Guitar Lessons

In the previous guitar lessons blog post I showed you some useful voicings for Major 9th chords. Now let’s look at Minor 9th chord voicings.

The logic of how Minor 9th chords are formed is similar to that of Major 9th chords. Again, we represent the notes of a Major Scale as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. A Minor 7th chord is formed from the notes 1-b3-5-b7. The Minor 9th is formed by adding the 9 (i.e. the 2) and so we end up with 1-b3-5-b7-9. In the case of C Minor 9th that results in C-Eb-G-Bb-D.

Below are some useful fingerings for Minor 9th chords:

	C Min9, root low E
	C Min9, root low E
	C Min9, root A
	C Min9, root D
	C Min9, root D
	C Min9, root D

As was the case with the Major 9th chords, some of these voicings do not contain all the chord notes. The notes common to all voicings are the b3, b7 and 9 which are the Eb, Bb and D.

We will continue adding to our chord voicing vocabulary in future guitar lesson blog posts.

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In previous guitar lesson blog posts I went over the most common Diatonic chord types and also showed you how to alter those basic chords to create aptly named altered chords. Now I want to show you some additional chords that might not be so common in mainstream music but are commonly found in Jazz.

In this guitar lesson post I will show you three useful voicings (i.e. fingerings) for the Major 9th chord. The Major 9th chord is formed by adding the 9 to the Major 7th chord. So if you represent a Major Scale as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 then the Major 7th chord is formed from the notes 1-3-5-7. You then add the 9 (which is same note as the 2) to end up with 1-3-5-7-9.

In the case of C Major that results in the notes C-E-G-B-D.

Consider the below voicings:

	C Maj9, root low E
	C Maj9, root A
	C Maj9, root D
	C Maj9, root D
	C Maj9, root D

With chords that contain so many notes it is not necessary for the chord voicing to contain all the notes. You will notice in the above diagrams that none of the voicings contain all the notes except for the voicing with the root on the low E string. The important notes that account for the Major 9th sound are the 3,7 and 9 notes which in the case of C Maj9 are E, D and B.

Also note that with the last two D string root voicings the C is implied. The fingerings do not actually contain the C, but the voicings are nonetheless a C Maj9.

We will take a similar look at other useful chord voicings in upcoming guitar lesson posts.

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One of the greatest qualities of the blues is the fact that so much can be expressed with just one simple scale - the Minor Pentatonic Scale. But if you are like me, you are always looking for new forms of expression on the guitar.

 Let’s consider Minor Blues. You may be familiar with the standard 12 bar blues chord progression. In this guitar lesson, we will consider the Minor Blues chord progression. One of the most common Minor Blues keys is D Minor. The D Minor Blues 12 bar blues progression is

| Dm7 | Dm7 | Dm7 | Dm7 | Gm7 | Gm7 |

| Dm7 | Dm7 | A7  | A7  | Dm7 | Dm7 |

Now, one could very well solo over these chords strictly with the D Minor Pentatonic Scale. But unless you want to sound like thousands of other blues players, you can readily expand your horizons.

Let’s consider the 3 chords in the above progression. Over the Dm7, you can clearly solo using the D Minor Pentatonic Scale. When it comes time for the change to Gm7, you will find that the G Dorian Scale allows you further freedom of expression than otherwise possible with the plain old D Minor Pentatonic Scale.

Now let’s consider the  A Dom7 chord. You can solo over this chord using D Pentatonic Minor, but if you want a greater degree of musical exploration, then experiment with the A Mixolydian b6 scale.

There is some theory behind why this scale makes sense. I won’t get into the theory because I really want you to use your ears. But suffice it to say that in Minor keys, the plain old Mixolydian Scale isn’t as effective as a modified Mixolydian Scale. The Mixolydian b6 Scale comes about when analyzing the Jazz Melodic Minor modes. But don’t worry about that - just experiment with the the scale and see how it sounds over the Dom7 chord of a Minor Blues progression.

Below is some tab showing the 3 scales that I have mentioned: D Minor Pentatonic, G Dorian and A Mixolydian b6.

One benefit of the above scale shapes is that they are all played at the 12th fret position.  Of course, I always recommend using the entire fretboard and avoiding so-called boxes, but the above shapes definitely give you a starting point from which to launch your creativity.

I recommend you record the D Minor Blues chord progression and experiment with these scales. In the end, I think you will have discovered some new forms of expression in a musical genre that all too often is characterized by cliche playing.

Later,

Brian

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I have written many guitar lessons on arpeggios. There is really no limit to arpeggio studies and so with that in mind, here is yet another guitar lesson on arpeggios.

In previous posts I went over various shapes for so-called 7th arpeggios with the root on the D string. Hopefully by now you recall that there are 4 basic 7th chord/arpeggio types (in Diatonic Harmony, that is). These types are Maj7, Min7, Dom7 and Min7b5.

Below is some tab showing each of these arpeggio types with the root on the A string:

Notice how each shape follows a similar pattern (two notes on the A string, one note on the D string, two notes on the G string, one note on the B string and two notes on the E string).

In an upcoming guitar lesson, we will use concepts from this guitar lesson as well as previous guitar lessons to build melodic progressions using 7th arpeggios.

Later,

Brian

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In previous guitar lesson posts I showed you the so called diatonic 7th arpeggio types with the roots on the D string. The diatonic 7th arpeggio/chord types are Maj7, Min7, Dom7 and Min7b5.

A very common chord progression is the so called II-V-I. The roman numerals correspond to the notes in the Major Scale. So consider F Major - it has the notes F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E.

From what we know about diatonic harmony, the 7th chords in F Major are F Maj7, G Min7, A Min7, Bb Maj7, C Dom7, D Min7, E Min7 b5. That means the II-V-I progression in F Major is G Min7-C Dom7-F Maj7.

Above is one of the many ways we can sequence arpeggios to form a II-V-I progression. You can be sure we will build on this idea and consider other chord progressions in future guitar lessons!

Later,

Brian

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In the last 3 guitar lesson posts I showed you a chord scale in the key of Eb Major where the chord roots were on the D, A and E string. Now we will combine these ideas to play chord scales using these 3 root strings. There are a large variety such chord scales we can play in this fashion.

Consider the below tab:

Whereas in the last three guitar lessons all our chords had their root on the same string, this time we mix it up with all three types.

We are still in the key of Eb Major and are simply starting with the Ab Maj7 chord.

Try and come up with similar chord scales in Eb Major by using the chord vocab that you have gained over the past few guitar lessons. From there, come up with chord scales in other keys using the chord types we have gone over.

Later,

Brian

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You have probably figured out the pattern by now. In the last 2 guitar lessons I showed you a chord scale in the key of Eb Major where the chord roots were on the D and A string. Now we take the next logical step and create yet another chord scale in Eb Major, this time using chords whose roots are on the low E string.

Consider the below tab:

Whereas last time all our chords had their root on the A string, this time all the chords have their root on the E string. The chords of course are the same.

In the last guitar lesson we had the chord sequence

Bb Dom7 | C Min7 | D Min7b5 | Eb Maj7 | F Min7 | G Min7 | Ab Maj7

This time the chords have their root on the E string and we start off at the F Min7 chord.

We will continue yet again to look at this useful chord scale idea in future guitar lesson posts.

Later,

Brian

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At the end of the last post, I hinted at how easily it is to build chord vocab by applying the chord scale idea using chords with a different root string, such as the A string.

Consider the below tab:

Whereas last time all our chords had their root on the D string, this time all the chords have their root on the A string. The chords are the same though.

Last time we had the chord sequence

Eb Maj7 | F Min7 | G Min7 | Ab Maj7 | Bb Dom7 | C Min7 | D Min7b5

This time, we are using the same chords (albeit with the chord root on the A string), but we are starting off with the Bb Dom7.

We will continue to look at this chord scale idea in future guitar lesson posts.

Later,

Brian

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One can never have enough chord knowledge. Chords can be a daunting subject because of the mind-boggling number of chords that can be played on the guitar. I am definitely not one to recommend learning hundreds of chords. Instead, I recommend learning a smaller set of useful voicings.

For instance, consider the 7th chords.  Let’s look at some common 7th chord voicings that don’t require any finger gymnastics on the fretboard.

I won’t get into chord theory. You can find plenty of guitar lessons on the net that cover that subject.

Consider the below tab:

Here we have a series of 7th chords with the root on the D string. These are the 7th chords found in the key of Eb Major. Writing out a key in terms of its 7th chords is known as Diatonic Harmonization.

By playing the above chords, you will reinforce these useful chord voicings the chord vocab part of your brain.

And of course, the pattern is the same for all keys. So consider C Maj. It has the notes C, D, E , F , G, A and B. The corresponding 7th chords (i.e. harmonization) are C Maj7, D Min7, E Min7, F Maj7, G Dom7, A Min7, B Min7b5. You could construct a similar chord scale using the above voicings. For instance, starting at the 2nd fret on the D string, you would have

E Min7 | F Maj7 | G Dom7 | A Min7 | B Min7b5 | C Maj7 | D Min 7

There are endless ways to apply this method for learning chords. You could, for instance, apply the same method but with chords whose root notes are on the A string.

Til next time,

Brian

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A couple weeks ago my brother and I went to Guitar Center in Natick, MA to see Satriani. We made the mistake of getting there late and for an hour we heard him just fine - but we didn’t see him. Anyway, you don’t have to see Satriani in person to appreciate his music. And so to that end I have created a Joe Satriani playlist containing some of my favorite Satch tunes. Unfortunately, Rhapsody was having technical difficulties with his Engines of Creation CD, but the list stands on its own nonetheless.

Having listened to Satch’s latest CD, I am just not into yet. Maybe it will grow on me, but for now no new songs made their way into the playlist.

To listen to this and my other playlists, you need the Rhapsody service.

Click here to get a free 14-day trial of Rhapsody

Later,

Brian

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