• A Quick Follow-Up To “Approach Chords”

    in Chords & Progressions

    After writing about Approach Chords the other day, I received a request for more of these types of chords.

    Recall the definition of approach chords – In music, an approach chord is a chord one half-step higher or lower than the goal (aka – place you’re going to), and especially helpful in turnarounds and chord progressions that move in fourths.

    So here’s another idea for you…

    On the tone a half step “LOWER” than the chord you want to go to (aka – “the target”), play a minor7 #5.

    So if my target chord is Ebminor7, which is Eb on left /// Gb + Bb + Db on right, I could play D minor 7 #5 right before it: D on left /// C + F + A#

    Dmin7 #5

    Eb minor 7

    Or you could invert the Dmin7 #5 to put F on top:

    …which leads nicely to an Eb minor 9 (which allows you to keep the F from the previous chord on top):

    And for more spice, you could turn the Dmin7 #5 into a D7 #9#5 with the addition of one note (F#) on the bottom:

    So there you have it — a few more ideas to get your creativity juices flowing. What else can you come up with?

    The following two tabs change content below.
    Hi, I'm Jermaine Griggs, founder of this site. We teach people how to express themselves through the language of music. Just as you talk and listen freely, music can be enjoyed and played in the same way... if you know the rules of the "language!" I started this site at 17 years old in August 2000 and more than a decade later, we've helped literally millions of musicians along the way. Enjoy!




    Comments on this entry are closed.

    Previous post:

    Next post: