Jazz Guitar Lessons • When Sunny Gets Blue (Chords, Chord Chart, and Melody Line)

For a Chord Melody arrangement please see the lesson:

• When Sunny Gets Blue Chord Melody

More Jazz guitar lessons:

• Jazz Guitar Lessons • Chord Substitution
• Jazz Guitar Lessons • When Sunny Gets Blue (Chord Chart, Melody, Chord Progression)
• Jazz Guitar Lessons • What A Wonderful World

Chords

All these chord shapes are fairly common voicings. Make sure you have the right fingering and fret positions. None of them contain open strings, all are moveable. Try playing them on different frets, but always be aware of the name of the chord. Eg: move the Bbm7 one fret higher and you are playing Bm7. To hear the beautiful sound that can be created, try the ever popular I II V progression. In this key, play the AbMaj7 voicing at the end of the first line, then move to the Bbm7 and Eb7 shapes at the beginning of the line. This is an incredibly, pleasing sound to the ear. Practice this up and down the fretboard. Also, try 'grabbing' the chords, instead of strumming. Play the bass note (the lowest note of the chord) with your thumb, the remaining notes with the fingers of your strumming hand.

Chart

This is a common arrangement: 2 verses, bridge, outro (verse). This chart works well when backing up a vocalist or 'comping' behind a soloist. A rhythm player's highest priority is to not interfere with the lead player. Playing too much or trying to compete with the soloist results in a cluttered, noisy mess! Lay back and let them have the spotlight.

Melody Line

Beautiful! Learn to play this evenly and in time, as a stand-alone piece. As stated in a previous Hub, you can never know too many melodies. Obviously, all the notes fit perfectly over the chords. No guessing involved. Try to sing or hum as you play to improve your ear, and to really get behind the sound.