Jazz chord progession I like to play

[6stringer Pete]

I thought this was a nice sounding jazz chord progression and I like to use my fingers on it, no pick. If someone here can expand on this I’d appreciate, because this is all I know.

I Vi II V
CM7 Am7 Dm7 G7

on the CM7 I’m playing it at the 8th fret

on the Am7 I’m playing it at the 5th fret

on the Dm7 I’m playing it at the 6th fret

on the G7 I’m playing it on the 5th fret

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
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[GnLguy]

Try playing the Cm7 as a Cm9 with the root on the 3rd fret. If you aren’t familiar with this chord, it looks like a C9 @ the 3rd (using strings 2-5), but you play the D string on the 1st fret instead of the 2nd.

Its a little bit of stretch but its a great sounding chord. Play the Am7 in the open position then go to the 5th for the Dm7. If you raise your pinky on beats 2 & 4 of the G7 on the 5th fret, you are going between G7 and G9.

That gives you a little bit of voice leading back into the Cm7, which you could easily play @ the 3rd fret if you wanted to.

[6stringer Pete]

@Bluezhawk wrote:

Try playing the Cm7 as a Cm9 with the root on the 3rd fret. If you aren’t familiar with this chord, it looks like a C9 @ the 3rd (using strings 2-5), but you play the D string on the 1st fret instead of the 2nd.

Its a little bit of stretch but its a great sounding chord. Play the Am7 in the open position then go to the 5th for the Dm7. If you raise your pinky on beats 2 & 4 of the G7 on the 5th fret, you are going between G7 and G9.

That gives you a little bit of voice leading back into the Cm7, which you could easily play @ the 3rd fret if you wanted to.

Thanks Bluez, I really appreciate it. I got the chords down pretty much without looking at the fretboard now, but I wanted to expand it, in which you now helped me with. I’m just reading this thread and not sure if it all soaked in yet, but if I have any questions I’ll post it here. Hope to make an Mp3 on this and post it. Yikes!

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
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[GnLguy]

A simple progression like this is a great learning tool for chord inversions. Try to find chord voicings that very close together on the fretboard. If you can locate them easily enough, it will lend itself well to voice leading.

One of the things that I’ve learned is to try to use as many 4 note chords as possible and use barre chords very sparingly. 4 note chords on strings 2-5 really harmonize well with a singer or someone soloing.
Once you get a grip on that, you might want to look into chord substitutions to use in passing from one chord to the next. There is plenty of time for that later but you should keep it in mind for the future.

[6stringer Pete]

@Bluezhawk wrote:

A simple progression like this is a great learning tool for chord inversions. Try to find chord voicings that very close together on the fretboard. If you can locate them easily enough, it will lend itself well to voice leading.

One of the things that I’ve learned is to try to use as many 4 note chords as possible and use barre chords very sparingly. 4 note chords on strings 2-5 really harmonize well with a singer or someone soloing.
Once you get a grip on that, you might want to look into chord substitutions to use in passing from one chord to the next. There is plenty of time for that later but you should keep it in mind for the future.

Thanks Bluez. Yes, the 4 note chords really strike home with me. I’m playing this on a telecaster, neck pickup with no treble and the tone is really beautiful. What I’d like to learn is a simple rhythm patter for this and work on your suggestion. Any help on this one!

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
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[6stringer Pete]

The I position CM7 chord

8th fret 6th string
X 5th string
9th fret 4th string
9th fret 3rd string
8th fret 2nd string
X 1st string

The Vi position Am7 chord

5th fret 6th string
X 5th string
5th fret 4th string
5th fret 3rd string
5th fret 2nd string
X 1st string

The II position Dm7 chord

X 6th string
X 5th string
7th fret 4th string
7th fret 3th string
6th fret 2th string
8th fret 1st string

The V position G7 chord

X 6th string
X 5th string
5th fret 4th string
7th fret 3rd string
6th fret 2nd string
7th fret 1st string

Those are the chord shapes that I’m using.

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
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[GnLguy]

On a progression like this, I find what works for me. Maybe some palm mutes on the strums, raking the strings during the strumming in either direction, arpeggiate the chords also in either direction. Find what sounds good to your ear – and don’t be too critical of what you are doing. Everyone goes through times that are frustrating but its just the nature of the beast.

While you are playing this and experimenting, be thinking of a song that you’ve heard and see if you can find a backing track on YouTube that would be similar. I found one yesterday that as the video played, it would display the chord and that was a big help as I was playing with it.

[6stringer Pete]

@Bluezhawk wrote:

On a progression like this, I find what works for me. Maybe some palm mutes on the strums, raking the strings during the strumming in either direction, arpeggiate the chords also in either direction. Find what sounds good to your ear – and don’t be too critical of what you are doing. Everyone goes through times that are frustrating but its just the nature of the beast.

While you are playing this and experimenting, be thinking of a song that you’ve heard and see if you can find a backing track on YouTube that would be similar. I found one yesterday that as the video played, it would display the chord and that was a big help as I was playing with it.

Bluez, by you helping me out on this post, I discovered this about the C chord;

When I start with a C dominate 7 chord, I change the “Bb” to a “B” and I now have a C Maj7 chord

Change the “B” to “A” and I have a C Maj6

Change the “E” to “Eb” and I have a C min 7

Change “Bb” to “A” and “E” to “Eb” and I have a C min 6

The thing here is, I don’t know why all these changes make the name of the chord. I need to learn how all this works.

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
Active Melody
Forum Moderator

[GnLguy]

Very simple. If you were to write out the C major scale and number each letter/note from 1-8, you would see that a

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C

C major scale is easiest for this because it has no sharps or flats

* a major chord uses the 1st 3rd and 5th of the scale
^ a minor chord uses the 1st flatted 3rd and 5th of the scale
* if I add a flatted 7th to either a major or minor chord, it becomes a dominate 7th type chord
* if a major chord has the 7th note of scale added to it, it becomes a major 7th chord
* follow the same formula to find why a chord is a 6th or 9th chord
* I’m reaching on this last one so verify this one. For a chord to be a 13th chord, the highest note of the chord is a 6th and termed as a 13th because it is an octave higher than the others.
* If a 13th chord has a flatted 7th, it is a dominate 13th; if it has natural 7th, it is a major 13th.
* If a 13th chord has a flatted 3rd, it is a minor 13th; if it has natural 3rd, it is a major 13th

And by the way, welcome to seeing the theory of voice leading unfold right before your eyes. It is used in all genres of music

[6stringer Pete]

@Bluezhawk wrote:

Very simple. If you were to write out the C major scale and number each letter/note from 1-8, you would see that a

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
C D E F G A B C

C major scale is easiest for this because it has no sharps or flats

* a major chord uses the 1st 3rd and 5th of the scale
^ a minor chord uses the 1st flatted 3rd and 5th of the scale
* if I add a flatted 7th to either a major or minor chord, it becomes a dominate 7th type chord
* if a major chord has the 7th note of scale added to it, it becomes a major 7th chord
* follow the same formula to find why a chord is a 6th or 9th chord
* I’m reaching on this last one so verify this one. For a chord to be a 13th chord, the highest note of the chord is a 6th and termed as a 13th because it is an octave higher than the others.
* If a 13th chord has a flatted 7th, it is a dominate 13th; if it has natural 7th, it is a major 13th.
* If a 13th chord has a flatted 3rd, it is a minor 13th; if it has natural 3rd, it is a major 13th

And by the way, welcome to seeing the theory of voice leading unfold right before your eyes. It is used in all genres of music

Thanks I’ll study this. So a minor chord uses a flatted 3rd and no other flatten notes?

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
Active Melody
Forum Moderator

[GnLguy]

I have to apologize but I was reading your progression as opening with a C minor 7. Must have been past my bedtime.

Here is one stab at the progression, opening with a major 9 chord. I’ll post some other variations later

CM7   Am7   Dm7     G7

Cmaj9
String Fret
1 x
2 3
3 4
4 2
5 3
6 x

Am7
1 0
2 1
3 0
4 2
5 0
6 x

Dm7
1 1
2 1
3 2
4 0
5 x
6 x

G7
1 x
2 6
3 4
4 5
5 5
6 x

[6stringer Pete]

@Bluezhawk wrote:

I have to apologize but I was reading your progression as opening with a C minor 7. Must have been past my bedtime.

Here is one stab at the progression, opening with a major 9 chord. I’ll post some other variations later

CM7   Am7   Dm7     G7

Cmaj9
String Fret
1 x
2 3
3 4
4 2
5 3
6 x

Am7
1 0
2 1
3 0
4 2
5 0
6 x

Dm7
1 1
2 1
3 2
4 0
5 x
6 x

G7
1 x
2 6
3 4
4 5
5 5
6 x

Great, really liked it and the chord forms weren’t that hard to place the fingers with. Thanks

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
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[GnLguy]

Here is part 2, play the first one followed by this group of chords. I have another to post after this one
that the chords are a little more difficult to form because most people aren’t used to the fingerings but
with the 3 progression, you will go from open positions chords to the 10th fret with close voice leadings

Cmaj7
String Fret
1 x
2 5
3 4
4 5
5 3
6 x

Am7
1 x
2 5
3 5
4 5
5 x
6 5

Dm7
1 5
2 6
3 5
4 7
5 5
6 x

G7
1 7
2 6
3 7
4 5
5 x
6 x

[GnLguy]

The Cmaj7 and Am7 chord may take a little work to finger properly at first but are great chords to have in your arsenal. This form of Cmaj7 was one that Chet Atkins used a lot. I have a progression that I will post that uses this form in a 1-4-5 progression that will help in getting used to it

Start with the first progression and work thru all them; you will end up on the 10th fret and have endless possibilities in combining them

Cmaj7
1 – 7
2 – 8
3 – 9
4 – 10
5 – x
6 – 8x

Am7
1 – 8
2 – 8
3 – 10
4 – 7
5 – x
6 – x

Dm7
1 – x
2 – 10
3 – 10
4 – 10
5 – x
6 – 10

G7
1 – x
2 – 8
3 – 10
4 – 9
5 – 10
6 – x

[6stringer Pete]

Thanks

It was Saturday yesterday and I had a busy schedule so I didn’t have any time to pick up the guitar. Today I’ll look at all you posted. This post has really been very educational for me and thank you very much.

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
Active Melody
Forum Moderator

[6stringer Pete]

@Bluezhawk wrote:

I have to apologize but I was reading your progression as opening with a C minor 7. Must have been past my bedtime.

Here is one stab at the progression, opening with a major 9 chord. I’ll post some other variations later

CM7   Am7   Dm7     G7

Cmaj9
String Fret
1 x
2 3
3 4
4 2
5 3
6 x

Am7
1 0
2 1
3 0
4 2
5 0
6 x

Dm7
1 1
2 1
3 2
4 0
5 x
6 x

G7
1 x
2 6
3 4
4 5
5 5
6 x

Got to practice this now. I never played it this way and it really sounds nice. I’m experimenting by using all 5 fingers and then finger picking the notes, sounds cool. I’ll try today to post an audio of it. thanks

I’ll move on to the next post you posted very soon

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
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