[MakoMako]

A song I recently wrote has got a little bit of a jazz sort of set in it whenever I imagine it. The lyrics come out alot like a Dave Matthews song would, if that helps someone else to understand where I'm coming from.

Anyway, to the point. Since this song always has a jazzy feel in my head, I was wondering if there were any common stringing of chords that sounds good and, well, jazz-like. I'm already pretty decent at singing and playing, and I've got no trouble keeping a rhythem. I'm just wondering if anyone could through me out some chords I could possibly use.

Thanks in advance.

[robert2000]

Any maj7 is good.

[dadfad]

Ninths are good easily used jazzy chords, with easily added 13ths if desired, and from them 7#5's are easily moved into for a turnaround, etc. Take a simple 12-bar blues in C as an example. Using majors it would be of course C, F, and G, with a G turn-around if you had one. Working in 9ths you'd use C9 X32333, F9 X87888, G9 X 10 9 10 10 10. Changing any of those into 13ths while in that chord's tonic position is easily done by just adding the pinky on the 1 and 2 strings two frets above it. Like for C9 X32333 add your pinky to it holding X32355. Same on the other positions. An extremely jazzy "floating" kind of turnaround compared to a simple G or even a G9 might be a G7#5, held 32344X by just moving over one string into a shape very similar to a 9th. And of course any of these shapes can be moved around the board for other keys. I've found 9's are a pretty effective and easy way to add a little bit of a jazzy feel to a tune when I want that.

[cichlid_dmb]

Try a ii-V-I progression with seventh chords. In G major, that'd be Am7-D7-Gmaj7, and I like to throw in a G6 at the end just to give the progression an even four chords. A nice alternative for that fourth chord is the maj7 a major 4th up from the I, and in G that'd be Cmaj7.

Here are the most common voicings -

Am7 D7 Gmaj7 G6 Cmaj7
5x555x - x5453x - 3x443x - 3x243x or x3545x

But if you're a Dave fan, try these, they're a bit closer to the sort of voicings he favors:

Am D7 G Cmaj7
x 12 10 9 x x - 10 x 10 11 x x - x 10 9 7 x x - 8 x 9 9 x x

Sorry if I went over anything you already knew! Good luck with the rest of your tune.

[The Audience Is Listening]

Isn't I VI ii V a common jazz progression too?

[Graeme! Yes, Graeme!]

7ths, 9ths, 13ths... Essentially chords that expand on the basic triad help to create a jazzier sound as the nearly discordant notes tagged on create a more complex sound. Augmented and diminished chords are also pretty useful, but can be harder to fit in I find.