Throughout the 1960’s, we saw the rise of great jazz guitar players such as Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, Howard Johnson, and George Benson. They were known for playing with organ trios commanded by organists like Johnny “Hammond” Smith, “Brother” Jack McDuff, and Richard “Groove” Holmes. This flavor of jazz, which was rooted in the blues, and tied in elements of R&B, is still a popular sub-genre of the style.
In his course, Jazz Inspirations, Henry Johnson helps you expand your blues improv vocabulary while paying homage to these great, inspirational jazz legends.
Here are six video jazz guitar lessons from the course. For the full course, check out Henry Johnson’s Jazz Inspirations on TrueFire!
Jazz Guitar Lesson – A Minor Event: Overview
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This next tune is called “A Minor Event” – named so because it’s in the key of F minor. Let’s check it out.
Jazz Guitar Lesson – A Minor Event: Performance
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Here’s my performance of “A Minor Event”. The phrases here are an example of playing melodically with one finger, double-time phrases, and playing colors in the minor shapes.
Jazz Guitar Lesson – A Minor Event: Breakdown
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Let’s break down “A Minor Event”. The phrases here are an example of playing melodically with one finger, double-time phrases, and playing colors in the minor shapes.
Jazz Guitar Lesson – Organic Funk: Overview
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This one is a funky blues in E, using different positions of the pentatonic to develop our soloing phrases. This will allow us to pull out some new colors from it, just by changing where we’re playing at.
Jazz Guitar Lesson – Organic Funk: Performance
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Here’s my performance of “Organic Funk”. I’m playing blues, double-stops, and double-time phrases against a funky rhythm on this one.
Jazz Guitar Lesson – Organic Funk: Breakdown
Download the tab & notation for this jazz guitar lesson
Let’s break down “Organic Funk”. Here, I’ll explain some new ways of using the pentatonic to create different sounds and colors when soloing.
Digging these video jazz guitar lessons? Check out Henry Johnson’s Jazz Inspirations on TrueFire.