Hi , I have made this page to share my limited experience of jazz guitar
The chords in the applet above are some of the more common ones in use. I am not a professional guitarist but have played bass in a few wine bars in Chester (England) mainly Alexanders jazz theater eons ago as I no longer have the time being a poor old shift worker ugh.
The main advice I'd give to anyone wanting to play jazz guitar is to buy some records by some of the following artists.
The next stage is to find some gigs and hassel the players who can really play to give you a lesson or tips.
Buy some playalong cds by jamie abersold and a fake book like the real book.
Learn those old fashioned standards by ear single melody line . play the chords on a backing tape.
Don't use chords that cripple your fingers this advice is from joe pas.
Try experimenting with strumming portions of the chords this will make you sound more modern.
When you try and improvise against fast tunes with lots of chords the only thing you've got time for is riffs and arppegios.
so remember the notes in the chords of the tunes
don't always start on the root note of the chord pick the third or seventh.
learn some chord theory theres lots of books on jazz theory. but don't get bogged down with it sometimes just put a record on and burn any old stuff that enters your head. The more listening ,theory chord scales etc you've done the less crap notes you will play but don't worry I still play like crap but I get a kick if one or two phrases come together.
play lots of blues along with records by louis jordan , george benson etc
It is very important to learn the stndard jazz tunes so you can jam with other players.
most players will know these
eg summertime
I remember you
all the things you are
Days of wine and roses
Blue bossa etc
There'll never be another you
Autumn Leaves
My favourite things
ps if there is anyone living near chester give me email if you fancy a jam on
paul@pmcrae.freeserve.co.uk