I actually want to start where I left off on friday. If you didn’t get a chance to read my post on the triads of the harmonic minor scale, click here.

I promised you that I’d cover the seventh chords of the harmonic minor scale next so here we go!

First, let’s review how we came up with the triads.

We started with our C harmonic minor scale (which is essentially the same as the natural minor scale except the 7th tone is raised a half step).

C harmonic minor
C D Eb F G Ab B C

Then we took every other note of this scale and created block chords:

1st tone: C Eb G
2nd tone: D F Ab
3rd tone: Eb G B
4th tone: F Ab C
5th tone: G B D
6th tone: Ab C Eb
7th tone: B D F

Once we did that, we determined the names of these chords:

1st tone - C minor
2nd tone - D diminished
3rd tone - Eb augmented
4th tone - F minor
5th tone - G major
6th tone - Ab major
7th tone - B diminished

But I reminded you that these were just triads and that we’d played 4-toned chords in the next lesson so let’s take this concept one step further.

Let’s do the same exact thing we did on friday. Let’s take every other note of the scale but instead of stopping at 3 notes, let’s create 4-toned chords.

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

C D Eb F G Ab B C D Eb F G Ab B C

Now let’s determine the names of these chords:

C minor-major 7
D half-diminished 7
Eb augmented major 7
F minor 7
G dominant 7
Ab major 7
B diminished 7

Now let’s compare the triads of the harmonic minor scale to their seventh chord counterparts:

1st tone - minor (triad) >>> minor-major 7
2nd tone - diminished (triad) >>> half-diminished 7
3rd tone - augmented (triad) >>> augmented major 7
4th tone - minor (triad) >>> minor 7
5th tone - major (triad) >>> dominant 7
6th tone - major (triad) >>> major 7
7th tone - diminished (triad) >>> diminished 7

One common misconception is that major triads automatically create major sevenths when you add that extra tone to the chord. That is not always true.

Notice both the 5th and 6th triads were major, yet when you changed the chords to sevenths, the 5th tone turned into a dominant seventh chord and the 6th tone expanded to a major seventh chord.

So because the major 7 and dominant 7 chords share the same basic triad, that seventh tone makes all the difference up top.

The same applies to the diminished triad chords. Notice the 2nd and 7th tones were diminished. However, when we expanded our chords, the 2nd chord turned into a half-diminished seventh chord while the 7th tone expanded to a diminished seventh chord.

Lastly, the 1st tone. It was a basic minor chord but when you added the 7th degree, it turned into a minor-major 7 chord.

Whoaa! A “minor-major” seventh chord? You’ve probably never heard that one before!

It’s when the first part of the chord is minor but the seventh is major.

In other words, you may have a C+Eb+G (C minor) on the bottom but a “B” natural up top.

That chord is introduced to us through the harmonic minor scale, among others.

So there you have it! The seventh chords of the harmonic minor scale!

Oh yes, I almost forgot. If you really like these minor chords and what we’ve been doing for the last week or so, then you’ll love what Jeff teaches in our new salsa course. Click here for details.

Until next time!

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In this post, I’m going to break down the main movements in James Wrubel’s clip below (from our Hear & Play Jazz 101 course). This should be an interesting post and you’ll get a lot out of it…

It’s important to note that he has a recorded bass line, which gives him the opportunity to play chords in his left hand.

Here’s the basic pattern that he’s playing.

C7 —- F7 —- C7 —- C7 —- F7 —- F7 —- C7 —- C7 —- G7 —- F7 —- C7

Replay the video above and see if you can following along from the beginning. Every time he switches his chord go to the next chord. Every chord, for the most part is switching either every 4 beats or every 8 beats (sometimes you get two C or F chords in a row).

Normally you’d play a C7, F7, and G7 like this:

C E G Bb (C7 pronounced “C Seventh”)

F A C Eb (F7)

G B D F (G7)

(Note: You can play these chords on your right and play the root bass notes (”C,” “F,” or “G”) on your left if you don’t have a bass player).

But since James has a bass player, he’s playing tritones in the left hand.

Tritones are interesting little fellas.

They are diminished fifth intervals. I don’t have enough time to really delve into that part of it but just think of them as 6 half steps apart.

So if you wanted to form a tritone based on C, you would start on C and count 6 half steps up.

C to Db is 1 half step
Db to D is another half step
D to Eb is another half step
Eb to E is another half step
E to F is another half step
F to Gb is the last half step.

That makes 6 (for my folks new to counting in “half steps”).

Here are all the tritones written all in flats for simplicity’s sake:

C + Gb
Db + G
D + Ab
Eb + A
E + Bb
F + B

Now watch what’s going to happen…

Here are the remaining 6 tritones

Gb + C
G + Db
Ab + D
A + Eb
Bb + E
B + F

Basically the second half of the tritone list is just like the first but they’re inverted. Which means instead of C+Gb, now it’s Gb+C.

This makes tritones very versatile. You only need to know 6 and you can flip them to get the other 6.

So let’s recall our 3 magic chords for this 12-bar blues progression:

C E G Bb (C7)

F A C Eb (F7)

G B D F (G7)

Because they are seventh chords, they inherently carry a TRITONE. Yup, that’s true. So if you can figure out what tritones are used in these three chords, then you don’t have to play the full chord. You can abbreviate these chords with their tritone “shortcuts.”

How’s 4 notes down to 2 for ya? Easier to play right? Definitely! But it gets better… I’ll talk about the “better” part later.

So did you find the tritone in each of those chords???

You should have gotten:

E+Bb for the C7

A+Eb for the F7

B+F for the G7

SHORTCUT: Basically the 3rd and lowered 7th tone of the chord (E is the third in C major and Bb is the lowered seventh in C major) will create your tritone.

Now for the “better” part…

What’s cool about tritones is that when you’re moving in fourths (as in the case of a C7 going to an F7), they are extremely easy to play.

Notice this:

Tritone for C7 = E+Bb
Tritone for F7 = A+Eb

Can one of these tritones be “flipped” to their other pair to make this easier to play?

Abzzzzoooooooolutelyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

You could do this two ways.

1) Change the C7 tritone
2) Or change the F7 tritone

So you could either go from E+Bb (which substitutes for C7 chord) to Eb+A (which substitutes for F7 chord)… which means all you have to do is lower each finger ONE note… that’s it! ONE NOTE!

Or you can change the first chord:

Bb+E to A+Eb

Your call! Switch em’ up here and there.

Now, what would you use for the G7 tritone if you were currently on the “E+Bb” tritone?

Which G7 tritone is closer?

F+B or B+F

“Give me the F+B tritone for $100 Alex!”

So I hope through this post that I not only introduced you to the 12-bar blues pattern but I’ve also shown you the power and convenience of tritones and how you can “flip” them to make it easier for your left hand to flow from chord to chord.

If you’re playing tritones correctly and using the right chord for the right moment, you should never have to slide more than a few notes. Tritones should be right next to each other. After all, there’s only 6 of them and the other flipped 6 use the same notes as the first.

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See ya next time!

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Now that you know how to build a major chord, we want to introduce you to another type of chord.

If you remember, a 3-toned chord is called a “Triad.”

A 4-toned chord is called a “Seventh” (what we will learn today)!

A seventh (or dominant) chord is built similar to a major triad. In fact, a Seventh chord is a major chord with an added “minor third” interval on top.

Do you get it?

Remember… a major triad is a:

major third + perfect fifth

(Note: Major triad = Major Chord)

Also, remember:

A (major third) = 4 half steps or 2 whole steps
A (minor third) = 3 half steps or 1.5 whole steps

———————————————————-
Seventh Chord = major third + perfect fifth + minor third
———————————————————-

For example, a (C major) chord is: (C) - (E) - (G)

To create a C Seventh Chord (or C7), simply add a minor third on top of the (G).

—— from G to A flat is 1 half step
—— from G to A is 2 half steps
—— from G to B flat is 3 half steps

3 half steps = “Minor Third” interval

So… by adding a (B flat) to a (C major chord), you have now created a (C7) chord.

C7 = (C) + (E) + (G) + (Bb)

Try playing this chord in all 12 keys! (C7, D7, E7 and so on …)

Note: This chord is one of the most utilized chords in gospel music. The added minor third creates the “blues” feeling used in gospel hymns, blues, r & b, rock, etc.

—In our 300-pg course, Seventh Chords are covered in depth. The coursework teaches you how to play this chord in all 12 keys. You will learn scale degree names, major seventh chords, minor seventh chords, altered seventh chords and more. Visit:

http://www.hearandplay.com/course

… for more information on the 300-pg course!

We hope you enjoyed this lesson on seventh chords. See ya tomorrow!

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