Jazz Guitar Chords

The world of Jazz music is dominated by chord extensions. Those are chord tones higher than the fifth scale degree. Any jazz chord chart you read is going to be at least a 7th chord if not a 9th, 11th or even 13th. Very rarely would you play a plain major or minor chord in a jazz setting, although it does happen.

To start visualizing jazz guitar chords, start with your basic "Oklahoma" D Major open chord. From low to high, you have the notes D, A, D, F#. Notice that you are duplicating the note D with the open D string and the D on the B string. In jazz, you are going to richen up your chords with a little more color.

Next, drop that D on the B string down to C#. This creates a Dmaj7 chord. Now you have a much  richer sounding chord with no repeated notes.