Chords

This lesson provides a short guitar exercise that will expand your theoretical notions and fretboard knowledges. The principle being to harmonize the C major scale with 3-note chords also referred to as shell voicings while inserting short lines (from the major scale) between each chord.

This jazz guitar lesson for beginners provides an easy study to practice octave playing and basic jazz chords over a Blues in Bb. It is available as a YouTube Short Video and a free transcription in PDF with chord shapes tab and standard notation.

Here are two easy guitar chord studies to apply over the jazz tune Solar by Miles Davis. The first one implies 3-Note chords while the second implies 4-note chords. Free PDF and YouTube Short video available.

In this short lesson for beginners you will learn how to build basic triad chords on guitar, how to connect, hear and recognize them in an easy way, step by step. Four exercises with tab/standard notation and neck diagrams are proposed here, the aim being to play the six main types of triads on different string sets without displacing the hand.

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This cheat sheet provides 30 voicing shapes for playing 30 types of open A chords on guitar :

Am, A, A+, Asus4, Asus2, Amadd9, A5, A6, Am6, A6/9, Am6/9, A7, Adim7, A7sus4, Amaj7, Am7, AmMaj7, Amaj7b5, Am7b5, A7+, A7b5, A7b9, A7#9, A7#5b9, A9, Amaj9, Am9, A11, Am11, A13.

This guitar lesson is about a harmonic concept mapped out and developped by jazz musician Barry harris that can be found in the book "The Barry Harris Harmonic Method For Guitar" by Alan Kingstone.

This blog article details a little bit more in depth about what is the major 6 diminished scale and how to harmonize it with major 6 and diminished 7 chords.

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This chord theory lesson focuses on how to transform a dominant 7 chord (drop 2, drop 3 and related inversions) into a rootless ninth chord by replacing the tonic (1) with the ninth (9). 

This technique will help guitarists expand their harmonic knowledge and also explore their neck in more depth. This can be a useful trick when composing or for chord melody arrangements.

This video with tab and diagrams is a chord melody arrangement for jazz guitar of the famous Duke Ellington's jazz tune "In A Sentimental Mood". The aim being to mix the melody and the chords together as a piano player would do.

In this guitar lesson you will learn how to transform a diminished 7 chord into a dominant 7 and also a minor 6 chord either by lowering or raising only one note in order to get a smooth transition.

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This blog article dedicated to guitarists answers the question that many beginner musicians ask themeselves :

What is the difference between half-diminished and fully diminished (Diminished 7) ?

This guitar lesson with charts and shapes will help you understanding the differences between major 9, add9 and dominant 9 Chords. How they are built and how to play them on guitar.

This guitar lesson provides 10 easy exercises for understanding the relationship between the Melodic Minor Scale and altered dominant seventh chords. This is a free course (or give what you want) with a printable PDF with tab/standard notation and a YouTube short video. 

This guitar cheat sheet shows the relation between a dominant 7 chord and a minor 7 chord. All the shapes are drop 2 voicings with bass notes on the fifth string. The aim being to move only one note at a time, separated by a half step (one semitone).

In this theory lesson we will see how to add natural and altered extensions to 7th chords. The aim being to bring new colors and so to embellish your chord progressions. This concept is a very important device for composing, chordal accompaniment and chord-melody arrangements.

Here is a free lesson to learn some 2-5-1 jazz chord voicings in the style of Joe Pass. PDF with tab and Youtube short video available for free (or give what you want) here in the GUMROAD ONLINE SHOP.

This guitar theory lesson covers a very important topic that any musician must know : How To Harmonize The Natural Minor Scale? 

You will learn how to build triads and seventh chords starting on each note of the natural minor scale.