2canoe
Verified buyer
10/25/25
Add a Jazz lean to your Blues
Jazz for blues players is a good course reviewing the basic scales and triads and moving into more complex ideas od the blues /jazz transition. Thanks Truefire
Jazz Guitar for Blues Players (JamPlay)
Jazz-Inspired Techniques to Revolutionize Your Blues Playing
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Stuart Ziff
Educator
Genres
About this course
Most blues guitarists spend the majority of their practice time learning and applying the fundamentals of the blues, often overlooking the importance that jazz guitar techniques can have on their playing and sound. Studying jazz can reap a multitude of benefits in your blues guitar playing — it’ll help expand your musical vocabulary of chords, scales and modes, sharpen your improvisational skills, and much more.
In Stuart Ziff’s Jazz Guitar for Blues Players, you’ll study solos inspired by legends of jazz, and learn how to incorporate their styles into your blues playing.
“If you're a blues guitar player and have been exposed to the likes of Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and Grant Green, you might wonder if you can adopt their style. This course is designed to help you start to grasp that style of playing. Blues is a fundamental part of jazz language.
By learning these solos, you'll begin to perceive jazz in a new light. Your blues playing will sound much jazzier, and you'll gain a better understanding of swing. This course will prepare you for more advanced aspects of playing jazz.”
You’ll have TrueFire’s interactive learning tools at your fingertips to personalize your workspace and learn at your own pace.
The demonstrations and performances are tabbed, notated, and synced to the video with controls for looping, slow motion, fretboard animation, and many other tools designed to accelerate the learning process.
You’ll also get tab and standard notation files to print out, Guitar Pro files, and backing tracks to practice with.
Grab your guitar, and let’s dig in with Stuart Ziff!
In Stuart Ziff’s Jazz Guitar for Blues Players, you’ll study solos inspired by legends of jazz, and learn how to incorporate their styles into your blues playing.
“If you're a blues guitar player and have been exposed to the likes of Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and Grant Green, you might wonder if you can adopt their style. This course is designed to help you start to grasp that style of playing. Blues is a fundamental part of jazz language.
By learning these solos, you'll begin to perceive jazz in a new light. Your blues playing will sound much jazzier, and you'll gain a better understanding of swing. This course will prepare you for more advanced aspects of playing jazz.”
You’ll have TrueFire’s interactive learning tools at your fingertips to personalize your workspace and learn at your own pace.
The demonstrations and performances are tabbed, notated, and synced to the video with controls for looping, slow motion, fretboard animation, and many other tools designed to accelerate the learning process.
You’ll also get tab and standard notation files to print out, Guitar Pro files, and backing tracks to practice with.
Grab your guitar, and let’s dig in with Stuart Ziff!
What you'll learn
- Master the combination of bluesy feel with jazz harmony
- Understand how arpeggios and chord tones create jazz vocabulary
- Develop ability to carry a melodic motif through different scale substitutions
- Learn to play a 12-bar Kenny Burrell-style jazz blues solo phrase by phrase
- Improve time feel by playing behind the beat in slow blues contexts
Release date: 02/22/2024 • 3h 15m runtime
Sample lessons
Blues Scale vs. Dominant Arpeggios
Concept & Demo
In the Style of Kenny Burrell | Rhythm
Concept & Demo
In the Style of Kenny Burrell | Lead
Concept & Demo
Kenny Burrell Slow Blues | Part 1
Concept & Demo
What's included
23 lessons • 22 charts • 5 Jam Tracks
Jazz Guitar for Blues Players
Hi, this is Stuart Ziff, and welcome to Jazz Guitar for Blues Players. If you're a blues guitar player and have been exposed to the likes of Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, and Grant Green, you might wonder if you can adopt their style. This course is designed to help you start to grasp that style of playing. Blues is a fundamental part of jazz language.
By learning these solos, you'll begin to perceive jazz in a new light. Your blues playing will sound much jazzier, and you'll gain a better understanding of swing. This course will prepare you for more advanced aspects of playing jazz. So, grab your guitar, and let's dive into learning how to groove with a jazzy, bluesy flair.
By learning these solos, you'll begin to perceive jazz in a new light. Your blues playing will sound much jazzier, and you'll gain a better understanding of swing. This course will prepare you for more advanced aspects of playing jazz. So, grab your guitar, and let's dive into learning how to groove with a jazzy, bluesy flair.
The Jazz Blues Sound
In this lesson, we explored the integration of jazz and blues, highlighting the historical context and the evolution of this genre. We discussed the significance of incorporating more complex chord progressions into the blues format and outlined the importance of arpeggios and chord tones in crafting jazz blues solos. Additionally, we examined the approach to rhythm guitar in jazz blues, focusing on creating space and providing a solid foundation for improvisation. By studying these elements, you'll gain insights into playing jazz blues with sophistication, enhancing your improvisational skills and understanding of this rich musical tradition.
Dominant 7th Arpeggios
In this lesson, we explore the importance of arpeggios in jazz and how they form the backbone of chord-based improvisation. We'll learn why mastering arpeggios is crucial for jazz blues guitarists, moving beyond mere scale playing to embrace the nuanced use of chord tones for transitions between chords. Highlighting the practice in all 12 keys, this lesson provides the foundation for improvising over jazz blues progressions and introduces the method of practicing dominant 7th arpeggios, starting with the key of Bb. Through this approach, we aim to enhance your understanding and application of jazz blues techniques, preparing you for a more sophisticated level of playing.
Major and Minor 7th Arpeggios
In this lesson, we explore major and minor 7th arpeggios, focusing on their structure, inversions, and applications in jazz music. We will delve into the Bb major 7th arpeggio and its inversions, demonstrating their integral role in jazz improvisation and composition. Additionally, we will study minor 7th arpeggios, particularly in the context of blues in C minor, to understand how they can enhance blues scale improvisations. This foundational knowledge will prepare us for analyzing solos by jazz greats like Charlie Christian and Kenny Burrell, highlighting the practical use of these arpeggios in jazz and blues contexts.
Blues Scale vs. Dominant Arpeggios
In this lesson, we will explore the blues scale, emphasizing its critical role in jazz through the inclusion of the flat 5th interval. We'll examine how to integrate this scale with the dominant 7th arpeggio, focusing on the key of Bb. Through practical exercises, we'll learn to ascend with the blues scale and descend with the arpeggio, and vice versa, to blend these elements effectively. This method not only enriches the sound with a bluesy, jazzy flavor but also enhances our ability to accentuate chord progressions. This foundational skill will be demonstrated through play-along exercises, preparing us for more advanced improvisational techniques.
Comping
In this lesson, we explore comping, or playing rhythm guitar, with an emphasis on leaving space for the band and aligning with the rhythm section. We'll cover the importance of listening to other instruments, playing with the upbeat, and employing voice leading to navigate chord progressions. Additionally, we'll focus on using the 3rd and 7th intervals of chords to define their sound without overcrowding the musical arrangement. Through a demonstration, we will apply these concepts in a live band context, highlighting how to support a soloist effectively while contributing to the overall groove and harmony.
Putting it Together
In this lesson, we will synthesize our knowledge of arpeggios, the blues scale, and rhythm with the introduction of a Wes Montgomery phrase, suitable for a 2-5 progression. We will also delve into a Grant Green-style melody, enhancing our practice by moving beyond mere backing tracks to playing a structured song. This approach not only enriches our improvisational skills but also frames our playing within the context of a tangible musical piece. By employing these techniques, including the integration of a classic jazz phrase, we aim to elevate our soloing capabilities, setting the stage for further exploration in upcoming lessons.
+ 16 more lessons
Reviews
7 results
rstrato
Verified buyer
03/08/25
Jazz blues essentials
It's a good course, with essential jazz and blues guitar concepts well explained, as an introduction to basic pieces by jazz-blues masters. The course is didactic and with the built-in backingtracks it is easy to follow the teachings of Stuart Ziff and emulate the greats players of jazz-blues.
Bluesguit
Verified buyer
02/25/25
Stuart Ziff's Jazz Guitar for Blues Players (JamPlay)
I'm just getting into it and I think it will add a lot. I do think that he was too parsimonious when adding the chord symbols above the notation. This would have helped a lot.
mvax2
Verified buyer
08/31/24
french review
video method well built allows to advance step by step well explained especially for a French language guitarist like me I recommend
Billblanchard
Verified buyer
07/20/24
Blues/jazz fun
Still just getting into it, but the material is presented to me in an easy to understand manner. That, in itself, goes a long way!
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