Jazz chords...help!

[tayloralf]

Hi everyone!

I am trying to learn "jazz versions" (hope this makes sense) to the songs "Dream a little dream of me" and "Somewhere over the Rainbow" for a friend...can anyone give me some help with the chords? I am not very familiar with "Jazz" chord shapes. Thank you!!

[mmmaak]

Google is your friend.

Is this what you're looking for?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpZbA4PFn30

[Livingston]

Google is your friend.

Is this what you're looking for?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpZbA4PFn30

Wow, that is pretty cool!

[Livingston]

By the way Taylor Alf, I have some chord charts for the typical 4-note jazz guitar voicings. If you'd like a copy, let me know your e-mail address and I'll send 'em to you. They are pretty self explanatory but if you have any questions, I'm sure many here will be able to help out.

Darryl

[Sordello]

Such a call for help can be interpreted 2 ways: either a call for a 5 minute course on how to play jazz, or as a call for a nudge in the jazz direction. I will assume the latter, because I don't know how anyone can do the former.

As a nudge, I would just suggest you jazz up the song chords with the standard jazz ii V I formula. Most straightforward songs tend to hover in the major scales around the tonic 4th and 5th and 7th chords, then you get further into blues and pentatonic scales. To "jazz it up" use this formula and find some chords around that.

For instance, in C, play Dmin7, G7, Cmaj7

in Cm play Dmin7b5, Gmin7 , Cmin7

and so on through the different scales.

Just a nudge; jazz chords take a lifetime to learn!

[mmmaak]

Just a nudge; jazz chords take a lifetime to learn!
You can say that again! :D

And I think the best way to get started is by listening to lots of jazz music. A great introduction to what is possible for solo acoustic jazz is our very own Eric Skye's albums:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/ericskye
http://www.cdbaby.com/ericskye2

http://www.ericskye.com (http://www.ericskye.com/)

[tayloralf]

Thank you guys! You are right...right now I am looking for more a "nudge" :-) Although I am definitely interested in learning more...thanks again!

Darryl, I would definitely LOVE a copy of the chord chart you mentioned. I have PM'ed you. Thanks!!

[Livingston]

Tayloralf,

Thank you for your PM. I've sent an excel file that contains basic jazz chord shapes. Obviously a lot of explanation should go along with a chart like the one I sent you...no substitute for a good teacher.

Have fun messing around with jazz chord shapes.

Darryl

[815C]

This jazz chord lesson may help a bit...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9HybCIdeqI

[Malcolm]

Speaking of nudges.
First http://ralphpatt.com/Song.html
That's jazz standards with vanilla chords, i.e. dumbed down to get us started. Notice you probably are in keys you normally never go into. Somewhere over the rainbow is in the O's and shown in Eb. Check out the tool bar, all kinds of good "stuff", i.e. backing tracks with the BPM shown. Anything around 100/120 gets my attention.......

If you are leaning toward jazz, get a jazz fake chord book. Mel Bay's Jazz Guitar Standards is my favorite. Just find the book that has some of your favorite songs and have your favorite chord generator handy. http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/

In moving into jazz I found this helpful. www.jazzbooks.com and specifically this section http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=JAZZ&Category_Code=GUIBOO
There used to be a free e-book on jazz theory from this site -- could not find it today, might spend some time looking. It was/is great.
Edit - found it. http://aebersold.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=JAZZ&Category_Code=_HANDBOOK

Jazz chords - hint- the structure part of the chord is on the left hand part of the chord and the flavor and color is on the right hand part of the chord (D7b9). Starting on the left hand side - play as much of the chord as you can in the time you have, i.e. so you don't get all the chord, do the best you can. D chord not a problem the D7 piece of cake, remembering how to get the flatted 9th - if it gets in great, if it does not -- there is always next time.

Is the flatted 9th all that important? Could be, if the flatted 9th is needed to harmonize the melody being used over the D7 chord. But that's another story. Do the best you can in the time you have.

Good luck on your journey.