Appendix VI - Lesson 9
Related Chords
Notes to Appendix VI - Lesson 9
Before reading another sentence of this lesson, go back and review Volume 1's Lessons' 10, 18, and 19. At that point this lesson will seem like a review lesson, albeit from a slightly different direction.
Maj6 chords have the same tones as a min7. A, C, E, and G make up an A min7 chord, and C, E, G, and A make up a C Maj6 chord. Using our new terminology from Appendix VI - Lesson 8, we can say that a C Maj6 chord is actually a 1st inversion A min7 chord. In fact, there are musicologists that say exactly that. I don't believe it's so important an issue to argue as to one way only to look at it. What is important is that an A min7 or 9 (especially if the A min9 doesn't have a root) will substitute very nicely for C harmony. A min9 to A min7, while our bass player plays a C, and our audience hears a C Maj7 to C Maj6 progression.
A C Maj7 has a C, E, G, and B. What is an E, G, and B? That's right - an E min triad. So if your bass player continues playing a C or a C riff, and you play E min to A min, your audience also hears a C Maj7 to C Maj6 progression. In fact, an E min7 to A min7 freely subs as a C Maj9 to C Maj6.
If we stack the notes of a G13 chord, dominant harmony for the key of C, we find a G Maj triad, a B dim triad, a D min Triad, an F Maj Triad, and an A min Triad. If we look for 7th's we find a G7, a Bmin7b5 (sometimes called a B 1/2dim7, and you juggle the notes it's a D min6), D min7, F Maj7, and A min7. That is to say, any of these chords will substitute for a G dominant harmony. Mickey just says there are many different ways to conceive chord progressions as long as you end up with the dominant and resolve to the tonic.
That's a lot to remember if one is going to apply it to all 12 dominant situations. What works for me is to think of it as a G triad or a direct G substitute and we add a descending scale based on the tonic key. So a D min7 to D min6 can be thought of as Dominant harmony with a descending scale of C to B: D - F - A - C to D - F - A - B.
Exercise 19 shows that a root position C Maj6 can be juggled to a root position A min7, and vice-versa.
Exercise 20 shows that a D min triad is the upper three notes or upper partials to a G9 chord.
Exercise 21 shows that a D min can sub for a G dominant harmony. Note Mickey's use of 3V7 to mean a third inversion dominant 7 chord: F, G, B, and D.
Exercise 22 has 5 parts: Ex. 22, Ex. 22a, Ex. 22b, Ex. 22c, and Ex. 22d. Ex. 22 gives 4 measures of I - V - V - I harmony in C. The others give possible substitutions:
Ex. 22a: C and A min7 are I harmony, D min7 to G7 are V harmony.
Ex. 22b: Measure 1 has an error. The 2nd chord is a C Maj6, so that harmony really is C Maj7 to C Maj6; D min7 to D min6 are V harmony, D min7 to G7 are V harmony.
Ex. 22c: Measure 1's 2nd chord is also marked in error. It's a C Maj6 as in the previous example. E min7 to Eb min7 are forced against the V harmony with the Eb min7 actually a passing chord.
Ex. 22d: Measures 1 and 2 are using C Maj7, D min7, E min7, and Eb min7 forced against the I - V harmony of the first two frets. Note that the last beat of Measure is actually an Eb min7.
Note that all of these exercises are not meant to be played on the guitar as
written, but are actually close stacked chords to show the tonal flow. To
hear this and maybe play along, I've created a TEF with 5 MIDI modules, using familiar chord forms in
place of the written ones. Since this is really a review lesson for us
Volume 1 graduates and we've played these same exercises in all keys, I don't
think it's necessary to transpose them to understand the relationships.
But if it helps you, please do so. Note in the TEF, I've muted all but the
Ex. 22. module. Listen to each module separately, by changing the muting
status of each.
Continue with the stretching exercises of the earlier lessons and your on-going
re-harmonization of the classics. (Did you think I was going to say something
else?)
As always, make it FUN!!