• What’s Your Favorite Chord Skeleton, 3-7-3 or 7-3-7?

    in Chords & Progressions,Experienced players,Gospel music,Jazz music,Piano,Theory

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    We’ll be learning two chord skeletons today, the 3-7-3 chord skeleton and the 7-3-7 chord skeleton.

    Attention: This lesson is dedicated to all the intermediate keyboard players out there. Therefore, if you’re either a beginner or an advanced player, there is no guarantee that you’ll benefit so much from this lesson.

    A vast majority of intermediate players love learning extended chords because of how sophisticated they are. Well, there’s nothing wrong with that if they’ve made the most out of seventh chords. Unfortunately, most intermediate players are yet to make the most out of seventh chords.

    If you’re an intermediate keyboard player and you know you belong to the league of musicians I’m talking about, stay glued to this page. I guarantee you that at the end of this lesson, you’ll appreciate seventh chords a lot more; especially major, minor, and dominant seventh chords.

    Alright! Let’s get started by refreshing our minds on the concept of chord skeleton.

    Quick Insights On The Concept Of Chord Skeleton

    Although all the tones of a chord are important, there are two important chord tones in every seventh or extended chord and they are the third and seventh tones.

    Due to the importance of the third and seventh tones, they are known as the skeleton or chord skeleton.

    Take a look at these seventh chords:

    The C major seventh:

    The C minor seventh:

    The C dominant seventh:

    The most important tones in these seventh chords are their third and seventh tones (aka – “skeleton”) respectively.

    The Skeleton Voicing Technique

    The skeleton voicing technique is used to rearrange chords in such a way that only the third and seventh tones are played.

    Playing the third and seventh tones of the C major seventh chord:

    …produces the skeleton voicing of the C major seventh chord:

    Using the skeleton voicing technique, the C minor seventh chord:

    …can also be played as a skeleton voicing:

    “Why Are The Third And Seventh Tones Important?”

    The third and seventh tones of a chord are described as the chord skeleton and this is because they are used (most of the time) to determine the quality of a chord.

    The C major seventh and C minor seventh chords:

    The C major seventh:

    The C minor seventh:

    …have the same root and fifth tones (which are C and G respectively):

    The difference between both chords is their skeleton:

    C major seventh (skeleton):

    C minor seventh (skeleton):

    Playing any of the skeletons above implies a C major seventh and C minor seventh harmony.

    “What’s Your Favorite Chord Skeleton, 3-7-3 or 7-3-7?”

    There are two chord skeletons we’ll be covering in this lesson:

    The 3-7-3 chord skeleton

    The 7-3-7 chord skeleton

    …and I’ll want you to tell me your favorite chord skeleton at the end of this lesson.

    Do we have a deal? Alright!

    The 3-7-3 Chord Skeleton

    The skeleton of a chord can be played in octave position. What this entails is that the third tone of the chord will be duplicated.

    For example, the skeleton of the C major seventh chord:

    …which is “E-B”:

    …can be played in octave position when the third tone (which is E):

    …is duplicated (“E-E”):

    So, instead of having a 3-7 skeleton (“E-B”):

    …we’ll have a 3-7-3 skeleton (“E-B-E”):

    “Check Out The 3-7-3 Chord Skeleton For All The Scale Tone Chords…”

    Attention: Keep in mind that all the examples are given in the key of C major

    The 1-chord (C major seventh):

    The 2-chord (D minor seventh):

    The 3-chord (E minor seventh):

    The 4-chord (F major seventh):

    The 5-chord (G dominant seventh):

    The 6-chord (A minor seventh):

    The 7-chord (B half-diminished seventh):

    The 7-3-7 Chord Skeleton

    The seventh tone of a chord can also be duplicated. When the seventh tone is duplicated, instead of the regular 3-7 skeleton, we’ll now have the 7-3-7 chord skeleton.

    “Here’s How It Works…”

    Duplicating the seventh tone of the C major seventh skeleton (E-B):

    …which is B:

    …produces B-B:

    So, instead of E-B (the 3-7 chord skeleton):

    …we’ll have the B-E-B (the 7-3-7 chord skeleton):

    “Check Out The 7-3-7 Chord Skeleton For All The Scale Tone Chords In The Key Of C Major…”

    The 1-chord (C major seventh):

    The 2-chord (D minor seventh):

    The 3-chord (E minor seventh):

    The 4-chord (F major seventh):

    The 5-chord (G dominant seventh):

    The 6-chord (A minor seventh):

    The 7-chord (B half-diminished seventh):

    Final Words

    We’ve covered both chord skeletons for scale tone chords in the key of C major. You’ll do well to tell me (in the comment section) what your favorite chord skeleton is and why.

    Recommendation: These skeleton voicings (3-7-3 and 7-3-7) are to be practiced in all 12 major keys.

    All the best!

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    Onyemachi "Onye" Chuku is a Nigerian musicologist, pianist, and author. Inspired by his role model (Jermaine Griggs) who has become his mentor, what he started off as teaching musicians in his Aba-Nigeria neighborhood in April 2005 eventually morphed into an international career that has helped hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world. Onye lives in Dubai and is currently the Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group and the music consultant of the Gospel Music Training Center, all in California, USA.




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