How to get from Blues to Jazz - Part 1


Published on 26 January 2016
For more information from the source site of this video please visit: http://secretguitarteacher.com/youtube/intermediate/jazz/qZv7vt1rnHA/91778028-how-to-get-from-blues-to-jazz-1.php This is a sample lesson from the Secret Guitar Teacher website (see link above). This lesson comes from a course called 'From Blues to Jazz' that is available from the Intermediate section of the site. It is not for beginners, but if you have a few years experience of blues or rock guitar and are curious about how to move into Jazz guitar this may be of interest to you. Here's the abridged transcript: There are literally thousands of ways in which the basic 12 bar sequence, familiar to us in blues music, has become adapted and changed by jazz musicians. But, if there is such a thing as a 'standard' 12-bar blues in jazz, I would say it is this 12-bar in Bb. No reason not to use barre chords to play through this, but to encourage you into a slightly more jazzy approach here are some useful jazz chord shapes I am suggesting you use. Starting with Bb7. Played with your first finger on the root note Bb at fret 6 on the bottom E string...then adding the b7 at fret six on the D string with your second finger, and the fifth note, also at fret 6 with your third finger on the B string and finally add the third at fret 7 on the G string. OK, the next bar, we want to shift to Eb7. of course you can use the A7 shaped barre chord for this but mostly I prefer to use the C7 shape. Then two more bars of Bb7 followed by two bars of Eb7. Then it's back to the Bb7 for just one bar before jumping to G7 which you can just play using the same shape moved down from root at fret 6 to fret 3.Then we move our root across to the A string to play the Cm7 You can see that this looks like the same shape as the dominant seventh we used for Bb7 and G7, but as it shifts across the strings it gets turned into minor by the effect of the second string tuning anomaly. Then we come to F7, which we can play again using the same shape as we used for Bb7 and G7 but rooted at the first fret This little circle of fourths sequence; one of the most frequently used in jazz; leads us back to the Bb7 and we then repeat exactly the same sequence, but twice as quickly - two beats per change, like this Bb7 G7 Cm7 F7. You can see that the first 6 bars are exactly as we would expect from a quick-change 12 bar blues. A bar of chord 1, then the quick-change up to chord 4 and back to the key chord for two bars. Then two more bars of chord 4. Then, as we enter the section marked in yellow we come back to chord 1 again before heading off to the sixth chord to start on a trip round the circle of fourths. From G it is four steps up to Cm7, then another four up to F and a further four up to take us back to the key chord Bb7. As we enter the area marked in blue you can then see exactly the same 6 2 5 sequence repeated, but twice as quickly. The repeat marks lead us back to the Bb7 to complete the 6 2 5 1circle. Ok, so once you are happy with these chord shapes and have learned the sequence, concentrate on playing through it with a nice crisp rhythm using simple left hand muting to separate out each chord like this. First an example using a pick and strumming through the sequence. Keep the strumming light and even and resist the temptation to try and make it more interesting like this It really is quite a discipline to keep your comping clean and simple, but most of the time that is what works best in Jazz. Notice how I am just squeezing each beat with my left hand to give the rhythm a bit of punch. this is a small action, but makes a huge difference to the sound. Without it, your comping loses it's rhythmic definition to a large degree Playing without the pick there are, broadly speaking, two approaches. The first one to try, is actually a bit of a cheat, because it gives you extra time to get your chord changes in place. I'm playing the first and third beats just with my thumb on the root note and the 2nd and 4th beats letting my 1st, 2nd & 3rd fingers join with the thumb in a light plucking action. There are many variations possible on these comping patterns, but holding down a really smooth consistent rhythm using these basic ideas is an essential first step to master. So I recommend several hours of practicing keeping it clean and simple. OK, so that has laid down the rhythm part of this standard Jazz Blues progression. In the next lesson we are going to put our attention onto lead guitar and work through an arpeggio-based exercise over this sequence that will help you build a great foundation for creating some great chord-based soloing ideas when improvising over this sequence. See You Then!