When learning how to play jazz guitar, one of the main items we need to tackle is playing effective, jazzy-sounding chords that properly outline the chord changes all at the same time.
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When learning how to play jazz guitar, one of the main items we need to tackle is playing effective, jazzy-sounding chords that properly outline the chord changes all at the same time.
While this may seem like a tall order, there are some easy-to-play and effective shapes we can learn in order to quickly and effectively outline any tune or progression we are jamming on in the woodshed or on the bandstand.
In today’s lesson, we’ll be looking at some of my favorite chord shapes, 3rds and 7ths, as applied to the third and fourth strings of the guitar, and then played over an A blues chord progression. We will be exploring these shapes further in this series of articles, so make sure to check back for more articles that dig further into two-note chords as applied to various jazz-guitar situations.
What Are 3rd and 7th Chords?
Before we learn how to apply these shapes to the third and fourth string set on the guitar, let’s take a look at exactly what 3rd and 7th, two-note shapes are and why they work so well when used in a harmonic situation on the guitar.
The biggest reason these shapes work so well on the guitar? They are small, easy-to-play shapes—but they still outline the underlying chords and progression at the same time.
Here's an example of an A7 chord broken up into an arpeggio and then laid out as a chord, with the 3rd and 7th from each of those shapes extracted in the bar next to the arp and chord.
As you can see, the 3rd and 7th are found in both the A7 arpeggio and chord. You are simply removing the root and 5th of both of those shapes, leaving you with a