Take Control Of Your Jazz Guitar Playing
Hi, I’m Kyle Smith - a jazz guitarist and music educator based in Portland, Oregon.
I’ve been a guitar player for 31 years now… and 26 of those years have been spent learning, playing, and teaching jazz guitar.
I was lucky as a kid… I had a great jazz guitar teacher early on. His lessons (and a lot of hard work) led me to the jazz department at Eastern Washington University.
Learning On My Own
As soon as I got there though… I found that the guitar department had been cut - along with the amazing professor I was set up to study with.
The head of the department did set me up with a great classical guitar teacher to fulfill my degree requirements... but I was on my own for jazz guitar.
I really liked the overall jazz program, so I decided to stick around and start digging into jazz guitar on my own.
I emailed my old teachers and reached out to successful jazz guitarists to ask questions.
I bought hundreds of books and courses over the years.
I took lessons with every single pro who came through town to play, and sometimes I even drove 5 hours across Washington state to take a 1 hour jazz guitar lesson.
The head of the department did set me up with a great classical guitar teacher to fulfill my degree requirements... but I was on my own for jazz guitar.
I really liked the overall jazz program, so I decided to stick around and start digging into jazz guitar on my own.
I emailed my old teachers and reached out to successful jazz guitarists to ask questions.
I bought hundreds of books and courses over the years.
I took lessons with every single pro who came through town to play, and sometimes I even drove 5 hours across Washington state to take a 1 hour jazz guitar lesson.
Here's What I Found Out...
The advice a lot of players give out isn't really designed to help you.
Most of the strong opinions you'll see about what you "should" be doing are more about what that teacher or player likes to do for themselves… not about helping you get better at jazz guitar.
Most of the time, the advice you get is based on what that teacher or player is thinking about in their own playing right now… instead of helping you get from where you are now to where you want to be.
Most of the time, the advice you get is based on what that teacher or player is thinking about in their own playing right now… instead of helping you get from where you are now to where you want to be.
Most jazz guitar players chase the wrong information.
People want to learn all about the advanced jazz theory ideas, but what you really need is skill development… a step-by-step way to get the right sounds to come out of your guitar.
It's tempting to go looking for new jazz theory ideas when you get stuck in your playing. I get it! That was me for at least a decade.
But what really holds people back in my experience... is their mechanical skills. If your skills don't keep up with your theory knowledge, you're going to have a problem using what you know.
It's important to understand: at the end of the day music theory is mostly labels, facts, and terms. Knowing more theory by itself won't make you a better jazz guitar player.
Focus on building the right mechanics and strategies in your playing... and the music theory will take care of itself.
It's tempting to go looking for new jazz theory ideas when you get stuck in your playing. I get it! That was me for at least a decade.
But what really holds people back in my experience... is their mechanical skills. If your skills don't keep up with your theory knowledge, you're going to have a problem using what you know.
It's important to understand: at the end of the day music theory is mostly labels, facts, and terms. Knowing more theory by itself won't make you a better jazz guitar player.
Focus on building the right mechanics and strategies in your playing... and the music theory will take care of itself.
There are really only a couple of ways to approach playing guitar.
It all really comes down to the basics, and knowing how to use them well. You need good ways to organize your chords, scales, and arpeggios on the fretboard...
But once you really understand how it all fits together under your fingers, things get a lot easier.
But once you really understand how it all fits together under your fingers, things get a lot easier.
- You don't need to know every single scale shape - you need a handful of good scales, and you need to know how to use them.
- You don't need to study all the different types of chord voicings - you need a system that lets you create the chords you need, when you need them.
- You can play a lot of jazz with a small handful of carefully chosen skills - and sound better than a lot of the players who "know it all!"
A Better Way To Learn Jazz Guitar
There are systems that make jazz guitar easier to learn.
Contrary to the advice you’ll find on reddit, you don’t need to do everything all at once… in fact, doing too much is a guaranteed way to get stuck, confused, and frustrated.
The usual advice from players on many jazz guitar sites includes an overwhelming laundry list of skills, ideas, and techniques you must absorb before you can start playing jazz guitar.
A better approach is to learn a systematic approach to learning jazz guitar that makes the whole process easier, faster, and more fun.
A good system is simple, repeatable, and adaptable… so you don’t have to think so hard when you’re playing. It will help you master the elements of jazz guitar in the right order so you can keep making progress, week after week.
And once you’ve got the system under your fingers, you’ll have a starting point to work from when you come across a new concept, chord, or scale.
The usual advice from players on many jazz guitar sites includes an overwhelming laundry list of skills, ideas, and techniques you must absorb before you can start playing jazz guitar.
A better approach is to learn a systematic approach to learning jazz guitar that makes the whole process easier, faster, and more fun.
A good system is simple, repeatable, and adaptable… so you don’t have to think so hard when you’re playing. It will help you master the elements of jazz guitar in the right order so you can keep making progress, week after week.
And once you’ve got the system under your fingers, you’ll have a starting point to work from when you come across a new concept, chord, or scale.
You can play jazz guitar with a few simple chord shapes.
You don’t need to memorize 100’s of chord shapes to have a great chord vocabulary.
You do need a handful of chord shapes you can play that sound good… and you need to know how to work with them to create the specific chords you need for any given song.
And once you develop this skill, it’s actually easy to create any chord you need, on the spot, while you’re playing. You’ll never need to look up a chord again.
You do need a handful of chord shapes you can play that sound good… and you need to know how to work with them to create the specific chords you need for any given song.
And once you develop this skill, it’s actually easy to create any chord you need, on the spot, while you’re playing. You’ll never need to look up a chord again.
You can play great jazz guitar solos with simple scales.
You don’t need to spend hours of study on modes and arpeggios to be able to play great jazz guitar solos.
You can get your foot in the door and be successful with simple material to start, and build up your knowledge over time - as your skills improve.
If you know even a single scale pattern… you have enough to get started with playing jazz guitar solos.
You can get your foot in the door and be successful with simple material to start, and build up your knowledge over time - as your skills improve.
If you know even a single scale pattern… you have enough to get started with playing jazz guitar solos.
What You'll Find At Practical Guitar System:
Free Learning Resources
I want to show you a better way to learn jazz guitar... that’s why you can get most of my best material for free - right here.
Our blog articles are a comprehensive and growing free resource to help you develop your jazz guitar skills, and learn new techniques.
What you won’t find here are lessons that are mostly filler and recycled theory concepts - but you will find out how to effectively master jazz guitar… and get the music to come alive on your fretboard.
Our blog articles are a comprehensive and growing free resource to help you develop your jazz guitar skills, and learn new techniques.
What you won’t find here are lessons that are mostly filler and recycled theory concepts - but you will find out how to effectively master jazz guitar… and get the music to come alive on your fretboard.
Jazz Guitar Chord System
Our first course is a step-by-step system for playing jazz guitar chords.
This is the same system that I used to snag higher-profile jazz gigs that other “more experienced” guitar players in town wished they had. (And when I moved away... my old students got those gigs!)
It’s the same system I show my private students who want to learn jazz guitar fast.
This system is easy to use, and you’ll never need to look up a chord shape again. Check it out today.
This is the same system that I used to snag higher-profile jazz gigs that other “more experienced” guitar players in town wished they had. (And when I moved away... my old students got those gigs!)
It’s the same system I show my private students who want to learn jazz guitar fast.
This system is easy to use, and you’ll never need to look up a chord shape again. Check it out today.
Personalized Jazz Guitar Coaching
Work directly with me and get a custom-tailored plan to boost your jazz guitar skills.
I’ll help you improve every aspect of your jazz guitar playing… from chord vocabulary, to soloing, to mastering the fretboard once and for all.
I’ll help you put the pieces together and become the best jazz guitar player you can be. Contact me today for details.
I’ll help you improve every aspect of your jazz guitar playing… from chord vocabulary, to soloing, to mastering the fretboard once and for all.
I’ll help you put the pieces together and become the best jazz guitar player you can be. Contact me today for details.
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