Blues and jazz chords add soul, sophistication, and color to your playing. Whether you’re jamming over a 12-bar blues or navigating a jazz standard, this guide covers the essential chord voicings and progressions.
Blues Chords on Guitar
The 12-Bar Blues
The 12-bar blues is the most important progression in popular music. In the key of E:
| E7 | E7 | E7 | E7 |
| A7 | A7 | E7 | E7 |
| B7 | A7 | E7 | B7 |
These three chords (I7, IV7, V7) are the foundation of blues. The same pattern works in any key.
Essential Blues Chord Voicings
E7: 020100 – The classic open blues chord
A7: x02020 – Open and bluesy
B7: x21202 – Common turnaround chord
E9: 020102 – Funky blues chord
A9: x02423 – Stevie Ray Vaughan favorite
Dominant 7th Barre Shapes
E-shape dom7: Take the E-shape barre chord and lift your pinky
A-shape dom7: Take the A-shape barre chord, play x-1-3-1-3-1
Jazz Chords on Guitar
Essential Jazz Voicings
Jazz guitar typically uses 3-4 note voicings on the middle strings:
Major 7th (Cmaj7): x-3-2-0-0-0 or x-3-5-4-5-x
Minor 7th (Am7): x-0-2-0-1-0 or 5-x-5-5-5-x
Dominant 7th (G7): 3-2-0-0-0-1 or 3-x-3-4-3-x
Minor 7b5 / Half-Diminished (Bm7b5): x-2-3-2-3-x
Diminished 7th (Bdim7): x-2-3-1-3-x
The ii-V-I Progression
The most important jazz progression:
– In C major: Dm7 → G7 → Cmaj7
– In G major: Am7 → D7 → Gmaj7
Jazz Standards to Learn
– “Fly Me to the Moon” (Am-Dm-G7-C)
– “Autumn Leaves” (Am-Dm-G7-C-F-Bm7b5-E7)
– “Girl from Ipanema” (Fmaj7-G7-Gm7-Gb7)
– “Misty” (Cmaj7-Dm7-G7-Am7)
Jazz Chords on Piano
Piano jazz voicings often use “rootless” voicings where the left hand plays the root and the right hand plays the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and extensions:
Cmaj7 voicing: Left hand: C | Right hand: E-G-B
Dm7 voicing: Left hand: D | Right hand: F-A-C
G7 voicing: Left hand: G | Right hand: B-D-F
Bossa Nova Chords
Bossa nova uses rich, warm chord voicings with syncopated rhythms:
Common bossa voicings on guitar:
Fmaj7: 1-x-2-2-1-x
G7: 3-x-3-4-3-x
Am7: 5-x-5-5-5-x
The classic bossa nova rhythm: bass note on beat 1, chord on the “and” of beat 2, bass on beat 3, chord on beat 4.
Chord Substitutions
Jazz musicians frequently substitute chords for variety:
Tritone substitution: Replace a dominant 7th with the dom7 a tritone away (G7 → Db7)
Relative minor: Replace a major chord with its relative minor (C → Am)
Secondary dominants: Add a V7 before any chord (A7 before Dm)
Explore our collection of jazz chord songs and blues chord songs to practice these voicings!