Jazz can be an intimidating genre to learn, considering the vast numbers of scales and chords that jazz guitarists must have under their belts. That's not to say it's impossible - you just need to start off with the basics.

There's nothing more basic in jazz than laying the foundations with a few chords. And so, I'd like to go over today a few of the basic chords that are commonly used in jazz. These chords are: D minor 7th, G dominant 7th and C major 7th (or Dm7, G7 and Cmaj7 for short). You'll have noticed that in jazz, most chords have a 7th at the end. 7th chords, simply put, are your minor or major chords with an added note in it. At this stage, it's not too important to go into the depths of chord construction - but just appreciate that the 7th note adds character to the chord, or embellishes the chord, as I like to call it.

Before we continue, I will assume that you are able to play basic barre chords. If you aren't able to do so, I would suggest taking time in practise the fingerings of basic minor and major barre chords until each string can be clearly heard.

If you're ready, let's start off with the Dm7 chord...