How to Learn Jazz Language on Guitar: 5 Examples (Wes, Grant Green, Benson, Kenny Burrell)
Nov 08, 2026Short answer: Learn jazz language the way a kid learns to talk: hear phrases, repeat them, and see if they work. Transcribing is still the best method, but it's also the most effort, so start with short, iconic phrases from the guitarists you like, learn what each one does over the chord, then go find that vocabulary in the recordings. Below are five examples in the style of Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, George Benson and Kenny Burrell, plus the small patterns (scales, triads, arpeggios, enclosures) that combine into jazz vocabulary.
Music is very similar to language. In this lesson we go through five phrases of jazz guitar vocabulary, then talk about how you actually develop jazz language in your own playing. The phrases come from studies over jazz standards written by a friend of mine, a Portuguese guitarist who lives in Amsterdam. Each one is vocabulary specific to what actual guitar players play. ▶ 0:46
There's a free PDF for this lesson: get the How to Learn Jazz Language PDF.
| # | Tune / spot | Style of | What it teaches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Take the A Train, 4 bars of F major | Wes Montgomery | Hammer-ons from the major 7th to the 9th, chromaticism on the upbeats, enclosing the 3rd ▶ 2:09 |
| 2 | B♭ blues, bar 6 (E♭7, E°7) to G7, C-7 | Grant Green | A minor ii-V idea built around a C minor arpeggio, ♭9 and ♯9 on G7 ▶ 4:47 |
| 3 | Tenor Madness, same spot | George Benson | Triplet runs straight down the B♭ blues scale ▶ 7:02 |
| 4 | B♭7 | George Benson | A simple double stop with a big band sound ▶ 8:44 |
| 5 | Blue Bossa, minor ii-V to C minor | Kenny Burrell | A short rhythmic motif you repeat and accent ▶ 9:47 |
Example 1: what to play over four bars of one chord (Wes Montgomery style)
A common question: what do you play when the chord lasts for many measures and you run out of ideas? On Take the A Train there's an F major chord for four measures, and for a lot of people that's a sticking point. This phrase is over that part, in the style of Wes Montgomery. ▶ 2:09
- Major 7th to 9th with hammer-ons. It starts on the major 7th and uses multiple hammer-ons to get to the 9th. This little bit shows up in so many phrases from jazz guitarists, anytime you have two notes a minor 3rd apart. Over F minor you could do the same thing. ▶ 2:55
- Then the ♯11. ▶ 3:29
- Chromaticism, done properly. From the major 7th down to the 5th: start on a downbeat on a chord tone, and all your upbeats become the chromatic tension leading into the next chord tone or scale note. That's why it sounds right to our ears. ▶ 3:29
- A turn and a big jump. A little turn from C down to B and back to C. Big interval jumps are also very idiomatic of jazz language. ▶ 4:08
- Enclose the 3rd, resolve to the 6th. The end is basically a blues pattern, or you can think of it as an enclosure: it encircles A, the 3rd of F major, then goes to F, D, C and resolves on the 6th, which is a good way of resolving on a major chord. ▶ 4:08
Example 2: a minor ii-V idea on a B♭ blues (Grant Green style)
This one comes in at the sixth measure of a B♭ blues, on the E♭7 to E°7, continuing into B♭7 (you could have F in the bass) and then G7 going to C minor. It's really reminiscent of a minor ii-V lick, but it works really well in this context. ▶ 4:47
The whole phrase is based around a C minor arpeggio. It starts on the upbeat with that A♭, which is a super common phrase (Benson uses it a bunch), and you can go into chromaticism after it. Then comes a really iconic jazz embellishment on G7: the ♭9 and ♯9, pulling off to the root of G7, resolving to the 3rd of C minor. ▶ 5:19
You could also think of it as D-7♭5, G altered, into C minor. ▶ 6:38
Example 3: Benson's triplet blues-scale run (Tenor Madness)
Another one over the same spot of a B♭ blues, on Tenor Madness, more Benson-like. On the E♭7 you slide into D and D♭. You basically ignore the E♭7 in your analysis and treat it like B♭ blues, which sounds really cool mixed in with other jazz lines. Benson does this a lot; it's one of the main things he's known for. ▶ 7:24
The line runs triplets straight down the blues scale. Once you get to the D♭, slide it into D, which resolves into B♭. At that point the chord switches to G7, so the D becomes the 5th of G7. Either way, on a B♭7 or on the bar where the blues switches to G7 (the V of C minor), it works. It's really good to practice those kinds of triplet lines on your pentatonic. ▶ 7:54
Example 4: an iconic Benson double stop
A real simple double stop, a very iconic Benson type of thing, over B♭7. Slide into F and A♭ with your middle and ring fingers, then continue the line down. ▶ 8:44
It has a very big band sound. The rhythm is great and you can really build off it: you can almost hear a drummer doing hits after it, it's so rhythmically strong. ▶ 9:25
Example 5: a repeated motif over a minor ii-V (Kenny Burrell style)
What I like about this one is that it's based around a little phrase you can repeat and start to play with. That makes for really good language, because you can turn it into your own thing instead of just inserting a full line. It's over the minor ii-V going to C minor on Blue Bossa. ▶ 9:47
- Start from the 11th. Over the D half-diminished, the phrase is based around the 11th. That's the note the half-diminished sound is based around. ▶ 10:10
- Pick, pick, pull-off. That's the technique for the motif. ▶ 10:51
- Accent the right notes. Accent the G first, then the A♭. Then repeat the phrase, accenting the B natural. ▶ 10:51
- Augmented over altered. On the G7 you get a G augmented sound over G altered, a really cool sound for a minor ii-V. ▶ 11:08
- Land on the 9th of C minor. ▶ 11:27
This phrase is in the style of Kenny Burrell, but it's also used a lot by players like Jonathan Kreisberg. ▶ 11:20
How to build jazz language: hear it, repeat it
Just like a spoken language, jazz is first something you hear. A kid learning a language isn't studying from a book how to say different words. They're experiencing those words and repeating them back. With jazz (or any genre, really), the focus should be on listening and repeating key phrases, and seeing if they work or don't, if they get the response you want. ▶ 12:20
In jazz, the standard way to do that is transcribing. It's a great solution: basically any jazz master you talk to has transcribed a lot, because it works. And if you do it enough, you get better at it. But it takes a long time to get quick enough that it feels possible. ▶ 12:44
Transcribing directly is still the best method, hands down. The issue is that it's also the most effort, and for some people getting into jazz, it's too much to be approachable. So start with iconic phrases from the guitarists you like, over standards. Find which guitarists you prefer and what kind of language you can play on your instrument, then transcribe and recognize that vocabulary in the songs you're hearing, and apply it. ▶ 13:15
That doesn't replace transcribing. If you want to get to a master level, you'll still have to transcribe. It just gets the vocabulary into your playing quicker, in a condensed form. ▶ 13:58
The building blocks: essential jazz patterns
In a later lesson, the Ultimate Guide to Learning Jazz Language, I took this idea further. A lot of people learn some ii-V-I licks or some solos and still don't feel like they understand how "speaking" jazz works: how to put an arpeggio and a scale together. From my analysis of hundreds of solos and transcriptions, it comes down to 31 essential jazz patterns. ▶ 0:46
Think of them as building blocks: connect two of them and you get vocabulary. Even with very simple blocks there are a ton of combinations, and that's what's going on when you hear master musicians solo. ▶ 1:18
| Pattern family | What it is | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Ascending and descending scale | A scale that gives you the chord's harmony in a linear way (C Dorian over C minor) | ▶ 2:34 |
| Continuous chromatic ascent / descent | A few half steps in a row, across a minor 3rd where both the start and end notes are in the chord | ▶ 3:59 |
| Triads | 1-3-5-3-1 and other triad orders | ▶ 5:47 |
| 1-2-3-5 and 5-3-2-1 | Sometimes called a John Coltrane pattern, though he wasn't the first to play it | ▶ 7:50 |
| 7th and 9th arpeggios | Ascending and descending | ▶ 10:12 |
| Enclosures | Go above and below (or below and above) a target note, then hit it | ▶ 14:26 |
| Pivot arpeggios | Skip around the arpeggio instead of playing it in order, to stay in a tighter range | ▶ 18:39 |
| Parker pivots | Named for how common they are in Charlie Parker's playing | ▶ 22:55 |
| Three-note enclosures | Patterns 24 to 31: the same framework, targeting different chord tones | ▶ 25:35 |
A few details worth knowing:
- Four-note groupings line up. The 1-2-3-5 and 5-3-2-1 patterns define the harmony in a very easy way, and with four notes they line up with eighth notes, one beat for each half. ▶ 7:50
- Enclosures usually bookend a phrase. Two-note enclosures tend to start or end a phrase rather than sit in the middle. Usually the target note is a chord tone, though it doesn't have to be. ▶ 14:59
- Put the target on a downbeat. It doesn't have to be, but that usually sounds best, so if you're starting out, try to make your target notes land on downbeats. ▶ 17:22
- Linking blocks is how phrases grow. An enclosure into a 1-2-3-5 pattern is a little microcosm of how you link up patterns to build bigger phrases, just like a kid learning a language realizes that putting words together expands the meaning. ▶ 16:14
Frequently asked questions
How do you learn jazz language on guitar?
Treat it like a spoken language: listen to phrases, repeat them, and see if they work. Start with short, iconic phrases from guitarists you like over standards, learn what each note is doing over the chord, then find that vocabulary in recordings and apply it.
Is transcribing the best way to learn jazz vocabulary?
Yes, transcribing directly is still the best method, and basically every jazz master has transcribed a lot. It's also the most effort, so learning condensed vocabulary first can get it into your playing quicker. It doesn't replace transcribing if you want to reach a master level.
What do you play over a chord that lasts several bars?
In the Take the A Train example (four bars of F major), the Wes Montgomery-style phrase mixes hammer-ons from the major 7th to the 9th, chromatic upbeats leading into chord tones, a big interval jump and an enclosure of the 3rd, resolving to the 6th.
What are essential jazz patterns?
Small building blocks (scales, chromatic runs, triads, 1-2-3-5 patterns, arpeggios, enclosures and pivot arpeggios) that combine into jazz vocabulary. From an analysis of hundreds of solos and transcriptions, there are 31 of them.
How do you use chromaticism so it sounds right?
Start on a chord tone on a downbeat, and let the upbeats be the chromatic tension leading into the next chord tone or scale note.
Keep learning
- The secret to bebop jazz guitar: chromatic approach patterns: more on targeting notes chromatically, from Pasquale Grasso and Charlie Parker
- How to play like George Benson: the full guide to Benson's language, including his blues runs
- Wes Montgomery arpeggios: how Wes uses arpeggios to build his lines
Go deeper
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