Stuggling to learn jazz chords… again
My own musical adventure began mostly with banjo and some guitar, failed attempts at fiddle, but almost all in folk, bluegrass and old time music. Gradually I brushed up against chord progressions that were more sophisticated than three-chord folk songs. My cousin played songs from the ragtime-influenced bluesmen of the Delta and I was fascinated by the unexpected twists and turns these progressions would take. Now after over 40 years of using the “primary color paintbox” of folk chords, I hunger to inherit the gorgeous and subtle hues of jazz chords.
The first two chords I was able to recognize the sounds of were major seventh chords and diminished chords. Major sevenths overused have started to sound corny to me. Perhaps this is a mark of progress! I invested in three products from 99 Cent Guitar Lessons. I for less than ten bucks I bought “Dirty Dozen Jazz Chords”, “Dirty Dozen Progressions” and “EZ Comp: Day in the Life of a Fool.” I am listening to it over and over on my ipod trying to hear 6/9 chords, minor 7 flat fives, augmented 7ths and so forth. It makes me sympathize with my newbie students. I am struggling to create new musical spaces in my brain that do not exist.
Older brains do not do this as easily as younger brains. However, someone once said that knowledge is like velcro. The more you have, the more things you can stick to it. The music and music theory I have done up to this point help tremendously, but it is still a matter of forging new neural pathways.
