Jazz Chord Concept
Author: Justin Sandercoe
That's the thing with jazz, it's so easy it's complicated, as you will see in this lesson. This is the first of many jazz "rules" or concepts you should learn. Most of them are offering you new choices of what to play. They are there to help you explore music, not to restrict you. They are your friend. As you progress you will find that you can break the rules and make up your own rules. "Anything goes if it sounds good".
There are 4 basic chord groups. They are Major, minor, Dominant, and Altered (for some reason minor always seems to be written in lower case). Each contains many chords. Most of the common chords found in each group are shown below.
Major - Maj, Maj 6 (usually just written as 6), Maj 7, Maj 9, Maj 11, Maj 13.
minor - min, min 6, min 7, min9, min11, min13.
Dominant - 7, 9, 11, 13, 7sus4.
Altered - Any chord with #5, b5, #9 or #9.
Rule #1 - Any chord can be substituted by any other chord within it's own group.
This rule offers you endless possibilities. You will soon learn how to use it fully, and I will expand on this topic on later lessons on Chord Construction, but for now, take it for what it says.
If in the music it says C Maj 7, you can play C, C 6, C Maj 7, C Maj 9, C Maj 11 or C Maj 13. Using this basic substitution technique you can spend many enjoyable hours playing your favorite standards in hundreds of different ways.
It also means that you can play a simple C Maj 7 if you see any of the above chords. This is the technique that will enable you to play any jazz songs that you originally thought too complicated, or were hesitant because there were lots of chords that you didn't know.
When it comes to Altered Chords just play the chord without the alterations (i.e. play G7#5b9 as G7 or C Maj 7#11 as just good old C Maj 7). The alterations are often there to compliment the melody, and as you learn new chords then you should use the chords shown in the music. If you can play the correct chords it will help with your understanding of the melodic structure, and what the composer of the tune originally intended.
Suspended chords are another slippery little fish and don't really seem to fit in any particular group, as they fit an all of them except Altered. I put them in the Major group, but not for any good reason. If you have any idea what they fall into then email me.
The next step is to start using the new chords to play some great tunes. Check out the Jazz Standards on www.justinguitar.co.uk, download some that you like and start to figure out the chords. You should go out and buy a "Real Book" if you are keen on jazz (see the standards page for more info on that). memorize the root notes, where the most common grips are, what the change "looks" like from one shape to another, try anything you know to help you remember the chord shapes.
Until my next instalment, have fun and work hard.
