Chords

[TheGreek]

Despite being a hater of the skinny skin 6er I recently jumped in and purchased a roundback acoustic. I know enough about the main chords (major/minor) that Geetards use but there are also some jazz chords that I like the sound of but have no idea what they look like.

Any suggestions for chords to learn? 

[Japhet]

Youtube is your friend.

 

[M@23]

Learn more major and minor positions, if you don't already. The CAGED system is a good place to start. 

Then have fun with 7ths, then 9ths. 

Dominant chords, diminished/half diminished and augmented.

[BigRedX]

I don't like 3rds (either major or minor) in my guitar chords so I always replace them with 9ths. Much nicer.

[TheGreek]

I need the pictures fellas...

[DJpullchord]

Inversions are good.

[M@23]

46 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I don't like 3rds (either major or minor) in my guitar chords so I always replace them with 9ths. Much nicer.

Interesting. I love a 9th, but wouldn't omit the 3rd unless it was an 11th, for jazzier chords. 

[TheGreek]

Recommend me some?

Edited December 18, 2017 by TheGreek

[Dad3353]

I'll recommend this ...

Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar ...

... as a lasting method that'll be useful to you for years.

[Cato]

1 hour ago, Japhet said:

Youtube is your friend.

 

Funnily enough I was working through this guys funk guitar tutorials last night.

I've not been overly impressed with a lot of the guitar stuff on YouTube, a lot of it just isn't filmed well enough to let you see what's going on, but this guy is amongst the best I've found.

[BigRedX]

39 minutes ago, M@23 said:

Interesting. I love a 9th, but wouldn't omit the 3rd unless it was an 11th, for jazzier chords. 

3rds never sound properly in tune to me on the guitar so for instance in an A chord I'll always swap out the C# for a B.

[DJpullchord]

Suspended 2nds? 

I honestly couldn’t imagine playing something without 3rds.

I’m gonna try and write something and see what happens! Cheers!

[dlloyd]

For the OP:

The key thing in "jazz chords" is that they extend the harmony beyond root + third + fifth... at the most basic adding the seventh. In major keys this will give you maj7 on the I and IV, dominant 7 on the V, m7 on the ii, iii and vi and m7b5 on the vii. 

So in C major, you have Cmaj7, Fmaj7, G7, Dm7, Em7, Am7 and Bm7b5.

Voicings I use depend on the situation, but with no other context it'll usually be root on the 6th or 5th string:

Cmaj7: 8 x 9 9 8 x or x 3 5 4 5 x

G7: 3 x 3 4 3 x or x 10 9 10 8 x

Am7: 5 x 5 5 5 x or x 12 10 12 13 x or x 12 14 12 13 x

Bm7b5: 7 x 7 7 6 x or x 2 3 2 3 x

I frequently swap the maj7 with a 6 or a 6/9 and the m7 with a m6

Fun comes with the dominant 7 chord... you can do all sorts to it... add 9ths, 11ths and 13ths, swap it with a tritone substitution, using C#7 instead of G7, add b5s,#5s (drop the natural 5), #9s, b9s...

This all helps to make a "jazz sound" but it won't sound like jazz unless you're using them in the right context (which involves learning songs).

[Steve Woodcock]

On 18/12/2017 at 17:16, TheGreek said:

Despite being a hater of the skinny skin 6er I recently jumped in and purchased a roundback acoustic. I know enough about the main chords (major/minor) that Geetards use but there are also some jazz chords that I like the sound of but have no idea what they look like.

Any suggestions for chords to learn? 

Expanding upon dlloyd's post above, here are some very useful voicings for diatonic seventh chords. I've presented them here in the key of C major but they are movable shapes so you can transpose to any key.

Edited December 19, 2017 by Steve Woodcock

[bassace]

7 hours ago, dlloyd said:

This all helps to make a "jazz sound" but it won't sound like jazz unless you're using them in the right context (which involves learning songs).

Plus 100!

I suppose I should be very impressed by all this theory but I’ve grown up listening to and playing jazz. My ears are my friends and I get by OK, plus with a chart or iReal Pro if needed. If you asked me what I’m playing I’d probably be to unable to tell you precisely, beyond ‘The right notes’.

But keep making those jazz sounds, guys.

[dlloyd]

The highlighted chords below will get you most of the way...

[bazzbass]

a  man with a speach impediment is in the front row of a Stevie Wonder concert.

 

After a while he yells out, "play a jazz chord"

 

so Stevie plays a Diminished chord

 

No no, play a jazz chord

 

so Stevie played an Augmented chord

 

no , no says the  man, "a jazz chord, to say, I ruv you"