Warning: Fake Jazz Guitar Rules Will Waste Your Time

[@JensLarsen]

Which rules do you think we should break? A misunderstanding with Jazz Chords: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hl6zXpqDbLt9rpY

[@RobKandell]

Parallel fifths, but rock overdid breaking that one.

[@JensLarsen]

@@RobKandell McCoy, Coltrane and Bill Evans all use quite a lot of parallel 5ths 😁

[@RobKandell]

@@JensLarsen - As did Debussy, but none of them overdid it like the metal and punk guys did.

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

A jazz chord to say I love you, a jazz chord to say how much I care….

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

@@JensLarsen interestingly, Brad Mehldau says he tends to avoid them…

[@MouseSF]

The most amazing musician I ever met had one primary rule: If you aren’t breaking the rules you’re doing it wrong. Thanks Jens

[@BessieBopOrBach]

Another excellent video, Jens! The "No bending" rule is absolutely bizarre. All the way back to Eddie Lang and Charlie Christian, bending has been part of the jazz language. Jim Hall is one of the most "cerebral" of the classic guitar players and his ballads are absolutely awash in subtle bends. Not to mention Grant Green!

[@guitarwithjim2389]

Thanks for this Jens! This needed to be put out there.....Jazz is the sound of freedom after all.....I think that's a Herbie Hancock quote, might be off on that. Your vids are the best and my " go to" when I'm in down time and want to reach for something outside what my fingers are telling me to play. Appreciate all you do!

[@FarewellApollo]

A super necessary video for jazz players. We need to remember that jazz used to be what musicians played to rebel against the rules and systems of the time. Now it's become the thing to rebel against because of these self-imposed rules that the community has forced upon each other.

[@ccat9354]

Melodic minor / Maj7#5 licks on a dominant in Cheryl? Sorry; off to jazz jail with you. Not common practice enough for the real boppers

[@FarewellApollo]

@@ccat9354 lol you joke but I've legit met people with that attitude, they're super fun at parties as you can probably tell

[@FarewellApollo]

@Roadrunner_1000 for real, always looking shut down the party

[@RichardBlair484]

Great video Jens. And thanks for the clip of Gary Moore with the Peter Green Les Paul. Always appreciated no matter the context!😂

[@JazzStrat781]

Fantastic video 👍🎸 best to you Jens

[@JensLarsen]

Many thanks!!

[@lbb2rfarangkiinok]

You are right, of course, but as someone who took music theory in high school and college and rarely saw a lot of uses for the melodic minor and who also hated the whole ascending-descending rule (so silly, since even classical music defies this rule often), I was so happy to find all the various applications of mel min scales in jazz and it really did rekindle my interest in learning to improv. So in a way, I am kinda here to learn mel min haha.

[@NathanBortonMusic]

This was such a great video Jens!

[@vivsavagex]

Thank you for mentioning the all keys and all positions thing. I think once youve taken the major/harm minor/melod minor through all positions and keys with all intervals and triads and 7th chords that youre pretty much done as a guitarist in doing everything in all keys in all positions with the exception of maybe a bunch of major and minor blues heads, rhythm changes, and maybe a standard like “all the things you are”…after youve done that, you should have a pretty good idea on a symmetrical visual instrument like the guitar how to quickly translate a lick to a new key or different position in ur head…of course the licks you REALLY want to make as a part of your core vocab you should take through many positions and a handful of keys that look very different on guitar but all keys and with everything all the time is too much unless its fun for u and u have unlimited time….i made this mistake for many years. Try having to learn “ornithology” in every single possible fingering and position and then moving it to all keys. It was painful. However, i can wail on that tune now lol so maybe just disregard this whole thing. Lol

[@SHAWVEE]

Mike stern bends like no other… check out his solo with breaker on - downside upside.. heavy bends 🤘

[@mauriciomunozpineda28]

Excelente video. Gracias

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you like it 🙂

[@thijs199]

oh and linking up the pentatonics with the major scale was huge for me.

[@SurrendertheEctypeofficial]

Job well done. Cheers from STE

[@JensLarsen]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@csc1671]

“You MUST play with your thumb like Wes.” This practically wipes any guitar player off the earth (considering what Wes’ thumb looked like)

[@JensLarsen]

Indeed 😁

[@blapis89]

I gotta ask, where do you get those corny montages of office people hahahaha. They are hilarious

[@JensLarsen]

Thank you 🙂They are from Envato elements, but I believe they are available on more sites than that

[@paulafranceschi]

Shell chords are the key for beginners. They unlock the Fakebooks.

[@thijs199]

and ye that diatonic arpeggio thing you recommend I learnt it in a different position, but I only remember bits of that one, and actually the shapes I do remember get me quite a long ways. What's really imbedded is that first position, and just the major scale. Melodic minor I used to have better than I do now but that's because I rarely play these days. Gotta get my nerve hit from the doc again, so

[@pavelzalom9486]

The one bend note solo on Giant steps is ingenious! :D

[@thijs199]

and I try to just alter these basic things. And as soon if I come across something that I like, I will analyze, figure out the theory. I feel that's a healthy way of making music. And not even with a goal in mind yet. Because I don't really desire proving myself to anyone. I used to be in the illusion of some sort of responsibility I had as a musician but being pragmatic about that, it's bs. If I wanna do nothing for a month, then hell, I don't care. I just pick it up again when I feel like it

[@FriedMetroid]

"no bending in Jazz" Saxophonists: allow us to introduce ourselves

[@Jinseng]

I recommend you listen to some masayoshi takanaka! His music is more jazz-fusion, but his guitar work is a really cool mix of blues, bebop, and city pop style playing. He definitely uses bends a lot, but they are subtle (most of the time only a half-step bend) and sweet sounding

[@DaddySantaClaus]

gary moore was such a great guitarist

[@arsedj1802]

Hi Jens! Which book would you suggest to a beginner? Thank you

[@JensLarsen]

It is difficult to give too specific advice because everybody is different and at different levels, but maybe check out this post: jenslarsen.nl/how-to-learn-jazz-guitar-suggestions-to-begin-studying/

[@kwonza-gamingandanime5727]

@4:17 is that Scofield playing In a Sentimental Mood? I'm looking around and I cannot find that video...would love to hear it. Or is he just quoting it in a different tune?

[@thijs199]

so why harmonic minor, and not learn major instead? what makes the minor variation more important?

[@pavelzalom9486]

Not sure if it is a rule, but some say that you shouldn't play jazz on solid body guitar and you shouldn't use distorted tone. :)

[@gregdenson7544]

My thoughts is you shouldn't break the rules until you understand the rules and how to use them.

[@JensLarsen]

Yes, but you should also be aware that not everything described as a rule is actually a rule (which is really what this video is about)

[@kevindonnelly761]

Chromatic Approach / Passing / Leading Tones on downbeats are all over the place in Classical Repertoire. If someone in the audience doesn't like an 'Avoid Note' you played, play it again four bars later and give them a greasy look ! I've played a chromatic approach note in the past and then stopped. I'll wait until at least five people start to grimace - then resolve. That creates even more tension - and a lot of fun. Stanley Jordan taps - and it works great. As you say, Barney Kessel, John Scofield and Pat Metheny bend (strings). My favourite bender is Django. It's ok to bend but it's even better to pick a good spot to do it. I always say - if you're gonna bend, you've got to know where you're bending from, where you're bending to - and WHY ? Lots of people just bend because that's what you do. That usually does not have much effect. At the time that Gary Moore played that long sustained note, I heard one of the roadies went down the street to get a pizza and was back before the next verse ! I like the notated examples of licks. It helps me understand what is going on. I write down a LOT of licks / lines / chords / you name it (in trad. notation). It helps me a lot to SEE as well as HEAR what I'm doing. I don't know too many musos around my part of town who know any theory at all. There's a sax player who loves to solo to Blues in F. He only plays an F note. Then he repeats it. Everyone loves it. On a good night he'll play it in a different octave ! He's been doing this for thirty years. He loves songs in G too - because when he plays his 'F' note, it has a bit more bite. Sometimes punters like it so much they buy him a beer afterwards. He won't solo to songs in C though (wonder why ?). I've always been a theory nerd and everyone knows it. A few years ago none of the other musos wanted to jam with me at our regular open mike night. I found out why this was a week later. They would video me on their phones, go home, learn MY ORIGINAL lines and play them the following week. They don't need to learn theory. I do it for them ! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ! I'd hear other guys play my licks and take credit for it !! I'd tell my friends that some guy on stage was playing a lick I played the week before. They'd ask me how could I tell ?? Why can't life be more simple ? Lerved the video Jens ! Jeff Beck said it's important to break rules. That's good enough for me. 🤩

[@grzankomuzykant]

First need to know them so then You can break them

[@JensLarsen]

Maybe that is not always the case?

[@RobKandell]

@@JensLarsen - To support that, I remember listing to an NPR story back in the 80s saying that Duke Ellington’s greatness came from *not* knowing the “rules”, which at that time taught the superiority of the European Art Tradition over American music.

[@Nightwalk444]

If you don't know them you'll break them anyway

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

I’m quite glad this is the first time I’ve heard of rule #1 haha who comes up with this nonsense? Have they actually listened to any music? It’s not even true of Mozart let alone bird.

[@JensLarsen]

Funny that you had never heard of that! It's quite common around here 😁

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

@@JensLarsen maybe it is here too, I wouldn’t know not having had much to do with jazz guitar in a formal setting… but I’m honestly baffled anyone would think that a rule rather than a constraint for an exercise…

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

I suspect what happens is a teacher says, ‘use this rule for line building’ (which tbf I’ve done) and perhaps someone literal minded might think ‘this is a general rule for jazz!’

[@JensLarsen]

@@JazzGuitarScrapbook I think I get a question about that almost every week 😂😂

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

@@JensLarsen oh my one is ‘but how can it be ok to have an F# on a G7 chord????’ (On taking them through Barry harris tritone sub stuff.)

[@alexanderpotts8425]

Django was a fiend for bends!

[@luizdejesus6240]

As a sax and guitar player, I have noticed that a jazz sax player will bend any note he/she can get away with...

[@patpogoallroundguitarist5814]

Only working with 2-5-1 licks.

[@RobKandell]

Do you really need to practice everything in all keys like a piano player? Guitar is remarkably symmetric, and unless you’re doing cascading open string licks like a country player*, transposition is relatively simple. *That’s why they use capos.

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

That’s why all the guitarists say until they have to do it…

[@JazzGuitarScrapbook]

@Roadrunner_1000 hiya!

[@kevindonnelly761]

No offence but I hate capos. The only reason (as far as I'm concerned) to use them is for Timbre. To use capos instead of knowing the fretboard paints a guitarist into a corner. I've done gigs where the folk singer tells me a song is in G but with a capo at the second fret. Turns out the song is in A and the folk singer had no idea of what keys they were playing in. Then the next song is in C but with a capo at the third fret. THAT IS NOT C - IT IS Eb !! Then they tell me I don't know what I'm doing. I have a BA(Mus) Degree in Classical Guitar, Composition, Schenkerian Analysis and Post Graduate Berklee Training - and they tell me off for not knowing the difference between G and A. I've studied Serialism, Species Counterpoint, Bach Four Part Chorale Harmony, Classical Diatonic and Chromatic Practices - and someone tells me off for not using a capo ?? If you REALLY know your fretboard, a capo can be placed somewhere to create a nice TIMBRE. Using a capo for timbre is ok. Doc Martin calls them 'cheaters.' Just make sure to clearly tell musician colleagues the correct key.

[@RobKandell]

@@kevindonnelly761 - With all due respect, I have a BA in music, too. I didn’t become a professional and played mostly bass until 2016, but I do have a working knowledge of the fretboard. (Mostly from transposing on bass working with the guitarists you mentioned. I had a degree and they didn’t, so I translate to save my BP.) You’re mostly right, but I was referring to cascading licks or situations where the open voicings are essential. Rock players certainly can play barre chords, but Johnny Marr would use them for the open strings, even playing barres with it on. If you’re playing in an open tuning, or in DADGAD, you’re going to need one to take advantage of the open strings there as well. If you meant Doc Watson, I know he’s done a lot of work to put bluegrass licks in keys other than G, but those licks require the open strings. In my experience, I use it in bar gigs because my style requires I carry all the music myself and if I’ll be damned if I’m going to simply strum and call it good. If I’m carrying the bass and other melodic interest on my guitar, I’m using a capo to accommodate my vocal range. Ask yourself this: can I play Spanish Ballad in F? How about Eb? There’s a time and place for them, even if some use them for a crutch.

[@RobKandell]

@Roadrunner_1000 - Very true. I can play in any key, but can I play and sing with decent sounding voicings?

[@RobKandell]

I will say that you can’t bend .12 gauge flatwounds. G-d knows I’ve tried. If you can pull it off, your fingers are stronger than mine.

[@JensLarsen]

I forget which video it is, but I have one video where I bend my 13s one and a half-step

[@RobKandell]

@@JensLarsen - You’re fingers are stronger than mine. :-)

[@kevindonnelly761]

@@RobKandellI use 0.11s to 0.48s on all my electric guitars and can bend every string. You'd be surprised how little effort is required. One of my old teachers (a Classical Guitarist) showed me the techniques.

[@Bladavia]

Not using bends and slides sounds like pointlessly limiting your music and expression. Even jazz singers do it.