The Four Foundational Chords of Jazz
Practice Goals:
- To master the essential chord voicings with their roots on the 6th and 5th strings.
- To learn to distinguish the four primary chord types by both their sound and structure.
- To be able to play through simple, common jazz chord progressions.
When you first start playing guitar, you usually learn open chords near the nut. While these are perfect for folk or pop music, jazz requires you to use the entire fretboard for your accompaniment, or "comping." To do this, you need a set of basic, movable chord shapes. The shapes you'll learn today, rooted on the 6th and 5th strings, are the absolute foundation for playing jazz harmony and will be the reference point for all the scales you learn later. It is essential that you master them.
The Four Basic Chord Forms
Essentially all of jazz harmony is built from four main types of chords: Major 7th (△7), Dominant 7th (7), Minor 7th (m7), and Minor 7th♭5 (m7♭5). Let's master the voicings for these four chords with their roots on the 6th and 5th strings.
To understand these chords, you need to know their "intervals," which are the building blocks of any chord.
- R: Root
- m3: Minor Third
- △3: Major Third
- ♭5: Flatted Fifth
- P5: Perfect Fifth
- m7: Minor Seventh
- △7: Major Seventh
△7 (Major Seventh Chord)
This chord is built with R, △3, P5, △7. A key feature of this voicing is that your index finger plays the root note on both the 6th and 5th string versions.
7 (Dominant Seventh Chord)
This chord's formula is R, △3, P5, m7. It's often just called a "seventh chord." Notice that it's just like a major seventh chord, but the 7th is lowered by a half step. Understanding this relationship makes it much easier to memorize. (See Diagram 2)
m7 (Minor Seventh Chord)
This chord is built with R, m3, P5, m7. If you compare it to the Dominant 7th chord, you'll see that the 3rd has been lowered by a half step.
m7(♭5) (Minor Seventh Flat Five Chord)
This chord's formula is R, m3, ♭5, m7. As its name suggests, it's a minor seventh chord with a flatted 5th.
You Can Play Jazz Accompaniment with Just These Chords!
With the four chord types and their two root positions (6th and 5th string), you now have a total of eight chord shapes. Amazingly, these eight shapes are all you need to play the accompaniment for countless jazz standards. The process is simple: see the chord name, find its root on either the 6th or 5th string, and then apply the correct shape based on the chord type.
For example, let's take A△7. The open 5th string is A, but you can't use that for this shape. A much better choice is to find the A on the 5th fret of the 6th string and use the 6th-string root voicing. You'll learn to make these choices based on what's most convenient in the moment.
CHALLENGE
Play Through Short Chord Progressions
Let's use these four chord types to play through some progressions that appear frequently in jazz. Once you get comfortable, try playing along with a backing track. The voicings shown in the diagrams are just examples; try playing them in other positions on the neck as well.
Progression 1: The Major ii-V-I in F Major
Description: This is a ii-V-I in the key of F Major, which is just as common as C Major in jazz standards. Use this as an exercise to find the roots G, C, and F on the fretboard and apply the chord shapes.
Progression 2: The Minor ii-V-i in G Minor
Description: Now, here is a ii-V-i in the key of G Minor. Playing the unique, darker sound of a minor progression in a new key is a great way to get more comfortable with the m7(♭5) chord shape.
Progression 3: The I-vi-ii-V Turnaround in B♭ Major
Description: This is a I-vi-ii-V progression in the key of B♭ Major, which is one of the most favored keys for horn players like trumpeters and saxophonists. Since this is one of the most common keys you'll encounter at a jazz jam session, becoming familiar with progressions in B♭ is extremely important.
