The Jazz Guitar Roadmap

Learn Jazz with Jens Larsen


Start Your Jazz Journey!

Choose the plan that works for you

The Challenge Of Learning Jazz

Playing music is fun! I am sure you already know this. You want to play Jazz because you like to improvise solos and because Jazz just sounds great!

At the same time, Jazz is complicated, and learning it is even more complicated:

  • Where do you start?
  • What do you need to learn?
  • How do you practice?


You can find information about everything connected to Jazz on the internet. Everything you want to explore is out there to check out, but as a student, it is almost impossible to put it in the right order.

Chances are that you end up spending more time trying to check out material and figuring out what to work on than actually practicing and playing music!

This course is made to help you cut through the confusion and help you move forward in learning to play Jazz Guitar.

Does this sound familiar?

  • You can't hear that your playing is getting better

  • You only know licks you have learned from others and you can't improvise your own lines or get them to work in your solos

  • You feel that you only get to spend hours practicing scales and exercises.

  • Clearly, this approach is not getting you or your playing anywhere, and most likely you will give up.

Hi, I'm Jens Larsen

This is how I can help you improve your playing

I started playing Jazz when I was 22 years old when I discovered how much fun it was to play and improvise Jazz.

A few years later, I was studying at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and got my degree to become a professional Jazz guitarist and have now performed 1000s of concerts on 3 continents and recorded several albums.

Because I learned most of what I know in my twenties, I had to be very efficient with learning and I was always interested in both being able to play and being able to understand what I was practicing.

This proved to be a huge advantage in teaching students and later also in making YouTube Jazz Guitar Lessons. I have always tried to figure out exactly what a student needs to learn and how they learn it in an efficient way. This is probably why my YouTube channel is such a huge success. Something that I am very grateful for and that has put me in touch with so many people who, like me, love Jazz and love learning and playing Jazz.

But in the process, I have also heard from many students on YouTube that they needed more guidance than what was found in the videos and on my website.

That is why I made the Jazz Guitar Roadmap. To offer a more structured approach to learning Jazz using my experience both as a student and as a teacher.

Course Information

What is included with The Jazz Guitar Roadmap

I made the Jazz Guitar Roadmap for aspiring Jazz guitarists who already play guitar. If you want to take a more efficient learning path than sorting through 1000s of online lessons, then this course is for you.

  • Work at your own pace - There are 10 chapters and you can really dig into one before you move on to the next.
  • Clear information and assignments to level up your playing - Go through simple exercises and improve your vocabulary and solos.
  • Access to the community - trade ideas on coursework and exercises
  • Get Feedback and Advice - Post videos of you playing assignments to get feedback and suggestions from me.

What You'll Learn

How to Play Jazz Solos, Develop Your Vocabulary and Improve Your Jazz Phrasing

Through the 10 chapters you will learn:

  • How To Create Jazz lines and improvise over chord changes on a Jazz progression. What makes a Jazz line sound like Jazz, and what are the ingredients to make them
  • The exercises to help you play solos and make lines. Not drowning you in exercises but giving you enough to make music.
  • What to check out for chords, finding the material you need to play a solo.
  • How to make it sound like Jazz, a guide to making lines and phrasing them so they sound like the music we want to play, not just exercises.

Don't take my word for it!

Check out what students say

The Jazz Guitar Roadmap is simply the perfect starting point if you want to dig into the jazz guitar universe.

Jan K. Madsen

I have been following Jens Larsen’s YouTube videos for some time and am a Patreon member. I was therefore excited when I heard that he was working on a new jazz guitar course. I expected the course to be the usual extremely high quality and wasn’t disappointed. Now that I’ve played my way through most of the course, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed every minute with The Jazz Guitar Roadmap. Yes, the course contains all the things you need to become a proficient jazz guitar player but where it stands out, from my POV, is that it inspires me to be creative and come up with my own lines and ideas. The Jazz Guitar Roadmap is simply the perfect starting point if you want to dig into the jazz guitar universe. Jan K. Madsen

"you almost have no choice but to become a jazz soloist."

Vishal Aggarwal

"Before I started this course, I had some knowledge of jazz theory and I could probably play some 4 bar lines okay. But, I hadn’t developed a good sense of timing and really struggled with playing songs all the way through. Over the course of the last few months, much of that has changed. If you take the time to learn the jazz standard presented in this course, you almost have no choice but to become a jazz soloist."

The Jazz Guitar Roadmap is hands down the best introduction to Jazz guitar.

Jeff Smith

“The Jazz Guitar Roadmap is hands down the best introduction to Jazz guitar. It gives you the basics and teaches you what to practice so that you retain the information. Each chapter builds on the previous to give a solid understanding of Jazz guitar. I was struggling to understand the what and why behind learning Jazz guitar. This course helped clear up some of the trouble spots for me. I have a blues/rock background so learning Jazz has opened up a new way of playing the guitar for me. I have a long way to go, but this course helped me understand the basics” Jeff Smith

"I really wish I had The Jazz Guitar Roadmap many years ago

Kevin Harp

Jens Larsen is an amazing teacher! I have been watching Jens’ YouTube videos for a few years and it is really nice to have his knowledge and methods presented in a logical and comprehensive order. I really wish I had The Jazz Guitar Roadmap many years ago. It would have saved me time sifting through random information from online sources and from buying countless jazz guitar books that just collect dust on the shelf. I really appreciate his dissection of jazz guitar licks and phrasing and his detailed explanation on how to use them. This course is great for all levels...if you’re at the beginning of your jazz guitar journey, been playing for many years or anywhere in between, this is a solid and perfect approach. Thanks, Kevin Harp

"Jazz has always seemed rather inaccessible..."

Paul Anderson

I've been playing acoustic guitar for a long time, but jazz has always seemed rather inaccessible, with lots of scales/modes and complex chords to learn before starting on any real tunes. Jens' course doesn't pretend that there is any simple "trick" to mastering this, but it takes a single tune and gradually builds from a few notes to something which sounds like real music. I have been able to take the same approach to other tunes and this has given me confidence and a systematic way of making real progress.

What The Students Say

Hear Their Experience

Ken Tabacchi on how he went through the course:



Joseph Macedo on his experience:




Who is the Jazz Guitar Roadmap for?

Guitarists who want to get further with Jazz

You want to play Jazz, really learn to improvise solos in that style and now you want to dig into the process of learning it.

The fun part of Jazz is making music, you want to learn to play Jazz and be able to perform for others, at home or in an informal jam session with friends. 

The Jazz Guitar Roadmap is designed to help you really build the foundation that you will need if you want to learn Jazz songs and play Jazz solos, and I am excited to help you get there.

Learning Jazz Doesn't Have To Be Hard

Stop thinking about it and start the journey to become a better Jazz guitarist. Learn how to improvise over chord changes, use arpeggios in your solos and making Jazz lines that really sound like Jazz.

Start Your Journey

Choose the Pricing plan that is best for you:

Course curriculum

    1. Intro - Overview of the Chapter

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. PDF, GuitarPro and mp3 Downloads

    3. Learning the scales and arpeggios

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. The Scale

    5. Scale in 3drs Ascending

    6. Scale in 3rds Descending

    7. Diatonic Chords And Arpeggios Explained

    8. Diatonic Triads Ascending

    9. Diatonic Triads Descending

    10. Diatonic 7th Chords Ascending

    11. Diatonic 7th Chords Descending

    12. Arpeggio Lick Examples

      FREE PREVIEW

    13. Playing and Practicing The Chords

    14. Playing The Chords

    15. What and How To Practice

    1. Overview of the Exercise and The Chapter

    2. PDF and GuitarPro Downloads

    3. The Melody

    4. Play The Melody

    5. Analysis of The Chord Progression

      FREE PREVIEW

    6. G major Scale - Hearing Exercises as melodies

    7. F Major Scale

    8. 2 notes through the form

    9. 2-note Exercise

    10. Studying the solo examples

      FREE PREVIEW

    11. The 2-note Solo

    12. What to Practice - Expanding your practice routine

    1. Improvising With Arpeggios - How To Solo Over Chord Changes

    2. PDF and GuitarPro Downloads

    3. Arpeggio Exercise 1

    4. Arpeggio Exercise 2

    5. Example lines and How To Make Them

    6. Solo with Arpeggios and Analysis

    7. Practicing Improvising with Arpeggios

    1. Adding The Scale - The Barry Harris Exercise

    2. PDF and GuitarPro Downloads

    3. Barry Harris Scale Exercise on the song

    4. Making Lines and Adding Color To Your Solos

    5. Solo with Arpeggios and Scales

    6. What to work on and start using in your solos

    1. Chromaticism - The Bebop Sound

    2. PDF and GuitarPro Downloads

    3. Chromatic Enclosures on Cmaj7

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. Adding Chromatic Passing Notes To The Scale

    5. Examples of Chromatic Enclosures on Other Chords

    6. Solo with Chromatic Enclosures and Passing Notes

    7. What to Practice and Start Using in Your Solos

    1. More Material And A Bonus to This Approach

    2. PDF and GuitarPro Downloads

    3. A Little Useful Music Theory

    4. Arpeggios from the 3rd of the Song

    5. Making Lines with the New Arpeggios

    6. Solo using Arpeggios from the 3rd

    7. What to Practice and Play

About this course

  • 82 lessons

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Can I work at my own pace? Yes, the course is designed with something like a chapter per week in mind, but people are different and life changes so you do not have to follow that. The course is there for you to work with in a tempo that fits you
  • Are there PDF downloads? The exercises and example solos are all available as PDF's and GuitarPro7 files. The course also have mp3 backing tracks to practice with since some of the exercises are on chord progressions.

For now this is in progress, so I will add more

More Student Reviews

5 star rating

After 8 years of stagnation, I grow.

Victor Kvinnesland

Dear Jens Larsen. Thank you. The course is well structured, nicely paced, and clear and concise. The videos are easy to follow and your teaching style helps ...

Read More

Dear Jens Larsen. Thank you. The course is well structured, nicely paced, and clear and concise. The videos are easy to follow and your teaching style helps keep things understandable from the get go to and way into the more arcane parts of musical theory. I would, and will, gladly recommend this course to anyone interested in jazz guitar, or to someone just looking to sharpen their skills and knowledge on and of the instrument.

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5 star rating

Great course for beginning and intermediate jazz players

Cliff Ramshaw

I've been practicing jazz for a little over a year now, so most of the material in chapter one is familiar to me. That being said, I've not addressed this ma...

Read More

I've been practicing jazz for a little over a year now, so most of the material in chapter one is familiar to me. That being said, I've not addressed this material with the structure that the course provides, so even with this fundamental content I'm finding I'm improving and I can anticipate long-term benefits. I'm currently working my way through chapter two, which introduces the idea of using a subset of chord notes to improvise melodies. I'm really excited to get stuck in to this, and am amazed at how musical Jens' example is within such tight constraints. Jens' approach to teaching jazz is the best on the internet, so I leapt at the chance to take this course as soon as it became available. I have not been disappointed.

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5 star rating

I like it!

Peter Zulinski

I just have started with the roadmap and I like what I've seen! This is an easy-to-understand step-by-step guide and a very helpful tool for learning jazz!

I just have started with the roadmap and I like what I've seen! This is an easy-to-understand step-by-step guide and a very helpful tool for learning jazz!

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5 star rating

Excellent Foundation and Explanations

Len Probert

I have only begun the course and have watched all the videos in the first chapter. Jens explains everything in a very precise manner, while still being very ...

Read More

I have only begun the course and have watched all the videos in the first chapter. Jens explains everything in a very precise manner, while still being very concise and not wasting time on unnecessary, extraneous information. I highly recommend this course to anyone wanting a strong foundation in jazz soloing.

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