| JAZZ
GUITAR CHORD OF THE WEEK |
|
| Jazz Guitar Chord of the Week is a chord voicing that sounds good and is somehow useful. Or at least thought provoking. They are presented in seemingly random order (to me; maybe I don't get the pattern?) — so random in fact that you can request a voicing for a particular chord type and it will as if by magic appear on this page in about a week or so. For voicings that are like, sooo last year, Chordweek 2005. Or really ancient Chordweek 2004. |
| December 31 , 2006 - The final COTW for 2006. It was a great year for all of us at COTW, and we thoroughly enjoyed our six-month vacation. But now we're back and looking forward to a stimulating 2007. |
 |
 |
|
| December 24 , 2006 - By now, you can most likely see where this is going. Although, to get there you once again have to shift fingering. While you're shifting (or later on) consider how many familiar voicings for a minor 7 chord that can easily be transformed into minor Ma7.... |
 |
 |
|
| December 17 , 2006 - If you were playing a piano, moving the top voice from the root down to the major 7th would be the easiest and most obvious thing you could possibly do. On the guitar, it requires changing frets, strings, and fingering. Maybe not the most obvious thing to do. Also, if you played piano rather than the guitar, you probably wouldn't be looking at this site. |
 |
 |
|
December 10 , 2006 - To "end the year" here at COTW, a series of chords that illustrate the connectedness of voicings. We are so often led to believe that one combination of frets/strings equals one voicing; change one note and it's an entirely different entity. This way of thinking is misleading and unnecessarily complicated. Since this voicing skips a string, it's most easily played with the fingers rather than a pick. With the stretch involved, don't play these chords for too long without changing. |
 |
 |
|
| December 3 , 2006 - This is just the same voicing as "last week". I thought it worth mentioning that it can easily be played in other locations and with the same list of respective roots, A, C, Eb, Gb (a minor 3rd apart). For that matter, the same is true of the "November 19" voicing. |
 |
 |
|
| November 26 , 2006 - While this week's variation might seem like so "All he did was move one finger to go from b9 to #9"it's worth pointing out that for any voicing with b9, the same construcion with #9 is only two frets away. I think of these voicings as being variations of each other, rather than entirely separate entities. For a list of other chords this voicing would function as, see "last week". |
 |
 |
|
| November 19 , 2006 - I didn't say anything about "no spinoffs" however. This week the concept is back and it's Dominant. Dominant 7th, that is. This on'e got b9 and #11. Or how about Bb7 b9? Do I hear Db13 b9? Or maybe G7#9? |
 |
 |
|
| November 12 , 2006 - The final episode of Random Chords with Open Strings and Half Steps. No big explosions. No finding out that Little Bifitstula's mother is actually his sister. No touching denouemont in which the guy who just killed a boat load of bad guys cuddles with a super-cute kitten. Just another hip voicing that can also be used as C#-, F#7sus, Bb-7b5 and C7alt. No reruns either. That would be cheap. |
 |
 |
|
| November 5 , 2006 - In this week's episode, we hear Grandpa say "Boy went and done put the half step between the root and the 7th agin. And there's a whole step in there too. Next thing ya know, he's gonna use it fer D-, G7, B-7b5, Db7 alt and who knows what." |
 |
 |
|
| October 29 , 2006 - More #4/5th half step action. This voicing will function nicely as a F#7sus, in which case said half step is between the 3rd and the sus4. Also C#- |
 |
 |
|
| October 22 , 2006 - Too lazy to barre, and I just couldn't be bothered to place my ring finger on the G string. Which is a good thing, cuz half steps rule, dude. In this case, it's between the #4th and the 5th. Unless you play this voicing for Eb7sus or Bb-. Then the half step would be somwhere else. |
 |
 |
|
| October 15 , 2006 - Having produced COTW for almost three entire years, I was shocked to realize that I hadn't yet included one of my pet voicings (that I stole from Pat Metheny, I think). This is great for ending tunes using an up-stroke, so you hear the open E first. |
 |
 |
|
| October 8 , 2006 - More scintillating root/7th half step action.. only this time it's up a half step! Does this man have no shame? Tune in next week to find out. Actually, let's face it, shame is meaningless when it comes to quality chord voicings. Did I mention C- and F7sus? No? C- and F7sus. |
 |
 |
|
| October 1 , 2006 - New this season, a thought-provoking series that will address the needs of every voicing-hungry man, woman and child. The must-see voicings that will change your life forever: Random Major Chords With Open Strings and Half Steps (subtitled: I'm just too lazy to play actual barre chords, and my dog ate my capo)! Too shocking for broadcast TV, a major chord with the 7th a half step below the root. Merciful heavens! Oh yeah, B- and E7sus also. The bass player would be playing those roots. |
 |
 |
|
| September 24 , 2006 - I guess that in a theoretical sense, the melody would start next week, but feel free to begin after plying this, the final chord in the world's longest vamp. If you move the top three voices up another half step, you would repeat the first chord in the vamp up an octave. |
 |
 |
|
| September17 , 2006 - One more, F 6/9, arrived at by parallel motion from below. You could play these voicings for "months". |
 |
 |
|
| September 10 , 2006 - It's next week already? Why, it seems like all I did was scroll up the page. I guess time flies when you're vamping and land on reallly juicy C7sus voicing with #4, #9, and b13. If the idea of a voicing with the sus 4 and #4 is confusing, remember that the sus4 is pretty much an F pedal. If there were a bass player vamping for two months with you, he/she might be playing C to stress the dominant. |
 |
 |
|
| September 3 , 2006 - These top three voices could also be thought of as C7sus. For our purposes (playing the world's longest intro vamp) it is better used as the tonic rather than the dominant. Tune in "next week" to see an example that really works as a dominant. |
 |
 |
|
| August 27 , 2006 - Onward and upward. It's been "a month", and we're still vamping. You probably get the idea that any of the places in which the top three voices land on notes outside an F Lydian scale, create notes that resolve to the F Lydian sacle by half step. |
 |
 |
|
| August 20 , 2006 - This is the voicing that actually sparked this entire vamp idea. Tha's just a bit of trivia in case you get tested on it later by the tooth fairy. Same vamp. Same F pedal. Same top three voices moving in parallel motion. |
 |
 |
|
| August 13 , 2006 - Back to the dominant. Alright, so we're vamping between F major and C7, using a sus4 chord the first time (July 30) and C7 alt (b9, #9, b13) this time with an F pedal creating the C sus4 sound. The top three voices are moving parallel. |
 |
 |
|
| August 6 , 2006 - It finally occured to me to make the staff larger. Then, I did just that. So this week we resolve to another voicing for F major. F is stll the lowest note (three weeks in a row) and the top three voices all moved up a whole step to make a 6/9 chord. |
 |
 |
|
| July 30 , 2006 - Is the pattern evident yet? Hmm, let's see... last week's voicing was an FMa7, so this week's is the dominant that resolves to F, and the voicing has F as the lowest note. |
 |
 |
|
| July 23 , 2006 - If I were really putting up one chord a week like I'm supposed to, this voicing might leave some of you...let's say, crestfallen (I hope you just said "crestfallen"). But since these chords are appearing as if by magic all on one very special day, I can use this voicing to start a vamp that lasts from "July 23" until "September 24th". Then the melody comes in. I'm sure that would be a world's record for longest intro vamp by at least six days. If you pretend that the two open strings were actuall fretted, a pattern will be evident by "next week". |
 |
 |
|
| July 16 , 2006 - Hope your Bastille Day celebration wasn't stormy. I happened upon this voicing while working on an original composition in which the #4 was in the melody of a Maj chord. It features the 5th below said #4 and a half step between the the Maj 7th and the root. |
 |
 |
|
| July 9 , 2006 - Here's a well-behaved voicing for Ab7sus with a charming half step between the 3rd and the 4th. Just the thing to get you over those post-July 4th doldrums yet rabid anticipation of Bastille Day blues, which can be so vexing for us all. Or some other blues for that matter. It should be noted that this works for Eb- also. |
 |
 |
|
| July 2 , 2006 - I know it's really January of 2007, but the whole premise of chord of the week is to enable you to look back on what you were doing in the first week of July of last year, right? No? Oh well. Here's a delightful voicing for a Maj7+4 with said raised fourth below the root (and below the 5th). It provides a way to create some vibration when playing a major chord that might otherwise just be pretty. This one is pretty and interesting. Plus, it works for F-. |
 |
 |
|
| June 25 , 2006 - More familiar territory, especially down an octave, where its G7sus sensibilities really take over. In the octave written however, the more diverse possibilities are still diverse. And possible. |
 |
 |
|
| June 18 , 2006 - Add F6/9 to the list of chord symbols that this inversion works as. In fact, put it at the front of the line. All of these inversions started out as a voicing in fourths (D G C F) by the way. |
 |
 |
|
| June 11 , 2006 - Inverting the previous voicing brings us to familiar territory. This happens sometimes when exploring the unknown. Wait, isn't that an oxymoron? |
 |
 |
|
| June 4 , 2006 - A reader asked me recently if it is better to use the pick or the thumb and fingers to play chords with. I replied that I prefer thumb and fingers. And that was the truth. One could call this week's voicing any number of things and it would probably respond: Csus; Bb6/9; Ab Maj7+4; G7sus; Fred; Ethel, etc....... |
 |
 |
|
| May 28, 2006 - Finding a hip way to voice a Major 7 chord with the 5th on top is always a good thing (to paraprase a certain domestic diva). So it was a pleasant suprise when this inversion appeared. You could also play it at the first fret an octave down when the situation allows. D-? Yeah, might as well. |
 |
 |
|
| May 21, 2006 - This week's inversion strikes me as one that is very useful in situations in which the listener has the chance to hear this chord ring. The end of a phrase on a ballad or the end of a tune. Any place a big (thick) sound is called for. A 4-note voicing containing a tritone, Maj7 and b9 intervals really takes up a lot of space. Oh yeah, it works for D- too. |
 |
 |
|
| May 14 , 2006 - The concept of inversion can lead to surprising results. Take this week's chord, for example. It really seems like a CMaj7 chord with a really wrong note on top. With a bass instrument playing F underneath this voicing, however, it goes from wrong to incredibly cool yet still retains an indelible patina of strange. |
 |
 |
|
| May 7 , 2006 - Here's a charming little voicing for a Major7+4 chord. That is, if you find dissonance charming. The b9 interval between B (the +4) and C (the 5th) provides the "charm." As with many voicings, this one has multiple uses, as in D- and G7sus. Note: This week's COTW was sponsored in part by the word charm. Thank you. |
 |
 |
|
| April 30 , 2006 - Remember last week when I said that the subsequent inversions wouldn't be duplicates of previous voicings? Well, I took the time to actually look and one of the inversions appeaered on February 22, 2004 in a different key. This week's voicing is brand spanking new however, and is just too damn hip to be believed. Next week's voicing won't be another inversion of these four notes cause that voicing sounds like ass ( a mixed mataphor if I ever wrote one). And (never start a sentence with "and") COTW doesn't support voicings that sound like ass. But then again, what do I know? |
 |
 |
|
| April 23 , 2006 - Having done COTW for 2.25 years so far, it's hard to remember every voicing that has appeared here. Hopefully this isn't a duplicate. If it is, my apologies. The subsequent inversions shouldn't be, and the added contextual element may provide new meaning. At least that's my story this week. Use this for A- and D7sus also. |
 |
 |
|
| April 16 , 2006 - More great A-7 ness. Whole steps are in for spring this year. Actually I just said that so you'd, like, run out and buy some new chords. Truth be told, whole steps are always in. |
 |
 |
|
| April 9 , 2006 - Oh yeah, a new and improved A-7 voicing with a whole step in it. I can feel the spring thaw in the air. Nothing like adding a fourth (11th) to hip up a chord sound. |
 |
 |
|
| April 2 , 2006 - When I got to this inversion, I said "Andy, you're not in Kansas any more." You can say that also, unles you're in Kansas. That this made such a useful D7 suss voicing came as a bit of a suprise. Maybe it shouldn't have in retrospect but... |
 |
 |
|
| March 26 , 2006 - A new voicing to be inverted. This one inverts real nice like. To be sure. In the mean time, use it for A-, D7sus, and F Maj. |
 |
 |
|
| March 19 , 2006 - This inversion has the root of the EbMaj7+4 in the melody, and the tritone interval between said root and the raised 4th creates mucho de tension. Talk about spiky! |
 |
 |
|
| March 12 , 2006 - This voicing may be more familiar to you as an F13. The "root" is left out in this case. Another example of making a connection between familiar voicings by inverting them. |
 |
 |
|
| March 5 , 2006 - Back at the "end of February", the voicing for EbMaj7+4 had a Major 7th interval within it. That means that sooner or later you get a half step when inverting the voicing. Well, it's sooner. |
 |
 |
|
| February 26 , 2006 - If you've visited COTW in the past, this voicing will probably be familiar to you. It has many other uses in addition to Eb Maj7+4: F13, C-6/9, A-7b5, B7#9, D7susb9. It is one of the ubiquitous sounds in Modern Jazz. When inverted it creates some interesting voicings. Tune in next time. |
 |
 |
|
| February 19 , 2006 - The first time I played through the inversions of the January 29 voicing (see below), I was suprised that it turned out to be an inversion of a voicing in fourths. Who woulda' thunk it? |
 |
 |
|
| February 12 , 2006 - I wrote this inversion up an octave (relative to last week) to illustrate the role that range plays in determining the usefulness of voicings. It is generally easier to hear this voicing used as B7alt, for example, when it is played in this octave versus the octave below it. |
 |
 |
|
| February 5 , 2006 - While this inversion of last week's voicing could theoretically be used for all of the chords listed previously, the big open 5th interval at the bottom of this voicing creates a strong root sound. Played up an octave however (on the top four strings), it will more easily function as any of those chords mentioned. |
 |
 |
|
| January 29 , 2006 - This is a nice voicing for A-7 with the 11 in place of 5th. The whole step created by this substitution creates a different color than a straight -7 sound. As with most voicings for minor chords, this one and its inversions (see Feb 5, 12 and 19) also function as C 6/9, the relative major chord. In addition, this voicing could be used as G 11, F 6/9, EbMaj7+4, Bb 6/9, D7sus, B7alt, F#7alt. Basically, you could use this voicing exclusively for the next year, but I suggest working in other voicings from time to time to avoid jealousy. |
 |
 |
|
| January 22 , 2006 - The last inversion of these four notes. The root position triad with the b9 slapped on top. It's kinda' spiky. As with the previous three inversions, this can be played for B7#9, F13b9 or Ab7b9#4. When you consider that each of the four voicings can be played in parallel minor thirds, all of the sudden you have 16 voicings to play for Dominant chords withany combination of b9, #9, #4, and 13. Not too bad, eh? |
 |
 |
|
| January 15 , 2006 - Using this voicing (as welll as the previous two) over F creates F13b9. The beauty of voicings from the Diminished Scale is not only that each one works over four roots a minor 3rd apart, but each voicing can be played in minor 3rds up or down and still function as the desired chord. |
 |
 |
|
| January 8 , 2006 - As you may have noticed "last week" (nudge, nudge), this voicing is a D triad with Eb, the b9, added. Over a B root, the Eb becomes the third, and the D becomes the #9. |
 |
 |
|
| January 1 , 2006 - New year,
more inversions. The following is a voicing for D7b9 that
creates some interesting and surprising variations when inverted.
As with any voicing created from the Diminished Scale, this and its
inversions can also be used for altered Dominant chords built on the
roots B, Ab and F. |
 |
 |
|
