Autumn Leaves Guitar Hacks – Easy Fingerstyle Lesson + TAB

Autumn Leaves Guitar Hacks – Easy Fingerstyle Lesson + TAB

Autumn Leaves Guitar Hacks – Easy Fingerstyle Lesson + TAB

Recently I’ve been on a mission – to make the easiest Autumn Leaves guitar arrangement ever created.

Hey, presto:

After weeks of experimentation and hours upon hours of blood, sweat, and tears, here is the easiest Autumn Leaves chord melody in the known universe.

(Well…there may be easier ones out there, but this version is very playable while still sounding like you’re playing jazz chord melody at a pro level 🙂)

I’ve tried every arranging trick in the book to keep this fingerstyle arrangement as simple as possible.

In this guitar lesson, I’ll show you how to play this Autumn Leaves chord melody, including notation + TAB, so you have everything you need to get this beautiful song under your fingers.

Speaking of the PDF…

Get your Handy PDF Download:
Click here to subscribe to get a print friendly version of Autumn Leaves sheet music and tab for your practice.

Autumn Leaves Guitar Lesson – Video Table Of Contents:

00:00 Introduction
00:55 Autumn Leaves Full Speed Demonstration
02:08 Slow Trainer (With On-Screen Notation + TAB)
04:02 Tip #1: Use Fingerstyle Guitar Technique
04:46 Tip #2: Jazz Barre Chord Techniques
07:47 Tip #3: How To Practice Guitar Chord Melody Arrangements
09:25 Tip #4: Phrasing & Melody Tips
12:16 Latin Version (Advanced)

Hint: Go to section 2:08 of the video to play along with me at a slow tempo with the sheet music on screen – nifty!

Autumn Leaves: The Most Famous Jazz Standard Of All?

Autumn Leaves was composed by Joseph Kosma, with original lyrics by Jacques Prever (English lyrics by Johnny Mercer).

Interestingly, although this is one of the most famous jazz standards of all time popularized by US artists, Joseph Kosma was a Frenchman.

Many jazz musicians, such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane, have recorded instrumental versions of this song countless times. Here’s an example:

Although it’s a cliched song now to play in a jazz lineup, I’ve never gotten tired of hearing this exquisite, haunting melody.

For a jazz guitarist, the chord changes are uncomplicated. Still, the genius of this song is its simplicity – from the use of relative major and minor ii – V – I progressions to the repetition of the same kind of melodic and rhythmic phrases over each chord change.

The English lyrics by Mercer are the icing on the cake that brings a whole new level of meaning to this song.

Best of all:

The way the melody is structured and the key of E Minor is perfectly suited to the guitar’s tuning – with the availability of all those handy open strings.

How To Play Autumn Leaves – Chord Melody Style

Sometimes the tiniest tweaks to a chord melody arrangement can yield enormous dividends to its playability and sound.

Although I’m using largely basic chord shapes and shell voicings, you may need to learn a few tricks to get these working well.

See below for some tips to make this arrangement easy on your fingers and to make it sound great.

Jazz Barre Technique

With jazz guitar chords, you’ll often need to do barres with fingers 2 and 3 – not just finger 1.

This ‘jazz barre’ technique might feel odd if you play classical guitar or other guitar styles – but it’s an essential skill for jazz chords.

Look at the sheet music of the arrangement, and you’ll see several places where you need to use these kinds of barres (specific instances are outlined later in this lesson).

Remember: everything becomes easier with familiarity.

If you practice these kinds of jazz barres for a short time daily, it won’t take you long before they feel second nature. See this post on jazz barres for some useful tips.

How To Play Chord Melody With Fingerstyle Guitar Technique

To play this arrangement effectively, you’ll need to have some solid fingerstyle guitar skills under your belt.

Fingerstyle allows you to simultaneously play independent bass lines, melody notes, and inner harmony, similar to Joe Pass’ chord melody guitar style.

The good news:

You only need to learn a few basic patterns to pull this off. See this post on a handy set of exercises to quickly develop fingerstyle technique:

Fingerstyle Tutorial: The Six Essential Fingerpicking Patterns You Need To Know

Autumn Leaves Guitar Arrangement: Bar By Bar Tips:

Let’s look at some tips for a few passages to help you get this arrangement up and running.

Autumn Leaves Chords – Bar 4:

Autumn Leaves Tablature

Here’s where you need to use one of those 3rd finger jazz barres I mentioned earlier.

Although this can feel initially like an unusual technique (especially if you play classical guitar), don’t get into the mindset of thinking it’s ‘difficult’ – it just feels ‘different’ and ‘new’ to flatten your 3rd finger like this.

Once you get used to it, it’s a natural technique that can be very useful for many jazz guitar chords.

Autumn Leaves Chords – Bar 6:

Autumn Leaves chords guitar

Here’s another jazz barre – this time with the 2nd finger. The ‘½BV’ means ‘use a half barre on the 5th fret’ (V is the roman numeral for 5).

Once again, practice with some jazz barre warmups to work out the correct technique to do this with your second finger – after a while, it will open you up to many more jazz guitar voicings, such as the chords in these 2-5-1 progressions.

Bar 12 – Alternative Fingering:

Autumn Leaves for guitar

Don’t be caught off guard by this tweak on the repeat of the A section. I used a slightly different pattern in the accompaniment this time around.

Here, I use an alternative fingering using open strings to facilitate a better sound and easier transition to the next chord. You’ll often find that these little tweaks can make an arrangement sound drastically better – and be much easier to play.

Bars 26 – 27: Common Chord Shape Down The Neck

Autumn Leaves chords jazz

It makes sense to look for patterns in chord shapes and common fingers in solo jazz guitar arrangements – especially when changing positions on the neck.

Notice how you can keep the same chord grip in bar 26 (in the red boxes) and slide that shape down the neck for bar 27. Noticing little hacks like this makes seemingly tricky passages much easier to play.

Bar 33 (Final Bar): Harmonics

Autumn Leaves solo harmonics

I often finish my jazz chord melody arrangements with harmonics, a neat effect that is easy to execute.

To play them, lightly touch the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers with your 3rd finger in a barre, directly above the 12th fret.

Important:

Don’t push the strings down as if you would play them normally; simply touch them lightly. For an added flourish, you can ‘roll’ the fingers to rapidly arpeggiate them (you can hear me do this in the recording) – indicated by the squiggly arrow symbol in the notation. But if you find that difficult, just pluck the notes simultaneously (or strum them with your thumb).

Make sure you check out the full lesson video at the top of this page for more tips and a slow practice video with guided onscreen notation + TAB.

Play Autumn Leaves – Further Resources

  • If you’re interested in discovering more about this fascinating tune’s history, check out this great Wikipedia article on Autumn Leaves here.

 

 

 

  • And finally, if you want to learn how to arrange your own chord melody arrangements, look no further than my Chord Melody Foundations course here.

Reminder: Get your Handy PDF Download:

Click here to subscribe to get a print friendly version of Autumn Leaves sheet music and tab for your practice.

Guitar Lesson Wrap-Up – Leave a Comment:

I hope you have as much fun playing this chord melody as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Over to you – what did YOU think of this Autumn Leaves chord melody arrangement? Leave your comments below – let’s get the conversation started….

About The Author: Greg O’Rourke

BMus (Hons), ANU
Professional Guitarist & Founder of FretDojo.com

Greg O'Rourke - Jazz Guitar LessonsAward-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 has developed a high level of expertise in jazz guitar and other styles. Greg’s versatile guitar ability is a credit to several teachers he has studied with over the years, including Mike Price and Don Andrews, well-known performers and teachers in the Australian jazz guitar scene. Greg also studied extensively with Tim Kain, one of Australia’s leading classical guitar performers and teachers.

Greg has given prizewinning performances at the Australian National University Chamber Music Competition and was awarded 1st prize in the Chamber Music division of the 2004 Australian International Guitar Competition.

Greg has many thousands of subscribers to his website and Youtube channel from all across the world. He is also an established author, with his book on jazz chord melody, The Easy Guide To Chord Melody Guitar becoming an international bestseller.

Greg has been featured on several high-profile jazz guitar websites, including Jazz Guitar Online, Fundamental Changes, and Takelessons.

Jazz Guitar Lessons: 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

 

Video: Beautiful Love

Video: Beautiful Love

Video: Beautiful Love

I thought it would be cool today to show you something I’ve been working on lately:

Here’s a rendition of Beautiful Love, one of my favorite tunes to play.

I’ve tried to go out of my comfort zone on this video and incorporated more modern intervallic approaches to soloing, using parallel 5ths and 2nds moving horizontally across the fretboard.

The best part?

I’ve put together a new lesson series for you which shows you how to do everything I demonstrate on the video and more – the chord melody, soloing approaches, comping, how to understand the harmonic progression, and everything else you need to jam with this tune.

To get instant access, all you need to do is to join up now to the FretDojo Academy Club online jazz guitar learning group.

Become one of the inner circle via this link:

www.fretdojo.com/club

Now the exciting bit:

If you're keen to have a structured, step-by-step approach to learning jazz guitar, it might be worth checking out my online learning system, the FretDojo Jazz Guitar Academy.

Here's what you get when you join up:

  • Detailed step-by-step video lessons on new classic jazz tunes and essential jazz guitar skills added to the club website each month. Includes listening recommendations, demonstrations of the melody, analysis of the harmony, and detailed explanations on how to solo over the tune.
  • Key improvisation concepts and techniques for soloing, and classic licks and example solos that relate to each tune, so you can continue to expand your jazz vocabulary and have more options when it comes to soloing.
  • Detailed comping ideas to suit the style of each jazz standard covered
  • Lessons on how to make chord melody and solo jazz guitar versions of tunes featured - play a complete jazz standard completely on your own like Joe Pass!
  • Members only forum - A worldwide community of jazz guitarists from all around the globe.
  • Regular workshops, masterclasses, and Q & A Sessions - get direct answers from me on anything holding you back in the practice room. Replays of all sessions are available to access for all members even if you can’t make it live.
  • Massive searchable database of jazz licks and soloing concepts - the ultimate idea "grab bag" for your solos.
  • Optional monthly challenges where members participate to get feedback on their playing, reach new milestones and be eligible for cool prizes.

The best part:

You can access this all of this and more for just $1 by signing up to a 14 day trial. Go here for more info: https://www.fretdojo.com/signup-offer

Greg O’Rourke,

Founder, Fret Dojo

World Leader in Online Jazz Guitar Education

Complete Range Of Jazz Guitar Courses

Maximize Your Potential With Our Step-By-Step Programs


Get Your FREE Guitar
E-Book Bundle

Three Must Have eBooks:

• Beginners Jazz Guitar Improvisation
• Chord Melody Guitar Basics
• Guitar Speed Building Secrets

Instant access - completely FREE!

Watermelon Man (Jazz Standard): Complete How-To For Jazz Guitar

Watermelon Man (Jazz Standard): Complete How-To For Jazz Guitar

Watermelon Man (Jazz Standard): Complete How-To For Jazz Guitar

In the video lesson below, you’re going to get a step-by-step breakdown of how to play the classic Herbie Hancock jazz standard, Watermelon Man, on guitar.

We’re going to use this as an opportunity to work out some arpeggio shapes up and down the fretboard, and some other cool tricks you can use to spice up your soloing.

Let’s do it!

Video: Watermelon Man Guitar Lesson

Don’t have time to read this post now?
Get your Handy PDF Download + Backing Tracks: Get access to a print friendly version of all the exercises in this post as well as FREE backing tracks for your practice.

About This Tune

Watermelon Man was first released on pianist and bandleader Herbie Hancock’s debut album, Takin’ Off.

It was so popular it even reached the top 100 of the pop charts at the time.

Over the years this jazz standard has been recorded over 100 times, but my favorite version is still the groovy original recording featuring Hancock along with solos from Freddie Hubbard and Dexter Gordon. Check it out!

 

(Note that Hancock recorded a couple of versions Watermelon Man. For this lesson, I’ll be referring to the version from Takin’ Off (i.e. the video above), rather than the funky version from Headhunters Hancock recorded some years later).

This tune has an iconic piano riff that combines elements of bebop, jazz and R&B – with a pop twist to boot.

We’re going to use this piano riff for some soloing ideas in this Watermelon Man guitar version.

But more on that later…let’s learn the tune first!

(Hint: Fast forward the above video to the time code (in green) to get to the spot in the lesson that demonstrates some of the steps below.)

Step One: Learn The Melody (0:54)

Check out the video above that includes a guitar TAB and notation of the melody to Watermelon Man as I show you how to play it.

You can find a lead sheet for this tune by clicking here.

Step Two: Comp Over The Changes – A Jazz Guitarist’s Core Skill

In the key of F, the chord progression is a bit unusual as it’s a 16 bar blues, rather than a 12 bar blues (there are some extra chord changes added from bar 8 to bar 12):

 

watermelon-man-guitar-extra-1

 

Backing Track:

 

Exercise: Comp with any basic chord shapes you already know along with the original recording.

Step Three: Solo With The (Ol’ Faithful)
F Pentatonic Minor/F Blues (1:43)

There’s one thing that my good friend Matt Warnock taught me once I’ll never forget:

Jazz doesn’t need to be hard to sound good.

Some players that are first getting into jazz think that they’re not allowed to use pentatonic or blue scales anymore.

Nothing can be further from the truth!

After all, jazz is a development of blues – but blues is still strongly at the core of jazz.

Exercise: Have a go at soloing over the backing track with the pentatonic and/or blues scales below.

Listen & Play:

F Pentatonic Scale

 

watermelon-man-guitar-1

 

 

F Blues is exactly the same scale as F Pentatonic Minor, but with one note added – the b5:

Listen & Play:

F Blues Scale

 

watermelon-man-guitar-2

 

 

Step Four: Learn Some Blues Licks To Sound More Hip

Here’s the deal:

If you solo only with pentatonic or blues scales, it’s going to get boring pretty darn quickly.

So, have a go at these two easy blues licks that you can whack into your Watermelon Man guitar solos.

Listen & Play:

watermelon-man-guitar-3

 

 

watermelon-man-guitar-4

 

 

Exercise: Memorize the licks and then play them over the backing track in whatever places that make sense to your ears. Then, mix them up with the scales from the previous step.

Sounding groovy? Good!

Let’s keep going…

Step Five: Learn the Piano Riff (Impress Your Friends and Thwart Your Enemies) (3:26)

Check out the lesson video for a breakdown of how to play the piano riff from the recording (the notation and TAB are on the video).

As detailed in the video, you can take the hip double stop ideas (i.e. two notes played simultaneously) from the piano riff, and include them as yet another ingredient for your Watermelon Man guitar soloing.

Here are those double stops in all their glory:

 

https://www.fretdojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/watermelon-man-guitar-5.gif

 

 

Exercise: Put the backing track on again and solo only using double stops to get the feel for this technique. Then, mix it up with the blues licks and the scales above.

As you can see, you now have quite a few cool ideas to draw on for your solos.

Let’s look at another…

Step Six: Outline The Changes Using Major 6 Arpeggios (8:11)

I can’t emphasize this enough:

A key feature of a good jazz solo is how it outlines the chord changes.

If you solo only with the scales and blues licks, it will sound a bit plain and won’t move along with the changes enough.

So, to help with this let’s incorporate some arpeggios.

Major 6 arpeggios sound great over these chords:

Listen & Play:

F6 Arpeggio

 

watermelon-man-guitar-6

 

 

Once you get familiar with this shape, practice moving it up and down the fretboard to match the corresponding chord change in the progression.

You can move the arpeggio shape up to fret position 6 for the Bb7 chord, and to position 8 for C7.

Got the idea?

Let me help you out – play the following study that uses Major 6 arpeggio shapes over the changes to get them under your fingers:

Listen & Play:

watermelon-man-guitar-7

 

 

Step Seven: Add Enclosures to the 6 Arpeggios – Now We’re Getting Tricky (10:44)

A good way to jazz up the Major 6 arpeggios is by using enclosures.

For those of you that have read this blog before, you’ll know I’m a fan of these!

You might ask, “What’s an enclosure?”

Let me explain.

An enclosure is when you play one fret above and then one fret below a target note, e.g:

 

https://www.fretdojo.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/watermelon-man-guitar-8.gif

 

 

These sound great especially on the 3rd of the arpeggios, which gives a nice bluesy sound.

Have a go at the following exercise, adding enclosures to every single note in the F6 arpeggio:

Listen & Play:

watermelon-man-guitar-9

 

 

Exercise: Solo over the backing track, incorporating enclosures over the Major 6 arpeggio shapes.

Then, mix everything together you covered in today’s lesson and solo your heart out!

Get The PDF and Backing Tracks

Fantastic! You now have this bluesy tune under your fingers.

Watermelon Man is a popular standard that’s often called at jam sessions, so it’s worthwhile getting to know it inside and out.

 

Now the exciting bit:

If you're keen to have a structured, step-by-step approach to learning jazz guitar, it might be worth checking out my online learning system, the FretDojo Jazz Guitar Academy.

Here's what you get when you join up:

  • Detailed step-by-step video lessons on new classic jazz tunes and essential jazz guitar skills added to the club website each month. Includes listening recommendations, demonstrations of the melody, analysis of the harmony, and detailed explanations on how to solo over the tune.
  • Key improvisation concepts and techniques for soloing, and classic licks and example solos that relate to each tune, so you can continue to expand your jazz vocabulary and have more options when it comes to soloing.
  • Detailed comping ideas to suit the style of each jazz standard covered
  • Lessons on how to make chord melody and solo jazz guitar versions of tunes featured - play a complete jazz standard completely on your own like Joe Pass!
  • Members only forum - A worldwide community of jazz guitarists from all around the globe.
  • Regular workshops, masterclasses, and Q & A Sessions - get direct answers from me on anything holding you back in the practice room. Replays of all sessions are available to access for all members even if you can’t make it live.
  • Massive searchable database of jazz licks and soloing concepts - the ultimate idea "grab bag" for your solos.
  • Optional monthly challenges where members participate to get feedback on their playing, reach new milestones and be eligible for cool prizes.

The best part:

You can access this all of this and more for just $1 by signing up to a 14 day trial. Go here for more info: https://www.fretdojo.com/signup-offer

Before you go…

If you want a nice print-friendly version of this article for your music stand at home, along with backing tracks you can use for the exercises outlined above, click the link in the yellow box below:

Get your Handy PDF Download + Backing Tracks: Get access to a print friendly version of all the exercises in this post as well as FREE backing tracks for your practice.

Share The Love!

If you enjoyed this Watermelon Man guitar lesson, please share it with your friends; it would mean the world to me.

Special thanks to my mentor Matt Warnock, who once showed me this innovative step-by-step approach to building up improvisation ideas over this tune. Check out his site at www.mattwarnockguitar.com.

I’d also like to thank Garry Petrisic who built the amazing archtop guitar featured in the video.

And finally, a huge thanks to you, the reader – I appreciate you taking the time to read this lesson. Now – go practice!

Greg O’Rourke
BMus (Hons), ANU

Complete Range Of Jazz Guitar Courses

Maximize Your Potential With Our Step-By-Step Programs


Get Your FREE Guitar
E-Book Bundle

Three Must Have eBooks:

• Beginners Jazz Guitar Improvisation
• Chord Melody Guitar Basics
• Guitar Speed Building Secrets

Instant access - completely FREE!

Loading...

Pin It on Pinterest