Use Them Over a ii-V-I in a Solo?Jazz Guitar Upper Structures: How Do You
An upper structure doesn't work as a single chord — it works inside a chord change. Here's how to hear Dm7–G7–Cmaj7 as Fmaj7, Fmaj7♭5 and Em7, and why the guide-tone line has to come first.
Jazz Guitar Chords for Beginners: Do You Need to Memorize Every Chord and Tension?
You don't need to memorize every jazz chord and tension to start. Learn one connected system — shell voicings on a ii-V-I, then the guide tones inside them — and reuse it on every tune you play.
What Is a ii-V-I, Really? It’s How Songs Learned to End
The ii-V-I is a cadence — the classical art of ending a piece — with one extra link of circle-of-fifths bass motion bolted on. Understand it as an ending and every ii-V in the middle of a tune suddenly makes sense.
Hearing Harmonic Rhythm: How Dominant Function Drives the II–V–I
If you’ve been playing jazz guitar for a few years, you already know what a II–V–I progression looks like. You can name the chords, you can find them on the fretboard, you can probably improvise a passable line over them in a familiar key.