Help with reading jazz charts - please respond!

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Hey I'm posting this for a music friend who has some questions about jazz chords, and we were hoping there'd be an aspie out there who was knowledgeable about jazz who could help.

Here's the question:

Hi,

When I come across a chord such as Bm7, I am fine. When I come across just "F", however, what chord is being referred to? Technically that would just be F major.... which sounds weird when played in a jazz song, as would F5.

Also, is there a difference between CAug7 and C7Aug? And how would you voice both on a guitar?

My friend and I would like to profusely thank anyone who responds in advance.

My jazz theory chops are a little rusty, but I'll see if I can help.

The F chord. If the chart just says "F" with no alterations, then it pretty much means the standard F Major chord. However, that doesn't mean he has to use the standard F Major voicing. I would try and see what context the chord is being used in. Is it tonic, dominant, or sub-dominant in function? Is it a passing chord? Is it at a prominent spot in the piece? Is it diatonic to the key? Could it be serving a modal function? Also look at the melody notes. All those things can give clues to how the chord should be voiced. I really couldn't say any more without knowing more about the piece. If you can tell me the specific piece I can see if I have the chart somewhere and hopefully give some more helpful hints.

As for CAug7/C7Aug...I don't think I've ever seen C7Aug. CAug7 seems right. I've also seen C7+. The easiest way I could find to voice this chord is (assuming the guitar is in standard tuning):

Index finger: 6th string, 8th fret (C)
Middle finger: 4th string, 8th fret (Bb)
Ring finger: 3rd string, 9th fret (E)
Little finger: 2nd string, 9th fret (G#)

The 5th string is muted by the index finger and the 1st string is muted by the little finger.

A couple other tips.

If he's playing as part of a band, he can simplify his voicings. For example, if he's playing with a bass player, he doesn't really need to play the root of the chord; the bass player will take care of that. If there's also a piano player, he might be able to get away with even less. A trick I learned for playing rhythm guitar in a jazz ensemble is to play guide tones. Guide tones are basically the 3rd and 7th of the chord.

Sometimes inversions can make a plain chord sound more interesting, particularly if you have another instrument that can play the root.

Arpeggios can be useful.

Remember it's jazz. There may be a lot of "rules" in playing jazz, but when you get right down to it the only thing that matters is if it sounds good. Experiment. Change the voicings. Even change the harmony if you want (just not too drastically). If you don't think F Major sounds jazzy enough, try FMaj7, FMaj9, F6, etc. Just make sure it works with the melody the way you want and also serves the same harmonic function.

Well, I hope that was at least somewhat helpful.

Thankyou very much Darryl! It doesn't make a lot of sense to me (being a vocalist and not a guitarist), but I'm sure it does to him - I'll pass it on. Basically he's just trying to expand his jazz guitar skills and learn to read the charts I think.