Guided tracks
Learn jazz, one path at a time
Each track is a curated journey — a handful of notes put in the order a teacher would actually teach them, so you always know what to read next. Pick a starting point below, or wander freely in the graph and directory.
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00 - Jazz Theory Index
Jazz Theory Index A first-principles wiki of jazz music theory: what each concept is, why it exists musically, what it sounds like, and where to hear it on record. 309 interlinked…
First Steps
The absolute basics — notes, scales, intervals, and how chords are built.
- Pitch and the Chromatic Scale
- Half Steps and Whole Steps
- Intervals
- The Major Scale
- +8 more
How Chords Work
Chord function, the ii-V-I engine, and the moves that make jazz sound like jazz.
- Diatonic Harmony
- Roman Numeral Analysis
- Functional Harmony
- Dominant Resolution
- +7 more
Playing the Changes
Build melodic lines that actually fit the harmony underneath them.
- Chord Tones
- Chord Tone Soloing
- Guide Tones
- Guide Tone Lines
- +8 more
Time & Feel
Swing, syncopation, comping, and how the rhythm section breathes together.
- Time Signatures and Meter
- Swing Feel
- Syncopation
- The Ride Cymbal Pattern
- +6 more
The Tunes
Song forms and the standards every player is expected to know.
- Song Forms in Jazz
- AABA Form
- The 12-Bar Blues
- Blues Harmony
- +7 more
At the Piano
Voice chords like a jazz pianist and arranger — from shells to block chords.
- Chord Voicings
- Shell Voicings
- Rootless Voicings
- Drop 2 Voicings
- +4 more
The Story of Jazz
Trace the music through its eras — from the blues to modal and beyond.
- The Blues
- Early Jazz
- Stride Piano
- The Swing Era
- +6 more
310 notes and growing. Tracks are curated on-ramps — for everything else, explore the full directory.