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Jazz music offers a wealth of inspiration for any musician. Many popular artists like John Mayer incorporate jazz stylings into their music. Today we’re going to be taking a look at some basic chord shapes and rhythmic techniques to get you started playing jazz guitar.

Chord Shapes

Jazz rhythm is made up mostly of 7th chords and extensions of them.  The guitar parts of jazz bands are meant to lay smoothly in the background, so more sparse, closed chords are the preferred method of playing. All of the chords below use the low E and A strings to play the root note of the chord, and plays the rest of the chord on the D,G, & B strings (Click to view full-size image):

These are the all the chord shapes for both strings for all of the 7th chords found in the major and minor scales.

Tips for Playing Jazz Rhythm

• Get the Right Tone - Jazz rhythm guitarists usually use a subdued, almost muffled tone. Always use your neck pickup when playing, and try turning your volume knob down to about 6-7. You may also want to the trim the treble on your amp a little bit. Just make sure your sound isn’t using too much of the bass frequency, because a) it will make it sound unclear, and b) you’ll be fighting for too much sonic space with the bass drum and the bassist. The guitar’s main tonal range is still going to be in the midrange.
• The Strumming Style - most guitarists either strum the notes on all 4 beats, or strum the bass on beats 1 and 3, and the rest of the chord on beats 2 and 4. Just listen to song, and try to play what sounds best.
• Improv a little - Jazz is all about improvisation and freeform playing, which is what makes it such a fun genre.  Try expierimenting a little bit, and just play what sounds good and feels great, and you’ll be ok.