guitar chords

Barry Harris explained that the fully diminished seventh chord sits at the center of the system.

By making simple chromatic adjustments to its notes, it naturally resolves into dominant, minor 6, or major 6 chords.

Guest Post by Dennis Winge

Most musicians learn chords as fixed units: a major triad is three notes, a seventh chord is four, an extended chord might be six or seven.

We tend to think of them as solid vertical structures, like blocks in a building. But here’s the secret: every extended chord is really a constellation of smaller chords.

Welcome to this guitar lesson, where we’ll explore a chord melody arrangement of the classic jazz standard Take The "A" Train by Billy Strayhorn.

This tune, famously associated with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, offers a perfect blend of swing rhythm and rich harmony—ideal for showcasing the beauty of chord melody on guitar.

We’ll break down the melody, harmonize it using jazz voicings, and focus on smooth voice leading to bring the tune to life as a solo guitar piece.

In this guitar lesson for beginners, we'll explore how major scale shapes relate to basic major seventh (Maj7) chords. 

Here’s a breakdown of seventh arpeggios and their related chords based on the major scale for guitar.

An arpeggio is essentially the notes of a chord played individually.

Seventh arpeggios add a fourth note (the seventh) to each triad, giving a more complex and richer sound.

In this guitar lesson, we'll be focusing on the arpeggios of the seventh chords derived from the G major scale.

You'll find the free PDF (or name a fair price) here in the GUMROAD Store.

Harmonizing the major scale using 3-note chords, also known as shell voicings, is a fundamental technique used in jazz and contemporary music.

This short guitar lesson provides 14 ways of connecting dominant chord voicings on the same string set (7 and extended) and three easy lines using the Mixo Blues Scale. A free transcription in PDF (or give what you want) is available here on the GUMROAD store.

This guitar lesson implies playing secondary dominant seventh chords of the harmonized major scale. 

Free PDF available on GUMROAD and four YouTube short videos at the bottom of this page.

Harmonization of minor scales involves creating chords by stacking thirds on each note of the scale.

There are three common types of minor scales: natural minor, melodic minor, and harmonic minor.

This guitar lesson explore each one and explain how to harmonize them on guitar.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FREE PDF

In music theory, the terms "dominant," "subdominant," and "secondary dominant" are used to describe different types of chords and their functions within a key or harmonic progression.

Here's an explanation of each term with examples for guitar players.

Harmonizing the minor pentatonic scale involves creating chords that complement the scale and enhance its melodic possibilities. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to harmonize the minor pentatonic scale on guitar:

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.

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.

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.