Feb 242010
I signed on to play guitar in my schools jazz band for guitar. I just need some tips how to play jazz on the electric guitar
I signed on to play guitar in my schools jazz band for guitar. I just need some tips how to play jazz on the electric guitar
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Typically, and if you want to acheive that characteristic jazz guitar sound, you’ll need to leave all your effects pedals at home and learn to be happy playing with just the neck pickup on your guitar. Go for that clean, fat and more bassy tone on your guitar and amp set up.
You would do well to pick up a chord dictionary kind of book. I really like Ted Greene’s, he’s published a couple. You can use these as a reference to learn the chords to your jazz band’s numbers as you go. Don’t try to ingest the entire jazz universe at once, take it a bit at a time and enjoy the journey.
Learn to “comp” – listen to some classic recordings and get a feel for that type of rhythm playing, where the touch is light and the chords are inserted off the beat, like little punctuations here and there. Unless you’re instructed to bang the chords out, Freddie Green style, really adopt the “less is more” approach.
Go out and buy a Charlie Christian record – he kind of started it all as far as jazz guitar as we know it today goes. His playing is simple yet full of interesting complexities. Most of the recordings of him available feature him with small ensembles so you can get a good feel for what he’s doing.
But you are in for a treat and a whole new world of music. There’s nothing else like it and once you’re bitten by the bug you might find it hard to go back to playing three-chord rock with distorted power chords.
To be really good, you have to learn “hip chords”, maj / min / 7ths, 9ths, 11ths, 13ths, and lots of variations. Of course usually you don’t play the root if there’s a bass.
A lot of time you are comping, just playing a rhythmic pattern and once in a while improvising. Of course if you’re really good, you might get to do solos, so you need to know your scales and what scales work over what chords. Especially the blues and major and minor scales
Try to listen to some excellent guitarists who play the style you want to achieve. There are some great ones here:http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/be…
Have fun!
Here’s a good website:http://www.jazzguitar.be/
There’s a good jazz guitar forum as well, lots of friendly and helpful people:http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/