Lesson 18
Notes to Lesson 18
The last 6 lessons of the chord section have Mickey taking the ideas from the beginning and expanding them and creating new sounds and feelings. Lesson 18 deals with Intro's, a subject we began to work with in Lesson 6 and 7 when we were learning how to use Melody Chords, or chords from Group C. Now that we've had practically all the chord forms of this course, the intros can be expanded.
Let's analyze each exercise.
Exercise 1: The chords are: D min7 - C dim7 - C Maj6 - C dim7 - D min7 - G13b9 - G Maj6 - G7#5b9. I believe that if we rename this progression, it'll seem more like the familiar Circle of Fourths that we are all familiar with. Note the part D min7 - C dim7 - C Maj6 - C dim7 - D min7. We're holding the C note on the 8th fret and essentially moving the other notes up by a fret at a time, two frets, and back down until we arrive at the D min7 again. We can think of this entire section as D min7 harmony. Instead of continuously playing a D min7, we move out of it and back into it in parallel. We all agree that D min7 progresses to a G13b9, but what about G13b9 going to a G Maj6? Guess what? It isn't! The chord form Mickey uses indeed has the notes of a G Maj6, but it also has the notes of a C Maj9 (C- E - G - B - D). The G is in the bass, and our bass player can play the root for us. Doesn't G13b9 going to C Maj9 make more sense? Now, our intro goes to the V chord as a lead-in, G7#5b9.
Additionally with that G Maj6 form used as a C Maj9, we can move our 2nd finger from the G on the 6th string to the C on the 5th string. Now we have a chord with the 1, 3, 7, and 9.
Here's a table showing what Maj6 chord will sub for a Maj9:
|
GMaj6 |
Ab Maj6 | A Maj6 | Bb Maj6 | B Maj6 | C Maj6 | Db Maj6 | D Maj6 | Eb Maj6 | E Maj6 | F Maj6 | F# Maj6 |
|
C Maj9 |
Db Maj9 | D Maj9 | Eb Maj9 | E Maj9 | F Maj9 | Gb Maj9 | G Maj9 | Ab Maj9 | A Maj9 | Bb Maj9 | B Maj9 |
The Maj6 to Maj9 Connection
Exercise 2: The chords are: G Maj6 - F Maj6 - D Min7 - G13b9 and a repeat of the entire phrase. Remember we're in the Key of C. If we apply the "6 to 9" rule we just learned, the phrase now is "C Maj9 - F Maj6 - D Min7 - G13b9". Hopefully, a little light just came on, with a smile, and an "oh, yeah!"
Exercise 3: The chords are: D min7 - F min7 - E min7 - Eb min7 - D min7 - G7#9 - Ab dim7 - C Maj9 - G7#5b9. Note as in Exercise 1 we have a progression that starts and ends with a D min7 and chromatic parallel movement. That's just to avoid the boredom of a lot of just D min7's. The G7#9 looks like a Db13b9, doesn't it? In fact, if we make a 6-string G7 barred chord on the 3rd fret and add the A#/Bb note, It would look very much like a chord we play in "down and dirty" blues, wouldn't you say? In dominant harmony we can almost always substitute a chord with a name that is 6 frets away. And almost all dominant forms can have two names 6 frets apart, like our example G7#9/Db13b9. If one has a b5 or a b9, the other will usually have either a #5 or a #9. It's a little bit much to discuss at this lesson, but we'll get back to it in the Review Lesson.
The chord Mickey's calling an "Ab dim" or dim7 is actually used here as a G7b9. All dim7 chords can be thought of as dominant 7b9 chords without roots for the chord one fret lower:
|
G dim7 |
Ab dim7 | A dim7 | Bb dim7 | B dim7 | C dim7 | Db dim7 | D dim7 | Eb dim7 | E dim7 | F dim7 | F# dim7 |
| Gb7b9 | G7b9 | Ab7b9 | A7b9 | Bb7b9 | B7b9 | C7b9 | Db7b9 | D7b9 | Eb7b9 | E7b9 | F7b9 |
The Dim7 to Dom7b9 Connection
Continuing with the progression in Exercise 3, the chord Mickey is calling a Ma9 or Maj9, we've noted before is really a 6/9 chord. If we take a C Maj9 that is fingered like a G6 and then go to C6/9, it makes a useful substitute, similar to a Maj7 to Maj6 substitute.
Therefore, our progression should be called: D min7 - F min7 - E min7 - Eb min7 - D min7 - G7#9 - G7b9 - C 6/9 - G7#5b9.
Exercise 4: The chords are: C Maj6 - C Maj6 - D min7 - G13b9 - A11 - C Maj6 - E min7 - Eb min7 - D min7 - G13b9. The G13b9 progressing to an A11 seems funny, doesn't it? That's because it's a sharing form with A11, but in this case it is really used as a C 6/9 (A is 6, E is 3, G is 5, D is 9). From what we've learned in this lesson, the rest of the exercise should be easy to explain.
About the TEF's: I have retained Mickey's names except for what he calls a "ma9" form. That's clearly an error. The rest are forms with more than one name, which strangely enough leads us into next week's lesson!
If you want some more work: you can transpose the exercises to the Keys of D, A, and E.
Just keep it FUN!