When learning how to play jazz guitar, many of us know we need to learn scales, arpeggios and chords, but we are sometimes stuck when looking for jazz tunes to learn that are appropriate for our...
When learning how to play jazz guitar, many of us know we need to learn scales, arpeggios and chords, but we are sometimes stuck when looking for jazz tunes to learn that are appropriate for our level of development.
In this lesson, we'll check out five introductory jazz tunes, each focusing on specific concepts that will help you develop strong jazz-guitar fundamentals while expanding your repertoire at the same time.
Check out these five tunes as you begin to develop your jazz-tune list and build your jazz-soloing vocabulary on the fretboard.
Once you've checked out this story, grab your guitar and check out all of our Jazz Guitar Corner lessons right here. They're mostly standalone lessons, so you can pick one at random and go to town. Enjoy!
"Summertime"
One of the most recognizable jazz tunes, "Summertime" is a great intro to jazz guitar as the melody (apart from one note) comes from the minor pentatonic scale, and you can use this same minor pent scale to solo over the whole tune when first exploring jazz soloing.
"Maiden Voyage"
Learning how to solo in a jazz style means learning how to change keys on a regular basis during your improvisations, which can be a big hurdle for guitarists when first exploring the jazz genre. "Maiden Voyage" provides four minor keys to work with, which you can use the Dorian mode to solo over each key, providing a challenge for beginner jazz guitarists, while keeping things focused on one mode at the same time, Dorian.
"Cantaloupe Island"
In order to progress as a jazz soloist, you will also need to work on switching chord qualities as well as keys in your soloing, and "Cantaloupe Island" provides both of these challenges at a