Welcome to Jazztheorylessons.com, the best place to find lessons on jazz theory and improvisation. If you are looking to learn jazz theory then our free jazz lessons will help you. We will be adding new and interesting jazz theory lessons each week. Our site is here to make learning jazz theory fun and interesting. We have lessons on scales, jazz chords, modes, arpeggios and jazz repertoire. 
When we start playing jazz getting a good understanding of altered chords is a must, but unfortunately they can be confusing when you first see them. Here is a quick guide to altered dominant chord tones and how they work. We will use a simple C7 chord as the basis for all our alterations in this example. Perhaps I think differently about altered chords but this is my method for understanding altered chord tones.
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Have you ever wondered how we find out which scales to play over which chords? This article should help you. A recent comment on the site asked the question of
“How do you know which scales go with which chords?”
This is a really problematic area for many new jazz players but it need not be. The idea of finding which scale to use over which chord is actually fairly simple but confuses a lot of people. I will do some more articles on this topic in the future. For now let’s take a look at how we find out which scales to play over a simple dominant 7 chord.
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If you are looking for some jazz guitar inspiration then this list of amazing jazz guitar albums might help you out. There are so many great jazz guitar CD’s out there that choosing ten great ones is a tricky task. I have tried to pick some great albums which span as many genres and time periods as possible. Bear in mind these are just my opinion and there are many great jazz guitar CD’s I have probably missed out. I recommend getting hold of all of these albums if you are serious about learning jazz guitar.
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This is another installment in our guide to intervallic sequences in jazz. Playing through these interval sequences will improve your overall technique, give you interesting musical ideas and also improve your aural skills. You should ideally be able to recognize the sounds of all of these intervals instantly.
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Welcome to the third part in our guide to intervallic sequences. Playing through these interval sequences will improve your jazz technique and aural skills as well as making scale practice more interesting. So far we have covered the 3rd interval and also the 4th interval.
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Yesterday I showed you how to practice playing through the C major scale using thirds and now it is the turn of the fourth interval. If you read the previous lesson then you probably have a good idea about how these interval sequences are done. Fourths have a very modern and open sound to them but they are pretty tricky to play on guitar due to the nature of the instrument. If you play piano or any other instrument then you shouldn’t have too much trouble with these sequences.
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Sequences are on of the most effective way of learning new scales and improving your technique. Another great thing about sequences is that they sound a lot more musical than simply running straight up and down the scales and should make your practice time more interesting and rewarding. In this lesson I will show you the thirds sequence which is a very commonly used practice tool and musical device.
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