The Ultimate Jazz Chord Guide - 12 Most Important Voicing Types

Jazz Chords are incredible! Let me show you an overview of 12 practical and important types of chords that will open up what you can do with chords and help you play beautiful things.
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Content:
00:00 Incredible Jazz Chords
00:40 #1 Shell-voicings
01:25 Most Important Exercises For Chords
02:35 #2 Drop 3
04:18 #3 Shell-Derived
05:09 #4 Drop2 with a bass note
06:21 #5 2-Note Shells
07:15 #6 Triads
08:45 #7 Drop2
09:13 What Are “Drop Voicings”?
10:52 #8 3-part Quartal Voicings
11:58 #9 Spread Triads
12:47 #10 Cluster-like
13:46 #11 4-Part Quartal Harmony
14:28 #12 Drop2&4 - Instant Holdsworth
15:39 But what about my favorite chord?
16:07 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]

Which is your favorite jazz chord or voicing? 😎 3 Basic Jazz Chord Exercises That Will Change Your Playing in 2024 kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWLViGyNqtaUgrs

[@bluesvalentin]

Love your videos, Jens. This is just for fun... kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYbIeKmFi5ZnZtk&lc=Ugx3S-6ifg7R8P37W4R4AaABAg.A-IVvzcl58ZA-Idnr7g3D_ 1:48 - Jens Larsen steps in to the room (right up) "hey... are these guys playing jazz?" 2:02 - Jans Larsen leaves the rooom "nop... they are not"

[@chrisegonsearlemusic]

This has to be one of the most comprehensive and useful videos on this channel so far. Thanks a lot Jens.

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you think so!

[@BinaryBard64]

Malmsteen's doing what he loves, lol. And I can't argue with him bc he's forgotten more about music than I'll ever know 😆

[@JensLarsen]

Haha!

[@turbo1234ist]

?

[@waynemiller6070]

I got invited to play guitar in our choir. One of the songs were doing is "a house is not a home". A lot of these voicings sound like things that I need to be doing in that song. Thank you so much for taking the time to post this comprehensive lesson.

[@JensLarsen]

That is awesome! Go for it!

[@titosmith7942]

Wow, this is a masterclass in chords in 16 minutes. There's so much good info here. Well done!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you liked it!

[@henryanderson2664]

This is the best vid I’ve found discussing drop voicings and inversions

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! Glad it was helpful

[@teun958]

This is amazing. I have recently bought acces to the jazz guitar roadmap, which focusses mostly on the pharsing and improvisation side. This is probably the most comprehensive video about jazz chords I have ever seen, a must for someone who wants to develop their chords and soloing simultaniously. Thank you for all your effort!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad it is useful Teun!

[@user-xg2vt4ej7w]

My Fav voicing :- Drop 2 & 4, Shell voicing with the 3rd and also with the 5. Well explained and demonstrated with a lot of guidance ! Thank You 🙏♥🙏 Much Love & Respects !

[@LuizFelipeLima]

The thing that amazes me the most is how you approach the same exercises/licks/arpeggios in sooooo many different ways throughout your videos. For me, it has been a super effective way to teach the most difficult thing in Music - not the lick itself, but the CONCEPT behind it. I don't feel like I'm learning jazz licks, I feel like I'm learning JAZZ. Thanks a lot, Jens!!!

[@JensLarsen]

I am really happy to hear that, Luiz!

[@rickjensen2717]

At least six months study material here 👏!

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you!

[@bohnulus]

Hey Jens, really enjoyed all the examples you covered in this ( my favourite vid of yours so far ) as a bass player I make it a point of understanding SHELL CHORDS ( I use them all the time ) I love going through your 'Shorts Vids' and plucking your exotic ii-V7-I presentations to see what voicing you present ( that's the best part ) and applying them to my repertoire ( of SHELL CHORDS ) when my guitar player gets lost ( from time to time ) I can nudge him back with a subtle ( shell chord ) that sounds minimal and yet clearly what they appreciate to get back on track. I use them all the time to present a song I like, or have written. the looks get are always amazing. They really spell out the strength of the chord selection. see below a quick screen snap of my charting of intended Shell Chords -' totally cool. love what you do Jens.

[@carloganz9628]

Hey Jens, I would like to thank you for putting so much effort into the videos, I really appreciate that. Making the PDF available to us for free, is not a given. Thank you very much for that.

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome, Carlo!

[@billa6348]

A phenomenal compendious reference for all guitarists, regardless of skill level. This is a keeper for daily practice routines. (Okay, all of your lessons are “keepers,” Jens, but this is a keeper on steroids). 😎 Thank you!!!

[@JensLarsen]

Haha! Thank you! 🙂

[@chrisegonsearlemusic]

Strongly agree. Going to keep coming back to this one.

[@CotBySloths]

Back in the late 70's I took lessons from Bill Thrasher in Santa Barbara. Bill wasn't much on teaching theory or I just couldn't absorb it at the time. Bill once said that he auditioned for George Shearing and Shearing asked him if he could read music. Bill said that he replied "Not enough to hurt my playing". I have not picked up a guitar in about 50 years. Now that I believe I have the mental resources to study, I think I've got a chance to understand what I'm doing although the music well seems infinitely deep. Thanks for the incredibly helpful insights into guitar. For every 30 seconds of your videos I accumulate about two hours of practice and study. I'm about 6 months behind so far.

[@steellemonstudios]

New Jens Larsen video with an Yngwie reference? My day is made! Ha! Nice one, Jens. This is a handy one for us teachers, too.

[@JensLarsen]

Yay, thank you, Nick! 😁

[@timwalsh9299]

Thank you Jens, that was great!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Reg523]

Hey Jens... always great material. Thanks. Have you started to show how to musically organize use of extensions and expanding the learning of basic voicings or chords ... into chord patterns . It seems that the transition of learning how to organize voicings or chords into actually comping ... just doesn't happen for most. There must be an approach that helps. Thanks Reg

[@JensLarsen]

Hi Reg! Glad you like it! This video is indeed more of an overview of voicings and a little bit about how they fit together, but not really about comping. The only thing that I feel it brings to the table is highlighting chords fit together across categories. The approach I have had the most luck teaching is what I discuss in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hl6zXpqDbLt9rpYsi=ifCDGfEuWO0Z7iOT

[@user-kk4kn1ue8u]

It is just content, just popular content for us the jazz geeks and composers I guess... And if you want and can you can also very learn something. What a nice job your doing mister Larsen!

[@1racepace]

GREAT lesson! You've packed so much useful info here. I believe investing time to build all these concepts into my musical muscle memory will take me far! Your ability to share your love and knowledge of music is much appreciated. Thank you Jens. 🧡

[@JensLarsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@trombonemunroe]

Your #3 "shell-derived" is commonly called a 4-note spread voicing (you can do this with 5 voices as well). Bass is usually (but doesn't have to be) on the bottom, guide tones in the middle, melodic note or chord tone/available tension on top. You can optionally swap the bottom note out for a chord tone or available tension where appropriate.

[@JensLarsen]

Around here "4-note spread voicings" cover a lot of things, including drop2, drop3 and those families, but maybe it is different where you come from. The group I describe in the video is a closed shell-voicing with an added note a 3rd above the 7th which is quite specific.

[@trombonemunroe]

@@JensLarsen Interesting! And to be fair, this information of mine dates from around 1978.

[@stefanobonoli8783]

Ciao Jens, regarding names I suggest Almanac of Guitar Voice Leading by Mick Goodrick. In those 3 volumes he gave names to all possible three and four chords coming from Major, Melodic Minor, Harmonic Minor and Harmonic Major scales. I do not know anything more clear and comprehensive. Or maybe I am just influenced by all the hours I spent playing with him. ❤

[@JensLarsen]

Which names did he give those then?

[@stefanobonoli8783]

Your number 3 are called Spread Clusters and the voicing CEBD is a Drop 2.

[@ericm7572]

You are such a good teacher. Great materials. Thanks much.

[@JensLarsen]

You're very welcome!

[@milocero]

This video is gold, thanks a lot

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it 🙂

[@jamescopeland5358]

Great lesson Jens I use drop 2 and 3 most of the time

[@retrograder3303]

these videos are a godsend for someone learning chords or jazz guitar, thanks

[@MikeBouchard]

Is this going to be on the exam? This is such a great demonstration of voicings. You LITERALLY filled in alot of gaps in 16 minutes. cheers and bravo.

[@user-fs4gp7un2r]

Awesome video Lars........Thanks so much........for all your hard work

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@gabrielwick2239]

Jens you are the best to ever do it :D your teachings have made my rekindled passion for jazz guitar at age 19 easier than I could have ever hoped, excited to start the jazz roadmap course very soon here as well. Huge props from Wisconsin

[@JensLarsen]

That is awesome!

[@leecooper5988]

Another master class from JL. Thank you Jens, now I need to go get my head around it all 😮

[@JensLarsen]

You can do it!

[@SeanMcQuilter_Music]

Best explanation of Drop voicings I’ve seen. Thanks!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you think so!

[@ricklaino6385]

Great lesson as usual Jens......!!!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you liked it!

[@kennedycovers1465]

Do you find yourself using inversions of drop 2 voicings on the inner four strings very often? Or more commonly on the high four strings? Great video! So nice to see voicings categorized like this

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you! Yes, the middle string-set Drop2 inversions are quite common and useful

[@bozakarlin9034]

Great lesson, thanks.

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you liked it!

[@turbo1234ist]

Thanks Jen for great teaching!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@1199ccttv]

amazing, this is another super useful lession. thanks a lot Jens

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you liked it!

[@Dang...]

Excellent, thank you.

[@JensLarsen]

Glad it was helpful!

[@triguna7692]

Guy's if want to learn to play guitar,follow Jens were you learn play from inside express outside.thanks Jens 🙏

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you

[@tooselfish]

Moin Jens Larsen, a very interesting and helpfull video with great lessons, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us greetings harry

[@JensLarsen]

My pleasure!

[@jeremykelker8908]

Jens, the frets on that Ibanez always look great, like really nice to play.

[@cindercyan]

very cool mr larsen!

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it!

[@Attia29]

Jens per cortesia potresti indicarmi ,dopo aver preso un meraviglioso Epiphone valvolare, compressore,riverbero e corde tomastik Vienna,che pick up montare sulla mia Sheraton Grazie Buona Musica🙏🤟🎸

[@elrondhubbard9127]

The 2 note "shell voicing" aka the power chord 😁😁

[@JensLarsen]

Yes, but also no... 😂

[@Bladavia]

Oh wow, I didn't know so many of these

[@johnjacquard863]

sweet!

[@davidbertus8629]

Great lesson as always Jens. Can you touch on the A7 in the CMaj chord progression you used in several examples?

[@JensLarsen]

It is a secondary dominant: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpXTYqimmt16ebM

[@davidbertus8629]

It dawned on me about 5 minutes after I typed the comment that the A7 is the 5 of D min. Thanks for all your hard work in putting together the lessons.@@JensLarsen

[@cbolt4492]

Catch this one later Jens 😎

[@roro_fosho]

Hi Jens - love your channel and this video is stellar like all I've seen. I can't help but hear Ronnie Foster's "Mystic Brew" in this... I still have no idea why it is what it is, but it's some kind of Major 7th loop you can just keep going on forever if you play it. Am I far off or is there a connection here? This is that sample in ATCQ's 'Electric Relaxation'... reminds me of a ii-V-I progression where you can work your way around the circle chromatically and all 12 notes feel like they're in the same key. Then you have the bass play the root and it's like where are we, how are we?? The melody/voice leading or whatever going on b/w the chord changes seems to be the crux to my ear, but why is this so compelling?

[@JensLarsen]

Thanks! I don't know that song so I can't really speak to whether it sounds like a looping II V I

[@cbolt4492]

5:31 good exercise

[@zaphodrahja]

Sorry Jens, silly question, a bit OCD, did you lose your truss rod cover or do you just like to make frequent adjustments? Love your channel, cheers.

[@JensLarsen]

I bought the guitar 2nd hand and I never had it

[@zaphodrahja]

@@JensLarsen Oh ok thanks, that's a great guitar, beautiful build quality, sounds so sweet.

[@diegomaugeri4038]

Where the heck have you been all my life?!

[@liontone]

I’ve waited for Yngwie to make a cameo for years! And boom!

[@JensLarsen]

😂🙏

[@user-qd2ic1vz5c]

Can you show video about how many jazz chords are alike as C6 is Am7 & FM9 no Root 😂

[@JensLarsen]

It's pretty old, but I talk about that here: jenslarsen.nl/play-standard-2-types-drop2-chords/

[@steellemonstudios]

✅ Stella by Starlight ✅ Giant Steps ✅ Wonderwall What’s the view from the top look like, Jens?

[@cliberg]

THANKS for an amazing lesson! So much there…

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you liked it!

[@universemir]

1:36 why is the fourth degree as maj7 instead of 7?

[@JensLarsen]

Try to stack 3rds in the scale and listen to the chord 🙂

[@user-nx4pn7yn9o]

👍

[@rustydomino]

LMAO at the Yngwie cameo!

[@JensLarsen]

😁🙏

[@BL55]

Ray Brown?

[@JensLarsen]

Indeed

[@kjetilalexandersaltnes8643]

I'd like to see different ways and inversions to play maj9, min9 and add9 to spice up a chord progression. Michael Landau'ish

[@JensLarsen]

Use the chord from the 3rd, that is by far the easiest and will give you those colors

[@JensLarsen]

So use an Fmaj7 over a Dm7 chord to get a Dm7(9) sound (not sure if you needed an example, but then you have one 🙂)

[@kjetilalexandersaltnes8643]

@@JensLarsen Yes. I've noticed how clever Landau is using the 3rd instead of the root. 2 inversion? Sounds stellar

[@kjetilalexandersaltnes8643]

@@JensLarsen I've also noticed by Landau and Lukather, they like to use some open strings as well.. To spice things up. Ex. 0 10 9 8 7 0 0 Could you make a video about how to spice things up adding some open strings as well? I love your channel, Jens! And I'm coming from a more blues-rock influence.. But I like to add some jazz to my approach. This channel is great for that. So much wisdom and possibilities shown here on your channel. 👍👍 Hi 5's! 🙏

[@daynemin]

Until i started putting all these lovely chords into progressions and functional harmony they didnt make sense. Love spread triads, very piano like.

[@JustinTrudeau1971]

I move we name the chords “Barry Harris voicings.” And that bass player was American jazz legend Orenthal James Simpson.

[@vladledesma3765]

No double flat 7 on b chord , ok SUB minor : Smashing.

[@JensLarsen]

?

[@cbolt4492]

2:31 more is more...

[@davidcarden3499]

Where do you start, how much$, how do you pay? What does it get you? Any books or printable material? I dont have or use a computer or printer but i can go to the library if needed. I need a book. You move too fast for me. Im kind of slow.

[@JensLarsen]

Maybe follow the link in the video description to my website?

[@alanwindsor6383]

A book by Dave Ness called Guitar in aJazz Ensemble is really useful. It certainly helped me go step by step into jazz chords with very little pain andych joy.

[@mer1red]

The jazz concept of drop chords is an incomplete attempt with limited possibilities to describe the stacking order (voicing) of the chord. It is not present in general music theory, which offers other and better ways to render this with a symbolic notation. Inversion is a clear and useful term, which of course needs additional details if you want to specify a very specific voicing. I use the latter approach because I don't see the need for an additional concept. Music is music.

[@jambertin54]

When it comes to Metal players, we know nothing of Jazz! Lol also there are a lot of weird things in metal music. Sometimes it doesn't really follow a key.

[@user-rq4bz1cz9u]

For me is the question,what is the right jazz sound? In Mainstream Jazz.but who is with other thinking? I think,and the great Larry Coryell says,take and play all,what is liked for you,NO LIMIT.LIMITS are a thing from religious fanatic man,but in Music? RULES are liked,that she can broked.sorry,its my line to play music. Greetings Paco

[@Philrc]

This ad is everywhere and it's extremely irritating. Also WTF is _worship_ guitar?