free jam tracks - brought to you by nick cresswell

Chord Shape
of the Week

A6 chord.

E|--x--
B|--7--
G|--6--
D|--4--
A|--x--
E|--5--

Here is a really nice A6 chord that sounds like it's a bit of a jazz chord that you can either use as the first chord in a progression in A Major or an A blues - or you can use it in other places to spice up your blues progressions.

For example: if you want to play a cool sounding jazz-blues progression, use the chords, E, A6 and B6 to create a progression. Play an E or E7 chord and then when you go to the IV chord, instead of playing an A7 chord, play this A6 chord instead.

To make this progression sound really cool, when you go to the V chord from the IV chord, play the B dominant 6th chord that was a previous chord of the week which you can find here: B Dominant 6. If you think about it you'll realize that you can slide from the A6 to the B6 chord without lifting your fingers off the fretboard. Guitar tab for this B6 chord is also shown below.

B6 chord.

E|--x--
B|--9--
G|--8--
D|--7--
A|--x--
E|--7--

If you want you can just move the A6 chord shape up 2 frets and play that as the B6 but adding the dominant 7th to the B6 chord gives it an even nicer sound.

Below is the standard E chord that you can play with the A6 and B6 chords above.

E chord.

E|--0--
B|--0--
G|--3--
D|--2--
A|--2--
E|--0--

If you are jamming with a friend (which you should be), one of you can play the progression and the other one can play an E Blues scale over it. The E Blues scale sounds good over all three of the above chords.

Jam on!

Previous Chord Shape's of the Week: Guitar Chords

Free Jam Tracks and Backing Tracks

Download free jam tracks and backing tracks and play guitar, bass or drums.
Music created for musicians, by musicians that you can download for free.

Free Jam Tracks is a website dedicated to providing play-along music to help musicians learn to play guitar, bass, drums and other instrumentalists who want to join in on the fun. The backing tracks are music minus one and have been broken up for each instrument into various styles including: country, blues, funk, metal, jazz, reggae & rock.

The guitar backing tracks mostly consist of rhythm guitar, bass, drums and organ on some of the tracks. Use them to play-along with guitar or any other lead instrument. The bass backing tracks have no bass and allow bass players to groove with a full band. The drum backing tracks have no drums so they give drummers music to play-along with without having to compete with any other drum sounds.

Whether you are starting out or are a seasoned professional, my aim is for you to have a lot of fun playing music and help you become a better musician along the way.

As well as the free jam track downloads, you will find original guitar and bass tab, licks, theory, lessons and articles on music and general concepts. More is being worked on and added to the site daily.

...nuff said, it's time to jam!

Backing Tracks

Guitar Backing Tracks	Bass Backing Tracks	Drum Backing Tracks
Play Guitar Blues 01	Play Bass Blues 01	Play Drums Blues 01
Play Guitar Blues 02	Play Bass Blues 02	Play Drums Blues 02
Play Guitar Blues 03	Play Bass Blues 03	Play Drums Blues 03
Play Guitar Blues 04	Play Bass Blues 04	Play Drums Blues 04
Play Guitar Blues 05	Play Bass Blues 05	Play Drums Blues 05
Play Guitar Country 01	Play Bass Country 01	Play Drums Country 01
Play Guitar Funk 01	Play Bass Funk 01	Play Drums Funk 01
Play Guitar Funk 02	Play Bass Funk 02	Play Drums Funk 02
Play Guitar Jazz 01	Play Bass Jazz 01	Play Drums Jazz 01
Play Guitar Metal 01	Play Bass Metal 01	Play Drums Metal 01
Play Guitar Reggae 01	Play Bass Reggae 01	Play Drums Reggae 01
Play Guitar Rock 01	Play Bass Rock 01	Play Drums Rock 01
Play Guitar Rock 02	Play Bass Rock 02	Play Drums Rock 02
Play Guitar Odd Meters	Play Bass Odd Meters	Play Drums Odd Meters
Play Guitar Modes	Play Bass Modes	Do Not Play Modes!

All the backing tracks above on one page without the music theory:

83 Jam Tracks for Guitar

79 Jam Tracks for Bass

Jam and Backing Tracks - All Instruments

The jam tracks in this section are one track per page due to the additional information and suggestions for you to think about when jamming with the track. The most recent jam tracks are at the top.

Guitar, Bass and Drum Backing Tracks (all 3 are on the one page for these ones)

Off Beat Blues - This is a funky 12 bar blues tune in the key of Db.

Howlin' Wolf - This is a 12 bar blues with a driving rhythm section in the key of A.

Music Lawyers - play along with the C Major Pentatonic scale to this rock jam track.

Nova Bling - G guitar vamp with a rock/hip hop feel to it.

Russell's Shuffle - 12 bar blues shuffle in the key of E. Jam with the E blues scale and E Mixolydian.

Jimmy Jam - Rock jam track using power chords: C5, G5, E5 and F5. Go modal if you dare.

Cowboy Kent Strut - Rockabilly jam track in C that you can swing your cat to.

The Dog and The Chooks - Funk-Rock jam track with lots of syncopation in the key of Ab.

On Our Way Home - Tune in the key of C with backing tracks for all instruments.

Cookin' Green Onions - Blues with soul.

The Coolest Band in the World - Texas Blues.

Rock n Grohl: Grunge jam track in the key of Nirvana. Includes guitar, bass tab and the drum chart.

Cruisin at Apollo Bay - A surf rock inspired tune.

JC Guitars Tambourine Day - Motown groove with some tambourine

Rotten Punk - 80s Punk style backing track

Pages of Guitar Insanity

These pages contain a tune with the guitar tab written out, the backing track for the tune and the usual chord and scales suggestions. You can just download the backing track but if you want a complete breakdown of how to play, in detail to the extreme, these are the pages for you.

Guitar Tune and Backing Track

Very Proud of You - Jimi Hendrix inspired tune and backing track.

Bob's Country Bunker - In the good ol' country key of A.

Captain Mudbank - Blues-jazz that you can go modal over.

Zappa Ahoy - A groove-based riff to jam over and experiment with using the D# Locrian scale.

My Fingers Are Killing Me - A rock guitar track great for playing E Major Pentatonic over.

Chemo Brain - A funky blues-rock tune that you can play an E Blues scale over.

Freddy Alcheringa - A blues tune in the key of G.

Edan's Cutting Horse Theme - This is a rock guitar instrumental in the key of E.

Backing Track Only

Missing Javapuss - Acoustic Rock

Free Songdog - Southern Rock

C Wear It

E Rock Groove

Solo Acoustic Jam Tracks

The acoustic jam tracks below have been recorded with a solo acoustic guitar. They are for you to play any instrument along with them: acoustic or electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, harmonica and so on. You can play lead or rhythm with the tracks, anything you can think of.

Capital City Guitars Blues

Guitar Lessons for Beginners

If you want to play along with the jam tracks but don't know how to start then these lessons are for you. I'm starting with lessons aimed at the absolute beginner guitar player but there is lot's of theory and ideas in there for all musicians, no matter what instrument you play. If you are looking for more advanced music theory then you should check out the Modes, Pentatonic and Blues Scales page.

As you read through any of the lessons below you should start applying the ideas by playing along with the backing tracks from the Play Guitar pages: Play Guitar Blues 01, Play Guitar Blues 02, ... Play Guitar Rock 01 etc. The more you jam, with the backing track or with other musicians, the better you'll become.

Guitar Lessons - Home Page

Lesson 01 - The E Blues Scale in 10th and 12th position. Position shifting.

Lesson 02 - E Blues Scale Guitar Licks. Learn how to slide into and bend notes.

Lesson 03 - E Blues Scale in 7th Position. More position shifting, note tone and introduces the idea that music is a conversation.

Lesson 04 - E Blues Licks in 7th Position. 6 licks that form a compete blues solo in E.

Lesson 05 - Building Chords - Part 1. Learn to build chords using the E Major scale played on the 6th string. Root + 5th chords. Also discusses fingerstyle and hybrid picking techniques.

Lesson 06 - Building Chords - Part 2. Follows on from Lesson 05 - Building Chords - Part 1 adding minor and Major 3rds to each of the Root + 5th chords.

Bass Guitar Lessons for Beginners

Below are 11 lessons for beginner bass guitar players. Lesson 01 starts with just playing the Root note and then each lesson builds on the last lesson so that you will be able to play some good/solid bass lines by the time you finish lesson 11. Each lesson comes with the bass lines played just with the drums and there is a backing track without bass that you can use to play along with for all 11 lessons.

After you learn each lesson you can then use the bass lines to play along with the backing tracks from the Play Bass pages: Play Bass Blues 01, Play Bass Blues 02, ... Play Bass Rock 01 etc

Bass Guitar Lessons - Home Page	Bass Lesson 06 - Root 5th 7th Root
Bass Lesson 01 - Blues Bass in E	Bass Lesson 07 - Blues Up and Down
Bass Lesson 02 - Root Note Octaves	Bass Lesson 08 - Root 3rd 5th 3rd
Bass Lesson 03 - Root to 5th	Bass Lesson 09 - Root 3rd 4th 5th
Bass Lesson 04 - Root 5th Root 5th	Bass Lesson 10 - Root 3rd Root 7th 5th
Bass Lesson 05 - Root Root 7th 5th	Bass Lesson 11 - Root 3rd 5th 6th 7th 6th 5th 3rd

Bass Jam Tracks

Medium Blues Shuffle

Give the Drummer Some

Drum charts complete with mp3/wma files.

Learn to Read Drum Notation. Learn how to read, transcribe and write for drums.

I've started this section because I started writing out drum charts for some of the backing tracks which you can see in the list below.

I'm going to add some more charts and drum beats here solely for drummers who want some grooves to play with and learn or improve their reading. I'll put up some basic to intermediate stuff to get thing rolling but will get into some advanced grooves pretty fast. There's plenty of basic stuff out there - we want to get to the good stuff.

Jam Tracks that have Drum Charts

Cookin' Green Onions - Cool blues-jazz for you to swing to.

Cowboy Kent Strut - Rockabilly. Drums with a hint of swing.

Music Lawyers Drum Chart - Basic rock drum beat with 8th notes on the hi-hats.

Nova Bling - Rock/hip hop style track with a 4/4 time signature.

On Our Way Home - Laid back ballad in 12/8.

Rock n Grohl - Cool rock drum track.

Russell's Shuffle - Blues shuffle with a few twists and turns in the drum beat.

The Coolest Band in the World - Texas blues you can dig your bass drum into.

The Dog and The Chooks - Funk Rock. The drums to this one is full of syncopation.

Rod Stewart & Jeff Beck - People Get Ready

This is an awesome live video of Jeff Beck playing the Curtis Mayfield song People Get Ready. Very cool with Rod Stewart walking out and surprising Jeff Beck. If you want to hear some great guitar playing check out some Jeff Beck albums. He is a tone master, playing with his fingers.

The bass player in this clip is Tal Wilkenfeld - she has been around a few years and played with some of the greats. Rock, blues, jazz you name it. Vinnie Colaiuta is on drums who is probably best known for playing with Frank Zappa. One of the best.

Melody Gardot - Baby I'm a Fool

Here's a lesson in how to lay it right back yet play with one serious groove. Talk about a natural. Melody Gardot has a fantastic voice and plays some really nice jazz chords on this tune of hers. Great phrasing. There is some really nice brush work by the drummer. The band is supporting the vocalist perfectly which is the main thing that every musician should keep in mind when playing with a singer. The melody to this tune would sound great as an instrumental.

Music Concepts and Instruction

Articles written by Free Jam Tracks for musicians.

Music Concepts - Home Page

Easy Guitar Chords for Beginners - Teaches you: G, C, D, E and A Major chords.

Backing Tracks - Learn to Play Music - An introduction to playing with backing tracks.

Easy Guitar Lesson - Learn how to play Knockin' on Heaven's Door (uses chords above).

Chords, Scales and Making Guitar Practice Fun - Take your playing to the next level.

Music Practice and Motivation - How a small amount of effort will give you big results.

Playing at Open Mic Nights - Nick used to run an open mike night and still plays at them.

12 Bar Blues Progression - The structure of, and how to play, a basic 12 bar blues.

12 Bar Blues in E: Easy Guitar Chords - Use 2 note chords to play a blues in E.

Triplets and the Shuffle Rhythm - Fundamentals of counting triplets and shuffle rhythms.

Blues Chord Progressions - The Quick Change - Looking at the 2nd bar of a blues.

Playing Through Mistakes and Going Unnoticed - Story of my life!

Bending the Blue Note - The Secret to Great Blues Guitar Revealed.

How to Tune Your Guitar Down Half a Step - Then Jam with 4, 5 & 10 on Blues Page 01.

Free Blues Music Downloads

Classic blues tracks by some of the greatest blues players of all time that you can download for free. Right click on the track and select 'save as' to download the file to your computer.

Robert Johnson	Son House	Big Bill Broonzy
Ramblin on my Mind	Clarksdale Moan	Baby Please Dont Go
Sweet Home Chicago	My Black Mama	How You Want Done
Malted Milk	Blind Blake	Kansas Joe & Memphis Minnie
Drunken Hearted Man	Diddie Wa Diddie	When the Levee Breaks
Kind Hearted Woman Blues	Lightnin Hopkins	Ledbelly
Little Queen of Spades	Goin Back Home	Where Did You Sleep Last Night
Me and the Devil Blues
Stop Breakin Down Blues

"All I'm gonna do is just go on and do what I feel." Jimi Hendrix.

FJT Latest Updates:

January 8th:
Funky blues with a spring in its step. Off Beat Blues

December 27th:
12 bar blues jam track Howlin' Wolf in the key of A. Guitar jam track, bass jam track, drum jam track and drum chart.

December 10th:
Free Jam Tracks mobile site. Same great jam tracks customized so you can download tracks on your mobile. www.JamTracks.mobi

November 24th:
A friend of free jam tracks built a guitar. Seriously cool work: James Cherry's Guitar Project .

November 23rd:
A couple of fantastic performances posted from YouTube on the front page.

September 16th:
Music Lawyers is a jam track in the key of C that you can play guitar, bass or drums over.

August 21st:
Nova Bling rock/hip hop style vamp over a G chord. Jam with the G Blues Scale and G Mixolydian Mode.
Nova Bling Drum Chart.

July 18th:
Russell's Shuffle. Blues jam track in the key of E. Jam along with guitar, bass or drums. Russell's Shuffle Drum Chart.

June 29th:
Jimmy Jam. Rock jam track with a pulse in the key of C for guitarists, bass players and drummers.

May 27th:
Rockabilly jam track Cowboy Kent Strut. Jam tracks for guitar, bass and drums.

April 28th:
The Dog and The Chooks. Funk-Rock jam track filled with syncopation in the key of Ab. Jam tracks for guitarists, bass players and drummers (including drum chart). Time to get funky.

April 26th:
New section: Give the Drummer Some Learn to Read Drum Notation. Drum charts with mp3/wma files that take you step by step through learning how to read, transcribe and write for drums. These are the building blocks to take your drumming beyond the next level. Learn to read and I'll put up some hard/really fun stuff.

April 26th:
On Our Way Home. Tune in the key of C with backing tracks for: guitar/lead, bass players and drummers.

April 23rd:
Very Proud of You. Jimi Hendrix inspired tune and backing track.

April 15th:
Blues with soul for guitarists, bass player and drummers. Cookin' Green Onions.

April 15th:
Bob's Country Bunker. Guitar tune and backing track in the key of A.

April 14th:
The Coolest Band in the World. Texas blues jam tracks for guitar, bass and drums.

April 13th:
Rock n Grohl: new jam track for Guitarists, Bass Players and Drummers in the key of Nirvana. Comes with guitar tab for chords and scales suggestions, bass guitar tab and the drum chart.

April 12th:
New jam track that comes with a Warning of Guitar Insanity: Captain Mudbank

April 9th:
Zappa Ahoy a tune and backing track you can jam over using the D# Locrian scale. Includes guitar tab for the D# Locrian scale in five positions. Time to get experimental.

April 5th:
New jam track in the key of E: My Fingers Are Killing Me Comes with complete tune and guitar tab, scale suggestions and the backing track. Also ideas on using drum rudiments with rhythm guitar playing.

April 2nd:
Music theory by a guitarist and bass player for guitarists and bass players: Music Notes and Numbers. Includes guitar tab, example mp3/wma and a track 'Thank God for Nirvana', that uses one note to show you the power of simplicity in music.

March 22nd:
More pages of guitar insanity. Chemo Brain - tune plus backing track in the key of E with scale suggestions you'll want to tell your neighbors about.

March 9th:
New jam track and tune with full guitar tab:
Freddy Alcheringa
This one's in the key of G. I've put up guitar tab for the G blues scale as well as the guitar tab for the lead guitar I played on the tune. You can start with that but ultimately you want to come up with your own guitar parts and solo.

March 7th:
New jam track and the tune it came from:
Edan's Cutting Horse Theme. I've broken the guitar parts down step by step so you can learn some guitar licks using the E Major scale.
Warning: the music theory is bordering on guitar-insanity.

March 4th:
4 new jam tracks. Each track includes guitar tab for scales you can use to play along with the progressions.
A Progression
Eb Progression
E Progression
G Progression

March 1st:
New surf rock jam track for guitar players, bass guitarists and drummers:
Cruisin at Apollo Bay.

February 22nd:
Bass tab for JC Guitars Tambourine Day.

February 14th:
A Motown inspired groove with this backing track for guitarsts, bass players and drummers: JC Guitars Tambourine Day.

February 13th:
Rhythm guitar tab for A Medium Shuffle Blues on the Play Guitar Blues 01. If you want to learn to play blues rhythm guitar, this is a good place to start.

January 2nd:
New chord shape of the week: A6. Use this chord to play a really cool sounding blues or jazz style progression.

All the Latest Updates.

Modes, Pentatonic and Blues Scales:
Everything I know (how I derive): Modes, Pentatonic and Blues Scales. This is not for the faint hearted! Comes with an Excel summary that shows you how you can break down and derive the Major pentatonic and the blues scale from the Modes.

Free Jam Tracks
Pages of Procrastination!

Music Concepts

Guitar Heroes
Acoustic Guitar Players
Albert King
Angus Young
Derek Trucks
Eddie Van Halen
Eric Clapton
Eric Johnson
Jimi Hendrix
Joe Satriani
Michael Hedges
Randy Rhoads
Steve Vai
Stevie Ray Vaughan

Who is your music hero?

FTJ Shenanigans:
About the Jam Tracks
Meet Some Jammers
Meet A ROCKStar
Jam Tracks Shop

Brother Russell's Page

Music Videos 01
Music Videos 02
Music Videos 03
Music Videos 04
Music Videos 05
Music Videos 06
Music Videos 07
Music Videos 08
Music Videos 09

Essential Drum Books