Dim7 chords are also symmetrical because every note is a minor third apart. As we learned in Part One, any chord tone of a Dim7 chord can be seen as the root note. So while the Dim7 chord above is written as E Dim7, the E Dim7 chord is also identical to G Dim7, Bb Dim7 and Db Dim7. Db Dim7 is created by raising the root of the C7 chord by a semitone. This simple adjustment to any dominant 7 chord is the most useful way to construct and think of Dim7 chords because as you saw above, Dim7 chords are most often used as substitutions for dominant 7 chords. In fact, it’s probably the most common chord substitution used in Bebop. Check that this idea works by raising the root of any ‘7’ voicing or inversion you choose. The concept is demonstrated here with drop 2 chords on the top four strings. Example 17e:

Apply the same process to the other drop 2 inversions of C7 on the top four strings.


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Using the Diminished 7 Substitution You can use the diminished 7 substitution any time you like on a functional dominant 7 chord. Try the following example with both major and minor ii V I progressions on every string group with every type of chord voicing. Example 17f:

Remember, all you need to do is find the root of the dominant chord and raise it by a semitone to create a Dim7 chord. Try it with every ‘7’ chord voicing that you know.

Major and Minor Sixth Chords Major and minor 6 chords are seen frequently in music, occurring commonly in early swing jazz. They are important chords to know as they are often written in chord charts when the composer does not wish for a 7th chord to be played. Maj6 (or ‘6’) chords can easily be created by lowering the 7th of a Maj7 chord by one whole tone. This can be seen in the following drop 2 chord voicing. Example 17g:

You will notice that you have seen this ‘6’ shape before. It can be viewed as a m7 chord with the root on the second string:

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This should reinforce the substitution taught in Part One of this series, that playing a m7 chord on the sixth of a Major chord creates a Major 6 chord quality. For example, in the key of C the sixth degree is A, so playing an Am7 chord over a C bass note will create a C6 chord quality. To incorporate the Major 6 quality into your playing, practice playing ii V I progressions and use a Major 6 chord instead of the tonic Maj7. Remember, all you need to do is lower the 7th by one tone. Example 17h:

Try applying this substitution with all of the drop 2 chord voicings on the top four and middle four strings before moving on to applying it to the drop 3 voicing chords and then taking these ideas around the cyclic exercises in chapter eighteen. Minor 6 Chords Minor 6 (m6) chords can easily be created by lowering the b7th of a m7 chord by one semitone. Example 17i:


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Once again, you will have seen this m6 chord shape before because it is a m7b5 shape with the root on the first string:

This should reenforce the substitution taught in Part One of this series that playing a m7b5 chord on the sixth of a minor chord creates a Minor 6 chord quality. In the above example we create a m6 sound by playing a m7b5 on the sixth (D) of the original m7. Here’s another example in the key of C. The sixth degree of C is A, so playing an Am7b7 chord over a C bass note will create a Cm6 chord quality. You can practice using m6 chords by using them as the ii chord in a major ii V I, or as the tonic chord in a minor ii V i. Example 17j: (as ‘ii’ in a major ii V I)

Example 17k: (as ‘i’ in a minor ii V i)

As I hope you’re starting to see, by making tiny adjustments to the four main 7th chord structures we can easily create any other important chord voicing we need. These new chord voicings create rich and complex textures in our rhythm playing. 182


When you consider that we can use any ‘9th’ extension we wish, play more than one inversion of each chord, use the diminished substitution, combine chromatic extensions and now access 6, m6 and m(Maj7) chords, we have a wide range of tools to use in building harmonically rich chordal tapestries. Get creative. See how many ways you can find to enrich your rhythm guitar playing. Here is just one of millions of possibilities you could play over a standard ‘Autumn Leaves’ type of chord progression. The alterations to the harmony only use drop 2 voicings on the top four strings, but the rhythm guitar part quickly becomes much more interesting. Example 17l:


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Chapter Eighteen: Cyclic Exercises The cyclic chord progressions in this section are very useful when it comes to practicing chord voicings. One way to use them is to pick a chord structure and quality, for example, a drop 2 m7 chord. Now limit your playing to a small, five or six fret area of the guitar such as the first to sixth fret. Play around each cycle using that chord structure and quality but do not allow yourself to leave the set area on the fretboard. Using the cycle of fourths chart below, you would play drop 2 voicings of the following chords: Cm7, Fm7, Bbm7, Ebm7 etc. Try the same idea with the cycle of fifths: Cm7, Dm7, Am7 etc. Practice this concept with any chord structures you are studying. You can also use each chord in the cycle as a tonic chord. For example, you could play major ii V I progressions into each chord in turn. Using the cycle of fourths, you would play a ii V I into C (Dm7 G7 CMaj7), then a ii V I into F (Gm7 C7 FMaj7) then a ii V I into Bb (Cm7 F7 BbMaj7) etc. These kinds of exercises are mentally demanding because they make you think backwards from a target tonic chord. Memorising the chord sequence in advance away from the guitar can really help before attempting these cyclic exercises. These practice techniques are very powerful, and with discipline you will find that your vision, knowledge and above all your ears will improve dramatically. Cycle of fourths

Cycle of fifths

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Conclusions and Further Study There is a wealth of harmonic information in this book that will hopefully give you many happy hours in the practice room and on stage. My best advice is to go very slowly and take just one chord voicing at a time. The two types of chord that are of most immediate benefit are drop 2 chords on the top four strings and drop 3 chords with a sixth string bass note. Once you are confident with those ideas I would suggest learning the drop 2 chords on the middle strings and the drop 3 chords with a fifth string bass. Whichever way you decide to proceed, the most important thing to do is make sure you’re actually incorporating these new chords into your music. Practice using each chord type with the common sequences and with the cyclic exercises in chapter eighteen. The metronome is your friend! While you should definitely have the metronome off when you’re learning new shapes, the sooner you can use the metronome to keep in time while playing chord sequences the better. Even with all the backing tracks available today, the best ‘high pressure’ simulation of a gig you can do is sit with just a metronome and work on nailing every chord change. If you set the metronome at half-speed so that it only clicks on the two and four, all the better. The point is to make you responsible for the time and give you nowhere to hide. This is definitely intense practice, but is extremely beneficial. Listen to the great chord melody players between practice sessions. You will start to hear the chord structures that they play, and some of their secrets will start to reveal themselves. Get a ‘Real Book’ and practice reading through the charts. After a while, there will be no more surprises and you will quickly be able to adjust the four main structures and incorporate any surprise chords. Practice your favourite tunes in different ways, and each day approach the harmony using a new chord type or structure. You can play one, two, three or even four inversions of a chord in one bar, although I’d suggest that using just one or two would be the best use of your practice time. Above all, don’t expect to be able to incorporate everything in this book at once. It is impossible to retain all this information after just a short period of study. Get very good at using just one type of voicing and its inversion before exploring others. In most jazz band situations, drop 2 chord inversions on the top four and middle four strings are your best bet. As always, have fun! Joseph


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Voice Leading Jazz Guitar Introduction This book examines the art of smooth, musical voice leading in jazz rhythm guitar. While it is intended to be a standalone guide to jazz rhythm guitar playing, unless you are familiar with many types of jazz guitar chord structures (such as drop 2 and drop 3 voicings), you might find this book quite challenging. I highly recommend working through this book in conjunction with my other book Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery. The aim of this book is to get you thinking in terms of how intervals move fluidly on the guitar as chords change in a jazz tune. The idea is to move the fewest possible notes from your current chord to form a rich, interesting voicing for the next. The ultimate goal is to be able to play full jazz standards without having to jump around the fretboard and so each note or voice moves as smoothly as possible. In jazz, there are many possible extensions and alterations that can be used on any chord, and you will learn to instantly locate all the available musical choices for any chord and seamlessly incorporate them into your playing. Learning to incorporate extensions into your music can be a daunting task, and much advice is given about how to logically organise them into your practice. This book also covers many useful chord substitutions with great focus on the concept of secondary dominants. By using substitutions, it is possible to create a rich, seamless tapestry of chord voicings that sound beautiful and effortless. Chord substitutions are introduced naturally into your vocabulary and are used when musically appropriate. The most common substitutions are taught with explanations of why they work and when to use them. Secondary dominant chords are a little complex, but they are given special attention with many examples of how to bring these creative devices into your jazz guitar comping. Building from the concept of secondary dominants, we also explore the ideas behind tritone substitutions and some of their advanced applications. In doing so, we open up many voicing possibilities and some beautiful ways to navigate between otherwise ‘standard’ jazz chord changes. Throughout this book, great care is taken to keep each concept musical, relevant and above all practical. Each example is based around one of two common jazz standards, and while for copyright reasons I can’t name each tune, let’s just call these standards Bella by Barlight and Some of the Things You Are. The chord progressions for these songs are deconstructed and taught with great attention to detail. The emphasis throughout is to teach you the most important concepts of voice leading while developing your vision on the guitar and your musical ear. Soon you will begin to see the guitar neck in terms of intervals and possibilities, rather than being confined to the standard chord ‘grips’ that you probably use. The one principle that will completely revolutionise the way you play jazz guitar is to learn to see the guitar neck purely in terms of intervals. While there is nothing wrong with seeing a B7 chord as:

It is much more useful to see it like this:

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However, as you progress through this book you will learn to see it like this:

The thing to realise is that all of these extensions are available most of the time, and they are used naturally and frequently in jazz rhythm guitar. We will cover extensions and alterations in later chapters, but for now you just need to know that one major outcome from studying this book is that you will start to ‘see the matrix’, and view the guitar neck as a palette of intervals, or ‘colours’ with which to paint sounds. The whole point of this book is to teach you to see the neck as a continuous, fluid succession of intervals that change with each chord. For example, the previous diagram views the neck from the point of view of a Bb7 chord. Everything changes if we view the neck around an Eb7 chord:

These diagrams may seem complex, but this level of vision does develop naturally with time, work and patience. I don’t want to scare you off, especially in the introduction, so just trust that this kind of insight is something that gradually grows while you’re working on other things. I mention all this now because an underpinning principle of harmony is that you can often move between two seemingly unrelated chords by moving just one or two notes. When playing ‘normal’ guitar chords this can be hard to see as you may move large distances, but when we study voice leading we can see how closely many chords are linked. The trick is to see which notes must move and which notes can remain the same. The other important thing to understand is that root notes tend to be optional. Normally another instrument will be taking care of the root, but even if they aren’t, by using good voice leading the strength of the musical idea will normally be enough to allow the audience to hear and feel the harmony. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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By removing the root, we free our fingers to reach beautiful extensions and keep the voice leading between chords as close as possible. For example, instead of Fm7 to Bb7 played like this:

We can learn to play voicings like the ones below by combining rootless chords with extensions while still retaining the harmonic function of each chord.

All the essential ingredients of each chord are included, but the voicings are richer and the voice leading is smoother as only one note moves between each chord. This kind of vision and insight takes the right kind of practice, and this is exactly what this book sets out to teach you. The examples build chapter by chapter from simple first principles until you are set on your own path of musical discovery. This book teaches you a great deal, but the real fun begins when you take each concept and make it your own. As with any book, I have had to assume certain things about your musical knowledge. It will help if you’re familiar with chord construction and the concept of extensions. When it is relevant, I will refresh the basics in this book, but you will benefit from owning the books Guitar Chords in Context and Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery unless you already have a solid grounding in harmony. The concepts in this book aren’t just relevant for jazz guitar comping; they will deepen your insight into all areas of music and also greatly influence your jazz guitar soloing. Every chord idea is also a soloing idea: simply play the arpeggio instead of the chord voicing. Have fun! Joseph. The audio examples in this book are available for free download from www.fundamental-changes.com Simply click the ‘Download Audio’ link at the top of the page.

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Chapter One: Simple Paths To begin our journey into jazz guitar voice leading we need a workhorse set of chord changes that we can dissect to create realworld examples. I have chosen the jazz classic, Bella by Barlight as it contains some very interesting harmony, and it is a common tune called at jazz jams. The chord changes to Bella by Barlight are as follows:


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To begin our exploration, we will focus on finding a path through the chords of the first four bars of the tune using simple voice leading and ignoring any possible alterations and extensions. The chord sequence of the first four bars is:

The object of the first exercise is to play through these chord changes while keeping the notes of each chord on the same four strings, and making each note move as little as possible when changing chords. Before we begin, let’s recap the interval formulas for the most common types of jazz guitar chords. Major 7

1357

Minor 7

1 b3 5 b7

7

1 3 5 b7

m7b5

1 b3 b5 b7

If you are not sure how to construct any of the following chords refer back to this table. We will start the chord sequence with the following ‘standard’ Em7b5 shape although you could start with any comfortable voicing:

Take a moment to familiarise yourself with the location of each interval of the chord. Notice where the root (R), 3rd, 5th and 7th are located on the neck. The goal is to move as few notes as possible between the Em7b5 and the following A7 chord while keeping to the same four strings. If you have read Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery, you may already know the following chord shape for A7, but even so, try to form each chord interval by interval. This may be a little ‘painful’ at first, but the benefits will quickly become apparent. The root of A7 is located on the 7th fret of the fourth string, but you may well see it more quickly on the 5th fret of the sixth string. (Try to learn the notes on the fourth string thoroughly as it will help greatly with your fluency). Visualise the root note, A and then add in the intervals that are required to form an A7 chord (a 3rd, 5th and b7). This is difficult, but be persistent and your skills will develop with time.

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When we learn to see chord structures in terms of their intervals, certain things become very clear. For example, ask yourself, how would you change the previous A7 chord into an AMaj7 chord? Study the table on the previous page and you will see that the only difference between A7 and AMaj7 is that A7 contains a flattened 7th (b7). If you raise the b7th of the A7 by a semitone, you create an AMaj7 chord voicing. Compare the following:

Fingering: This is a bit of a stretch, but it’s is a great Maj7 voicing. Now, how would you turn the A7 voicing into an Am7 voicing? Study the table on the previous page again. All that changes is that the major 3rd (3) is flattened to become a minor 3rd (b3). This can be seen in the following diagrams:

Again, this fingering is a little stretchy but it is another common m7 voicing. You can see that once you know a chord’s formula and how to arrange these notes on the guitar, it is a very easy process to adjust shapes that you already know to produce many different chord types. Let’s get back to Bella’! Compare the chord voicings of Em7b5 and A7 and notice how similar they are.


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The only difference between these two chords is that is that the two inside voices of Em7b5 (the notes on the middle strings) have both fallen by a semitone to become the root and 3rd of A7. The challenge for us it to learn to adjust our perception of the guitar neck each time a chord changes, presenting us with a new root note. In other words, when the chord is Em7b5 we are viewing the fretboard in terms of its root note (E) and its relevant chord tones. As soon as the chord changes to A7, we must adjust our thinking so that we see the fretboard in terms of the new root note (A) and the intervals of A7. This process is quite mentally demanding, but it does get easier, and you will develop your skills in this book. The chord after A7 is Cm7. (1 b3 5 b7). Begin by finding the closest location of the root note (C) on the middle four strings:

Next, we gradually build up the intervals of Cm7 around it. Chords with a root note on the third string are often the hardest chords to visualise on the guitar. Most guitarists play chords with the roots on the sixth, fifth or fourth strings, so third-string roots can be a bit of a mystery to us. It may help at first to think of the notes in the chord (C Eb G Bb) and place those on the neck first before thinking of intervals. Again, all I can say is that this does get easier, but it can be slow and frustrating at first. My advice is to try to enjoy the mental pain as this is your brain learning important and advanced information about the guitar. We can build the intervals of Cm7 around the root in the following way:

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Learn to recognise what a b3, 5, and b7 look like in relation to a third string root. This chord may not be comfortable to play at first, but it is a fantastic sound once you get used to it. Compare this Cm7 voicing to the previous A7 chord:

Here, only one note remains the same between the two chords, because there is a fairly pronounced key change at this point in the song. Even so, each note moves by only one semitone and even this small movement can be further reduced when we start to introduce substitutions and extensions later. The final chord in the sequence is F7. The closest voicing of this chord is as follows:

You may find it easier to view the root of this F7 chord as being on the fifth string. It is shown as a greyed out square for your reference. Once again, compare the F7 to the previous Cm7 to see which voices have moved. You will notice that only two notes have changed. This change can be reduced to one note by playing an F9 chord instead of the F7, and we will look at this idea in the following chapter. The past few pages have covered a huge amount of information and may seem quite daunting. The best way to internalise this approach is to get your hands dirty and actually practice it with a mindful approach. How to Practice This exercise is simple on paper, but it may take you a while to master. Play the first chord of the sequence, Em7b5. Strum the chord and then pick each string individually. As you pick each string, say the name of each interval out loud. For example:


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Example 1a:

The audio examples in this book are available for free download from www.fundamental-changes.com Simply click the ‘Download Audio’ link at the top of the page. When you have played through the notes of Em7b5 and said their names out loud, pause and visualise the notes of the following chord (A7) on the fretboard. Before you move to A7, make sure you can see how the intervals of the Em7b5 chord you are holding change to become the intervals of A7. This may take time, but the idea is to see the new chord before you move from the one you’re on. Notice which notes move and which notes stay the same. Repeat this process for every chord in the sequence. Try not to see the sequence as chord ‘shapes’, like when you first learned to play, try to see it as intervals shifting and cascading down the fretboard. Of course, you may already know these chord shapes but focus on seeing the intervals in terms of each new root note. Example 1b:

Let’s move on to the next four bars of Bella’.

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Each chord can be played in the following way:

or Approach these chord changes in the same way as before. Play the first chord and say the intervals out loud before visualising how each note changes to become an interval of the following chord. Only change chords when you are confident with what you are about to play. Remember; try not to see chord shapes, try to view each chord as a set of changing intervals. I have given two options for the final A7 chord. The first fits in more ‘correctly’ with the exercise because the voice leading is a bit closer, however, it is a bit of a stretchy shape so you may wish to move back up the fretboard and use the second option. Developing a choice of voicings and learning to see the intervals in more than one place on the fretboard gives you a lot of freedom, and allows you many creative options to use when you are comping jazz guitar. By using a different voicing for A7 chord, the next chord will also be played with a different closest voicing, setting up a chain of events that will take you on a different pathway through the changes. Eventually, you will be able to play any voicing you choose and improvise freely with your choice of chord voicing. When you are confident with closely voiced chords, you will start to experiment with voicings that ‘jump’ around the neck or across string groups, normally with the aim of keeping a particular melody note at the top of the chord. The next four bars of Bella’ are written out here, one bar per chord. Be sure to practice this in the same way as example 1b. Example 1c:

Play the through the complete first eight bars, and continue the process of strumming every chord once before picking each individual note and saying the interval names out loud. Visualise the next chord before moving your fingers.


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Example 1d:

In the above example, it is easy to see how only one note moves between F7 and Fm7 in bars five and six. Here are the next four bars of Bella’ arranged with tight voice leading on the middle four strings. Example 1e:

Practice these four bars in the same way as before and put great emphasis on seeing how the intervals move between each chord.

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Here is one route around the final four bars of the A section. As we start to run out of room at the bottom of the guitar notice how we start to ascend back up the neck. Example 1f:

There are a few challenging stretches here, but each shape will get easier over time. Some shapes will cause you to really adjust your wrist position or stick your elbow out. Experiment to find the most accessible position for you. For now, don’t worry too much about the awkward stretches, as we start to introduce substitutions, extensions and alterations we can avoid difficult fingerings (if we want to!) and increase the smoothness of the voice leading further. To recap, here are the first sixteen bars of Bella by Barlight using voicings on the middle four strings. Notice that we play the minor ii V (Em7b5 – A7) a different way each time it occurs.


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Example 1g:

In the next chapter, we look at how to use extensions, alterations and rootless voicings to smooth out the voice leading in each chord change.

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Chapter Two: Extensions and Rootless Voicings As I mentioned in the introduction, it is rarely necessary to play the root of the chord and often other intervals can be omitted too. The theory behind omitting notes is often taught academically and rigidly, with specific rules about which notes can be dropped in a chord and when it is acceptable to do so. The truth is that there are no hard and fast rules about which notes must be included. More often than not, the listener will subconsciously ‘fill in the gaps’ when strong voice leading is used, even when an important note such as the 3rd is omitted. By omitting the root and occasionally other intervals too, we can access other notes that add richness and interest to our chordal textures. Usually, when a note such as the root is left out, it is replaced by another note, either a natural extension (9th, 11th or 13th) or by a chromatic alteration (b9, #9, b5 or #5). These extensions and alterations are covered in great detail in my books Guitar Chords in Context and Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery, but the following table shows the most common choices for jazz chords. This list isn’t exhaustive, extensions can be combined, and you should be aware of enharmonic notes such as a b5 being identical to the #11. Chord Type

Formula

Common Extensions

Maj7

1357

9 #11 13 (or 6)

m7

1 b3 5 b7

9 11

m7b5

1 b3 5 b7

b9 9 11

7 (unaltered)

1 3 5 b7

9 11 #11 13

7 (altered)

1 3 (5) b7

b9 #9 b5 (#11) #5 (b13)

There are no ‘avoid’ notes, but 13ths (or 6ths) need to be handled with care on minor chords. Chord ii will normally contain a natural 13 whereas chords iii and vi contain b13s. Consider these as special cases and something to study later. One important substitution to know is that Maj7 chords are often played as 6 or 6/9 chords on the guitar. For example, instead of playing EbMaj7 in bar seven of Bella by Barlight, it is common to hear Eb6 (1 3 5 6) or Eb6/9 (1 3 6 9). Piano players may use different formulas to play 6, and 6/9 chords but these voicings work well on the guitar. Sometimes the 7th can be included in a 6/9 chord if the root is omitted although technically this would be a Maj13th chord. A dominant 7 chord acting as a functional V7 chord (for example in a ii V I progression) can normally take any level of tension you care to add, although certain situations may heavily suggest a specific tension. One tension that it is normally okay to add to any functional dominant is the b9. The b9 is normally substituted for the root and is probably the most common tension used in jazz. The best way to learn these sounds is to study how they are used in rhythm guitar parts. The ‘rules’ of harmony are subjective, so if someone tells you about a rule of music, don’t discount it, but use it as a solid foundation from which to explore. Most things in music are about context; it is always possible to play something that would be considered a ‘wrong’ note by most theory experts if it is done at the right point in the song. This skill comes down to rhythm, phrasing and conviction. The important thing to realise about any ‘altered’ note choices I use in this book is that they are not chosen at random. In other words, each note choice occurs because it provides good voice leading between chords. Let’s study some ‘extension and alteration’ possibilities on the first four bars of Bella by Barlight. We will begin with a common Em7b5 voicing.


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In the previous chapter, two notes changed between the chords of Em7b5 and A7. Let’s look at how we can further reduce the amount of moving voices. To refresh your memory, here are the first four bars of Bella by Barlight:

Despite the A7 not resolving to a D chord, it is still considered part of a ii V progression and will, therefore, accept some tension. Also, the melody of the original tune at this point contains a b9 note (Bb), so it can be appropriate to reflect that tension in the chord part. The Em7b5 chord already contains the Bb note (on the fourth string), so instead of moving down to the root of the A7 chord (A) as before, we can leave it where it is and only move the b7 of Em7b5 down to become the 3rd of A7. This is easier to understand when seen it in the following diagram. Example 2a:

We have simultaneously introduced a rich, beautiful alteration to the A7 chord while also reducing the number of moving voices to create a tight, efficient musical harmony. As with any chord, there are many extensions that can be added to the following Cm7 although in this case my first choice would be to stick with the unaltered voicing from Chapter One as it continues the stepwise voice leading:

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Example 2b:

Notice how the note on the third string falls by a semitone on each chord. 9ths can be freely added to most dominant 7 chords, and by adding a 9th to the following F7, we can move from Cm7 to F9 by changing just one note. In the following diagram, you can see how we replace root of the Fm7 chord (F) with the 9th (G):

The 9th of F7 (G) is same note as the 5th of the previous Cm7 chord (G), allowing this note to remain unchanged over both chords. As you can see, only one note now changes between Cm7 and F9. The b7 of Cm7 (Bb) falls to the 3rd of F9 (A). Example 2c:

Of course, there are other extensions that could be used on the F7 chord, but right now we are focused on creating the smallest possible movements between chords. Play through the first four bars of Bella’, paying careful attention to the voice leading on each string. As before, try to visualise each interval and note change before you play it. Strum each chord before picking each note in turn and saying the intervals out loud. It is very important to get into the habit of ‘building’ each chord from its constituent intervals whenever you change chord. Try not to memorise shapes; build every chord note by note by first placing the root, then other intervals.


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Example 2d:

We can continue in a similar vein for the next four bars.

In the previous bar of F7, the root was replaced by the 9th. Remember, the 9th is a great interval to play on both the F7 and the Fm7 chord so let’s leave it where it is for now. Now the only note that changes between F9 and Fm9 is the 3rd (A). It must fall by a semitone to become the b3 of Fm9 (Ab). Example 2e:

The next chord is a functional Bb7 that resolves in the following bar to the tonic EbMaj7. Once again, we can form a Bb7 voicing by changing just one note from the previous Fm9. The question to always ask ourselves when finding routes through chord sequences is “what does each interval in this chord become when played over the root note of the next chord?”.

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The next diagram may look a little confusing at first, but it will help you to get ‘inside the head’ of a good jazz guitar player. The first diagram shows the intervals of Fm9 (the chord we are playing) over the root note of F. The second diagram shows the same notes, but this time they are viewed as intervals of Bb (the chord we are moving too).

Look at the second diagram and compare it with the table at the start of the chapter. Which notes are ‘acceptable’ in a Bb7 chord, and which need to change? Well, the truthful answer is that they all could work well on the Bb7 chord. Playing this group of notes over a Bb bass note forms the chord Bb13sus4 (11 is the same as 4). We could continue playing this set of notes to create a tense harmony as the bass moves to Bb. However, at this point in the progression it is much stronger to hear the 3rd of the Bb7, so my suggestion is to drop the 11th to the 3rd in the following way:

It should be said that there are no ‘rights or wrongs’ here. You may wish to play the Bb13sus4 for a few beats before resolving to the Bb13. As you can see, moving just one note of the Fm9 creates a rich, extended Bb13 chord that includes the 9th. Rootless voicings of chords are extremely useful on the guitar; by using just four notes we can create beautiful, advanced harmonies. Remember: ask yourself on every chord change, ‘Which notes can stay the same, which notes need to move?’ Let’s move on to the EbMaj7 chord. Look to see which intervals the notes of the current chord (Bb13) form against the Eb root note:

Refer back to the table. As you can see, the 7th, the 6th and the 3rd all work on an EbMaj7 chord, but the 11th will clash with the 3rd. The problem is that if we simply drop the 11th to the major 3rd, there will be two major 3rds in this voicing. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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A good solution is to drop the 11th to the 3rd but also to drop the higher 3rd to the 9th creating a slightly unusual Maj13th chord (a Maj6 chord that includes the 7th):

Again, this is a rootless voicing that has slight tension due to the 7th in the bass. This is a great sound, but possibly a voicing to avoid if you’re working in a duo with an inexperienced singer. If you need to play the root as the lowest note then you could opt for a more standard Eb6/9 chord:

The final chord of this section is Ab7. In Bella by Barlight, it is often played as an A7#11 (or ‘Lydian Dominant’) chord. Once again, see what intervals the current EbMaj13 chord tones form against the root of the next Ab7#11 chord:

This voicing already contains three intervals we can use for Ab7#11. The only note that needs to change is the 7th, which must fall by a semitone to the b7 (Gb):

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You may recognise this chord as a ‘Hendrix’ D7#9 shape, but over an Ab root it functions completely differently. Recap the second four bars of Bella’, playing each chord and then its intervals. Example 2f:

Play smoothly through the first eight bars of the song and visualise the root notes of any rootless voicings. Notice how the top note of each chord remains unchanged for the first six bars. Compare this sequence to how you used to play these chords. Example 2g:

Unfortunately, there isn’t room in this book to analyse and discuss every chord change on Bella’ with diagrams and comparisons, so I have condensed following next eight bars into to one line. Every chord has its intervals shown in the chord grids. It is your job to see dissect and learn how every note functions in the sequence. Pay attention to which extensions/alterations are used and why. If an extension is used, look to see which chord tone is being replaced.


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Second Eight Bars of Bella by Barlight

Example 2h:

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The previous sequence shows just one route through the chord changes, in the next chapter we will discuss how to practice finding new pathways. For now, try to find new routes by adding different extensions on each dominant chord. The chords to the B section of Bella by Barlight are as follows:

Begin by finding the closest possible voicings for these chords while ignoring any chromatic alterations as we did in chapter one. For example instead of G7b13, play a simple G7. One pathway could be played as follows:


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Example 2i:

The first eight bars of this example contain just four chords, each one lasting two bars. Try to find a new voicing of the same chord in every second bar, and continue your voice leading from there. The following example should start you off on some new explorations. Example 2j:

Incorporating this technique into your playing is explored in detail in Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery. As you can jump between any inversion of each chord, this concept requires very organised practice because each chord voicing directly affects the next. The second line of example 2i contains three of the four common minor ii V movements on the middle four strings. Learn these thoroughly as they occur often. As you begin to see how the R-7 chords function, begin to add extensions and alterations to the chords to form closer voice leading. The dominant 7 chords in the final eight bars are often played as 7b9 chords. Here’s just one route through the changes.

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Example 2k:

Work slowly through example 2k, mapping out the interval of each chord one by one. It may help to get a page of blank chord grids and write out each chord with the intervals marked on each note. Look carefully to see what voicing decisions I have made when moving from chord to chord. You may once again wish to investigate the possibility changing voicings in each bar. Changing voicing will take you to a new fretboard location and will directly affect on the voicing of each chord that follows. Remember! Avoid learning this progression as a series of chord shapes. Learn to see the intervals of one chord moving to new intervals in the subsequent chord. This is easier said than done, but it is possible to force yourself to see past the chord shape and focus only on the intervals. It takes a conscious effort to think like this, and you will find yourself getting mentally fatigued quite quickly. Your concentration and vision will improve with practice, so relax and enjoy the learning process. Take a lot of breaks. Consciously build every chord from its component intervals every time. Don’t think of chord shapes: build each chord, note by note by placing the root, then adding the rest of the intervals.


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Chapter Three: Voicing Exercises and Practice Ideas The previous chapters have helped you to build a solid pathway through the chord changes to Bella by Barlight using efficient voicing leading and by introducing alterations and extensions to help smooth the movement between each chord voice. In this chapter, you will learn how to explore, expand and practice your own ideas for voice leading through chord changes. Throughout the following ideas, one concept should dominate your thinking: ‘the closest note principle’. Always move between chords by changing the fewest number of notes. The ideas in this chapter are once again taught in the context of Bella by Barlight, but they should be applied to every jazz tune you study. The first idea to practice is simply to begin the chord progression with a different voicing. As each subsequent chord is formed by adjusting notes from the one previous, starting the progression in a different location will force you to take a different route through the changes. In turn, this dramatically improves your ability to quickly find chord intervals in different parts of the neck and drastically increases your vision and fluency on the guitar. In the previous chapters we started the progression with this voicing of Em7b5:

However, there is no reason that we have to use this voicing of Em7b5. Starting in a different location allows us to practice finding different routes through the changes. The following example shows a pathway through the first eight bars beginning with the following voicing of Em7b5.

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Example 3a:

Carefully analyse this chord sequence to make sure you understand every note choice before continuing through the rest of the chord progression. There are four inversions of ‘drop 2’ Em7b5 chords that you should start from. Each one is a starting point to a different route through the chord sequence. These four voicings are as follows:

The first of the previous four voicings can be played an octave lower by using an open third string.


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The next practice idea is to play through the sequence while the highest note in each chord either descends or remains at the same pitch. This approach has been part of all the exercises in this book so far because the harmony of Bella by Barlight tends to descend. However, being conscious of the melody (top) note of the chord will again allow you to open up the fretboard. The following example starts with a high voicing of Em7b5 and descends melodically. As always, see each chord as a set of intervals and analyse each note choice. It’s tricky to begin with, but it is the most beneficial way to practice. Example 3b:

Continue this sequence throughout the whole chord progression. Work in short chunks of two to four bars at a time so that you don’t burn out. Next, try only allowing the top note to descend on each chord. It can be easy to run out of room on the fretboard so sometimes it is necessary to jump up an octave to the top of the guitar to continue. Here are the first eight bars played with descending melody notes. Notice that the octave jump in bar five allows the melody note to fall in by step from D to C, albeit up an octave. Example 3c:

Continue through the progression ensuring that the highest note of each chord descends with every change. 212


Jazz progressions often tend to descend harmonically as it is common for chords to move in intervals of 5ths and 4ths. A very useful approach to playing rhythm guitar is to force the voicings to ascend and move in the opposite direction to the harmony. This ascending approach can be practiced in two ways. The first way is to ensure that the highest (melody) note of each chord ascends or remains constant on each chord change. The second way is to play only an ascending melody note on each chord. The following example uses a combination of ascending and static melody notes. Work through this example before continuing the approach through the whole progression. Example 3d:

In the next example, the melody note ascends on each chord.


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Example 3e:

Continue this example through the whole progression. As you run out of frets, drop back down to the bottom of the guitar neck to continue the sequence. Work in small, two-bar phrases and take your time. Another great way to practice chord and interval recognition is to limit your playing to small, five-fret areas of the guitar neck while keeping each voicing on the same four strings. This exercise is fairly demanding, so stick to simple ‘7th’ voicings at first. The first eight bars of Bella by Barlight can be played with R-7 voicings in the first to fifth frets as follows. Example 3f:

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As your confidence builds, try to add simple extensions/alterations to the chords where you feel they are appropriate. One way to do this is shown below, but you should come up with as many approaches as you can. Example 3g:

*OK, I cheated a little here and used an open string! However, making good music is always the priority, and I felt that this was the most appropriate voicing to use at this time. To expand upon the previous exercise, divide the neck into different six-fret regions and play through the whole tune in a new region each week. The following example shows one way to play the second eight bars of Bella’ between the sixth and tenth frets. Example 3h:

Try to find as many closely voiced routes through the chords as you can in different positions. Begin by using simple R-7 voicings before introducing extensions and alterations. There are many ways to voice chords on the guitar using different groups of strings and different structures. For example, we could use just the top four strings, the middle four strings, or indeed any other combination of strings we care to choose. We will be looking in more detail at chord voicings on other string sets in later chapters, but bear in mind that each one of the previous voicing exercises could (and should) be applied to other types of voicing, the most common ones being ‘drop 2’ and ‘drop 3’ chords structures. To get you start with other voicings, let’s take a look at the first eight bars of Bella’ beginning with a drop 3 voicing of the Em7b5 chord. Until now we have been mainly using drop 2 voicings of each chord. For more explanation of this concept see my book Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery. Em7b5 can be played as a drop 3 voicing in the following way:


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Again, move through the chord sequence keeping each voice’s movement as close as possible to the previous one while keeping the notes all on the same strings. Example 3i:

Continue this approach throughout the whole song. Using different voicings helps you see intervals on the neck instead of memorising individual chord shapes. Of course, if you already know these chord voicings you do need to make sure you see each chord in terms of its constituent intervals and not just as a pre-defined shape

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The goal of this book is to teach you to see inside each chord and learn to pick and choose which intervals you play. Memorising chord shapes is a good start, but if you don’t see beyond shapes you are overlooking the more fundamental concepts of interval recognition, voice leading and spontaneous creativity. As your skills develop, you will begin to pick and choose which intervals you play when improvising rhythm guitar parts. The following example begins with a drop 2 voicing on the top four strings and uses closely voiced chords to move through the ‘C’ section (bars 25-32) of Bella by Barlight with R-7 voicings. The following chord shapes are repeated in a descending sequence. Example 3j:

The previous example is fairly predictable and follows the harmony down the neck. Try playing the same sequence but this time ascend the neck as shown. Example 3k:


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Even with fairly simple chords, arranging the voicings so that they ascend the neck against a descending harmony is a beautiful, musical technique. Finally for this section, here is a practice technique that is completely opposite to everything we have studied so far, however, it is a fantastic way to speed up your thinking and enhance your creativity. The concept behind this practice technique is simply to keep the root of each chord on the same string while playing the same chord structures (drop 2, drop 3, etc.). This is fairly straightforward when the root of the chord is on the sixth, fifth or fourth string, but more challenging when the root is on the second or the third string. To demonstrate, let’s begin with the root of Em7b5 on the fifth string. We will then play through the first four bars of Bella by Barlight keeping the root of each chord on the same string. This means that we will be moving large distances and constantly reorganising our thinking. This is should be quite an easy exercise, as you probably already know these voicings and the roots are all located on a familiar string. Example 3l:

etc… When you practice, consciously build every chord you play from its component intervals every time you change chord. Don’t think of chord shapes; build the chord note by note by first placing the root then the 3rd, the 5th and finally the 7th. Later, when you are adding/substituting extensions or alterations you should be able to immediately see which intervals you wish to replace. Try the exercise again, but this time keep the root of each chord on the second string. Remember, don’t memorise chord shapes! Find the root on the second string each time and build the chord up from the root. 218


Example 3m:

Most people find the previous voicings much harder to visualise as they are not as familiar with the intervals on the guitar when viewed from a second-string root. Continue through the whole progression using simple R-7 chords ensuring that you keep the root of each chord on the second string. You will quickly master the four main types of jazz chord (Maj7, m7, 7, and m7b5) played as drop 2 voicings with second-string roots. As your confidence develops, you may start to find yourself seeing chord shapes, not individual intervals. If this happens, try to build the chords in a different order. For example, place the 3rd of the chord first, then the 7th, then the 5th and then finally the root. Keep these exercises fresh and challenging in order to develop choice and freedom in your playing. The next stage is to use rootless voicings while still visualising the root of each chord on the second string. This is a very challenging exercise. To begin, play every chord with a 9th replacing the root. Each chord could, in theory, be played with a natural or b9 depending on its context. Use your ears to help you decide which to use. Here are the first eight chords of Bella played with 9th voicings that omit the root. Each string’s root is visualised on the second (B) string. Example 3n:

Continue this idea through the full Bella by Barlight chord progression. Exercises like this really help us to isolate specific intervals and to vastly improve our fretboard knowledge, as we must visualise both the root note and its replacement. We can extend this exercise further to target 11ths and 13ths too. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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You will have noticed by now that placing the root on the second string means that all the other chord tones also remain on the same strings, i.e., the 3rd is always on the fourth string and the 5th is always on the third string when we use drop 2 chord voicings. Play through chord sequence again, but this time replace the 3rd of each chord with a natural 11th. The chords sound unusual and there are some awkward fingerings, but it’s a great exercise to help us see the fretboard. Take your time over these tasks and work in small, one- or two-bar chunks. Example 3o:

etc. Finally, replace every 5th with a 13th. Example 3p:

etc. Altering chords in this way works well with drop 2 chords with their roots on the second string although some shapes may be impossible to play when the root is placed on the third or fourth string, so just do what you can. If a voicing is unplayable, simply play the R-7 chord or adjust a different note. It will take time to develop confidence and vision with these exercises, but when you begin to improve, try to do the same set of exercises using drop 2 chords with the root on the third string. Your starting point for these exercises could be the following voicing of Em7b5:

If you think you have run out of starting points, you may want to refresh your memory with the essential chord voicings in Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery. 220


As an extension to these exercises, try repeating the substitution ideas above, but return to limiting your fret range. For example, play each chord as a 9th (replacing the root) but keep your playing within a pre-defined six-fret span on the neck. The following example shows how to play the first eight chords of Bella by Barlight as 9ths within the range of first five frets. Example 3q:

Repeat this exercise in other limited ranges on the guitar. The exercises shown in this chapter can and should be repeated with any other chord structures you know and can be applied to any jazz progression. They provide a solid grounding voice leading jazz guitar.


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Chapter Four: Secondary Dominants “Any chord can be preceded by a dominant chord played a 5th above”. Secondary dominant chords are often used in jazz harmony, and they give us many opportunities to create interesting and complex chord progressions. Let’s begin by exploring how to form secondary dominants in detail with some simple chord voicings. The first exercise teaches us how to play a dominant chord on the 5th of every chord in a harmonised C Major scale. A dominant chord on the 5th of a chord is called a secondary dominant as it is secondary to the original dominant chord of the key. The harmonised scale of C Major can be played with drop 2 voicings in the following way: Example 4a:

Next, we need to learn what the secondary dominant of each of these chords is. They are shown in the following table: Chord

Secondary Dominant

CMaj7

G7

Dm7

A7

Em7

B7

FMaj7

C7

GMaj7

D7

Am7

E7

Bm7b5

F#7 *

* You may be expecting the secondary dominant for Bm7b5 to be F7, but it is not. Secondary dominants are always formed on the perfect 5th of the root note, so we ignore the fact that m7b5 chords contain a b5 (in the case of Bm7b5 the b5 is is F, a diatonic note in the scale of C), and we use the perfect 5th (F#) even though this is not diatonic to the key of C. We can now place a secondary dominant chord before each chord in the key of C Major.

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Example 4b:

*Warning! Once again, the visual nature of the guitar neck is our enemy here. It is easy to get caught up playing patterns of shapes as you can see above. Instead of thinking ‘all I have to do is move a dominant chord across a string’ make sure you go through the mental process of finding the dominant note of each chord. Say each one out loud without looking at your guitar to make sure you are not relying on visual patterns of root movements. At this stage, the overall effect is to create a kind of ‘classical’ feel. Essentially (with the exception of the diatonic G7), each secondary dominant introduces notes into the progression that are not in the original key, and classical musicians would treat this sequence as eight mini modulations or key changes. Now that you understand how a secondary dominant chord functions, we can repeat the previous sequence with better voice leading by using four-note voicings on a specific string group. Let’s begin with drop 2 voicings on the top four strings. It is important that you know these voicings. If you are in any doubt refer to Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery.


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Example 4c:

By using secondary dominants and good voice leading, even a diatonic scale starts to sound musical and interesting although this is still just the tip of the iceberg. If you are confident with drop 2 chord shapes and are adept at ‘thinking’ through this dominant cycle, try to see beyond the chord shapes to the individual intervals in each chord. However, this exercise is quite mentally demanding so your first priority should be to develop instant mental recall of each dominant chord. Test yourself: What is the secondary dominant of Am7? What is the secondary dominant of Em7? What is the secondary dominant of Bb7? If your answers are not instant, keep until you can answer immediately. It can be useful to make flash cards to randomly test yourself. The previous example used tight voicing leading, but, in general, the voicings tended to descend. in Chapter Three we discussed different ways to explore chord sequences, so let’s briefly apply some of those techniques before moving on. As the voicings in the previous example descended, let’s make the top note either stay the same or ascend the neck. The first two bars are done for you, but you should continue through the sequence yourself - It’s essential practice.

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Next, stay within a five- or six-fret range.

Work through the practice ideas in chapter three using this sequence of chords. Try them with different voicings and on different string sets. Remember, the main options are 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

The top note remains the same or ascends on each chord The top note ascends on each chord The top note stays the same or descends on each chord The top note descends on each chord Play within a pre-defined fret range Keep the root of each voicing on the same string

Focus on using just the top four strings for now, but you may want to return here later to apply these practice ideas to secondary dominant chords that use different voicings on different string sets. Next, let’s begin to add some altered tensions to each dominant chord. As each secondary dominant chord acts as a functional (resolving) dominant we can add as much tension as we like to each one. We will start by replacing the root of each dominant chord with a b9 interval while using drop 2 voicings on the top four strings. Example 4d:


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This example beautifully illustrates a concept called the diminished substitution. Playing a diminished 7 chord on the 3rd of a dominant chord will always form a rootless 7b9 chord. For example, C#Dim7 over A7 = A7b9. D#Dim7 over B7 = B7b9. Work through the previous example again and make sure you can see that when you raise the root of any ‘7’ chord by a semitone, you form a 7b9 chord. This can also be seen as playing a diminished 7 chord (1 b3 b5 bb7) on the 3rd of the original dominant 7 chord. Let’s repeat the exercise but this time we will also add a 9th to each of the chords from the original diatonic scale. Bear in mind that chord iii (Em7) and chord vii (Bm7b5) both harmonise to have b9s, not natural 9ths. Example 4e:

Finally, let’s alter each dominant chord in a different way and play each one with a #5 (b13) by raising the 5th by a semitone. Isolating chromatic alterations in this way is a great way to learn to see intervals and hear their effect. To keep things simple, I will revert back to playing R-7 voicings on each diatonic chord. As adjusting the 5th of each dominant chord is a little trickier, so to help you, here are the four dominant 7 chord shapes that we will be using. Find the 5th in each one and simply raise it by a semitone to access the #5 (b13).

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When you’re confident with the location of each 5th, go through the same diatonic chord progression and play each secondary dominant chord with a #5(b13): Example 4f:

Repeat the exercise and play each secondary dominant chord with a #5 and a b9. Try starting the previous exercises from each of the four different voicings of the CMaj7 chord:

Each time you should be able to find a new way around the changes. Apply the exercises in this chapter to different chord voicings such as drop 2 and drop 3 chords with roots on the fifth and sixth string. For more voicing ideas check out my book Jazz Guitar Chord Mastery. It is very important that you do the previous exercises in different keys. Begin your studies by working with the harmonised scale of Bb Major: I

ii

iii

IV

V

vi

vii

BbMaj7

Cm7

Dm7

EbMaj7

F7

Gm7

Am7b5

Play the exercises in the keys of Eb, F and G Major before exploring minor keys. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Soon we will start to apply secondary dominant chords to real life jazz chord progressions, but first there are a few more important concepts that are important to understand. The first concept is that you can add a ii chord to any secondary dominant. For example, take the following progression:

We have seen how to add a secondary dominant to each chord to create the following progression:

We can precede each of the secondary dominant chords with a ii chord to form a ii V I progression into the following diatonic chord. The ii chord of a dominant 7 chord is built on the 5th, so the ii chord that precedes D7 is Am7. One important thing to keep in mind is the chord quality that the secondary dominant chord is resolving to. If the secondary dominant chord resolves to a major chord we normally use a m7 ii chord. If the secondary dominant resolves to a minor chord, we normally use a m7b5 chord. This ii V I movement is illustrated in the following diagram:

S.D. = Secondary Dominant. The ii chord built on the 5th of D7 is Am7. It is a m7 chord because it is resolving to a Maj7 chord in bar three. The ii chord built on the 5th of E7 is a m7b5 chord because it is resolving to a m7 chord in bar five. When resolving to the diatonic vii m7b5 chord (Bm7b5 in the Key of C) the ii chord can sound a bit funny. Don’t worry about this for now and work through the following exercise using barre chords with roots on the fifth and sixth strings as you did in example 4b.

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Example 4g:

Every other bar now forms a ii V progression resolving into the following diatonic chord. Looking at the previous example, it is easy to see how far we have come from the simple diatonic chord progression at the beginning of this chapter, but once again this is just a starting point for your own in-depth studies. Begin by playing the previous progression with tight voice leading on the top four strings of the guitar as you did earlier. Example 4h:


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The example above compresses the chords into eight bars, but don’t worry about the timing for now. Take as long as you need to understand and internalise the concept of adding a ‘ii V’ before each diatonic chord. There is not enough room in this book to take you through all the permutations of alterations and extensions that can be added to each chord, not to mention voicing these chords in different inversions and locations on the guitar. Don’t rush and always try to look beyond the chord shapes to see the intervals in each chord, don’t just memorise each shape. The following is a long list of options, so be prepared to work these ideas into your practice over a period of months and years, not just hours and days. Before you approach the following list, keep reading through this chapter to see how secondary dominants can be used in a musical context. • • • • • • • • • • •

Play each secondary dominant chord with a b9 replacing the root. Play each secondary dominant chord with a #5 replacing the fifth. Play each secondary dominant chord with both the b9 and the #5. Play each secondary dominant chord with a b5 replacing the fifth. Play each secondary dominant’s ii chord with a 9th (or b9 depending on its function) replacing the root. Play each chord from the original diatonic progression with a 9th (or b9) replacing the root. Logically work through a process of combining the previous ideas. Begin from each of the four different inversions of the CMaj7 chord and ascend/descend for each change. Begin from each of the four inversions of other types of voicing, for example, drop 3 voicings. Work on different string groups beginning from each of the four voicings of CMaj7. Practice these ideas in different keys.

Musical Application Secondary dominants and their associated ii chords can be used almost any time you change chords. For example, take the first four bars of Bella by Barlight.

The first two bars of Bella’ already form a ii V that looks like it should resolve to Dm7 although there is actually a key change and we move to Cm7. It is possible to use secondary dominant techniques on an existing ii V chord progression, but it is easier to learn by applying to chords that aren’t already a 5th apart. In the above progression, the A7 to Cm7 is a prime candidate. The following chart shows how to work backwards from the Cm7 to add the secondary dominant and then its ii chord. The secondary dominant of C is G7, and the ii would normally be Dm7b5 because we are resolving to a C minor 7 chord. However, there is a little anomaly here that you should be aware of. I would advise that you use a Dm7 chord as the ii, not a Dm7b5. The reason for this is that the A7 chord before Cm7 contains the note A, but the Dm7b5 contains the note Ab (Ab is the b5 of D). The Ab sounds a bit awkward after the A7 in the previous bar. By playing the ii chord as Dm7 we avoid this issue entirely as Dm7 contains the note A as a natural 5th. This isn’t to say you can’t play Dm7b5, it just needs a bit of care.

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Example 4i:

Play through this sequence with simple root position chords in the following way. Pay careful attention to the rhythm of bar two, as the rhythmic phrasing of the newly introduced chords is important. For added ‘smoothness’ try playing each dominant chord with a 7#5 tension.

We can add a secondary dominant before the Fm7 in bar five. I have used a dominant 13 chord here as the 13th of C (A) is the same note as the major 3rd of F7 and I didn’t want to highlight the important change from F7 to Fm7 too early in the tune. Example 4j:


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Now we have seen how these secondary dominants work in context we can use some tight voice leading to make them flow more musically. The following voicings are played on the middle four strings of the guitar, but you should explore other regions and permutations too. As the harmony now starts to become quite dense, you may at first wish to omit the ii chord of each secondary dominant and begin by playing the secondary dominant on beat three of bars two and four. Example 4k:

The middle eight bars of Bella’ are also prime candidates for the secondary dominant treatment, as each chord is held for two bars. The chord sequence is as follows:

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Even though the movement from G7#5 to Cm7 is already a V – I progression, we can add a ii V secondary dominant sequence in bar two. We will also add secondary dominants to the Ab7 and the BbMaj7 and play a secondary dominant in bar eight as if we were going to continue to the Em7b5 chord in the following bar. The resulting progression is:

Play through with simple root position chords before arranging the chords with good voice leading. Example 4l:

Example 4m:


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Example 4n:

Work very slowly through the above progression to make sure you understand how every extension and alteration is played on each chord. You might not have been expecting to see the G7#5b9 chord at the beginning of example 4m, but it is a perfectly acceptable (and musical) choice because the G7 to Cm7 movement in the progression is a functional resolution. The b9 note (Ab) becomes the b5 of the following Dm7b5 ii chord. An important thing to notice is that this G7#5b9 tension is created using a simple chord substitution. The first voicing in example 4m is clearly an Fm7b5 chord so remember that playing a m7b5 chord on the b7 of a dominant chord gives you the intervals b7, 3, #5, and b9. This idea is summarised in the following table:

Notes of Fm7b5

F

Ab

Cb (B)

Eb (D#)

Interval formed against a G root note

b7

b9

3

#5

This is a very handy substitution to use as both a chordal and melodic idea; try playing an Fm7b5 arpeggio over a functional (resolving) G7 chord when you solo. Find as many ways as you can to play the middle eight bars of Bella by Barlight on the guitar. Experiment by adding your own extensions and tensions, especially on the dominant chords. Play the changes in as many different places as you can while focusing on good voice leading between each chord. The four drop 2 voicings of G7 on both the four middle strings and the four top strings are a great place to start before moving on to drop 3 chords with roots on the fifth or sixth strings. Remember that you don’t have to play the written tensions and it can be a good idea to begin by ignoring them entirely. Play the first chord as a G7 and ignore the #11 on the Ab7 chord. The #11 is often played as it reflects the melody note of the tune at that point, but you don’t have to play it if you don’t want to, For practice ideas, flick back to Chapter Three and work through a few of the suggestions there. Above all, don’t worry about getting everything perfectly correct at this stage. The thing to take from this chapter is the concept of secondary dominant chords and their associated ii chords. It is great to test yourself away from your guitar. Give yourself a root note and see how quickly you can find its secondary dominant chord and it’s ii chord. Again, flash cards can help here. For example: Find the secondary dominant ii V progression for the chord Bm7. The V of Bm7 is F#7. The ii of F#7 is Cm7b5. What are the secondary dominant ii V sequences for the following chords: EMaj7, D7, Gm7, Fm7b5, C#m7? 234


Do you prefer the sound of a iim7b5 – V7 or a iim7 – V7 when resolving to a dominant 7 chord? If the resolution chord is G7, do you prefer Am7b5 – D7 – G7, or Am7 – D7 – G7? How about A7#11 – D7 – G7? There are no right or wrong answers; I’m just trying to encourage you to find your own voice. Experiment with these ideas and the answers will come to you. Look for other points in Bella by Barlight where you can use secondary dominants, and try the ideas in this chapter out in different keys and with different tunes. There’s a lifetime of exciting study to be had, and no single book can give you all the answers.


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Chapter Five: The Tritone Substitution The tritone (or ‘b5’) substitution is a fairly simple, yet essential musical concept frequently used by jazz musicians. A tritone is the name given to the distance of three tones. Three tones above any note forms a b5 interval. The concept is as follows: Any functional dominant 7 chord can be substituted for another dominant 7 chord built on the b5 of the original chord. Let’s take a look at this idea in action. Consider the following sequence that occurs in the final section of Bella:

The A7(b9) is a functional dominant chord that resolves to Dm7b5. The tritone substitution rule says that we can play a dominant chord on the b5 of A7. The b5 of A7 (three tones above) is the note Eb. So we can play the chord Eb7 in place of the A7b9 chord to create the following chord sequence:

Notice how the root movement between each chord now falls in semitones. E – Eb – D. This idea works even if the bass player plays the original root note (A) while we play the tritone substitution on the guitar. All that happens is we introduce some interesting altered tensions to the original A7 chord. The following table shows you which alterations are created when playing an Eb7 over an A root note. Notes of Eb7

Eb

G

Bb

Db/C#

Interval formed against an A root note

b5

b7

b9

3

As you can see, we retain the essential and character-defining 3rd and b7 of the A7 chord but we introduce the chromatic tensions b5 (#11) and b9. Quick calculation of the tritone substitution is essential when improvising with chords. What are the tritone substitutions of the following chords? G7, F7, Bb7, E7, and D7. The way I calculated these substitutions when I didn’t immediately know the answer was to first find the perfect fifth and then lower it by a semitone. For example, my mental process went something like this: What it the tritone substitution of G7? 236


The fifth of G7 is D and a semitone below D is Db, so the tritone substitution for G7 is Db7. Eventually this process will become as quick and unconscious as knowing that 2 + 2 = 4. The final eight bars of Bella by Barlight form a descending sequence of ii V I progressions in three different keys, eventually resolving to the tonic chord of BbMaj7. They can be seen in the following diagram:

The Dm7b5 functions as both the I chord for the Em7b5 – A7b9 sequence and as the ii chord in the following ii V I progression. The same is true for the Cm7b5 chord. We can play a tritone substitution on every single dominant chord in the above progression to form the following sequence. Use simple root position chords on the fifth string to play through the following progression. Example 5a:

As with secondary dominants, we can place ii chords before each new b5 (tritone) substitution. The ii chord is a fifth above the root of the new V7 chord. For example, the ii chord of Eb7 is Bbm7. These substitutions are shown below.

This sequence can be played with ‘basic’ chord voicings on the guitar in the following way. Notice that I am using ‘9’ chords instead of ‘7’ chords to provide smoother voice leading on each tritone substitutions. Example 5b:


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At this point, we need to mention a very important consideration regarding of the piece of music we are playing. While the above set of substitutions are ‘theoretically’ correct, they will not always work perfectly with the melody of the tune. Get yourself a Real Book chart of Stella by Starlight, and examine the melody of this section. In the first two bars of the above extract, the melody is as follows:

In the A7b9 bar, the melody contains the b7, R and b9 of A7b9. With the substituted tritone ii V chords above, the new harmony is:

It now becomes clear that there are a couple of problems with this reharmonisation of A7b9. The note A on beat one forms a major 7th against the Bbm7 chord, and the note G now forms a natural 6th. Record yourself playing the melody and then play the substituted chords to hear this clash. While this b5 substitution is not ‘technically’ wrong, this example teaches us a very important and valuable lesson. The melody of the tune will always dictate what substitutions you can use. While the above substitutions may not compliment the melody, they may be good choices to play under the soloist, or if the melody happened to be different. So if the secondary dominant chord and its ii chord don’t work in this specific example, how can we alter the substitution to take account of the melody? One possibility is to simply omit the Bbm7 chord. It is possible to see the melody notes (A and G) as belonging to the Em7b5 in the previous bar. You could play these two bars as follows: Example 5c:

If we were desperate to harmonise the note G in bar two, we could apply a technique commonly used in jazz and substitute the Bbm7 for a Bb7(#9). By swapping the minor chord for a dominant chord it allows us to use the tritone substitution of E. This means that we could use an E7#9 chord to harmonise the G on beat two:

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Example 5d:

How to arrive at using an E7#9 will be explained later so don’t worry about it for now. A similar issue occurs in the following two bars where Abm7 and Db9 are substituted for the G7b9. See if you can spot the clashes in the following:

The note F forms a 13th against the m7 chord and this situation it is dissonant. A simple fix is to play the Abm7 chord as an Ab13 chord. In jazz, m7 chords are often substituted by dominant 7 chords (and in particular, 7#9 chords). This is explained in Chapter Six. For now, a solution to the above clash could be played as follows: Example 5e:

The previous three examples are included to show that the most important consideration when using chord substitutions is always the melody of the tune. If we play chords under the melody, we need to be very careful that a ‘theoretically correct’ substitution is not going to clash with the melody note at that time. Even if a substitution is theoretically correct, if it clashes undesirably with the melody it is wrong. We have more freedom when playing chords under a solo, as momentary clashes are much less important. However, before you go adding complex and distant substitutions to your rhythm guitar parts, please consider the experience and ability of your band mates, and the genre of music you are playing. What is appropriate for modern jazz may not be appropriate in a swing tune. As mentioned earlier, the theory behind the substitutions above is explained in the following chapters, so don’t panic if you haven’t managed to follow every step.


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The examples that follow in this book teach you substitution possibilities in an organised way, but please note that they disregard any melodic considerations. The examples are based on the changes to Bella by Barlight, but they may not all be appropriate when played with the tune’s melody. Let’s now return to the earlier progression of secondary dominants and see how it could be played using close voice leading on different strings. Here is that progression once again to refresh your memory.

Example 5f:

Example 5g:

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Tritone Substitutions on Secondary Dominants Tritone substitutions can also be used with secondary dominant chords that have been added to the original chord progression. Refresh your memory of the first four bars of Bella by Barlight:

Let’s begin by adding a secondary dominant chord and its ii chord to the Cm7 in bar three, just as we did in example 4i:

Next, let's replace the secondary dominant chord (G7) for its tritone substitution, Db7. As you can see, we have now created the characteristic descending semitone movement from Dm7 down to Cm7 (D, Db, C). Example 5h:

Next, instead of playing Dm7, we can replace it with the ii chord of the b5 substitution (Abm7). *This will not work well when played with the original melody to the tune. Our progression becomes:

This can be played in the following way.


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Example 5i:

Notice how I have used a D9 and a Cm11 to smooth the voice leading. If you want to get really adventurous there’s nothing stopping you from reintroducing the Dm7 chord before the Abm7: Example 5j:

The A7#5 is suggested because the #5 of A7 (E# / F) chord becomes the b3 (F) of the following Dm7 chord. You can also play the A7 chord with no alterations or with the b9 as written in the original song. This is a lot of chords in a short space of time, but it does go to show you what becomes possible with substitutions. Always keep in mind the tune’s melody notes when you are exploring these ideas, although if you are playing this many chords so quickly, clashes are often only fleeting and fairly insignificant. Let’s base our voice leading examples on the chord sequence from example 5i as the tritone substitution of the secondary dominant chord and its preceding iim7 chord are enough to be working with for now.

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We will begin by voice leading the above progression on the top four strings of the guitar. Watch out for any alterations I add to the chords to smooth out the path of each voice. Example 5k:

Example 5l:

Explore as many starting points and permutations as you can before experimenting with voicings on the middle four strings. The following ideas will get you started: Example 5m:


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Example 5n:

As your confidence develops, try applying these ideas to drop 3 voicings with a bass note on the fifth string.

Work through different tunes looking for opportunities to use secondary dominants, tritone substitutions and their ii chords, and apply these techniques to different keys.

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The following chart summarises the steps that can be taken to add a tritone substitution to a secondary dominant chord using the chord sequence Cm7 – F7. Make sure you understand each step in the process. S.D. = Secondary Dominant T.T. = Tritone Substitution

When you add tensions to the tritone substitution, stick to using 9s, #11s and 13s, although as your skills progress you may wish to experiment more.


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Chapter Six: Voice Leading with Substitutions In this chapter, I want to introduce you to two important substitutions that occur regularly in jazz, and when combined with secondary dominant and tritone ideas, allow us to build exciting new chord sequences from ‘standard’ progressions. As you are reading this book, you may well already be aware of the first substitution. You can play a m7 chord on the 3rd of a Maj7 chord to form a Maj9 chord. Even though this is a common substitution, we will look at an application you may not have come across. Let’s take a look at an example using a CMaj7 chord. The 3rd of CMaj7 is E, so the rule tells us that we can play an Em7 chord instead of the CMaj7 to create a CMaj9 sound. Let’s check out the notes of CMaj7 and Em7 to see how this works. Interval from C

1

3

5

7

CMaj7

C

E

G

B

E

G

B

Em7

9

D

As you can see, the notes in Em7 are the same as the notes of a rootless CMaj9 chord, so any CMaj7 chord can be replaced by an Em7 chord. Here are some useful voicings you can use to play this substitution. The root note of C is marked in grey for reference only. The root note of the Em7 is the 3rd CMaj7.

There are many more, so go through the process of finding a CMaj7 voicing and raising the root up by a tone to form an Em7 / CMaj9 in as many positions as you can. As we saw previously, it is important to learn to see substitutions as a series of intervals built around a root note. Make sure you are always able to immediately find the R, 3, 5, 7 and 9 of any chord. One of your practice goals should be to develop instant interval recognition around any root note. The second substitution we will look at is a little less obvious and doesn’t follow any ‘rules’ as such. However, it is an extremely common idea in jazz: Any m7 chord can be replaced by a 7 or a 7(#9) chord. In a iim7 – V7 progression, this substitution is similar to playing the secondary dominant of the V chord.

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In the above example, C7 is the secondary dominant of F7, but it is also a dominant version of the original Cm7 chord. The C7 is played after the Cm7, but it could replace the Cm7 chord for the whole bar although care must be taken to avoid clashes with the melody notes that were written over the original minor chord. To help avoid this potential clash, dominant substitutions of minor chords are often played with a added #9 tension. The reason for this can be seen in the following table. Interval

1

b3 / 3

5

b7

Cm7

C

Eb (D#)

G

Bb

C7#9

C

E

G

Bb

#9

D# / Eb

As you can see, the #9 of C7#9 (D#/Eb) is the same note as the b3 in Cm7 (Eb). By adding the #9 to the dominant chord we keep more notes in common with the original m7 chord so it is easier for the original melody to accept the substitution. The melody notes of a song will often include a b3 on a m7 chord. If we substitute this m7 chord for a straight 7 chord we create a clash, however, if we substitute the m7 chord for a 7#9 chord, the original b3 / #9 is still heard in the harmony part so the substitution is more forgiving. Play through the following harmonisations to get a feel for the difference between substituting a m7 chord for a 7 and a 7#9 chord.

Let’s combine the two substitutions covered in this chapter into a musical context before moving on to playing these ideas with good voice leading. We will begin with a ii V I sequence in C and develop it with the substitutions.


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The first step is to substitute the CMaj7 in bar two for an Em7, as we saw at the beginning of this chapter.

Next, let’s add secondary dominant chords to both the Em7 and the Dm7 chords:

Now we can change the Dm7 to a D7#9 (although you may wish to view this as the secondary dominant chord of G7).

Finally, to keep the harmonic rhythm moving every two beats, let’s add the tritone substitution of G7 in the last bar.

Although we will continue this process further, this is a good point to stop and play some basic chords for the progression so far.

It is important to begin with these ‘basic’ chords to get a good feel for how the progression sounds before applying voice leading techniques. Compare this sequence with the original ii V I in C Major and you’ll see how far it is possible to come once you understand how to use substitutions. 248


As you become more familiar with this sequence, start to explore voice leading opportunities on different string groups. Don’t forget to experiment with extensions and alterations as you get more confident. Here are just a few ways through the changes. Example 6a:

Example 6b:

Now let’s take a look at another couple of substitution ideas that can be added. Play through the next examples with basic ‘root position’ chords before working through the voice leading ideas in each example. It is very important that you learn to hear the root movement of the chord changes before working through the voice leading exercises. If you can, try to record a bass line to help you practice the following examples. A strong bass line will help you to hear how each voicing works in context, especially with voicings that have no root and/or are heavily altered. I’m not a massive fan of the two ‘D’ chords in bar three, I think it holds back the harmonic movement of the progression so I will use a tritone substitution here and replace the D7 with its b5 substitution, Ab. I use a ‘7#11’ chord here as the #11 of Ab is the note D, which becomes the 5th of the G7 in the next chord. The Ab7#11 will also work well as a ‘no root’ Ab7b9#11 chord although I have not used it here, as I first want to clearly show you the root movement in the following example. As always, experiment to see which extensions suit your ears. Remember that melody is always a consideration when choosing substitutions.


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Example 6c:

Now I’m going to substitute the Em7 for an E7#9 as discussed earlier:

Example 6d:

Next I can replace the B7 chord with its tritone substitution (F7):

Example 6e:

To create a chromatically descending bass line I can also replace the A7 in bar two with its tritone substitution, Eb7:

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Example 6f:

The previous few examples show how you can use step-by-step substitutions to go from something as simple as:

to something as interesting as:

The important thing, however, is to use good voice leading when you play through the changes otherwise the ideas can sound disjointed and awkward. It is normally perfectly acceptable to adjust extensions and alterations on any voicing to smooth the transition between each chord change. Remember too that many things depend on context such as what band or line-up are you playing in. You may not have as much flexibility to use these type of substitutions when you’re working as a vocal duo. Often singers need to hear a root note in the bass of the chord, and unless they are very talented, more ‘distant’ substitutions may cause a train wreck. Also, if you start pulling out all these articulate substitution ideas in an unrehearsed situation, you may find that you distract other musicians in the band. Remember that substitutions can often take you away from the original harmony of the piece so sometimes discussion and rehearsal are the best ways to go. One thing I’m always quick to point out to students is that ‘theoretically possible’ and ‘musically appropriate’ are not synonymous! So why then, am I asking you to work through these substitutions? Well, there are three reasons. Firstly, with a well-rehearsed band and good rhythmic placement, substitution ideas can sound jaw-droppingly wonderful. Listen to the great chord melody improvisers such as Joe Pass, Jim Hall, Wes Montgomery, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Lenny Breau, Barney Kessel and, of course, the sublime Ted Greene, to hear all of these ideas in action. Sometimes all it takes is just one subtle substitution to make the audience sit up and take notice. The second reason for working through these substitutions is simple: practice! Throughout this book I have stressed the importance of seeing each voicing as a series of intervals and not simply a chord shape. By practicing substitutions in this way you get to immerse yourself in many different chord types which can be played all over the neck. Also, as these substitutions can be applied to any chord sequence, there are many chord permutations that can be used.


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As you work through more and more substitutions on different tunes, your interval and chord recognition will improve dramatically, as will the speed at which you can improvise with interesting substitutions. The third main reason to work on these substitutions is to teach you to reharmonise jazz standards and build a path into chord melody. Using substitutions is a productive way to find your own voice when playing tunes that have been heard for over fifty years. Another important use of substitutions is to allow us to access melody notes that lie outside the expected harmony of the chord. For example, take a look at the following melody:

The note Eb (D#) lies outside the diatonic scale in the key of C Major, so how could we harmonise this note. One way would be to use the secondary dominant chord of C Major, G7. The melody note forms a b13/#5 from the root note G, so G7#5 is a reasonable choice:

The note D#Eb is also the 9th in the tritone substitution of G7 (Db), so Db9 is also a good choice:

We can also add the iim7 chord before the Db9:

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It’s also possible to combine the original G7#5 substitution back into the above sequence. A good knowledge of substitutions can help us to find creative harmonisations for any unexpected melody note. The goal is to become as comfortable with common substitution ideas as possible by developing a practice approach that allows you to incorporate substitutions. This will greatly improve your freedom and reflexes on the guitar.


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Chapter Seven: More Substitution Exercises We saw in Chapter Four how to add secondary dominant chords to a harmonised scale of C Major, let’s now extend that exercise to incorporate tritone substitutions and their ii chords. We will stay in the key of C for simplicity although you should do this exercise in all common keys. First, refresh your memory of the harmonised scale of C Major:

As before, we will precede each chord with its secondary dominant:

However, this time instead of playing each secondary dominant, play the tritone substitution of each secondary dominant. Begin by playing each substitution as a ‘normal’ dominant 7th to hear the characteristic sound of this substitution.

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Example 7a:

Once again, the visual nature of the guitar is our enemy here, as it is all too easy to simply play a dominant 7 chord a semitone above the root of the following chord. It is very important that you learn not to rely on this method. Each time, go through the mental process of finding the secondary dominant and then substituting it for its tritone. My mental process sounds like this: “The dominant of D is A, the b5 of A is Eb”, etc. Don’t take a shortcut here, it will make life harder in the long run. Play through the new sequence in each of the ways discussed in Chapter Three. Keep the melody note ascending or descending and take the time to play through this sequence in limited fret ranges of the guitar. Example 6h shows one way to play through these changes in a limited range on the top four strings.


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Example 7b:

Next, to help smooth the voice leading, play every tritone substitution as a 7b9 chord by replacing the root with a b9. Example 7c:

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Create your own variations of the previous two exercises. For example, you could play every diatonic chord as a 9th by raising the root a tone, or you could add a specific extension/alteration to every tritone dominant. As your abilities improve, create a logical approach to combining these extensions and alterations on every chord. It can help to draw a table to organise your practice time, one example that explores introducing 9ths could be as follows: Played each diatonic chord as a:

Play each tritone substitution as a:

7th

7

7th

b9

7th

9

9th

7

9th

9

9th

b9

9th

Alternate 9 and b9

You could then begin to introduce b5s or #5s to each tritone substitution, or 13ths to both the diatonic chords and the tritone substitutions. Before you launch into these exercises, make sure you can voice basic 7th chords in multiple limited-fret areas on the guitar while exploring different voicings and string groups. Don’t worry too much about rhythm when you first begin these exercises, the priority is always voice leading and interval recognition. Let’s reintroduce the iim7 chord of each tritone substitution. Remember, it is essential to be able to ‘think’ your way through each change which becomes more difficult as we add more substitutions. First play the ii V tritone substitution sequence with root position chords: Example 7d:


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Again, you may wish to smooth out the voice leading by using dominant 9 chords instead of the dominant 7ths on the tritone substitutions, just as we did in example 5i. Next, arrange these chords with tight voice leading on four-string groups. Here is one route through the changes on the middle four strings with R-7 chords: Example 7e:

Work through the above sequence in different areas of the guitar using four-string groups before adding the extension and alterations suggested in the table above. Finally, let’s rework the previous example to include extensions and alterations so that we may smooth the voice leading even further. Example 7f:

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Take time to consider why each extension or alteration has been used, and find as many ways around this progression as you can. Take an organised approach to adding extensions and alterations as you saw earlier although you should always take particular care when adding 13ths to minor chords. Let your ear be the judge. Notice that I have used both a iim7b5 – V, and a iim7 – V when resolving to m7 chords in bars one to three. These choices worked for my ears, but you may have a different opinion. Explore these ideas as much as you can, but remember that the realworld decision will always come down to what notes are in the melody. Spend as much time as you can working in limited fretboard regions and always consider which intervals are available on each chord, where to play them, and the voice leading they provide between each successive chords.

Further Practice Ideas The following ideas will help you to expand your exploration of voice leading with secondary dominants, tritone substitutions, and their iim7 chords. This list is by no means exhaustive and will take many diligent months of practice to work through. -

Repeat the diatonic scale exercises in this book in all common jazz keys: Bb, Eb, C, G and F. Descend through the harmonised Major scale using a) secondary dominants, b) tritone substitutions, c) ii chords preceding both a and b. Repeat all of the exercises in this book using the harmonised Harmonic Minor scale. Repeat all the exercises using the harmonised Melodic Minor scale. Add secondary dominant chords to chromatically ascending/descending key centres. For example, Eb7 – E7 – F7 or Eb7 – Em7 – Fm7. Keep the voice leading as close as possible.

The most important thing you can do with these ideas is to apply them to real tunes. Rehearse them with your band and try out as many ideas as possible. If you don’t have a band, try recording a bass line or use a looper pedal so you can always hear a strong, regular bass line when you try out substitutions with close voice leading. If you can record or loop more than one track, try playing both the bass line and the melody so you can hear the real musical effect of substitution decision you make While you’re practicing, keep in mind that alterations, extensions and substitutions should be introduced to smooth the voice leading between successive chords. If there is a tone movement between one chord and the next, try to find a substitution or alteration that allows you to make this movement into a semitone or remove it altogether. We have covered many theoretical concepts in the previous few chapters, but the only rule is that the melody always comes first. Even if you feel that something is ‘technically’ correct, if it makes the melody sound bad, don’t use it. Licensed to [email protected], Order FUN160202-5222-27127

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Chapter Eight: Application In this chapter, we will consolidate many of the techniques shown in this book and apply them to part of a new tune, Some Of The Things You Are. This song’s harmony is based on the chord changes to All The Things You Are. The chords in the first eight bars of this tune are:

These few bars are rife with substitution opportunities, but first let’s take a look at a few ways to play this sequence on the guitar. Example 8a:

Example 8b:

Now let’s add some extensions and alterations to help the voice leading flow smoothly. Example 8c:

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Example 8d:

Of course, there are many ways to voice these chords and by now you know how to explore these options. Refer back to Chapter Three if you need more ways to practice these progressions. Keep looking for the closest ways to voice these chords and experiment with different tensions on the dominant chords. The above examples barely scratch the surface. Let’s ignore melody for now and look at some possible substitutions that could be used over this chord sequence. We will begin by adding secondary dominant chords where there is not already a V7 – I movement:

I have included the Cm7 chord in bar nine to show the use of the secondary dominant G7#5 in bar eight. The above sequence could be played with basic voicings in the following way. In most ‘static’ chords I have used two voicings of the same chord to add some interest. Example 8e:


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Don’t worry about voice leading for now, but find a few ways to play this sequence to get a feel for how the secondary dominant chords affect the harmony. Next, let’s add some tritone substitutions to this progression. We can play b5 |(tritone) substitutions on either the secondary dominant chords or the original dominant chords (Eb7 and G7). Remember that a true tritone substitution is only when a dominant chord is replaced with another dominant chord a b5 distance away. Study bar one. We can use a tritone substitution to replace the (dominant) F7#9, but we wouldn’t normally be able to use one if the chord was a Fm7 as it not a dominant 7 chord. With these substitutions we could turn the above sequence into:

These chords can be played as basic root position voicings as follows: Example 8f:

The next stage is to add some ii chords. Remember, these chords can be the ii of the original chord, or they can be the ii of the tritone substitution. These substitutions can also be played in addition to or instead of the original V chord.

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I have ‘borrowed’ two beats of bar seven to approach the D9 with its tritone substitution (Ab) to create a turnaround into the Cm7 in bar 9. Play through the sequence in the following way and also find new ways to voice these chords. Example 8g:

The previous example shows just one way to use substitutions on these changes although it is, of course, possible to combine secondary dominants without tritones and ii chords with the previous ideas. For example, the first few bars of this sequence could be played in the following way using a ‘mix and match’ approach. The tritone substitution is used in bar one, and a simple secondary dominant is used in bar two. (Bb7b9 works well here).


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You can learn a by from simple trial and error, trust your ears to find your favourite musical choices. Now let’s arrange example 8g with good voice leading on four strings. In the following examples I have used extensions and alterations at will to smooth the voice leading. One possible way to voice this progression is shown below: Example 8h:

Find other routes around this sequence using good voicing leading on other string groups and in other regions of the guitar. An essential consideration for each substitution is always the melody of the tune in each bar. As your reharmonisation skills improve, you will learn to quickly account for melody notes when you substitute chords, although for now it is probably more useful to go through the step by step process I have shown in this book and then look for clashes that you may need to adjust. Get a Real Book and check out the melody for All the Things You Are. In particular, pay attention to the melody in bar 4. If we were playing the melody to All the Things You Are over the changes written in the previous example, the G in bar four might form an ‘interesting’ tension over the D9. It could be worth playing a D9sus4 or D11 chord at this point to avoid the clash, but experiment to see what you prefer.

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Always be aware of the melody note and what interval it forms against any substitutions you use. As you practice, you’ll naturally start to combine substitution ideas with good voice leading. These chord ideas, coupled with a strong awareness of melody will make your jazz rhythm guitar parts well rounded, interesting and musical. The key to building proficiency at voice leading is experimentation and logical study. Refer back to the voicing ideas in Chapter Three and organise your practice and to introduce intervals you may not have previously considered.


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Conclusions and Further Study The concepts in this book are quite advanced and go way beyond the normal chord repertoire of the average gigging guitarist. However, these techniques are commonplace in jazz and more modern classical music. Each substitution idea allows us to access interesting and exciting harmonies while the essential and fundamental aspect of voice leading enables the creation of smooth, fluid rhythm guitar parts. The ideas behind this book are summarised as follows. -

Practice moving as few notes as possible between chords. Use extensions and alterations to eliminate or reduce voice movement Any chord can be approached by a secondary dominant Tritone substitutions can be used on functional dominants, including secondary dominant. Tritone substitutions and secondary dominants can be approached by their ii chord Melody is king! Adjust substitutions to avoid clashes with the written melody

While the use of chord voicings and substitutions can depend on the playing situation (are you in a vocal duo? Is there a bass? What is the piano playing?), working on voice leading in the practice room should be a top priority. Practicing voice leading and limiting the note movements between each successive chord quickly helps us to see the guitar neck in terms of intervals. The confidence that comes with this vision cannot be understated. While the initial practice of interval recognition is difficult and time-consuming, the benefit to our playing and music is almost indescribable. Before too long we can begin to improvise with harmony, selecting chord qualities and textures, in the same way, a painter selects a colour from a palette. When we instantly see the neck in terms of intervals organised around a root note, the richness of every possible colour becomes available. This level of vision and ability does take a lot of work, and it will become a lifetime’s study, but the potential results will set you apart from every other guitarist. To practice the voicing ideas in this book simply apply them to your favourite jazz standards and be exhaustive in your studies. Get inside the song’s structure and you will find chord relationships you didn’t know existed. To organise your practice, begin from one of the four inversions of a particular chord structure (drop 2, drop 3, etc.), and play through the sequence using the closest possible R-7 voicings. Next introduce simple extensions and alterations to explore whether a note can be held over from one chord to the next. Aim to move only one or two notes between chords. Use tritone substitutions on the existing functional dominant chords and then see how adding their ii chords affects the voice leading. Next, logically work through other substitution options beginning with secondary dominants to see how these affect the harmony before once again seeing if it is appropriate to add their ii chords. Remember m7 chords can often be substituted for 7#9 chords, which then allows for further tritone substitution. Finally, do a melody check to see whether your new chord sequence works with the original tune of the song. If it doesn’t fit the melody, make the necessary adjustments. As your voice leading and reharmonisation skills improve, you will naturally begin to take a ‘melody first’ approach; choosing each extension, alteration and substitution to directly compliment and enhance the melody. This level of awareness does take a while to develop so I suggest you work through the steps above to become comfortable with the basic techniques and allow your melodic awareness to develop naturally alongside. It helps tremendously if you know the tune of the song inside out; so make sure you can play the melody from memory in a few different locations on the guitar. To help you lay out the song on the guitar neck, it is often useful to play a ‘melody and bass’ version of the song. Play the bass line on the bottom two strings of the guitar and voice the melody on the higher strings. There may be a few stretches, but doing this really helps to internalise the structure of the song and prevents you from getting lost. You’ll also always know what the melody note is over each chord. This book is the starting point of a fun, rewarding and lifelong study of voicings and harmonisation on the guitar. It will greatly enhance your musical ability and understanding of the instrument. Good luck and have fun! 266


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The Jazz Guitar Chord Compilation

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