I need to point out one anomaly: How did an F#m7b5 become Am? Easy. And voilà-you get chords so easy even beginners can play jazz ( Ex. The most efficient way to simplify is to remove the numbers from the chords, including numbers in parentheses. And for you snobs out there, if you insist on calling this “dumbing it down,” so be it. But instead of giving up, I recommend simplifying. And goodness knows how many times I’ve had to remind students what an F#m7b5 is. Right from the outset, both Am9 and D9 are challenging chords to play. Now, if these chord names and shapes are new to you, it’s almost pardonable to give up by measure two. This means that the root of each chord is separated by four scale degrees ( Ex. Let’s start by looking at a common chord pattern found in many jazz standards, including “Autumn Leaves,” “Take Five,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” and “My Favorite Things.” Each of these tunes is built around chords that move through the circle of fourths. Thus, the first thing we need to do is reverse-engineer these chords to make sense of the names and shapes. The latter means they feature alterations, such as a b5, #5, b9, or #9. These chords with longer names are variously known as “extended chords” and “altered chords.” The former means that they extend beyond both the common1–3–5 and the slightly more intricate 1–3–5–7 formulas by including the scale degrees 9, 11, or 13. From the aforementioned Bb7#5b9 to those chords with the little circles in the upper right-hand corner, which sometimes have a slash through them, it can seem as if you’re reading a foreign language. One can randomly open The Real Book-the most commonly used jazz fake book, a resource you should have access to, and which I’ll frequently refer to throughout this lesson-and immediately be challenged by confusingly named chords.
Reverse-Engineering Chords One of the biggest obstacles guitarists face when starting to learn jazz standards is coming to terms with the abundance of new chord names and shapes favored by jazz musicians.
#Simple chords guitar password#
Have you ever felt like jazz is a secret society? An exclusive club where the password to enter is to spell out a Bb7#5b9 chord? Well, in this lesson we’ll start to decode the language of jazz harmony and get you playing standards in just a few minutes.