Chord Tones on a II V I - Important Skills For Jazz Guitar

Chord Tones are THE BEST place to begin when it comes to improvising over changes. This video will show you how to get started with that.
The II V I - What You Want To Know:
• II V I - You Need To ...
Jazz Beginner - 5 Myths That Waste Your Time:
• Jazz Beginner - 5 Myth...
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Content:
00:00 Intro
00:30 Why Chord Tones and Not Scales?
01:23 Starting With A Scale?
02:46 Making Solid Lines With Few Notes
03:58 Nailing The Changes
04:47 Expanding The Arpeggios
05:23 Wes Using Basic Arpeggios
05:51Melodic Tricks and Exercises
07:19 Most Important Scale Exercise
07:31 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page!
My name is Jens Larsen, Danish Jazz Guitarist, and Educator. The videos on this channel will help you explore and enjoy Jazz. Some of it is how to play jazz guitar, but other videos are more on Music Theory like Jazz Chords or advice on how to practice and learn Jazz, on guitar or any other instrument.
The videos are mostly jazz guitar lessons, but also music theory, analysis of songs and videos on jazz guitars.
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[@JensLarsen]

This could be a series of videos “Most Important Skills For Jazz” What do you think? 🙂 ➡The II V I - What You Want To Know: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5nQhISrgq6ZY9k ➡Jazz Beginner - 5 Myths That Waste Your Time: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4ndZoWNapqloKc

[@optilude]

That would be great :) I find these videos incredibly helpful. They put a lot of concepts that I sort of know into a practical, concise context, with actionable advice. You’re a great teacher. Thank you for putting this content out!

[@SuperWilliwill]

That would be great to make it a series of videos. This was a very enlightening lesson. Thanks Jens!

[@jamescopeland5358]

Jens, It's beginning to make sense! I find myself not only hearing the music and looking for my target notes and playing while thinking of where I want to go! Thanks! I may be a 69 yr old student but man it's great learning!

[@JensLarsen]

Great! Go for it 🙂

[@hansgruenweg294]

I appreciate your eternal patient repetitive lessons. I still need them ...in a loop.

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you, Hans 🙂

[@benkatof5852]

Another solid lesson Jens! As for a series on jazz essentials (road map?), how about essential listening... Advice on making the most out of listening, and some suggested tunes. The one thing beyond your lessons that has helped me the most has been listening whenever I can. To get a handle on the daunting repertoire of standards, and to start to refine my ideas of what i want to sound like, it has been key.

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! I have talked quite a bit about listening, but I wonder if I can make a useful video on that topic alone 🤔🙂

[@frankvaleron]

A great exercise that Hal Galper talks about is to play a melody over a standard that consists of nothing but chord tones on the 1 & 3. If you can get comfortable with that your improvisations can work as building from that using arpeggios and colour tones etc

[@JensLarsen]

That is indeed a very solid exercise 🙂

[@CrazyQ6930]

Jen's, you are gonna mess around and create a bunch of people playing Jazz that normally wouldn't have had the chance to discover how. THANKS! ❤

[@JensLarsen]

Great! That is exactly what I would love to do 👍🙂

[@jimmysblacksmithing462]

Hey good Day or evening,very nice to see a professional playing and teaching. The guitar sounds great! And your lesson is great as well! Been playing over 50 years, however not jazz in the professional sense. Hope to be able to play some in the next 30 years-ish :-) your videos are very inspirational. Thank you so much. You’re a good man stay well and have a beautiful day. Jim

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you very much, Jim! Really glad you find the videos useful 🙂

[@alejobie4572]

the info I've been looking for all my life, ty so muuch

[@JensLarsen]

Glad it was helpful 🙂

[@kevindonnelly761]

Thanks again Jens 😊 I wish I knew this stuff years ago. 🤘

[@jerryi.8526]

Thanks, Jens. This is an even clearer and more helpful presentation on this topic than similar excellent lessons that you have given us in the past. One question on this method of creating jazz lines: do you first write out the lines based on the notes of the arpeggios and then play the lines and further develop them on the guitar, or do you first play notes taken from arpeggios to create lines on the guitar, develop the lines, and then write them down after? I do like the idea of a series of "the most important skills for jazz" videos. Thanks very much for all you do.

[@johndoe-mx1dm]

Thank you so much mister Larsen

[@JensLarsen]

You are very welcome

[@Ensorcle]

I really love your lessons, they are SO helpful. Like, seriously. I've gone from feeling locked out of understanding jazz to playing tunes!

[@JensLarsen]

That really makes my day to hear 🙂

[@patrickpowell5430]

I've got to tell you, Jens, that I come to your videos again and again and learn a little more each time, but Christ are they CONCENTRATED. You - we - really have to listen hard and repeat a viewing several times to get into it. That's not bad, of course, by any means, but it is challenging. But keep them up.

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you find them worth checking out 🙂

[@premland]

The production quality in your videos has improved so much. Great work on constantly improving. Your lessons have always been great but the camera angles and lighting, plus the effects like showing the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7ths in the chords with colors are all such great touches. Keep pushing! well done.

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! I really appreciate that you notice the progress 🙂

[@cbolt4492]

Good video Jens, complements the jazz guitar roadmap 😎

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you Christian!! I am really glad you found it useful!

[@jamsessionemmusicademartor8288]

Thanks Jens!!! Your KZbin channel is excellent.

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it 🙂

[@chrissguitarshow206]

I love this video great work jens.

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! Glad it is useful 🙂

[@ricklaino6385]

Always great advice... Thanks Jens...!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it 🙂

[@ChinqMiau1]

Must be frustrating to keep repeating everything but it does work. Also makes the video stand on its own forever.

[@JensLarsen]

I think it is useful to make a better version of a topic like this every now and again. Usually I have gotten better at teaching and making videos 🙂

[@MorningCarnival]

This is excellent. Thanks.

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you liked it!

[@arvh1952]

loved this lesson. Thanks Jens. Also what strings did you use here (do u remember)? Thanks

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! I am always playing 13s. There is a link in the video description 🙂

[@margaritanikitina1176]

Thanks

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it 🙂

[@MisterTash]

Thanks for a great video Jens! Was this the approach you yourself were taught as a foundation for improvisation?

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks! No, it wasn't but my first lessons in Jazz were pretty messy and not super useful. This approach is what I have had the most success using to teach beginners, and A LOT of my students have done this and went on to play really well.

[@JazzRockswithAdam]

Those 5ths arpeggios look familiar! 😉

[@carlosgaray6789]

Thank you for the lesson. Jens, what ES 335 Guitar you recommend for jazz or what guitar is better for jazz? A jazz guitar that is for a person who is on a tight budget. I am a beginner. Thank you.

[@dionistsiripidis806]

Jens cool!!

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you 🙂

[@jantonisito]

Seems to me that minimal logical building blocks (as you mentioned in context of Wes) is short 25 phrase. Something that you have in your fingers. 4-5 note long. The way people are sometimes taught this stuff is - here is idea: resolve 7th to 3rd on ii7 to V7 and V7 to Imaj7 moves. And here are 251(6) examples (several 4 bar phrases follow). Well - it takes long time to memorize those. And it is hard to use them verbatim without sound stiff. But if I know the rule (7->3) and make up melody freely except for the moment when I need to hit the 3rd then I can take such example of 251 line and use it as inspiration - I do not have to play in note for note just absorb the rhythm and general shape of the line. So I am practicing creativity all the time with a bit of occasional cheat sheet. Does it make sense?

[@JensLarsen]

I don't think you want to tie phrases too much to chords and instead just remember them as melodies, if you think too much of it as chords and notes then it becomes to much thinking and too little music.

[@jantonisito]

@@JensLarsen Thanks Jens that is good optic to keep in mind. Ability to make up melodies is fundamental - the theory is secondary. My mathematical mind (I did Physics in college) was flirting with idea of "training my neural network" wit all those chord-scale rules. Except it is a mirage. At one point a friend (and a pro player) told me after jam "stop trying to play from theory - learn melody well, learn to embellish it, learn to make up new melodies based on it". Some of the best exercises in my learning process were restriction exercises - "here is the set of notes you are allowed to use - make a statement with them". That teaches you value of repetition, leaving space, being creative with rhythm etc.

[@SADOSAUR]

Oh man, all this jazz theory looks extremly difficult to me, I wish I can learn it someday

[@JensLarsen]

It is a major scale and the diatonic chords. Hardly rocket science 🙂

[@bartecki75]

👍😊

[@mikoajokietek8484]

Mr. Larsen, what would you say to make some videos about blues or ballads? Sorry, if you already made plenty of it. 🙂

[@JensLarsen]

I have A LOT of blues lessons: kzbin.infosearch?query=blues

[@mikoajokietek8484]

Thanks a lot.🙂

[@helmutfangmann6859]

Everything much too fast. A cascade of images and text that you can't follow sensibly without constantly pressing the stop button. A pity.

[@JensLarsen]

Sure, my videos are very compact, but how much of this is a language barrier and your level though?

[@rdedeene]

Thank you very much, Jens, for helping me gradually building up my first jazz-solo. rdedeenemusic

[@JensLarsen]

Glad it was helpful 🙂