Mickey Baker’s Jazz Guitar Lesson 3
Have you mastered Lesson 2? Then it’s time for Mickey Baker’s Jazz Guitar Lesson 3. This will be similar to Lesson 2, but we are going to begin using our chords in progressions that sound a bit more like parts of a song. If you haven’t completed Lesson 2, please go back and get used to playing those vamps before jumping into Lesson 3.
Also, I highly recommend that you purchase Mickey Baker’s Jazz Guitar Book 1. You can take this book and your guitar with you anywhere so you will be able to practice. Gone camping? No Internet? No problem! You’ve got the book! And if you want to go the extra mile, you can purchase Mickey Baker’s Jazz Guitar Book 2!
As we progress through the lesson, I’ll talk a little bit about what’s happening musically. If you’ve got a good understanding of music theory, you can skip this and get right to practicing! I do not have a music degree but am using my experience to explain music theory as best as I can. If you see me make an error below, please email me! I’m always looking to learn, and most importantly I want these lessons to be as accurate and informational as possible for you!
If the music theory is confusing or just a bit too much to comprehend, go right to playing the vamps and the chords. Hearing the sounds and working through the chord shapes is more important than understanding everything right now.
Lesson 3
In Lesson 3, Mickey Baker begins to show us how to use the chords from Lessons 1 and 2 together to make passages for songs. In his book, he provides (2) sets of chords. One set of chords is the standard way (or the old way) of playing the song, and the second set of chords is Mickey Baker’s suggested way (the new way) to play the song.
Vamp 1
Mickey Baker’s “old way” of playing Vamp 1 is simply a G chord that switches to the minor, back to the major, then to the diminished, an Am chord (or Minor II, minor second) , and finally to a D7 (V, or Five Chord). To end this vamp, the old way goes from a G, Gdim, Ami, and D7 (or I, I-dim, II, V). This turn around gets you back to the start, and you repeat the vamp.
The new way makes use of our new jazz chords. See the new progression below. You’ll hear a lot more movement in the new way, and you may notice the chords are guiding the music along, similar to a bass line. Instead of playing the diminished chord, Baker jumps up to the III chord, or a B, and walks down to the II chord or A chord. You can see this in the 4th measure where the chords begin to descend from B, to Bb, to the Ami7.
This is a common turn around and progression in Mikey Baker’s book. This progression takes different forms in some of the later vamps, but as you get familiar with this sound and feel, you’ll begin to recognize it right away. This is another reason why is it so important to complete these lessons in order. They build on each other, and you are going to learn more if you are patient and take your time with each vamp.
Vamp 2
The standard way (or old way) to play Vamp 2 is a bit more familiar to rock n roll or pop fans. The standard chord progress here is a I, II, V in the key of Ab. The vamp starts off alternating between the II and the V chord, and then returns to the I chord for 2 measures.
The new way to play this simplifies the progression a bit. Instead of alternating between the II and V chord for the first two measures, you’ll lead with the new Bbmi7 and Bbmi 6 chords. To transition from the II chord to the I chord, Mickey has you use an Eb13b5b9 chord.
He uses this “13b5b9” chord a lot as a transition chord. You will come to see it a lot in these lessons, and the 13b5b9 chord will often be placed just before the I chord. In Vamp II, your I chord is Ab.
Vamp 3
This vamp is normally played I, V, I, Vb, I, IV in the key of Am. This is not as common in modern music today, but would definitely be applicable to jazz being played during Mickey Baker’s era.
Instead of playing the V or Vb chords (E7 and Eb7) in the new version, Mickey Baker has us play the II and the IIb chords (Bmi7 and Bmi6). This is a very common change that Mickey Baker will implement, and the II chord is often substituted for the standard IV or V chord. At the end of the vamp just before the repeat, you see the 13b5b9 transition chord come back, but instead of a II chord transitioning to a I chord, Vamp 3 has a IV chord transitioning to a I chord. Notice how well it works in both vamps!
Vamp 4
The standard way to play Vamp 4 is incredibly simple, and starts with a V chord, and progresses to a I chord in the key of F. At the end of the vamp, the transition back to the beginning is an F#dim chord.
The new way to play Vamp 4 is to substitute the V chord (C7) with a II chord (Gmi7 & Gmi6). This is the same substitution from Vamp 3, but now we are in the key of F. Notice how Mickey Baker brings the 13b5b9 chord back in here as the V chord (C7) to transition back to the I chord (F) at the end of the 4th measure.
When you return to the I chord (F), you now play a moving chord pattern, as if you were playing bass or following the bass player. If you want to be technical, the Gmi7 and Ami7 are the II and III chords respectively, but I think you’re take away is that you can use these chords to get some “walking” movement in your rhythm part. Note the chord before the repeat where Mickey Baker has you play the Abmi7 to transition to the Gmi7.
Vamp 5
LIke Vamp 2, Vamp 5 is making use of the I, II, and V chords, but this time we are in the major key instead of the minor. The progression is a bit different, but anyone familiar with rock or pop tunes will not find the standard chords out of the ordinary. You can likely play the standard version once, and never look at the page again.
The new version that Mickey Baker suggests we use is very different from Vamp 2. For Vamp 5, we are substituting the II chord (C7) with a VI chord (Gmi7 and Gmi6). He also substitutes the V chord (F7) with a IV chord (Cmi7 and Cmi6). You start to see the common 13b5b9 chord come back as you transition to the one chord at the end of measure 6. And notice how Mickey Baker has you “walk the bass line down” in measures 7 and 8, with the final 13b5b9 thrown in just before the repeat. So cool!
Time to Practice!
This is the first lesson that starts to get that jazzy feel and sound. Please take note of the 13b5b9 chord as your transition from a II chord, IV chord, or V chord. Also take note of the “walking progression” in Vamps 1 and 5, measures 7 and 8. The progression can help you make a song more interesting if there are a couple measures of the I chord in a song between the main melody line or a verse.
Practice makes perfect. Be sure to practice these vamps every day. People say to practice for a minimum of 20 minutes, but I personally think that 45 minutes is more appropriate. The longer you spend with these vamps, the easier the next lesson will be! Once you feel comfortable playing these vamps, it’s time for you to move on to Lessons 4 & 5, which I will be posting next week!
Enjoyed Mickey Baker’s Jazz Guitar Lesson 3? Ready to purchase a guitar to accompany your new jazz chords? Check out my review of the Epiphone Dot Deluxe VS. It’s a great archtop guitar that has a classic look!
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Need More Help?
If this is a bit too advanced for you, send me an email and let me know! I’d love to hear what you are struggling with, and I’d be happy to make a new post just for you. There are probably other players just like you who struggled with the same thing, so don’t be afraid to ask!
