Easy Jazz Guitar Chords On The 6th String

9/11/2019

When you’re just getting started in jazz guitar, learning the right kinds of chords is probably going to be your top priority.

Whether you’re playing in a school jazz band or you’re interested in jazz guitar to pick up a new style for yourself, knowing the right types of chords is an essential element of your jazz guitar playing.

That’s where the chords in this lesson come in. With these simple 3 note chords starting on the 6th string, you’ll be able to create the basic structure for any jazz guitar chord you need.

These chords are a great starting point for learning jazz guitar - they are easy to learn, easy to play, and they sound good.

In this lesson you’re going to learn the basic 3 note jazz guitar chord shape starting on the 6th string. You’ll also learn how to change this shape to create any chord you need using basic music theory rules.

3 Note Chords For Jazz Guitar

Here we are learning some basic 3 note jazz guitar chords that will help simplify the learning process for you. These chords have 3 essential structural notes of each chord - the root (1), the third (3), and the seventh (7).

Here’s why these notes are important:

The root (1) tells you what the letter name of a chord is. If the root is a Bb, you are playing a Bb Chord. If the root is a G, you’re playing a G chord
The third (3) tells you whether the shape is major or minor. A natural third (3) gives you a major shape, and the flat third (b3) gives you a minor shape.
After you’ve determined whether the chord is major or minor, the seventh is either a major seventh (maj7) or a dominant seventh (7).

Together these three notes give you the tools you need in order to get started playing jazz guitar chords that will sound good, and build a foundation for more colorful chords in the future.

The really nice thing about these chords is that they are movable shapes or forms. You can learn to play a 7th chord once, and then you technically know the 7th chord in every key.

Since the root for these chords is on the 6th string, you just need to learn the notes on the 6th string and you’ll always know what chord you’re playing.

Need help learning the notes on the 6th string? Click here to get started.

Sometimes these chords are called “shell voicings” - because they don’t have the 5th of the chord, they won’t conflict with a piano player, big band horn section, or a soloist.

These jazz guitar chords will give you everything you need at a basic level, they’re easy to learn, and they sound good.

6th String Chord Structure

These chords are going to use what I call a 6th string chord structure, or 6th string form.

The notes of the chord (chord tones) that we are going to use are the root (1), the seventh (7), and the third (3), in that order from lowest to highest note.

No matter what type of chord we create that structure will be the same - root on the bottom, the seventh above that, and the third above that.

Primary Chord Shapes:

Major 7th Chord

The major 7th chord is built 1 7 3 for this chord shape.

Recommended fingering:

Index finger on the root (6th string)
Middle finger on the 7th (4th string)
Ring finger on the 3rd (3rd string)

Playing recommendation:

You can strum it - just be careful to only hit strings that have a finger on them - these are 3 note chords

For strumming, let the index finger be a little bit lazy so it mutes the 5th string. Before too long you’ll develop the pick control to stop your strum after the 3rd string
You can also Pluck the 3 strings we are playing using various fingerstyle techniques
Just be sure to use the technique that fits your playing situation and style

Common Chord Symbols: (assuming a G root - 6th string, 3rd fret)

Gmaj7, G∆7, Gmaj9, Gmaj7#11, etc
If it has any kind of major indication after the letter name for the chord, this shape will work for you
Exception: Maj6, Maj6/9 - we’ll see a shape for these chords later

To Practice:

Spend some time playing this chord all over the guitar neck
Get used to putting your fingers down on the major 7th chord shape

Dominant 7th Chord

The change: From Major 7th, lower the 7th by one fret (1/2 step)

Move your middle finger one fret lower, keeping everything else the same
Now you have a dominant 7th chord

Recommended fingering:

index finger on the root (6th string)
middle finger on the b7th (4th string)
ring finger on the 3rd (3rd string)

Playing recommendation

You can strum it - just be careful to only hit strings that have a finger on them - these are 3 note chords
For strumming, let the index finger be a little bit lazy so it mutes the 5th string. Before too long you’ll develop the pick control to stop your strum after the 3rd string
You can also Pluck the 3 strings we are playing using various fingerstyle techniques
Just be sure to use the technique that fits your playing situation and style

Common Chord Symbols: (assuming a G root - 6th string, 3rd fret)

G7, G9, G7#11, G13 etc
If it has any kind of number indication after the letter name for the chord, this shape will work for you
Exception: 6, 6/9 - we’ll see a shape for these chords later

To Practice:

Spend some time playing this chord all over the guitar neck
Get used to putting your fingers down on the dominant 7th chord shape

Minor 7th Chord

The minor 7th chord is built 1 b7 b3 for this chord shape.

The change: from the dominant 7th chord, lower the 3rd by one fret (1/2 step)

Move your ring finger one fret lower, keeping everything else the same
Now you have a minor 7th chord

Recommended fingering:

Index finger on the root (6th string)
Middle finger on the b7th (4th string)
Ring finger on the b3rd (3rd string)

Playing recommendation:

You can strum it - just be careful to only hit strings that have a finger on them - these are 3 note chords
For strumming, let the index finger be a little bit lazy so it mutes the 5th string. Before too long you’ll develop the pick control to stop your strum after the 3rd string
You can also Pluck the 3 strings we are playing using various fingerstyle techniques
Just be sure to use the technique that fits your playing situation and style

Common Chord Symbols: (assuming a G root - 6th string, 3rd fret)

Gm7, Gmin7, G-7, G-9, G-11, etc
If it has any kind of minus sign, lowercase m, or the abbreviation min after the letter name for the chord, this shape will work for you
This will also work on minor 7b5 chords, also called half-diminished chords: G-7b5, Gø7. This works because there is no 5th in our chord shape, and the rest of the notes are correct. You’ll learn how to add the b5 to get the full sound of the chord in a later lesson
Exception: min6, min6/9 - we’ll see a shape for these chords later

To Practice:

Spend some time playing this chord all over the guitar neck
Get used to putting your fingers down on the minor 7th chord shape

Bonus Chord Shapes - 6th Chords

Learning 6th chords can be really useful for your jazz guitar playing because both the major and the minor 6th chords can serve more than one function without adding any extra notes.

The basic structure of these chords is the same as the 7th chords, but the 6th replaces the 7th as a chord tone.

If you are comfortable with your major, dominant, and minor 7th chords, these will be easy for you to learn and use.

Major 6th Chord

The major 6th chord is built 1 6 3 for this chord shape.

Recommended fingering:

middle finger on the root (6th string)
index finger on the 6th (4th string)
ring finger on the 3rd (3rd string)

Playing recommendation:

You can strum it - just be careful to only hit strings that have a finger on them - these are 3 note chords
For strumming, let the middle finger be a little bit lazy so it mutes the 5th string. Before too long you’ll develop the pick control to stop your strum after the 3rd string
You can also Pluck the 3 strings we are playing using various fingerstyle techniques
Just be sure to use the technique that fits your playing situation and style

Common Chord Symbols: (assuming a G root - 6th string, 3rd fret)

Gmaj6, G6, G6/9, etc
If it has any kind of 6 indication after the letter name for the chord, this shape will work for you

Extra Uses:

This chord shape can be used in some charts where a triad is written (G)
This will add a little color, without getting in the way of other harmony
It can also be used in place of a maj7 in some cases
Always use your ears to make sure what you are playing is sounding good

To Practice:

Spend some time playing this chord all over the guitar neck
Get used to putting your fingers down on the major 6th chord shape

Minor 6th Chord

The minor 6th chord is built 1 6 b3 for this chord shape.

The change: from the major 6th chord, lower the 3rd by one fret (1/2 step)

Move your ring finger one fret lower, keeping everything else the same
Now you have a minor 6th chord

Recommended fingering:

Middle finger on the root (6th string)
Index finger on the 6th (4th string)
Ring finger on the b3rd (3rd string)

Playing recommendation:

You can strum it - just be careful to only hit strings that have a finger on them - these are 3 note chords
For strumming, let the middle finger be a little bit lazy so it mutes the 5th string. Before too long you’ll develop the pick control to stop your strum after the 3rd string
You can also Pluck the 3 strings we are playing using various fingerstyle techniques
Just be sure to use the technique that fits your playing situation and style

Common Chord Symbols: (assuming a G root - 6th string, 3rd fret)

Gmin6, G-6, G-6/9, etc
If it has any kind of minor indication after the letter name for the chord followed by a 6, this shape will work for you

Extra Uses:

This chord shape can be used in some charts where a minor triad is called for (G-)
This will add a little color, without getting in the way of other harmony
It can also be used in place of a min7 in some cases
Always use your ears to make sure what you are playing is sounding good
This shape can also be used to play diminished chords
This works because there is no 5th in this chord shape, but all of the other notes are correct for a diminished chord
We’ll learn how to add the b5 and get a true diminished chord in a later lesson

To Practice:

Spend some time playing this chord all over the guitar neck
Get used to putting your fingers down on the minor 6th chord shape

Things To Think About:

Learning these easy jazz guitar chords will help you build any chord you need in the course of playing jazz songs. They are easy to learn, they sound good, and they let you play jazz chords that work for a lot of musical situations.

Keep practicing these 3 note chords, and try to apply them to jazz songs as soon as possible. Remember that these are movable chords, so if you learn the notes along the 6th string, you can play any chord in any key.

Try to get comfortable with these chords, and let me know how it goes. If you have any questions or need help, click here to contact me. I’m always happy to help!

Related Guitar Lessons

I hope you enjoyed this lesson. Here are a couple of related guitar lessons that you might find helpful:

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