This post is a continuation of my previous post in Clef Notes: Use Major Chords to Find Minor Chords on Guitar. Let’s apply the same concept used to find the major and minor thirds in chords and now find the sevenths. You’ll be able to play major, minor and dominant seventh chords and major and minor sixth chords and understand their construction.
Let’s Start with A Major, Amaj7, A7, & A6
Take the A Major chord and the Amaj7 first. In A Major, the major 7th is G#. The new chord is A Major 7. Lower that note by one fret to G, the flat 7 of A and you have A dominant 7, usually written as A7. Lower that note by one more fret to F#, the sixth of A and you have A Major 6, written as A6.
Now Try Adding 7ths to Some A Minor Chords
Try the same concept with Am and you’ll get AmMaj7, A minor 7, written as A-7 or Am7 and A minor 6, written as Am6.
I think you’ll gain a better understanding of chord construction and your fretboard doing exercises like this versus looking up a chord you need in a chord book.
Please let me know if this works for you or if I can help you learn more about chords.
Next time, we’ll look at how chords you know can be transferred across strings to give you many more new chords.
Wishing you all a very happy and safe holiday season!
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