Practical Harmony For Jazz Guitar Vol.3

NOTE: Volumes 2-4 expain a lot of the historical information for chord progressions. Volume 5 onward will be where we look at things from a practical perspective.

Volume 3 picks up where volume 2 left off. We have seen how the I and V chords can become intricate. Now it is time to explore some of the most common chord functions and progressions in tonal music. You will understand where a lot of seemingly complex chords found in contemporary standards actually originally came from simple chords. The nature of the V7 chord is explored in detail here. In different contexts, the V7 chord had different tendencies, and this was widely used in the early jazz. However, as the years went by and due to the fact that most musicians were self-taught, things became more and more ambiguous. By studying the original use, you will have a better understanding of how musicians from the bebop era made use of ambiguity to create intricate lines that are not bound to a particular chordscale/mode.

A course from the owner of DC Music School.

Over the years, I have spent countless hours directly going to the source and figured out what a lot of the old masters of jazz music were doing. The results were very fascinating as they often did things that went against conventional wisdom in contemporary jazz education. Quite often, in contemporary jazz education, we repeat things we are taught without really investigating where certain statements come from, and as the generations go by, these lessons become so standardized.

This course aims to go back to the very beginning and justify each statement by investigating what was actually being done. In most institutions around the world, jazz education follows a codified method. However, this codified method often ignores the earlier days of jazz, which results in a slightly distorted perspective on topics such as harmony. Very few contemporary jazz educators are aware of the evolution of certain standards and chord progressions.

I hope that this course can change the way most people perceive harmony as it will explain where a lot of common chord progressions come from, and it is often a very logical and natural evolution.