Playing through EVERY key | Guitar seventh chords exercise | chords series, Ep. 10

This is another jazz chord shapes guitar lesson and i’m going to teach you a very useful guitar seventh chords exercise to master root position seventh chords all over the fretboard in various keys i’m jared from soundguitarlessons.com this is episode 10 of a series about mastering chords all over the guitar and we are talking about seventh chords over the last few videos and the last video i did a really intense exercise for practicing through the qualities of seventh chords called the chord quality cycle exercise and in this lesson we’re going to talk about playing through the chord qualities that exist within a key actually grouping them together uh within a key so it um sounds quite nice these are the chords that sound good together and that end up constructing actual chord progressions that exist in songs at the end of the video i’m going to give you a little arrangement using these exact chord shapes to show you how they exist in songs using a very classic jazz standard and it’s very cool sounding kind of solo guitar sounding arrangement using just these shapes and so stick around for that but first we got to get through the exercise and it’s going to be a big one but the most important thing is i want you to understand how the exercise works and why it might be useful for you so you’re kind of learning about the exercise and then you can dive in and keep it in your back pocket and use it anytime you want to freshen up on what chord qualities exist through a major key and in all kinds of areas and various positions all over the guitar so you’ll see how it works definitely watch the other videos in this series if you’re confused about anything because tons of awesome stuff is covered for example in episode 4 of this series we learned how to play and construct triads through a major scale off of the fifth string starting with b flat learning that the one chord is major two chord is minor three quarters minor four quarters major five quarters major six scores minor seven quarters diminished and back to one this lesson expands on that we’re basically going to do that same thing but we’re going to add sevens to all those chords so they’ll all be seventh chords and then we’re going to do them along the sixth string and the fourth string as well and then we are going to do them through every other key because we also want to be able to see these not just a long strings but crossing strings as well and that’s when it becomes actually very useful for seeing what chord number is in a key for actual song playing and chord progressions because we don’t want to just hop around the fretboard this way all the time it’s doable but we want to cross strings this way as well i did do a video a while ago about the seventh chords in b flat along the fifth string with passing diminished seventh chords and that’s what that video is all about and i’ll put a link in the description of that also worth checking out this is not using those passing diminished seventh chord so i just want to throw that in the mix and let you know about that because it’s also a really cool sound all right for this exercise we are going to start in the key of f that’s just because it’s the lowest string on the lowest fret we’re not going to use the open e string for this we’re going to start an f and then we’re going to do all the seventh chords through the key and then go through the circle of fourths and you’ll see what i mean because i’m going to demonstrate through the whole thing from the last lesson these shapes should be familiar but now we’re doing them through the key so the one chord is major seven the two chord is minor seven the three chord is minor seven the four chord is major seven let’s notice they sound quite nice together five chords dominant seven six chords minor seven seventh chord of the key is half diminished and back to major seven major seven half diminished minor seven dominant seven major seven minor seven minor seven so that’s uh through the key there so be able to do that off of f on the sixth string all right next we’re gonna do it off of b flat so this is just like that uh episode four by adding sevens and if we add those we get these shapes one two three four five six seven one seven six five all right that’s what we need to do there going along the string and the last uh key that we’re going to just go along a single string is e flat so that’s first fret fourth string so we have major seven shape minor seven number seven major seven dominant seven minor seven one seven six five four three two one so that covers all the shapes we need and it covers the diatonic structure of how seventh chords exist um and even if we know this stuff theoretically we have to play it on the guitar and we have to play it a bunch on the guitar in all these different places to really uh not just know it well but know it well with our fingers with our ears with the fretboard with the instrument so those three keys were for the sake of going along one string the rest of the keys we’re going to cross strings because we need to be able to see it this way as well a fourth up from e flat is a flat one two three four that’s a flat we’re going through the circle of fourths every time so we’re just going what’s the key that’s up a fourth we’re doing that next so a flat we’re going to play here off the sixth string when we play a our chords through the keys off the sixth string i want you to follow this path you’re going to play the chords that are based off of these roots okay so play the one chord off this note the two chord off this note the three chords so it’s just the scale shape you’re playing the chords off of them instead so it’s like we’re playing a scale with chords and crossing strings very cool so we have the one chord major seven the two chord minor seven three chord minor seven four chord five chord six chord seven chord one seven six five four three two one sounds a little interesting if you’re thinking of it melodically and then if you’re hearing the top note it doesn’t you know continue as a scale on uh as like a melodic movement on the top note but that’s okay we’re just kind of working with these chord shapes so every time from now on when we start on the sixth string we’re going to follow that exact path we’re going to call that path one that’s following the chords along this scale form next key that is a fourth up from a flat one two three four is d flat okay we need a new path because we’re starting on the fifth string so here’s our path we’re gonna follow the chords off of these roots one two three four five six seven one okay you’re gonna make chords off of this path now i want you to also play the chords that are below and actually i want you to go one seven six five one because i learned over time that when we just uh when i just have someone do from the lowest tonic up and back down we don’t necessarily learn to see and understand the options that are below so we need to go below and back up as well so this is our path for any time we’re playing off the fifth string now one two three four five six seven one seven six five 3 2 1 7 6 5 and when you land on 5 you can just jump back to 1. you can also 5 6 7 1 but that’s not necessary just get to five and then kind of land back on one to resolve that now every time from now on when we start on a fifth string our tonic chord our root of the fifth string we are going to use that path to play all the chords along we don’t start on the fourth string anywhere else than than that e flat key that we played along the fourth string so uh we have everything we need now to go through the rest of the keys after e flat is one two three four i usually do i like to do this if you need if you wanna see it on the fretboard one two three four and then go down an octave okay so this is g flat or f sharp and we’re gonna play the chords through that we’re gonna follow our path one okay i’m just going to demonstrate through the rest of the exercise we’ve already done half of the keys so we’re halfway there it’s great uh up a fourth bump but we’re at b now we’re gonna follow path two because we’re starting on string five so one two three four five six seven one seven six five four three two one seven six five one awesome uh a fourth up is e i don’t want us to do this low e so i’m gonna have us jump to just the fifth string e and do path two again one two three four five six seven one one seven six five four three two one seven six five one if your guitar gives you trouble because you can’t reach that high based on the structure of your guitar just go as high as you can and come back down so we’re doing all the keys no problem uh next key one two three four is a i went up a fourth and then down an octave to get off the sixth string path one here we go we’re following that structure with chords off of each one one chord two chord three chord four chord etcetera d is the next key one two three four that’s d we only have two keys left this is going great okay take it nice and slow uh one two three four then down an octave i’m at g now last uh uh two more keys now because we started on f so here we go with path one okay that was g now path two with c this is the last one and that’s all the seventh chords that exist diatonically in a major key in every key on the guitar and we did a long uh the sixth string fifth string and fourth string to make sure we can see it linearly along one string it’s actually easier to see that way but then very important that we learned how to do the same thing crossing strings this is amazing practice this is the repetition we need when practicing but also making us do it in different places in tonality and all over the guitar so a lot of progressions especially classic tunes jazz tunes and standards will use these types of these chord quality types uh however it’s it’s almost every tune will go out of the key won’t use just exclusively chords within a key like we have practiced so far however we do have to know that to even be able to see and understand when a progression uh shifts and has a collection of chords that is from another key so if we can see this well we just did it through all the keys that’s pretty awesome so if a progression shifts and we see oh looks like now we have a two a five and a one which is such a common chord progression especially in jazz we see oh cool now we shifted to this other key because we’re seeing the connections here so the tune all the things you are very famous jazz standard it’s a great one to do here because the melody is almost exclusively just the third of every chord throughout a chord progression that uses these shapes and it has a cool key change in it too so you’ll see an example of what i’m talking about with those key changes so we’re gonna do f minor seven specifically off the fifth string here so f minor seven off the fifth string we’re gonna call this six okay so this is six and then we’re gonna go up to b flat minor seven off the fourth string we’re going to call this two okay so we’re going six to two now if we’re not we haven’t jumped in that kind of way with our exercise but you can map around with your connections that you’ve learned to find that right so if this is six okay well seven is here and one is here or if this is six okay seven is here and one is here oh yeah two is here okay six two six two so the scale itself is the structure we can use to to find anything else that we want it’s just like when we’re using the single note scales and kind of counting around to find things you can kind of see these chord structures so okay if six is here two is here okay six is here so five is here so this is six two five one that’s uh this is the notice it’s actually going through the circle of fourths uh up a fourth up a fourth but then down an octave in this case uh up a fourth and so this is that’s why i go through the circle the fourths also in the exercises is because that is the most common um actual harmonic motion that’s happening in functional harmony in actual music so we have six two five one four circle of fourths in the key that’s all in the key okay and again you can find for yourself one seven six five four three two one that’s why that exercise that we just went through is so powerful you can really find that one two oh eight flat one two three four five six seven one oh there’s two okay they’re all in there but we’re just going through in a certain order so if you play those and you bring that melody note out on the top just the third of each chord that’s on the top of these voicings uh you almost have the exact melody of the tune and i didn’t give you the next part yet so what’s very cool here is now we go up a half step to d minor seven and that is two and then we’re going to play five two five one that’s the first phrase of this tune all the things you are and you don’t have to bring the melody out rhythmically in the way that i was just try to get the note to ring out nicely and it will almost be a chord melody arrangement of this song that’s just the chords that’s how i want you to practice it for now if i do try to bring the melody out uh to make it sound a little more like the melody of the tune it would i would kind of break the chords up a little bit and emphasize the melody on its own a couple times if you look up other tunes to play that use seventh chords uh or jazz tune or standard you might see chord types that are unfamiliar that have things sharp 5 flat 5 sharp 11 extra information and without knowing how to interpret those so i have a system for how to interpret any of those chords any crazy chord any complex chord for how to interpret those with only eight chord shapes and it’s a very cool method because it just takes the essence of a chord gives you an accurate uh shape two shapes actually that you can play for any chord type that exists and these are very legit chord voicings that people use professionals use all the time because they give you kind of a uh just minimal necessary sound not too busy and you can always learn about building more complex chords on top of these essential structures so i have a free little booklet that you can get to learn that method and it’s super fun because you can just look up literally any jazz chord progression grab the real book or any sort of lead sheet and be able to interpret those totally accurately so awesome if you want to accompany someone or if you like to sing and you want to sing an old jazz tune and and just have something to play for all those they’re pretty easy movable shapes as well so you can get that booklet that i made at any jazzcore.com or use the link in the description i’m here with a new lesson video every tuesday so make sure you’re subscribed and you hit that notification bell so you get a notification when i put out a new video we’re going to get even more advanced with chords coming up soon we are going to be talking about the theory and techniques of these complex extensions and alterations of chords in the near future so i’m looking forward to seeing you in those lessons i’m jared from soundguitarlessons.com and i’ll see you next week thanks so much .