5 Reasons You Should Be Learning More Jazz Guitar Chords
Chords are an important part of playing jazz guitar – and if you only learn a handful of jazz guitar chords, you’re selling yourself short.
When you only know a few chord shapes, it can help you get through tunes or even rehearsals and gigs.
But you also end up limiting your vocabulary – and cutting back on the options you have when you’re playing jazz.
I got away with a pretty small chord vocabulary for a long time. Even playing professionally. I was playing gigs, no one complained, and it was working for me…
… so why should I learn more jazz guitar chords?
But little by little, I started feeling like I was missing something –
- My chords all sounded kind of the same
- I didn’t know as many chords as I probably should have
- It was so hard for me to figure out how to play chord melodies
- There were even types of chords I only really had one way I could play them
And it turns out the answer was really simple – learn more jazz guitar chords. It’s not that hard when you have the right information and approach. And it can even be a lot of fun to do.
The hardest part is just getting started.
So if you’re feeling pretty comfortable with your easy jazz guitar chords or shell voicings right now, here are 5 reasons to start learning some more jazz guitar chords:
More Chords = More Options
If you only know one way to play Dm7, it’s going to get pretty boring… especially for yourself. And when you get bored, your listeners are going to get bored.
But when you learn more jazz guitar chords, suddenly things get more interesting.
You get to choose what you want to play for Dm7 – instead of having to play the one chord shape you know.
And when you get to pick and choose, playing chords is a lot more fun. You get to make creative decisions based on what sounds good to you…
… not survival decisions based on the couple of Dm7 chord shapes you happen to know.
You Can Play Chord Melody
A lot of people want to be able to play chord melodies. Or create their own solo jazz guitar arrangements. Or use chords as part of their solos.
Well, to do any of these things, you need to learn a lot of jazz guitar chords.
Because you’re trying to pair chord shapes with melody notes. That means you need to have a way to put just about any note on top of a given chord.
There are a lot of ways to make this happen, and some of them are actually pretty easy. But they all have one thing in common – you need to have more chord options.
And there are more angles, too.
You might also need to be able to think about finding chord shapes that make it easier to play multiple melody notes from one spot. Or choose a chord that makes it easier for you to get to the next chord.
If you only know a handful of chord shapes, this is going to be nearly impossible for you. And I should know – I worked way too hard trying to create chord melody arrangements before I had learned enough chord shapes.
Instant Voice Leading Skills
When we talk about voice leading, we’re talking about making as smooth of connections from one chord to the next one as possible.
If we’re taking our music theory definition literally, then it means that each note of the chord needs to move as little as possible to get to the next chord. This doesn’t mean your fingers don’t move very much – but the notes that they’re playing won’t move very much.
Sometimes your fingers have to completely rearrange to get to the next chord – but the notes themselves only move a little bit. (Weird, right?)
If your jazz chord vocabulary is limited, you’re going to have to jump to whatever shape you can think of first – not necessarily the best choice for the progression you’re playing.
You’ll end up having to bounce all around the fretboard for your grips – instead of being able to make more creative and musical choices.
Learning more jazz guitar chords will help you be able to make choices. Choices about what chord will sound best, and make the smoothest possible connections in a progression.
When you get this down, it’s going to make you (and everyone around you) sound a lot better.
Learn the Fretboard Inside and Out
The more chords you learn, the better you’re going to know the fretboard. It’s almost automatic – you can’t really have a good chord vocabulary without knowing the fretboard cold.
Part of the reason is in the way we tend to learn our chords on guitar.
Most jazz guitarists find their chord shapes in reference to a root note – the note that gives a chord its letter name.
Bb is the root for a Bb7, G is the root for a Gdim7, you get the picture.
So here’s where that helps. Most strings only have one realistic place to play any of the notes.
So If you’re learning a whole bunch of different ways to play Dm7, you’re going to find out where D is on all of the different strings. It’s just going to happen if you’re learning more chord shapes.
Learning Jazz Guitar Chords is Fun
Learning jazz guitar chords is fun! (At least I think so)
I get it though – if you only look at how many chords could possibly exist, it’s overwhelming. But I try not to think about that part too much.
At the end of the day, there are only so many ways you can move your fingers on the guitar. And figuring out new chord shapes can get to be kind of addicting.
It’s a great feeling when you just know how to play a certain chord – especially if you’ve been working on it for a while.
And it’s also a great feeling to be able to choose your chords based on what you want to hear and play – not by the chord shapes you have available to you.
The better you get, the more fun it is to play!
Conclusion
Learning jazz guitar chords is an important part of becoming a better jazz guitarist. Knowing more jazz guitar chords helps just about everything you do on the guitar:
- Better solo guitar playing,
- Easier time playing in groups
- Use chords in your solos
- Sound better overall
The hardest part about learning more jazz guitar chords is just getting started. So pick a type of chord – easy jazz guitar chords, shell voicings, drop 3 chords or drop 2 chords – and get started today!
Even if you only learn one new shape, that’s one chord you didn’t know yesterday. Are you working on learning new jazz guitar chords? Let me know below!
More Resources
My page on jazz guitar chords is a great place to get started. The lessons are free, and I cover all the bases you’ll need to get going.
But if you want a resource you can hold in your hand, Chord Chemistry by Ted Greene and Melodic Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary by Tim Lerch are good places to look (Affiliate Links).