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MATT WARNOCK GUITAR

Your Online Guide to Playing Better Jazz Guitar

How to Play Jazz Guitar Chords

Along with Scales, Triads and Arpeggios,
Jazz guitar chords are one of the
fundamental items we as guitarists need to
have under our fingers at all times.
No matter what genre you play, rock, folk,
jazz, country or whatever, youll need to
know chords in order to play your favorite
songs and get out on stage and jam.
The following jazz guitar chords range from
beginner to advanced, and stretch from the
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Open Position to more complex jazz chords.

Take your time learning these voicings, start with a few, apply them to songs that youre
working on, and then use this page as a reference when you need to learn a new
chord or shape.
Have a question or comment about these chords? Visit the Jazz Guitar Chord thread
at the MWG Forum.

Jazz Guitar Chords

Open Chords
CAGED Chords
Barre Chords
Drop 2 Chords
Drop 3 Chords
Drop 2 and 4 Chords
Closed Position Chords

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"Matt's site is an amazing resource when studying Jazz

guitar. It's clear, effective, and available 24 hours a day, 7
days a week" - Joel
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13 Comments
1. richard vandyne, February 5, 2012:
matt just going over some of your material and i was wondering what you thought
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about ther caged chord system as a learning tool. i think your approach is much
easier to understand.
2. Matthew Warnock, February 5, 2012:
Hey Richard,
I think CAGED is good for some people, but I just never got into it. So, thats why I
like to encourage people to explore at least a couple of approaches for scales
and chords to see what fits best for them.
3. richard vandyne, February 6, 2012:
matt thanks for your thoughts. i have tried to get into it but just don,t like the
approach. wanted to make sure i wasn,t missing out on something really
important. i,ll stick with what i know thanks
4. Matthew Warnock, February 6, 2012:
For sure, theres no right or wrong answer so if youre happy with your system
then stick with it for now.
5. Javier Slade, August 2, 2012:
Just found out about your website from a friend.
Fantastic stuff :) Im organising a huge practice folder and your sight has given
me plenty of things to practice and different approaches. Thanks a million!
6. Matthew Warnock, August 2, 2012:
Thanks Javier, glad you like the site, enjoy the lessons and good luck with your
practicing!
7. Jazz Guitar Improvisation Techniques, November 12, 2012:
Definitely, chords are key to both accompaniment and improvisation.
8. Bob Andrews, February 6, 2013:
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Matt,
Unless one is an arranger, I have trouble seeing the benefit of using the terms
drop 2 and drop 3 to identify chord types. Why are drop 2 and drop 3 terms
used rather than string set and root to name chords. For example string set
2346, root 2, Cm7 While I fully understand the drop concept I dont see its
practical application for learning guitar chords. It s a great tool for an arranger
but its practical use for the student guitarist seems limited. I look forward to your
repsonse. And, I love your column, keep up the good work.
Robert
9. Matthew Warnock, February 6, 2013:
Hey Bob. The labels Drop 2 and Drop 3 are an organizational tool to allow
guitarists to talk to each other about chords. They describe certain grips on the
neck. So they make it easy to converse or teach certain shapes as they have
become more popular and many players use those terms to describe these
shapes. Thats most of it for me really, a way of describing these shapes and
communicating them to other people.
10. Rich Gartfeld, August 19, 2013:
This is a great resource. Im half way through memorizing the drop 3 chord
voicings. I found it very helpful to utilize the cycle of fifths as a mechanism for
forcing myself to learn these chords for multiple roots. I play 1 chord/beat, 4
beats/note (in the cycle), making sure to not repeat any one voicing for a given
bar. For example if I was working on maj7 voicings, Id play through the 4 drop 2
inversions for Cmaj7 and then the 4 drop 2 inversions for Gmaj7, then D, and so
on. I got this idea from another one of your articles where you suggested learning
dominant 7th arpeggios throughout the cycle of fifths. Thanks very much for
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writing this and sharing it, Matthew. Much of my progress on the guitar is owed to
you.
11. Matt Warnock, August 19, 2013:
Thanks Rich, glad you are digging the articles! Those are great ways to practice
chords, Cycles, and you also might like to check out a couple new articles I posted
that look at applying these chords to ii V I. Theyre fairly straight forward, but they
might be a good intro to taking these shapes out of inversions and cycles and into
progressions.
http://mattwarnockguitar.com/beginner-drop-3-turnaround-chords-for-jazz-guitar
http://mattwarnockguitar.com/beginner-drop-2-turnaround-chords-for-jazz-guitar
12. Gerard, September 25, 2013:
Thank you for the share Matthew, I like the way the chords are laid out and
explained, its a bit different than what Im used to, but after giving it a test run I
can see the logic behind it.
13. stanley westerborg, September 26, 2014:
really nice to see someone in the world who is trying the good things for others.
still there are good people!! very nice!! Stanley in Suriname

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