Jazz Guitar Chord Melody & Solo Guitar
To learn jazz guitar chord melody at Mike’s Master Classes, you work through self-paced video masterclasses that show you how to play a tune’s melody and its harmony at the same time, taught by working jazz guitarists. This hub brings together the Chord Melody and Solo Jazz Guitar areas of the catalog, the material for making a single guitar sound complete on its own.
The courses cover the practical craft of solo guitar: harmonizing a melody note by note, supporting it with bass lines and walking chords, moving inner voices, tenths and double stops, open string voicings, intros and endings, and fingerstyle technique for both acoustic and electric players. Many courses work through a specific standard phrase by phrase, so you finish with a complete arrangement as well as the concepts behind it.
Each course is a separate purchase, bought outright or with membership credits if you hold an active subscription, and stays in your library to revisit whenever you are ready for the next tune.
Courses
Lenny Breau Style: How to Comp While Soloing
Steve Herberman
★ 5.0 (3)
Tools for Improvising - "Autumn Leaves": 3-part Lecture Series
Lorne Lofsky
Applications of Triad Motion Studies Inspired by George Van Eps
Steve Herberman
★ 5.0 (4)
Howard Alden & Sid Jacobs: Live House Concert - March, 2019
Howard Alden
A Guitarist's Approach to the Harmony of Bill Evans
Sid Jacobs
★ 5.0 (1)
Chord melody arranging & soloing inspired by George Van Eps
Steve Herberman
★ 5.0 (2)
Contrapuntal Improvisation
Steve Herberman
★ 5.0 (4)
Artful Intros
Steve Herberman
★ 5.0 (2)
Chord-Melody 101/201
Steve Herberman
★ 4.7 (3)
Guide Tones for Jazz Lines, Comping and Chord Melody
Sid Jacobs
★ 5.0 (2)
Motion and Chord Voicings - Part I
Steve Herberman
★ 5.0 (1)
"Naima" - Exploring Modern Dominant 7ths
Sheryl Bailey
★ 4.7 (3)
All Chord Melody courses · All Solo Jazz Guitar courses
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need to play fingerstyle to learn chord melody?
- Not necessarily. Many chord melody arrangements can be played with a pick, and several courses in this collection teach that way. Fingerstyle opens up more independent bass lines and inner voices, and the collection includes dedicated courses on jazz fingerstyle technique for both acoustic and electric guitar, so you can start with the approach you already use and add fingerstyle when the arrangements call for it.
- What level should I be before starting chord melody?
- You should be comfortable with basic seventh chord shapes and able to read or learn a simple melody. From there, introductory courses show how to harmonize a melody step by step, while more advanced material covers moving inner voices, contrapuntal lines, tenths and full solo guitar arrangements of standards. Each course page describes the assumed starting point so you can choose the right entry.
- Will I learn complete tunes or only techniques?
- Both. Some courses teach a general method, such as harmonizing melodies, combining bass lines with chords, or using open strings. Others take a single standard and build a full arrangement phrase by phrase, then show how to improvise within it. Working through a complete tune is often the fastest way to see how the individual techniques fit together in a real performance.
- How do I get access to a course after I buy it?
- Each course is a set of on-camera video lessons with downloadable materials. You can purchase a course outright as a one-time payment, or redeem membership credits if you hold an active subscription. Once you own a course it stays in your library with no fixed schedule or expiry, so you can keep returning to an arrangement until it is ready to play for others.