AdvancedAcoustic GuitarJazz

Exploring Jazz Guitar, by Phil Capone

Name: Exploring Jazz Guitar, by Phil Capone
Brand: MusicGurus
Author: Phil Capone

Phil Capone

Subscribe to unlock

$13/month

Unlocks this songbook + 5,000+ other lessons across every instrument.

Subscribe to Open

Everything on MusicGurus includedCancel anytime30-day refund

Subscribe to unlock

$13/month

Unlocks this songbook + 5,000+ other lessons across every instrument.

Subscribe to Open

Everything on MusicGurus includedCancel anytime30-day refund

Modules131

Replay songs16

InstrumentAcoustic Guitar, Guitar

LanguageEnglish

Contents (131 modules, 16 replay)

- 01. Introduction
- 01. 1. Static Minor Triads
- 02. The Minor 7th Chord & Arpeggio
- 03. The Aeolian Mode
- 04. The Dorian Mode
- 05. Minor Jam
- 06. Checkpoint
- 07. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 08. Pentatonic Superimposition
- 09. The Harmonic Minor
- 10. The Jazz Melodic Minor
- 11. Identity Crisis
- 12. Checkpoint
- 13. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 01. 2. Static Dominant 7th Chords
- 02. The Dominant 7th Chord & Arpeggio
- 03. The Mixolydian Mode
- 04. Dorian Superimposition
- 05. Seventh Heaven
- 06. Checkpoint
- 07. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 08. The Phrygian Dominant Mode
- 09. The Altered Scale
- 10. Secrets
- 11. Checkpoint
- 12. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 01. 3. Static Major 7th Chords
- 02. The Major 7th Chord & Arpeggio
- 03. The Major Scale
- 04. The Major Pentatonic
- 05. Pentatonic Superimposition
- 06. Happy To Be Blue
- 07. Checkpoint
- 08. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 09. The Lydian Mode
- 10. Using Pentatonic Superimposition
- 11. To Create Lydian Sounds
- 12. Winter Sun
- 13. Checkpoint
- 14. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 01. 4. The II - V - I
- 02. The Major II - V - I
- 03. Major II - V - I Guide Tones
- 04. Major II -V - I Arpeggios
- 05. Hitting The Changes
- 06. Checkpoint
- 07. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 08. The Minor II - V - I
- 09. Minor II -V - I Licks
- 10. Creating Tension
- 11. Three Way Freeway
- 12. Checkpoint
- 13. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 01. 5. The Jazz Blues Progression
- 02. The Basic Blues Progression
- 03. The Major Pentatonic
- 04. The Mixolydian Mode
- 05. The Basic Jazz 12-Bar
- 06. Sunnyside Up
- 07. Checkpoint
- 08. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 09. Modulating To Chord IV
- 10. The VI7 Chord
- 11. The Diminished Chord
- 12. Mr Smith Called
- 13. Checkpoint
- 14. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 01. 6. Adding Colour
- 02. The Minor 9th
- 03. The Dominant 9th
- 04. The Major 9th
- 05. Using 7th Chords To Create 9th Chords
- 06. The Dominant 11th Chord
- 07. Wake-Up Call
- 08. Checkpoint
- 09. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 10. The Dominant 7th Minor 9th Chord
- 11. The Dominant 7th Augmented 9th Chord
- 12. Into Somewhere
- 13. Checkpoint
- 14. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 01. 7. Time Signatures & Rhythms
- 02. The Jazz Waltz
- 03. 3/4 Comping Rhythms
- 04. Compound Time
- 05. 6/8 Comping Rhythms
- 06. Three Into Six
- 07. Checkpoint
- 08. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 09. The Bossa Nova
- 10. The Jazz Samba
- 11. Double Stop Comping
- 12. The Latin Quarter
- 13. Checkpoint
- 14. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 01. 8. Turnarounds & Rhythm
- 02. Changes
- 03. The I - VI - II - V Progression
- 04. Introducing Non-Diatonic Chords
- 05. Changing Chord II To A Secondary Dominant
- 06. Replacing Chord I With Chord III
- 07. Using III7 To Create A Series Of
- 08. Dominant 7ths
- 09. The Twister
- 10. Checkpoint
- 11. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 12. The Minor I - VI - II - V Progression
- 13. Substituting Secondary Dominants On VI & II
- 14. Minor Detail
- 15. Checkpoint
- 16. Assignments & Improvisation Tips
- 01. Conclusion
- 02. Suggested Listening
- 03. Index
- 04. Audio Track Listing
- 01. Minor Jam
- 02. Identity Crisis
- 03. Seventh Heaven
- 04. Secrets
- 05. Happy To Be Blue
- 06. Winter Sun
- 07. Hitting The Changes
- 08. Three Way Freeway
- 09. Sunnyside Up
- 10. Mr Smith Called
- 11. Wake-Up Call
- 12. Into Somewhere
- 13. Three Into Six
- 14. The Latin Quarter
- 15. The Twister
- 16. Minor Detail

About this songbook

If you want to sound like a real jazz guitarist, you need more than shapes - you need harmony, fingerboard clarity, and a practical improvising vocabulary. Exploring Jazz Guitar by Phil Capone gives you a structured route into jazz harmony, technique, and improvisation for guitar.

This book is not intended for the beginner. It uses TAB throughout, with standard notation above it to keep rhythm and phrasing clear. A standout feature is the author’s “minor-first” approach - starting in minor tonality to keep the material guitar-friendly and connected to the way most players actually learn scales and vocabulary.

You’ll work through essential jazz chord types and applications (minor, dominant 7th, major 7th), then step into core progressions like II - V - I, jazz blues, color tones (9ths, 11ths, altered dominants), time signatures and groove concepts, and finally turnarounds and rhythm changes.

To make the theory musical, there are two original tunes in each chapter with a full backing track on the accompanying CD. Each tune is built on the chord sequence of a popular jazz standard, so you’re practicing changes that translate to real sessions and gigs. Tracks are mixed so you can remove either the tune or the accompaniment with your balance control and practice performance skills step by step.

Use it like this:

Learn the concept, then play the examples slowly and cleanly
Move to the chapter tune and apply the idea in time
Press play and learn with the backing tracks - melody first, then comping, then solo choruses

Start now by picking a chapter and committing to its checkpoint and assignments. Turn the page and level up: this is jazz guitar training designed to stick.

Interactive Replay

Slow the tempo down

Practise any passage at your own speed — pitch stays correct.

Loop tricky bars

Select a section and drill it hands-free.

Fretboard & keyboard pop-ups

Notes light up on a guitar fretboard or piano keys as they play, with fingering shown.

Meet the Guru

Phil Capone

Phil Capone is a London-based jazz guitarist and educator who trained at the Guildhall School of Music. Drawing on years of professional playing and teaching, he has written a series of accessible instructional books for guitarists, including Exploring Jazz Guitar, which introduces jazz harmony, authentic voicings and improvisation techniques to players stepping into the idiom for the first time.

View artist page

Published with

Schott Music

Founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz in 1770, Schott Music is one of Europe's oldest and largest music publishers, with a catalogue of more than 30,000 titles. Over its 250-year history Schott has issued first editions of Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner, championed 20th-century voices from Hindemith and Schoenberg to Ligeti and Henze, and today publishes sheet music, books and educational materials from offices in Mainz, London, New York, Tokyo and beyond.

View the Publisher page