Jazz Guitar Harmony: Complete Series | Tom Lippincott

Are you confused and overwhelmed by books giving you “1001 and guitar chords”?  Do you know some “jazz chords” but are sometimes unsure of where and how to use them?  Do you have down the basic “jazz guitar” chord vocabulary but are looking for a way to bring your comping, chord/melody playing, and sense of harmony to the next level?  Are you relatively new to playing jazz guitar and looking for a clear, logical, and thorough system for learning about chords and jazz harmony?  Are you an intermediate or advanced player wanting to incorporate a more modern sound and/or a more pianistic approach into your chord playing?  If your answer to any of the above questions is yes, I believe that this series of classes can help you achieve your goals.

This multi-part series covers the application of jazz harmony to the guitar for comping, solo guitar arranging and improvising, and bringing harmonic ideas to soloing within a group context.  The classes focus on a detailed and systematic step-by-step approach for building a strong foundation for chordal and contrapuntal playing and will cover everything from the essential basics to more advanced and modern concepts.  Numerous musical examples are demonstrated as well as written in traditional notation, tablature, and/or chord grid form, but the material has been designed to be open-ended enough that you will be encouraged to find your own path and work toward developing your unique musical voice.

Jazz Guitar Harmony Part 1 covers:

• basic music theory overview, including intervals and major scale construction
• learning/reinforcing note names up and down the guitar neck
• dual nature of the guitar fingerboard
• all diatonic harmonic (both notes at the same time) intervals up and down neck
• playing intervals on adjacent versus non-adjacent string sets
• compound intervals and interval inversions
• exploration of contrapuntal movement between two voices (melodic lines), including embellishing a melody with a second voice
• exercises and musical examples to build conceptual knowledge as well as improve technique
• laying a firm foundation for understanding and playing more complex harmonies, including triads and four-note chords covered in later classes
• running time: 114 minutes
• includes 5 pages of written examples and exercises

Jazz Guitar Harmony Part 2 covers:

• triads: clear and concise system for learning all close position major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads
• four important uses of triads
• diatonic harmonized major scales with triads
• shell voicings: 10 different practical chord shapes that can be used to comp through any tune in the the typical standard repertoire
• diatonic harmonized major scales with shell voicings, including variations with contrapuntal movement
• application of shell voicings to comping on tunes
• examples with comping rhythms, articulations, half step chord approaches, and discussion of swing feel
• chord symbol interpretation and guide to simplifying more complex chord symbols
• running time: 111 minutes
• includes 9 pages of written examples and exercises

Jazz Guitar Harmony Part 3 covers:

• diatonic cycles of triads within the major scale
• diatonic voice leading with close position triads
• ear training
• melody harmonization with triads, simple and more complex
• theoretical understanding of open position triads
• applying open triads to the guitar including different practical fingerings and string sets
• diatonic harmonized scales with open triads
• contrapuntal voice movement between triads, both close and open
• musical application of open triads
• moving triad concepts to other keys
• working with open and close triads outside the diatonic major scale

• running time: 98 minutes
• includes 10 pages of written examples and exercises

Jazz Guitar Harmony Part 4 covers:

• continuation of discussion of shell voicings, including further comping examples
• tritone substitution and variations/elaborations
• minor harmony
• use of shell voicings for solo guitar playing (chord/melody style)
• adding color tones to shell voicings
• ear training–hearing/singing color tones
• examples of shell voicings with color tones using major and minor II V I progressions as well as over a standard progression
• examples with and without roots, with one and two color tones
• incorporation of shell voicings with single note solos for self-comping

• running time: 112 minutes
• includes 11 pages of written examples and exercises

Jazz Guitar Harmony Part 5 covers:

• review of close position seventh chords and tips for practical use
• explanation of the terms “drop 2” and “drop 3” as they apply to guitar chord voicings
• the “chord scale exercise” which is a logical and musical presentation of drop 2 and drop 3 voicings by inversion and string set, using the seventh chords diatonic to the major scale
• additional methods for developing mastery of drop 2 and drop 3 voicings including inversions, II V I progressions, and diatonic cycles
• applying the basic voicings to comping on tunes, with musical example
• hints and suggestions for making the learning of new chord voicings easier
• incorporation of contrapuntal movement and ear training
• additional 4-note chords and their typical usage
• applying color tones to the chords for comping on tunes, with musical example
• chord synonyms–getting more mileage out of the voicings you already know
• applying the voicings to solo guitar arrangements, with musical example including color tones and contrapuntal movement
• running time: 124 minutes
• includes 16 pages of written examples and exercises