01
Sevenths & ninths
A plain chord has three notes. Jazz adds a fourth or fifth (the 7th and 9th), which gives the soft, unresolved colour you hear in lofi jazz.
The chords
What makesit jazzy
Lofi gets its jazz from harmony and tone more than from a live band. Here’s what we listen for, and how the list is ranked.
02
Keys & Rhodes
Electric piano and warm keys carry most of the jazz feel in lofi: round, slightly bell-like, never bright.
03
Swing, slowed down
Lazy, behind-the-beat drums and a laid-back groove. It’s swing played at a sleepy tempo.
04
How we rank
For every track we measure how often its chords fit a 7th or 9th better than a triad. That’s the chord-colour meter, from 1 to 10. The jazz list itself is the tracks that clearly sound like jazz or carry a sax or trumpet line.
