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Your First Jazz Tune—
Four Levels

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FREE LESSON BOOK: YOUR FIRST JAZZ TUNE—FOUR LEVELS 2

Your First Jazz Tune—

Four Levels

The importance of learning and using jazz

tunes can’t be understated when it comes to
learning the fretboard—they’re the perfect
tool for you to use (and doesn’t even require
you to even like jazz).

Join Scott Devine as he demonstrates the

four steps to learning your first jazz tune. And
who knows, perhaps many more, too!

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FREE LESSON BOOK: YOUR FIRST JAZZ TUNE—FOUR LEVELS 3

Jazz in Four Levels

Let’s dive right in and take a look at the following chord progression,
which follows the classic jazz standard “Autumn Leaves”:

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7

? bb 4 ™™ u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u
4

5 Am7b5 D7 Gm [G7]
? bb u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u ™™

9 Am7b5 D7b9 Gm G7
? bb u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7

13
? bb
u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u

17 Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7 Cm7 Fm7 Bb7

? bb
u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u
Ebmaj7 Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7
21
?b
b u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u

Now, don’t be intimidated! Everything you need to learn with regard

to playing your first jazz tune can be found in the first 8 bars of this
piece, so we’ll concentrate there.

But, it’ll be up to you to take what you’ve learned and apply those
principles to the remaining bars! Homework!

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FREE LESSON BOOK: YOUR FIRST JAZZ TUNE—FOUR LEVELS 4

Identify the Root Notes

The first step in learning a jazz piece is to examine the chords and
identify the root notes of each one on the fretboard. Although you
can do this anywhere on the fretboard, it’s recommended you
start within the first five frets, and avoid using open strings.

Let’s look a little closer at the first 8 bars:

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7

? bb 4 ™™ u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u
4
*
5 Am7b5 D7 Gm [G7]
? bb u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u ™™
*1st time only

9 Am7b5 D7b9 Gm G7
We can readily see that the roots are:
? bb u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u
C – F – Bb – Eb – A – D – G
Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7
13
? bb
And within the first five frets, they can be found here:
u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u

17 Am7b5
E A D G E A D G D7b9 E A D G Gm7
E A D G E Cm7
A D G EFm7
A D G Bb7E A D G
?b
b u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u
Ebmaj7 Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7
21
? bb
u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u

C F Bb Eb A D G

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Level

One The “2 Feel”

With our targeted root notes identified on the fretboard, our first
level demonstrates a 2 Feel—simply playing two notes per measure.
For this example, the two notes we’ll play in every bar are the root
and the fifth of the root note chord. Remember, we can play the fifth
either above or below the root in many cases:

R 5 R 5 R 5 R

5 5 5

Be sure to note the Am7b5 chord! When a chord symbol

indicates a specific alteration to the fifth of the chord
(flat-5 in this example), you must alter the fifth when you
play on it. Here we would play the flattened fifth (Eb) rather
than a perfect fifth (E natural).

In relation to the root note, the flattened fifths are found

here:

b5 b5 b5

R R R R
b5 b5 b5

continued

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FREE LESSON BOOK: YOUR FIRST JAZZ TUNE—FOUR LEVELS 6

For this example, the two notes we’ll play are the root note on beat 1,
and the fifth of that root note chord on beat 3:

Exercise No. 1
q � 120
Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7
˙ ˙ ˙
? bb 44 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
5 3

¤
5 3 3 1
3 1

Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7 G7

5
? bb ˙ b˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
˙ ˙
2
1 5
5 5 5
5 3

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7

9 ˙
? bb ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
˙ ˙ ˙
5
5 3 3 1
3 1 1

Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7

13
? bb ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
˙ w
2
1 5
5 5
5 3

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Level

Two Add the Thirds

Our next level continues with a 2 Feel, but adds in the third of the
chord. In this exercise, we’ll alternate the notes in each measure by
playing the root and fifth, then the root and third of the root note
chord, then the root and fifth, etc.

Remember, it’s the third of the chord that we’ll play, and thirds are
either major or minor. So the third in a Cm7 is a minor third; the F7
has a major third, etc.

Here’s where to find the major thirds in relation to the root:

3 3 3

R R R R

3 3

And the minor thirds in relation to the root:

b3 b3 b3

R b3
R R R
b3 b3

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For this example, we’ll start with the root note on beat 1 and the fifth
of that root note chord on beat 3, then the root on beat 1 and the
third on beat 3, repeating until the end:

Exercise No. 2
q � 120
Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7
? bb 44 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙

2 3

¤
5 3 3 1 5
3

Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7 G7

5
? bb ˙ ˙ #˙ ˙ ˙
˙ ˙ n˙

4 5
6 5 5 2
5 3

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7

9
? bb ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙
˙
2 3
5 3 3 1
3
3

Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7

13
? bb ˙ ˙ ˙ w
˙ #˙ ˙

1 5
5 5
5 2 3

As an added exercise, reverse the order: play the root on beat 1 and
the third on beat 3, then the root on beat 1 and the fifth on beat 3,
etc., until the end.

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Level

Three Walking Bass

In Level 3, we move from a 2-Feel to playing on all four beats of
the bar to create a walking bass line. We’ll use the following formula
as our starting point:

— Root on beat 1.
— Third on beat 2.
— Fifth on beat 3.
— Chromatic approach note on beat 4.

A chromatic approach simply means to approach something

chromatically. (“You’re welcome.” —Mr. Obvious.) Here, our goal is
to approach the root note of the chord we’re moving to, from either
one half-step above or below. Of course, if you find yourself already
on a chromatic approach note (meaning the fifth of the current
chord is the same as the chromatic approach note to the next
chord), you can always just play it twice.

And this is by no means “the” walking bass formula! It’s just one of
countless. Experiment to create your own ideas.

continued

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Exercise No. 3
q � 120
Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7
œ bœ œ œ nœ bœ
? bb 44 œ œ œ œ œ nœ bœ œ bœ
œ
2 5 4 3

¤
1 5 4 3 3 2 1
3 5 1
3 4

Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7 G7

5
? bb œ #œ œ #œ œ bœ œ œ œ bœ
nœ œ œ œ nœ
#œ
2 1

¤
1 4 5
3 4 5 1 5 2 5 4
5 2 3

Cm7 F7 Bbmaj7 Ebmaj7

9 œ nœ
? bb œ œ bœ œ œ bœ œ nœ
œ œ bœ œ bœ
œ
2 5 4 3

¤
1 5 4 3 3 2 1
3 5 1
3 4

Am7b5 D7b9 Gm7

œ nœ œ b œ
13 w
? bb œ bœ œ
nœ œ œ #œ œ #œ œ œ
#œ

2 1 4 7 6 5

¤
1 4 5 4 5
3 4 5 1 5
5

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Level

Four Combinations
Finally, in Level 4, we’ll combine the three previous approaches.
For example, try playing root–five, root–third, root-three-five, add
in chromatic approach notes, etc. And keep in mind that there’s no
need to start each bar on the root note! Work in some three–root–
fives or five–root–threes, for example.

Exercise No. 4
a3 b
q � 120 �Swing< __
q q= q e >
C‹7 F7 BbŒ„Š7 EbŒ„Š7
œ #œ œ œ
? bb 44 œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
5 3
¤
1 5 4 3 3 3 0 3 1 1
3 3 1 1
3

A‹7b5 D7b9 G‹7 G7

œ
5
? bb œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ
œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ

¤
5
0 6 5 5 5 5 2 5
5 5 2 5 3 3 3

continued

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C‹7 F7 BbŒ„Š7 EbŒ„Š7

9 œ œ
? bb œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ
œ
5 2 5 3

¤
5 3 3 3
3 6 3 3 5 6
5 3 6 4

A‹7b5 D7b9 G‹7

13
? bb œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ ˙™ œ
œ œ nœ œ

¤
3 5 5
3 6 4 4 5 5 5 5
5 4 5 3 3

A‹7b5 D7b9 G‹7 G7

17
? bb œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ #œ
#œ œ œ #œ œ œ nœ

¤
7 7
6 6 4 5 5 5 2 5 4
2 2 5 2 5 3

C‹7 F7 BbŒ„Š7 EbŒ„Š7

21
? bb œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ #œ œ œ nœ œ #œ
œ œ nœ bœ

¤
0 1 2 3 3 4 5 3
3 0 3 2 1 5 5 6 4

A‹7b5 D7b9 G‹7 C‹7 F‹7 Bb7

25
? bb œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ bœ nœ œ

¤
3 4 5 5 4 4 3
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 2 2 1 1

EbŒ„Š7
29
?b œ œ
b œ œ œ
etc.

¤
1 1
1 0
3

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