play jazz guitar

i want to learn it but i need lessons. it’s not like other songs where you could pick off the web and play because you know the song. i don’t know any jazz songs.

I started enthusiastically, but got bored with the same licks over and over again, repeating in different positions. And some of those finger positions are so awkward, considering the ease with which you can move your hand down a fret or so and have an easier time of it. 7 positions, many are a blur, but I’m done with that for now. Onto the dominants. I’ll try to move faster—this is supposed to be a review!

I have a few skinny but dense tomes from Ted Greene: “Single-note soloing” (vol 1 & 2) and “Chord Chemistry”. I’ve dabbled in both of these a little. “Chord Chemistry” opens with a very daunting table of hundreds of chords to remember, so I think I will focus on the single-note soloing for now, learn my scales better, figure out how to think about the changes, and then come back to chords.

Coming back to my guitar after a long hiatus. As a warm-up, I’m going to just work through a few standards. Nothing fancy. I’m hoping this will get me used to finding the right fingering given the constraints of a melodic top note. I worked out “moon river” the other day, which was perfect for the exercise—the melody stays within an octave, so I’m not venturing melodically past the 5th and 6th strings. Also, the tune is nice and slow!!

Let me get my piano skills down to a level I like. Then I’ll come back to this.

I’m self-taught on guitar. I admit, piano is my instrument of choice, and I’ve neglected my guitar as a result, but I’d like to make it up to her in the coming year. Right now I can pluck out a decent array of jazz chords, but only if I keep the root at the bottom. (Learning rootless chords and inversions is next on my list of things to do). For now, I’ll be happy if I can do a decent job accompanying myself singing (I’m almost there). Bossa nova tunes are my favorite right now—does anyone have any suggestions of other good tunes to use?

In terms of soloing, I’m pretty bad—I know a handful of major/dominant/mior scales (I’m comfortable in only about 3 of each) and can pluck out a decent single-note solo for blues or something simple, but generally the changes mess me up, and I can’t keep track of how to lead into the next chord, or how far down the neck my left hand needs to go! I am completely lost when it comes to using chords in solos.

My hands are pretty small, so those fancy chords are completely out of my reach! My left index finger has finally become strong enough that bar chords aren’t too big a deal (at least on my les paul). I feel comfortable with finger-playing and shifting about my right hand on the strings. (much more so than with a pick).

am searching for the way to become a master jazz guitarist