Fret Dojo: Jazz Guitar Lessons from the Experts

Unlock The Secrets To Mastering Jazz Guitar.

~ Greg O’Rourke, Founder, FretDojo.com

Unlock The Secrets To Mastering Jazz Guitar Right Now.

FretDojo is the premiere online learning platform to take your jazz guitar playing to the next level. Trusted by thousands of students worldwide, our innovative approach to online jazz guitar education has been met with international acclaim.

As featured in…

Play Jazz Guitar

The Best Jazz Guitar Lessons Online:

Jazz Guitar Lessons

Get your complete Starter Guide to becoming confident as a jazz guitarist. With FretDojo’s simple
5 Step Blueprint, any guitarist can begin developing impressive improvisation skills today.

Go to Jazz Guitar Lessons Here…

Chord Melody Guitar

Playing chord melody guitar isn’t out of reach for any guitarist. FretDojo’s Quick Start Guide for learning chord melody brings together the 3 ‘Ingredients’ you need to get the fretboard cooking immediately.

More About Chord Melody Here…

Guitar Exercises

End your technique struggle with the power of the Technique Triangle. Learn how to get the maximum benefit out of any guitar exercise and see dramatic improvement with your speed and accuracy on guitar now.

Learn Guitar Exercises Here…

Jazz Guitar Books
jazz guitar books mobile

See What FretDojo’s Students Have To Say:

“About 2 and half years ago I got interested in jazz guitar, a totally new experience. For those 2 years I downloaded a mountain of stuff from the internet (free and purchased)… and I struggled away without any clear direction, until I discovered Greg and Fret Dojo. The difference has been amazing!”
– Alan Voss, Queensland, Australia

“The main thing I have gotten out of the Fret Dojo, is that it has given me the confidence to go out and find a piano player, and a bass player who plays jazz. And now, we’ve worked up a set list of 11 songs, including bebop and standards, and are about to start gigging… which I don’t think I would have done that without the help of this.”
– Mike Bryant, UK

“I had a lot of questions and issues with my jazz guitar improvisation. I was losing my place where I shouldn’t have been, and I was looking for something to close that gap. Greg does a wonderful job of teaching, he is very patient and very clear minded and clear with his lessons, they are very easy to follow. I think you’ll enjoy it!”
~ Mark Bauer, USA

Check out many more of our FretDojo Student Testimonials from around the world here>>

Learn jazz guitar with FretDojo Academy
How to play jazz guitar fretdojo academy

Our Online Guitar Programs:

Jazz Guitar Lessons and Courses:

Ever wanted to learn how to play jazz guitar but had no idea where to start? You’ve come to the right place – FretDojo is THE place on the internet to establish the foundations for learning jazz on guitar. Through our deep dive online jazz guitar courses as well as our highly popular membership program, you’ll discover step-by-step instruction to building your improvisation skills, comping, jazz vocabulary and more from the ground up. Our programs cover key topics such as jazz guitar improvisation for beginners, developing a set list, building your soloing vocabulary, and how to develop rhythm and feel – a complete A-Z roadmap for you becoming a confident jazz guitarist and improviser.

Find out more about our Jazz Guitar Programs Here >>

Chord Melody Guitar Lessons and Courses:

Chord melody is one of the most creative and satisfying ways to play guitar. Whether it’s creating solo jazz guitar arrangements of classic jazz standards, or playing a cool version of a pop song all on a single guitar, FretDojo can teach you what you need to know. Chord melody guitar is a widely misunderstood topic, but with a good stock of chord knowledge and how to apply it to the fretboard, any guitarist can make rich and intricate chord melody arrangements of songs you enjoy.

Find out more about our Chord Melody Guitar Programs Here >>

Guitar Exercises – Supercharge Your Technique:

Does your guitar playing need a tune-up? FretDojo offers world class instruction on how to develop your guitar technique. If you’re looking to make your chord changing smoother, play with more accuracy, or build your guitar speed, we’ll show you the essential guitar exercises to give you the maximum “ROI” on your practice. Whether you play guitar with a pick or fingers, our complete guides will show you how to develop your guitar technique to a pro level – so you can tackle ANY musical situation.

Find out more about our Guitar Exercises Programs Here >>

Greg O'Rourke - BMus (Hons), ANU

Greg O'Rourke - BMus (Hons), ANU

Professional Jazz Guitarist, and Founder of FretDojo.com

Award winning Australian guitarist Greg O’Rourke received his Bachelor Of Music Honours degree in 2006, and was a scholarship holder at the Australian National University School Of Music.

Originally a trained classical guitarist, Greg always had a keen interest in jazz guitar and improvisation. However, despite studying with several highly regarded teachers on the topic and many hours of diligent practice, it wasn’t enough to ‘join the dots’.

After much searching and experimentation with various methods, Greg turned to developing his own unique system to jazz guitar improvisation – that quickly gave satisfying results in his own playing, and finally unlocked the mystery as to how to improve. Greg shared his journey and his step-by-step instructions through his Youtube channel and the FretDojo blog, amassing many thousands of followers on the Internet, keen to follow in Greg’s footsteps.

Jazz improvisation on guitar is often touted as something supremely difficult or reserved only for the exceptionally gifted. But, through his many years of decoding improvisation on guitar, and working with thousands of students worldwide, Greg demonstrates that improvisation and jazz on guitar can be learned by anyone who has a keen heart, a good attitude, and a willingness to learn.

Greg O’Rourke plays the guitar with a beautiful touch and tone. He effortlessly brings out and enhances harmonic movement and counter-lines in his playing, while keeping clear melodic lines in the forefront. Using his considerable fingerstyle technique he creates personal renditions of classic jazz standards. Definitely someone to watch and listen to closely!
Howard Alden

Internationally Acclaimed Jazz Guitarist, howardalden.com

Latest Posts:

click here for more>>

Protected: Fret Dojo Main Page Draft

Password Protected

To view this protected post, enter the password below:

Protected: Fret Dojo Main Page Draft

Password Protected

To view this protected post, enter the password below:

Guitar Exercises: Unlocking Power Of The Technique Triangle

Guitar Exercises: Unlocking Power Of The Technique Triangle

Guitar Exercises Course Fast Lane Banner

Guitar Exercises Hub on FretDojo:

Trying to find the best guitar exercises to use for a warm-up?

Finding it a struggle to change chords fluently?

Constantly mis-hitting notes when playing scales?

Maybe you want to learn some cool fingerstyle guitar techniques?

If you’re interested in developing any aspect of your guitar technique, I’m glad you’ve found this page.

Here you’ll find a selection of my hottest resources to develop your guitar technique and an overview of what you need to watch out for when working on guitar exercises to get the most benefit and avoid injury.

Let’s get into it!

jazz guitar books
jazz guitar books mobile

Quick Start Guide To Guitar Exercises:

I’ll be honest with you:

For years, I struggled with my guitar technique.

So many of the classic charts and solos are at fast tempos, and my technique was reaching its limit.

And it wasn’t that I was being lazy in the practice room either.

In fact:

I was diligently practicing hours and hours, running through endless technical drills and guitar exercises that my teacher had recommended.

Over and over, my teacher kept telling me: “Sure, progress is slow, but that’s what it’s like for everyone. The only way to get better is to keep doing those hours and hours of practice – in a few years you’ll overcome those roadblocks, trust me”.

So I took his advice and kept lumbering my way through those endless drills. It was painfully boring, and hard on the hands too.

But:

All this work was futile – it did very little to increase my technical ability on the guitar. I was frustrated, and not making fast enough progress.

It was only years later that I realized:

Guitar Technique Question MarkWhat I was doing back then was not the way to get better at technique. It makes hardly a dent, in fact.

Why?

I realized I was spending too much time on similar exercises, rather than focusing on core exercises that are the most essential, and that cut out all the fluff.

That’s not all:

By learning how my mind was naturally wired and the way that the brain refines motor activity most efficiently, through the interplay of conscious and subconscious processes, I worked out how to drastically increase my technique – while, incredibly, halving the time I was spending on guitar exercises.

Once I studied in detail how high achievers in many fields gain success, it became crystal clear to me how I needed to structure my guitar practice, what exercises I needed to focus on, and what I needed to STOP doing in order to progress my guitar technique.

That’s when everything changed.

Once I knew the secrets to leverage the natural inborn abilities of the mind, my technique (and especially my speed on guitar) started improving incredibly quickly.

And it was there that I discovered:

The Technique Triangle.

Secret of Guitar Technique: The Power Of The Technique Triangle

“The Technique Triangle?” I hear you ask. “What’s that?”

Let me explain.

The technique triangle is what underpins my whole approach to improving technique.

It’s a simple 3-point framework you can use when practicing any guitar exercises to get maximum benefit.

I now reveal to you:

The Technique Triangle In All It’s Glory!

The Technique Triangle is what we use at FretDojo to develop any aspect of your guitar technical skills.

Guitar Technique Triangle
Any guitar exercise you work on should ideally work toward the 3 goals or ‘points’ of the triangle. Whether you are working on left hand technique, a spider exercise, or fingerpicking patterns, these 3 points are the crucial elements to keep in mind.

Ok – so let’s investigate how all this works…

 

Guitar Exercise Triangle Tip #1: Coordination

Coordination and accurate guitar finger placement is the bedrock of guitar technique.

If you are constantly missing notes, hitting the wrong string, or messing up the order of picking – you can’t make good music, period.

Anytime you do a guitar exercise, ensure that your coordination is the first thing you pay attention to.

Are you carefully hitting all the notes cleanly and without any miss hits? If not, you should slow down the guitar finger exercises to a comfortable speed until you can play the exercise cleanly and without any mistakes.

This meticulous approach is the hallmark of a great musician – they are not satisfied unless the accuracy is as near to 100% as possible.

Got it? Good.

Let’s look at point #2…

Technique Triangle Tip #2: Effortlessness

Here’s the problem with only looking at coordination as an outcome when playing guitar exercises:

If you don’t pay attention to how your hands are feeling, you could be in trouble.

Look out for tension when you play – it is the enemy of your hands – and the music.

Tension is a problem as it can prevent you from building speed, and will choke your musicality.

Just like if you want to drive full speed down a highway you need no traffic, for the music to flow you need no obstacles of tension getting in your way.

Effortlessness is all about awareness – checking constantly that your hands are feeling good, supple, and relaxed.

The above ‘points’ of the Technique Triangle are the foundation for the final point, which eludes so many guitarists:

 

Technique Triangle Tip #3: Speed

Speed is an important goal for any guitarist.

Who wouldn’t want to play like this?

Even if you aren’t interested in playing like Pat Martino, speed should still be the goal of most exercises you play on guitar.

Why?

The reason:

Speed is largely the outcome of having rock-solid coordination and a high level of effortlessness in your playing, i.e. the ‘triangle’ points #1 and #2 we covered earlier.

Being able to play guitar exercises fast proves to you that you have achieved effortlessness and coordination in your guitar technique.

Conversely:

If you find speed eluding you, it’s more often than not you haven’t spent enough time building the foundations of coordination and effortlessness. There’s a reason why speed is at the top of the Technique Triangle – it needs to be supported by the other two points!

Speed gives you a sort of ‘headroom’ when you play – it makes everything at a more easy-going tempo a piece of cake.

So:

How can you develop your playing in each of these above ‘points’ of the triangle?

Read on for some useful options available at FretDojo…

Online Course: Fast Lane – The Total Technique Roadmap For Guitar:

Fast Lane Guitar Exercises Online Course Logo

Click Here To Find Out More & Book Your Place >>

My comprehensive complete guide to guitar technique, Fast Lane: The Total Technique Roadmap For Guitar, is a world-first online video course dedicated solely to the art of improving your guitar technique.

It’s a comphrehensive compendium of the best guitar exercises to raise your guitar technique to the next level. The course has specific ‘Core’ daily guitar exercises to help train and improve your technique in a smart and efficient way.

A specific focus is on building speed – the final module of the course has some important guitar speed exercises that will unlock your ability to play past guitar solos, and is the ‘missing link’ if you were wondering how to play guitar faster.

With the above Technique Triangle framework underpinning the course, you’ll discover a complete roadmap for supercharging your coordination, developing new levels of effortlessness, and taking your top guitar speed to dizzying heights – with a comphrehensive array of guitar dexterity exercises.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this course and loved the lessons – each has clear purpose and moves your technique forward. I’m playing faster, but more importantly I’m playing with better articulation, clarity, and coordination.

I wish I’d got this sort of training when I was more of a beginner player!

Mark Bauer, USA

Before doing the course, I was aware that my technique wasn’t good enough – I lacked speed, unable to play higher than 90 BPM, which is not fast enough for jazz.

The Fast Lane course is very comprehensive, systematic, and offers a a lot of opportunities to improve. I really benefited from this course, and I think it is really worth the money I spent.

Thomas Maurer, Switzerland

With students from all around the world taking this program and 40 years combined experience of the instructors, this is the ultimate guide to build your guitar technique that will benefit you – regardless of what guitar style you play.

Click Here To Find out More About The Course and Enroll >>

Bonus Sample Guitar Exercise Posts:

I enjoy posting guitar exercise videos to Youtube and my website. Check out a few helpful exercises here:

 

  • Slaying The Speed Demon: Here’s a cool post I collaborated on with Stuart King who is the co-creator of the Fast Lane course I mentioned above. This is an excellent example of how by changing your mindset with some unorthodox approaches you can dramatically increase your guitar speed with a few simple steps.
  • Jazz Guitar Warmup: Here’s a very cool jazz guitar warmup which I call the ‘Almost Slurred Scale Exercise’ – a multilayered exercise to work out your speed, phrasing, position shifting, slurs and more.
jazz guitar instruction

Any questions about our lessons on guitar technique? Click here to get in touch and we’ll be happy to help you out.

Now over to YOU:

What did you think of this page all about guitar exercises – any comments or questions? Let me know by leaving a comment below…

~ Greg O’Rourke, BMus, Hons (ANU)

Founder, FretDojo

Chord Melody Guitar: Best Starter Guide For 2021

Chord Melody Guitar: Best Starter Guide For 2021

chord melody guitar course

Chord Melody Guitar Hub on FretDojo:

Welcome to the Chord Melody Guitar lessons area on FretDojo 

If you’re like most guitarists, you’re in wonder of players like Lenny Breau, Joe Pass, and Ted Greene in the way they can combine melody and chords on a single guitar. 

This skill doesn’t need to be a mystery… 

Developing the ability of a chord melody guitarist can be done step-by-step if you have the right resources. 

On this page, you’ll find a variety of lessons, chord melody courses, and useful information to help you on your journey into the incredible world of chord melody. 

Read on for all the info 

jazz guitar books
jazz guitar books mobile

Quick Start Guide: How To Learn Chord Melody Guitar In A Nutshell:

best chord melody guitar lesson

There’s an old saying that goes “If you can read, you can cook”.

Likewise:

If you can play chords and single lines, you can play chord melody.

Chord melody is a bit like baking a cake. You need to have all your ingredients in order, namely:

  • Chord Voicings
  • Single lines – i.e. scales, melodies, and licks
  • Adequate technique to play chords and melody at the same time.

If any of the above ingredients are missing, then you are going to find chord melody a struggle.

So…

Let’s look at each of these areas in turn:

chord melody guitar ingredient 1Chord Melody Guitar Ingredient #1 – Chord Voicings

Goes without saying:

You need a good stock of chord voicings available to you if you are going to harmonize a melody with chords.

This is where a student can become quickly overwhelmed though…

If you read something like Ted Greene’s Chord Chemistry, you would be forgiven for thinking you need to know at least 200 million chord shapes before you qualify to play a jazz guitar chord melody.

But:

Nothing could be further than the truth. In fact, less is more.

Here’s the thing:

Many jazz guitar chord voicings sound very similar to each other.

You can save a lot of time when starting out to be selective in the chord voicings in your ‘playbook’ – it makes the topic of chord melody far more manageable.

I tend to pick a voicing that is the most playable out of the available options – even if it’s missing some of the chord tones to represent the chord. Playability is the key.

For example, here are some chord shapes I enjoy using for chord melody that could be used for a C Major chord:

chord-melody-guitar-example-1-fixed

Takeaway: Develop a chord dictionary of voicings that will work over all the main chord types (major, minor, and dominant). Once you have that, apply voicings that have the melody as the highest note.

As you can hear: 

All these voicings tend to have a similar ‘major-ish’ sound about them.  

Also, notice how I’ve harmonized every note of the C Major scale – that gives me the ability to harmonize any note in the key. 

Ok, so that’s chords – which is a major part of chord melody. But it isn’t everything. 

Let’s have a look at ingredient #2…

Hint: My Chord Melody Foundations course comes with a complete dictionary of the most useful chord voicings I’ve found for this style of chord melody. 

Ingredient #2 – Single Line Melodies and Licks

Goes without sayin’…

If you don’t have a melody, you can’t have a chord melody.

Pretty simple right?

But:

For chord melody on guitar, it’s important to be able to play melodies horizontally on the fretboard.

An example:

Let’s take a look at a short melody that I came up with below.

It’s going to be hard to fit chords underneath some of those notes.

So, let’s now play the melody horizontally on the fretboard like this:

This will enable me to fit the chord voicings we covered earlier underneath the melody line on the guitar.

Let’s now mix Ingredient #1 (chord voicings) with Ingredient #2 (single lines).

Applying the above voicings from my ‘chord dictionary’ to my melody, we get the following:

Hey presto! We have a little chord melody right there.

Notice though how I don’t necessarily need to harmonize every melody note. That can actually be detrimental to the music as the line becomes too ‘clogged up’ with chords.

I prefer to follow Joe Pass’s style: harmonizing the occasional melody note with chords.

After all…

If the music is easier on your hands, it will likely sound better too!

But there’s one more thing we need to really make our chord melody fly…

 

Takeaway: Develop your guitar technique so you can change chords and play melodies effortlessly – this will be one of the critical factors in your success as a chord melody player.

 

Ingredient #3 – Technique

Only half of a chord melody performance is in its arrangement.

Getting it to a stage where you can execute it requires a solid level of technique.

Ask yourself:

Are you playing the chords fluently?

Are you holding the melody notes for a suitable duration?

You could also use fingerstyle techniques to create interesting textures in the chords, like this:

Having solid left hand and right hand technique is indispensable for a chord melody guitarist, so it’s important that you spend time in your practice session working on exercises to shore up your techniques where you notice weaknesses.

For example:

If you are struggling to change chords in your arrangement, I would spend some time strumming the chord changes back and forth until it becomes natural.

Hint: Check out the FretDojo Guitar Exercises lessons hub for great free lessons and fully-fledged courses on developing your guitar technique and fingerstyle approaches.


Online Course – Chord Melody Foundations:

chord-melody-guitar-online-course

Learn More & Book Now Here >>

The above guide was a little snapshot of what’s in store if you enroll in my Chord Melody Foundations course.

It’s a 4 module deep dive program, comprising a complete A-Z guide of developing your skill as a chord melody guitarist.

The course includes a complete chord dictionary of the most useful voicings, and step-by-step video lessons on how to make great-sounding chord melody arrangements that can be played along with bass and drums, or on your own as a solo guitarist.

For more information, or if you would like to enroll in this popular course click here >>

This course not only teaches you to play an arrangement of a song, but the course covers a number of techniques where you can add your own individuality and your own personality to each song.

The whole course is a winner and I recommend it highly.

Angelo Fio, USA

Before I took this course I thought it was going to be way over my head. But Greg’s course is so so helpful. He’s been able to get you up and running with all the chords that you need.

He enables you to arrange a song of your choice, which is really exciting!

Colin Gardiner, AUS

FretDojo Academy VIP Club Membership:

Learn More & Book Now Here >>

With FretDojo Academy VIP Membership, you get access on a monthly subscription basis to 40+ courses where you’ll learn some of the most well-loved jazz standards – and develop all your guitar skills along the way.

Most of the jazz standard courses in the membership include example chord melody arrangements you can learn as well as detailed lessons on how to further develop this side of your playing.

Every month includes brand new lessons on well-loved tunes to broaden your repertoire and so you can continue to build your skills.

I’ve participated in TWO 12 week courses with an internationally famous music university…

I can safely say the investment in lessons with Greg has been worth more than 95% of all the other formal and informal education I’ve managed to derive for myself.

Gordon Hooper, South Africa

Greg O’Rourke has a wonderful teaching style – it’s straightforward, it makes sense.

I’ve been playing for so long by sound and feel, and I really needed a good, strong solid foundation for how to understand the fretboard and know where to navigate on the fretboard. FretDojo has been super-helpful to me in getting that done.

Mike Haas, USA

The Academy Membership is my most popular program with hundreds of students worldwide. It’s a great way to get access to a large part of the FretDojo lesson curriculum for an affordable monthly subscription. 

Find out more about the FretDojo Academy Membership here >> 

Bonus: Free Sample Lessons On Chord Melody Guitar

Over the years, I’ve released some handy sample lessons on to help get you started on this amazing style of guitar playing. See below for some of my most popular posts on the topic of chord melody: 

 

  • Chord Melody Guitar Basics – demonstrates yours truly transforming an original composition into a cool chord melody arrangement.
jazz guitar instruction

Any questions about our offerings? Click here to get in touch and we’ll be happy to help you out.

How about YOU – what did you think of this article on chord melody guitar? Any other ideas you would like to share? Leave a comment below to get the conversation started…

~ Greg O’Rourke

BMus, Hons (ANU)

Founder, Fret Dojo

 

Chord Melody Guitar: Best Starter Guide For 2021

Jazz Guitar Lessons: Best Starter Guide For 2021

Jazz Guitar Lessons Hub on FretDojo

Welcome to the FretDojo! If you’ve arrived on this page, you’re likely desperate to untangle the mystery of learning how to play jazz guitar.

Help is at hand…

Scroll down to find everything on the site related to jazz guitar, along with links to our best online jazz guitar lessons:

jazz-guitar-books
jazz-guitar-books-mobile

How To Learn To Play Jazz Guitar In A Nutshell (Quick Start Guide):

jazz-guitaristQuestion:

Are you banging your head against a brick wall trying to figure out how to learn jazz guitar?

Maybe you’ve tried some jazz guitar lessons in the past but were put off by all the complex theory.

Perhaps you’ve got a few jazz guitar books that felt as exciting as reading a dictionary, and are now gathering dust on your bookshelf…(Hint: those jazz guitar books make great doorstops!)

But:

Although jazz guitar takes time to learn…

Any guitarist with the basics down can develop the skill to be a confident improviser and rhythm player to participate in jams and gigs (or even just to enjoy by yourself at home).

Here’s your blueprint in 5 simple steps:

 

learn-jazz-guitar-step-1

 Listen To Jazz:

Listening to jazz is the first step is the MOST overlooked by aspiring jazzers.

But it’s crucial.

If you have no reference point for your ears, you won’t be able to make any of your guitar improvisation (or anything else) sound remotely like jazz.

Start by grabbing a few classic jazz guitar albums. Here’s some I like to recommend for jazz guitar newbies:

Take a moment to listen and watch this cool performance of Impressions by Wes Montgomery:

 

play-jazz-guitar-step-2Learn Melodies and Chords to Some Jazz Standards on Guitar:

Next, put all the jazz theory aside for a while.

Instead:

Get your hands dirty simply by learning the melody and chords to 3 to 5 jazz standards.

This will give you some songs right out of the gate you can use for the following steps, and is another way to get the sound of jazz into your ears without getting caught up trying to sound like a pro improviser right out of the gate.

jazz-guitar-lessons-step-3

Map The Guitar Fretboard:

Jazz is a bit different on guitar compared to playing other styles of music like rock or blues.

The trickiest challenge with jazz guitar improvisation or comping is negotiating the constant key changes. Some jazz tunes have 6 or more key changes per tune!

So your navigation on the guitar fretboard needs to be rock solid.

jazz-guitar-scales

You need to have an intuitive sense of how to find the notes in any given key – for both jazz guitar comping and jazz guitar improvisation.

Arpeggios, scales, and jazz guitar chord shapes are important building blocks of this knowledge.

Knowing the common jazz chord shapes over the fretboard, and being able to recall them at will, is a must for any improviser…and it’s usually the first stumbling block for an aspiring jazz guitarist.

But be aware:

Jazz Guitar scales and arpeggios aren’t enough for being able to improvise in a jazz style. Here’s what you need to do next… 

best-jazz-guitar-lessons-step-4Learn Jazz Guitar Licks To Build Your Vocabulary:

 Have you ever noticed someone improvise and although they play all the correct notes, something doesn’t sound quite right?

The reason:

Although they might be using good scale and arpeggio choices, they probably aren’t using enough jazz vocabulary in their solos.

Here’s the thing:

Scales and arpeggios are a bit like the ‘alphabet’, but jazz lines are more like the vocabulary, i.e. the ‘words’ of jazz.

jazz-guitar-lessons-fretboardDon’t get me wrong:

The alphabet is important to know for any language. But we don’t talk using the letters of the alphabet – we use words.

Jazz licks, jazz lines, jazz phrases – these are all different names for the same thing:

Short, compact melodies and ideas that can be drawn upon to thread together longer, musical-sounding melodies in your improvisation.

You can learn jazz lines on guitar by:

  • Noticing what other players do
  • Recordings
  • Transcriptions of solos (either those you do yourself OR ones already published)
  • Books

A jazz guitarist learns several of these phrases from memory and also learns to play them across the fretboard in any position and any key.

By drawing on cool-sounding melodies like this when you solo, can you guess how your playing will sound?

The answer:

Very melodic!

A combination of using jazz guitar licks and scale/arpeggio tones can result in a convincing sounding solo just like that.

But:

Our journey isn’t finished yet…

Our adventure is about to get very interesting, my Jazz Guitar Jedi. Onwards to the next step!

jazz-guitar-school-online-step-5Extract Jazz Concepts From What You Learn:

This is the point where your own musical personality starts to blossom in the jazz guitar journey.

You start to notice things you really enjoy about the jazz vocabulary you learn.

Perhaps it’s an interesting cross-rhythm used in a line.

Maybe it’s a certain way to voice jazz guitar chords without roots like Ed Bikert.

Or it’s a cool harmonic substitution you notice in a Joe Pass lick you picked up.

Spending time looking carefully at material YOU like the sound of empowers you.

It gives you the ability to develop your own distinct musical ideas.

This is where you start truly walking the path of a jazz player. You transition from being a jazz guitar student to a jazz guitar artist.

By learning the vocabulary of others, extracting your own concepts, then using those concepts as a springboard for your own ideas, you can start to express your own unique musical personality.

The best part:

The audience loves it when a musician expresses his unique voice. And that’s the wonderful thing about jazz – the ability to bring out the unique self-expression of everyone who walks on its path.

Speaking of which…

Jazz Guitar Online Courses: Your Path To Learn Jazz Guitar

 “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” ~ Lao Tzu

To help you walk this journey, we have the best online jazz guitar courses you can find on the internet:

best jazz guitar online course

Fundamentals of Jazz Guitar Improvisation Online Course:

My internationally acclaimed jazz guitar improvisation course, completed by hundreds of jazz guitarists worldwide. This virtual jazz guitar course will show you a step-by-step how to develop what we have talked about on this page.

Click Here To Learn More & Book Now >>

What The Course Covers:

 

  • Building rock-solid fretboard knowledge so you know how to find your way around the fast key changes in jazz without getting lost, using a sneaky trick by Joe Pass.
  • Learn “5 jazz standards to rule them all” – the course walks you through 5 classic jazz standards on guitar that teach you how to improvise over the most important chord progressions. Through learning how to solo over these five tunes, you can solo over literally hundreds of other jazz standards.
  • A selection of the most important jazz vocabulary for a jazz guitarist to learn, and a comprehensive overview of using guide tones and substitutions to spice up your improvisations.
  • And a whole lot more…

For more information, or if you would like to enroll in the course click here >>

I have to say that at first I was a little skeptical of Greg’s claims about the effectiveness of the course, but after having completed the course I would say that it is a remarkable undertaking he has accomplished. I would say that this course is a GAME CHANGER for an introduction to jazz guitar.

Josh Gordis, USA

If you all have loads of books that make no sense that you never use, Greg breaks it down and makes it useable. This is unlike any course you’ve ever been involved with, mainly because Greg is so good at explaining things that I now understand that I didn’t understand before. It’s a fabulous course and I highly recommend it.

Mike Bryant, UK

jazz guitar for beginners

Jazz Guitar For Beginners Course

For those that are completely new and wondering how to play jazz guitar, my popular and fun Jazz Guitar For Beginners is a popular (and affordable!) starting point for dipping your toes in jazz.

This course is perfect for those looking for an online program on jazz guitar for beginners.

This course includes introductory jazz guitar lessons for all the elements needed for getting started with jazz guitar and is based around mastering the fundamentals of playing a jazz blues progression.

Click Here To Learn More & Book Now >>

Topics Include:

  • Chord tone soloing basics
  • Comping chord shapes and tips for effective comping
  • How to understand jazz harmony
  • Tasty jazz blues lines in the style of Joe Pass to get you started improvising on guitar

 

  • A step-by-step 40 lesson course of jazz guitar instruction at an unbeatable low price

For more information, or if you would like to buy the standalone course click here >>

(Note: you can also get this course as part of the monthly FretDojo VIP Club membership subscription – more details below…)

It’s not overwhelming, you take each little nugget, one bit at a time and build on it. Also you can post and you get feedback from other members. It’s a very nice community spirit.
I recommend anyone who wants to improve their jazz playing they do this course – there are quite a few courses on the internet and this is by far the best one.
Pete Duncan, UK

The course was fun and the materials were easy to understand. There were weeks that were tougher than others but all in all – I feel like I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would say to anybody that’s considering the course: jump in with both feet! It’s an inexpensive way to enter into the realm of jazz and get a good basis for continuing education in jazz and developing jazz chops. Go for it!

Jim Bean, USA

FretDojo VIP Club Membership:

online jazz guitar lessons membership

With FretDojo VIP Club membership, my online jazz guitar school, you get access on a subscription basis to 40+ courses where you’ll learn some of the most loved jazz standards – and develop your jazz guitar skills along the way.

Learn More & Book Now Here >>

It’s my most popular jazz guitar curriculum and it’s been going for several years with hundreds of members. Each month I release new jazz guitar lessons in the membership so you’ll always have new tunes material to add to your arsenal.

I’ve participated in TWO 12 week courses with an internationally famous music university…

I can safely say the investment in lessons with Greg has been worth more than 95% of all the other formal and informal education I’ve managed to derive for myself.

Gordon Hooper, South Africa

Greg O’Rourke has a wonderful teaching style – it’s straightforward, sold, it makes sense.

I’ve been playing for so long by sound and feel, and I really needed a good, strong solid foundation for how to understand the fretboard and know where to navigate on the fretboard. FretDojo has been super-helpful to me in getting that done.

Mike Haas, USA

Joe Pass’s advice to students was ‘learn as many tunes as you can’ – and you’ll have no shortage of this in the FretDojo Academy Membership. It’s incredible value and a way to access all of FretDojo’s jazz guitar lessons and courses for an affordable monthly fee.

Read here for more information, or sign up for membership here >>

Bonus: Free Sample Jazz Guitar Lessons

This website features several free sample posts on various topics. This gives you a bit of an idea of my teaching style and approach and is a good introduction to the above courses on offer.

Here are some of my most popular jazz guitar lesson posts on this website:

 

jazz guitar instruction

If you have any questions about our courses on offer, you can get in touch here >>

What did you think of the information on this page? Do you have any tips YOU would like to share about learning jazz guitar? Let me know by leaving a comment about this jazz guitar lessons guide below…

~ Greg O’Rourke, BMus, Hons (ANU)

Founder, Fret Dojo

 

Loading...

Pin It on Pinterest