With the chords of the Scale Chords project, you can create nice chord progressions easily. In fact, a lot of songs only use 2-4 chords. Haywyre’s Advanced Jazz Chords Midi Pack. Jazz Piano Chords; Jazz Piano Scales; Jazz Chord Progressions; Jazz Standard Lessons; Community Resources. 'haywyre advanced jazz chords midi pack edmproduction May 22nd, 2020 - haha wow thnx guys time to clear some things up i guess haha i was checking out his tracks and his chords progressions are super sick i m trying to learn a bit more about these jazz chords and thought this midi pack could help me out analysing his. Modal chords, chromatic chords, and almost every other type of harmonic structure, are used all the time. We’ve included them all for you in the Unison Jazz MIDI Chord Collection. You can use the Unison MIDI Chord Collection with Chords to create the structure and foundation for your tracks.
Learn Jazz Guitar Chords in 5 Easy Steps
To most, jazz music on the guitar is a beautiful art form. Even those who don't appreciate the sounds of swing and bebop can respect the talent of the musicians who perform it, and acknowledge that their playing could benefit from learning some of the principles of the style.
The rub, however, is that jazz can seem intimidating -- even mystifying -- to newer players, to the point where they don't even give it a shot.
If you count yourself among the many who have wanted to dip their toes in the deep end of the jazz pool but felt too befuddled to give it a try, then we encourage you to read this guide.
Today, we're going to be providing and introduction to playing jazz music on the guitar, complete with the information you'll need to start learning jazz chords, playing jazz melodies, and memorizing the scales you'll need to improvise like a seasoned jazz professional.
Getting Started: Intro to Jazz Guitar Chords
Like any form of music, harmonies and rhythms are essential to jazz. The first thing we'll be covering are some basic chords that you'll see frequently throughout your endeavors in the genre. These include the Major 7, Minor 7, and Dominant 7 chords; we'll look at these variations in several keys to serve as examples.
You may find that you prefer playing some of these as bar chords, for example, and you're more than welcome to do so if you feel it fits the song or will make your playing more fluid. Stay open, and learn as many fingerings for your jazz chords as possible so that you can get to them from anywhere on the fretboard.
Lastly, the chords we'll be covering today are a good base to get started, but are by no means all the jazz-style chords existence. Don't hesitate to look up new chords as you encounter them to find the ones that work for you.
Major 7 Jazz Guitar Chords
This chord includes a scale's root, major third, perfect fifth, and major seventh tones. You'll often see Major 7 chords displayed with one of these symbols: maj7, M7, Δ, 7+. If you were playing a C Major 7 chord, for example, you'd play the notes C, E, G, and B. Here's how you'd tackle it in open position.
C Major 7 Jazz Guitar Chord
- Place your 1st finger on the 4th string/2nd fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/3rd fret
- Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/3rd fret
- Play strings 2 and 3 open
- Mute string 6
Simple enough. Next, let's move on to G Major 7, which includes the notes G, B, D, and F#. Here's how it goes in open position.
G Major 7 Jazz Guitar Chord
- Place your 1st finger on the 6th string/3rd fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/4th fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/5th fret
- Play strings 2 and 3 open
- Mute string 1
Moving around the horn again, we have D Major 7, comprised of D, F#, A, and C#. Your open position fingering is as follows:
D Major 7 Jazz Guitar Chord
- Use your first finger to bar strings 1, 2, and 3, at the 2nd fret
- Play string 4 open
- Mute strings 5 and 6
Next up is A Major 7. Your notes for this one are A, C#, E, and G#. Here's an easy open position fingering for the chord:
A Major 7 Jazz Guitar Chord
- Place your 1st finger on the 3rd string/1st fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 2nd string/2nd fret
- Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/4th fret
- Play string 5 open
- Mute string 6
Are you starting to get a feel for the Major 7 chord sound? Excellent. Remember that you can also use a bar chord to get to your Major 7 chords quickly. Your root note for these will always be on the 5th string, so if you were playing C Major 7, for instance:
C Major 7 Barre Jazz Guitar Chord
- Use your 1st finger to bar the strings on the 3rd fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/4th fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 4th string/5th fret
- Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/5th fret
- Mute string 6
Keep that same shape and move your bar up or down the fretboard, and you'll be playing the Major 7 chord for the note you're covering with your 1st finger on the 5th string. Now, with that out of the way, it's time to take a look at a few Minor 7 chords that will come in handy.
Minor 7 Jazz Guitar Chords
Minor 7 chords contain a scale's root, minor third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh tones. You'll see these represented as an m7 or -7 in your music. We'll start with D Minor 7, with the notes D, F, A, and C:
D Minor 7 Jazz Guitar Chord
Haywyre%27s Advanced Jazz Chords Midi Packaging
- Place your first finger over strings 1 and 2 on the 1st fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret
- Play string 4 open
- Mute strings 5 and 6
A Minor 7 Jazz Guitar Chord
A Minor 7 is another chord you'll see frequently. It includes the notes A, C, E, and G:
- Place your 1st finger on the 2nd string/1st fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 4th string/2nd fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret
- Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/3rd fret
- Play string 5 open
- Mute string 6
E Minor 7 Jazz Guitar Chord
Last up, we'll tackle E Minor 7, which uses E, G, B, and D:
- Place your 1st finger on the 5th string/2nd fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd string/3rd fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/3rd fret
- Play strings 3, 4, and 6 open
Again, you can use a bar for Minor 7 chords. We'll use A Minor 7 as an example for using string 6 as the root:
A Minor 7 Barre Jazz Guitar Chord (6th as root)
- Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 5th fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/7th fret
D Minor 7 Barre Jazz Guitar Chord (5th as root)
If you prefer using the 5th string for your root notes, let D Minor 7 here be your guide:
- Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 5th fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 2nd string/6th fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 4th string/7th fret
- Mute string 6
Now, let's round out our chord introduction with a few Dominant 7 chords.
Dominant 7 Jazz Guitar Chords
When playing Dominant 7 chords, you'll be using a scale's root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh tones. You'll recognize the symbol as the telltale '7' after the root note. We'll start with the C7 chord, which contains C, E, G, and Bb:
C7 Jazz Guitar Chord
- Place your 1st finger on the 4th string/2nd fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/3rd fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 3rd string/3rd fret
- Place your 4th finger on the 1st string/3rd fret
- Mute strings 2 and 6
Next is G7, which consists of G, B, D, and F:
G7 Jazz Guitar Chord
- Place your 1st finger on the 1st string/1st fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 5th string/2nd fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 6th string/3rd fret
- Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/3rd fret
- Play strings 3 and 4 open
The last Dominant 7 chord we'll learn is D7. You'll need D, F#, A, and C for this one:
D7 Jazz Guitar Chord
- Place your 1st finger on the 2nd string/1st fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/2nd fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 1st string/2nd fret
- Play string 4 open
- Mute strings 5 and 6
And of course, you can incorporate bar versions of Dominant 7 chords in your playing as well. For the root on string 6, take a look at G7 as an example
G7 Barre Jazz Guitar Chord (6th string root)
- Use your 1st finger to bar the strings at the 3rd fret
- Place your 2nd finger on the 3rd string/4th fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 5th string/5th fret
You can move the root to the 5th string as well. Here's how it would look using C7:
Haywyre 27s Advanced Jazz Chords Midi Pack Torrent
C7 Jazz Barre Guitar Chord (5th string root)
- Use your 1st finger to bar the strings on the 3rd fret
- Place your 3rd finger on the 4th string/5th fret
- Place your 4th finger on the 2nd string/5th fret
- Mute string 6
Don't forget to learn the Dominant 7 fingerings for your other keys as your encounter them. For now, though, let's talk about some the trickier jazz chords you'll come across on your journey.
Diving Deeper: Advanced Jazz Guitar Chords
The chords we touched on above are a great start, but they aren't the only chords you'll be encountering along your jazz journey. You'll be running into plenty of Augmented, Diminished, Sustained, 9, 11, and 13 chords (among others) so keep your chord library nearby and stay prepared to look up any chords you don't immediately recognize when you're learning a new song.
Essential Jazz Guitar Chord Progressions
You might already know that chord progressions are groups of chords commonly used in various song structures. When you're playing jazz, the two most important ones to remember are the ii-V-I and I-vi-ii-V progressions.
Remember that the 'I' is your root, and the chord are formed in relation to that root chord (so you can always get to your chords in these progressions if you remember the root). Here's an example of the former, using the key of C as our root:
- ii -- D Minor 7 Chord
- V -- G7 Chord
- I -- C Major 7 Chord
Using C as our root again, this is how you would create the latter progression:
- I -- C Major 7 Chord
- vi -- A Minor 7 Chord
- ii -- D Minor 7 Chord
- V -- G7 Chord
Take these progressions to heart, as they'll form the basis for much of the music you'll be playing.
Jazz Scales and Arpeggios
When it comes to playing melodies and improvising, learning your scales and arpeggios will go long way toward your success. Check the piece you're playing to identify the key (which will either be explicitly stated by the song's key signature or something you can derive from looking at a tune's first and last chords). Today, we'll take a look at two that you'll be crossing paths with frequently.
The Major Scale
Also known as the Ionian scale, your typical major scale will consist of 7 degrees (the eighth note in the scale is the same as the root, just an octave higher). The sequence of intervals between the notes in a major scale is whole-step, whole-step, half-step, whole-step, whole-step, whole-step, half-step. So, if we were playing in C Major, you'd use the following notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, B.
The Minor Scale
There are actually three main variants of minor scales (natural, harmonic, melodic), as opposed to just the one associated with major keys. What we'll be covering today is the Jazz Minor scale, a derivative of the melodic minor scale. We'll use C Jazz Minor as our example; see if you can pick out the relationship between the notes as you play: C, D. Eb, F, G, A, B. Your Jazz Minor scale will always contain that flat-third -- one of it's hallmarks -- and another way of thinking of this scale is as the ascending portion of your melodic minor scale.
Further 'Notes' on Scales
Are there other scales you'll be using in jazz music? Naturally, but these two will get you started on playing melodies and improvising. You can start incorporating other scales as they become pertinent to your playing. You'll need to remember the position of your notes on the fretboard to execute any scale properly, so make sure you study your fretboard chart and memorize the positioning of your notes. Coincidentally, that memorization will also come in handy once it's time to start playing arpeggios...
Arpeggios
You can think of arpeggios as chords that you play broken up, note by note. If you to execute a C Major 7 arpeggio, for instance, you'd play C, E, G, and Bb. For a D Minor 7 arpeggio, you'd play D, F, A, and C. Heading to a G Dominant 7 arpeggio, you'd play G, B, D, and F. It's a simple concept, but incorporated into the jazz tunes you'll learn, it can have a profound effect on how your playing sounds.
Remember that the arpeggios you play will work best over their associated chords. If you know your chords, you can learn your arpeggios -- just make sure to practice your fingering so you can get to the notes you need without hassle.
Tackling Some Jazz Tunes
Ready to put it all you've learned today to the test? Try applying your newfound knowledge by playing these five classic jazz tunes:
- A Night in Tunisia
- Moanin'
- Willow Weep For Me
- Blue Bossa
- It's Only a Paper Moon
While you're learning these songs, keep these important points of jazz playing in mind:
- Learn the melody first by reading your sheet music, tab, picking it up by ear.
- Move on to the chords next, learning the progression, individual chords, and trying out different rhythms that fit the music best.
- Try your hand a soloing by using the notes from the scale(s) associated with the song. Remember that your song might be written in a specific key, but jazz is notorious for changes, and you might have to switch the scale you're using mid-song to stay with the music. Watch those chord changes and you should be alright.
Jazz might seem tricky at first, but with time and practice, you'll be able to handle the complexities of this genres, and even apply what you learn to playing songs outside of jazz. The skills you pick up playing jazz make everything else easier, so good luck, and happy practicing!
Next Lesson:
Jazz chord progressions may seem complex.
Seventh chords, extended harmony, and voicings can be difficult to grasp.
But once you’re familiar with triads and basic chord progressions, jazz harmony will be completely approachable.
Knowing the most common jazz chord progressions will open your ears. You’ll begin to notice them in many different types of genres, especially hip-hop and lo-fi.
That’s why I’ll be listing the most common jazz chord progressions you should know.
Knowing these chord progressions will provide a solid foundation to start exploring the world of jazz.
I’ll be listing all the chord progressions with their roman numerals and chord symbols in the key of C major.
Why learn jazz chord progressions?
Even if jazz isn’t your main genre, learning these progressions will help you expand your musical vocabulary.
If you’re feeling stuck in a creative rut with your songwriting, learning new concepts from music theory is one of the quickest ways to break through.
On top of that, modern genres like R&B and neo-soul have deep musical roots in the harmonic and melodic traditions of jazz.
Modern genres like R&B and neo-soul have deep musical roots in the harmonic and melodic traditions of jazz.
Once you learn a few jazz progressions you’ll start to see how these timeless patterns are essential learning for musicians.
The 8 best jazz chord progressions
With that out of the way, here are the eight best jazz chord progressions to learn as a beginner.
Two Five One
You’ll find the two five one progression in almost every jazz song. It’s a cadential staple of the genre. It’s often used to take the music to different tonal centers, or complete a phrase in a turnaround.
1. Major Two Five One: ii – V7 – I
The major two five one uses the second and fifth chords from it’s major key.
Miles Davis’ composition “Tune-up” is a perfect example of using the two five one to reach different tonal centers.
The harmony throughout the song changes to the keys of D major, C major, and B flat major by using their related two five one progressions.
2. Minor Two Five One: ii – V – i
You’ll find the two five one progression in almost every jazz song.
The minor two five one is like the major, except that the chords come from the minor scale.
As a result, you’ll often find that the two chord has a flattened fifth, and the five chord a flattened ninth.
The beautiful jazz standard “Alone Together” written by Howard Dietz and Arthur Schwartz uses minor two five one progressions throughout its whole form.
It’s even used to return to the parallel major key at the end of the A section. The parallel major key in this tune is D major.
Jazz Turnaround
The jazz turnaround is an extension of the two five one. It’s commonly found at the end of sections in songs to punctuate the ending.
Whole songs are also based around the turnaround. There’s a type of form in jazz that many songs use called ‘Rhythm changes’. It uses the turnaround for its A sections. ‘
Rhythm changes’ originated from George Gershwin’s tune “I’ve Got Rhythm.”
‘Rhythm changes’ originated from George Gershwin’s tune “I’ve Got Rhythm.”
3. Major Turnaround: I vi ii V I
Like the two five one progression, the chords in the turnaround come from the home key.
The burnin’ tune “Oleo” by Sonny Rollins is a popular ‘Rhythm Changes’ song. Those chords go by faster than you can count them.
4. Minor Turnaround: i VI ii V i
The minor turnaround is like the minor two five one, and the major turnaround.
The difference here is that the VI chord is now a major chord. It’s taken from the minor key. In the case of C minor, you’ll have an Ab major 7 chord.
Dominant Progressions
Chord progressions don’t always have to stay in the same key. In jazz, dominant chords can lead to closely related keys.
They can also exist all on their own, moving the harmony away from any sense of a tonal center.
5. Secondary Dominant: I – V/ii – ii – V – I
Secondary dominants are chords from outside the home key that are related to chords in a progression by a V-I relationship.
Using secondary dominants will take the music to a different key momentarily, before returning to the home key.
They’re great for creating some unexpectedness in your chord progressions.
In this example, we have an A7 chord, which happens to be the five chord of D minor.
Right before the B section of Duke Ellingtons ‘Take the A Train’, you’ll find a secondary dominant that makes a seamless transition between sections A and B.
This takes the harmony from C major, to the closely related key of F major.
6. Passing Diminished Chord: I – #Io7 – ii – V
Passing diminished chords help transition from one chord to another. They do this by using a chromatic movement in the bass.
Passing diminished chords help transition from one chord to another.
Most diminished chords serve a dominant function. In this example the C# diminished isn’t too different from the secondary dominant A7.
If you take an inventory of notes for both chords you’ll see that they’re very similar.
A7: A C# E G
C#dim7: C# E G A#
You’ll find this chord progression in the beginning of the popular jazz standard ‘Have you met Miss Jones?’
7. Circle of Fifths Progression
C:| III7 E dominant 7 | VI7 A dominant 7 | II7 D dominant 7 | V7 G dominant 7
The circle of fifths progression is when each chord will flow through the circle of fifths in ascending fourths, or descending fifths.
In this progression, the chords remain dominant and will cycle through the circle.
The bridge in the ‘Rhythm Changes’ form uses the circle of fifths progression. You can hear the cyclic harmony in Charlie Parker’s bebop lines:
8. 12 Bar Blues
The jazz blues is another chord progression that only uses dominant chords.
The jazz blues is another chord progression that only uses dominant chords.
It’s known to include many chord substitutions based around the skeleton form shown above. The flat 7 on each chord contributes to that bluesy sound.
This is why using the blues scale to improvise works extremely well with the jazz blues.
Play the changes
Jazz is a whole other world when it comes to music.
The harmony can get complex, and improvising doesn’t come easily.
But knowing these progressions will give you the solid foundation you need to start learning.
Practice these chord progressions in three musical keys. Practice them through all twelve keys using the circle of fifths if you’re feeling ambitious!