It’s essential for jazz guitarists to know chord progressions’ role in a song. In understanding this, you are able to lock into the harmonic principles of a song, and ultimately express yourself within and beyond these guidelines. As your learning progresses, you begin to recognize that there are common progressions found throughout all of jazz.
In 30 Jazz Progressions You MUST Know, Tom Dempsey will show you very fundamental elements of jazz. This includes reviewing standard song forms to help you take your jazz
Here are five videos from the course. For the full course and all thirty lessons, check out Tom Dempsey’s 30 Jazz Progressions You Must Know on TrueFire!
Classic Two Five One – Jazz Guitar Lesson
Download the tab & notation for this jazz guitar lesson
This lesson, “Classic Two Five One,” is an introduction to a II-V-I progression in a major key. Here, I show you two different ways to play a II-V-I progression in the key of C major. Having a firm understanding of the II-V-I progression and having a couple of good sets of voicings under your fingers will help you to sound like a jazz
Charleston Blue – Jazz Guitar Lesson
Download the tab & notation for this jazz guitar lesson
We’re going to call progression number thirteen, “Charleston Blue.” This is your standard jazz blues progression, so it’s found in so many tunes in the jazz repertoire. I’ll explain the theory behind it and give you a good set of chord voicings to use when playing this progression.
Maiden Voyage (Herbie Hancock) – Jazz Guitar Lesson
Download the tab & notation for this jazz guitar lesson
Progression number twenty we’re going to call “Modal Voyage.” This is based on the progression for the Herbie Hancock classic “Maiden Voyage.” I’ll show you the voicings and the theory behind the progression.
Sweet Georgia Brown (Ben Bernie) – Jazz Guitar Lesson
Download the tab & notation for this jazz guitar lesson
Progression twenty-three we call “Georgia Sweet.” This is a chord progression based on the chords to “Sweet Georgia Brown,” a jazz classic. I’ll explain the theory behind the tune and give you a good set of changes to use.
Tune Up (Miles Davis) – Jazz Guitar Lesson
Download the tab & notation for this jazz guitar lesson
Progression thirty is known as “Get Your Changes In Tune.” This is based on the Miles Davis classic “Tune Up.” The tune itself is a series of ii-V-I progressions in three different keys. Again, we’ll dive into the theory behind the progression.
Digging these free lessons? Check out Tom Dempsey’s full course, 30 Jazz Progressions You MUST Know.