Introduction to Playing Jazz Guitar

Right – onto the most difficult form of music to play (in my humble opinion) – not because of technique exactly but because though you can take this to any level – but because with other styles you can ‘get away’ with not knowing the note scales and chord patterns much more easily – even wth hard-core classical music which is generally all straight up and down major and minors – it can be done (or at least approximated) with time and practice.

But jazz – I guarantee when you listen to it and try and play it for the first time – you unless you have been listening to it from a young age you will be baffled as to what on earth the musicians are doing – specifically how they are combining seemingly impossibly complex melodies – over the top of what are seemingly impossibly complex chords and sequences!

But there IS hope if like me you are not a music reader, when you know that there is some leeway in jazz to play the wrong stuff – yeas you heard it right – the wrong stiff – in between playing the right stuff. This can work if you are a non-reader like me especially if you fall or ‘land’ on the right note after what I call tumbling down the stairs’! Now – if you can learn the jazz music theory then even better – you are well on your way to doing what at first can sound sonically impossible!

Of course there are novices like me and players that really know their music theory and only play the right notes but as mentioned – beginners can get a way with a surprising amount with a little jazz knowledge. Anyway – enough of me – here Simon Smith gives an introduction to playing jazz – I hope you enjoy it and subscribe to his guitar playing jazz channel.

Here’s another great into to jazz guitar that might get you started…