The Ultimate Guitar Chord Series: Jazz Chords: Guitar Book

This book treats jazz chord voicings not as isolated shapes to memorize but as functional tools within real progressions. Latarski shows you the ii-V7-I, turnarounds, and blues changes as they actually occur in jazz, which means students learn theory and application simultaneously rather than one after the other.

Focused and purposeful. This book cuts through the noise and gives you exactly what you need to comp confidently over jazz standards and blues changes.

Jazz guitarists moving beyond basic triads who want to understand how chords work together in real jazz contexts. Intermediate players who need a structured reference for voicing options without the overwhelming scope of a comprehensive harmony text.

• Spend time with the voicing diagrams before moving to progressions; lock in the finger positions so you can shift between chords fluidly without looking at your hands.
• Practice the ii-V7-I progression in multiple keys using these voicings. The pattern transfers across the neck once your fingers understand the function, not just the shape.
• Record yourself playing the progressions at a slow tempo, then gradually increase speed. This builds muscle memory and reveals which voicings feel awkward in your hand so you can adjust.

Use this as the core reference for any guitarist working toward jazz ensemble participation or jazz combo performance. It works equally well as a supplementary text in a jazz history or theory course where students are learning the harmonic language of jazz.

• Reading chord voicing diagrams and translating them to the fretboard
• Understanding voice leading and chord function in ii-V7-I progressions
• Playing major, minor, and dominant chord voicings in jazz context
• Recognizing and executing turnaround and blues progression changes
• Building fluency moving between related chord voicings in multiple keys