Active Melody

Learn to play blues guitar.

Use Minor Triads to create Dreamy Major 7 sounds – ML144

Description

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use simple minor triad shapes to create dreamy Major 7 sounds over major chords.

We’ll apply this idea to a standalone composition in the key of A and connect it back to familiar CAGED shapes, major scale notes, and lead ideas.

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Comments

  3. Mike R says

    Nice sounding progression. I also like ML102 for that major 7th sound. Brian is it still alright to slide into these major 7th chords when trying to blues it up some?

  9. Jeff H says

    Brian, as soon as you started playing this, I knew I would love it. So Beautiful! This is one I would like to expand on and make the song longer. You surprise us every week.

  10. Daniel H says

    Nice lesson Brian! I reckon “Mr Young” uses the Maj7 chords to get the predominant sound in Harvest moon.

    So the equation for a Maj7 is to keep the root of the major chord but drop the other 1 by a 1/2 step?

    The equation for the 6 chord is increase the 5 of the major chord by 1 full step?

    Thank you for doing this lesson as an ML.

    • Rob N says

      Harvest Moon is much easier to play than work out what’s going on, but the intro/repeating riff is something like: Dadd2 – D6/9- Dmaj7. Very dreamy.

      The equation for a Major7 chord is: root; major third; perfect fifth (i.e. a major triad); major seventh.

      A major sixth chord is: root; major third; perfect fifth; major sixth. Note that in the full chord the perfect fifth is present, but you don’t have to play it to get the sound. (You’ll find a G6 in the verse of Harvest Moon).

      If you ever want to find a major second, major third, perfect fourth, perfect fifth, major sixth or major seventh – that’s the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 of the major scale.

      Hope that helps.

  14. houliAK says

    Watching this lesson I couldn’t help thinking how much I have enjoyed being a member for over 10 years. Your lessons have given me the tools to increase my skills and enjoyment on the guitar. Your teaching method and explanations resonate with me and I am amazed at how you can keep doing it every week. I appreciate you and the effect it’s had on my life. Happy 4th!

  15. JEROME L says

    So beautiful, and very smooth.
    Your way of explaining these concepts is fantastic.
    I have a question:
    in several lessons on minor triads, you suggest that we can play any minor triad and the same one two semitones (or two frets) up, and then go back;
    Why does it work?
    Is this related to the fact that, doing this, we alternate between the ninth version of another chord and its sixth version?

  16. JEROME L says

    For the ones who like it,
    there is another great and interesting lesson about “minor triads on top of major chords”,
    that (unfortunately) the search engine doesn’t show even if you ask for it :
    see ep587

    • Daniel H says

      Great tip Jerome…Thank you!
      EP587 is an awesome lesson and dovetails with this ML beautifully. In fact this ML help me appreciate EP587 so much more (and I had flagged EP587 “way back when” as a favorite lol).

    • Michael Krailo says

      Hmmm, I used that exact search phrase in my browsers search engine and narrowed the search to the ActiveMelody site and it was the third result in the search.

      site:activemelody.com “minor triads on top of major chords”

      Try that in your search engine of choice and see what happens.

  17. Jack W says

    I am ashamed to admit that I have been a premier member for a couple of years and have not made full use of the material….I have wasted time and money on other lessons and courses that teach you HOW to play a specific piece but not WHY you are playing a particular passage. And that taught me how to play some melodies and a written version of a song but I realized that I really cannot PLAY the guitar. I recently came back to a regular study on active melody and have a much better understanding of the instrument and feel like I am actually learning to play the guitar. Thank you.

  18. Michael J says

    G’day Brian,
    Long time member, and still you continue to amaze me. This is yet another week of solid gold.

    I want to say thank you, but it just doesn’t seem enough. All glory to you.
    M.J., Oz

  19. MANUEL M says

    Very interesting. Cela nous apprend à nous servir du SYSTÈME CAGED et de ses trois formes principales C, A, E. et de connecter la gamme majeure de A à trois endroits différents du manche.
    Congratulations Brian,

  24. Guy H says

    This triad piece with the Major 7s is fun, but the previous blues triad pice is an epoch for the summer to play on the porch, love the way it plays and sounds. The Major 7s is easier to memorize maybe cause it’s shorter. My goal is to take the next blues triad piece, play the first 8 or 12 bars as you write them, then improvise the next round with triads and runs of the same keys. Excited to try this, I guess I could take last weeks piece and try this.

    Keep those hits coming, thanks for your expertise in playing, composing and teaching! Guy

  26. Phelan S says

    My favorite lesson so far! It’s a simple piece but so beautiful and so very playable. I’m still very much a beginner, but I was able to pick this one up easily and couldn’t help but improv additions to it. Simply a joy to play!

  28. KIRK E says

    Yes sir!– I’m pretty much just background noise when I play, this would be great for me if it was longer and had your backing track. I play a bunch of these lessons along with your backing tracks less the guitar (the ones that just loop through, no break before repeating). I know that’s not your goal for us in these lessons, I do learn valuable stuff that helps me do my own thing. But my own thing is never as good as your stuff. I’m so much better when i just copy you. Again, I know that’s not the goal,..just being honest. Thanks buddy

    • Michael Krailo says

      This is a Micro Lesson and may or may not contain a longer composition. There is nothing wrong with copying what Brian does at first, I did that as well, but you will advance much quicker if you keep that to a minimum (your favorite compositions), and try and absorb the concept being taught by taking lots of notes, ensuring you understand the chord shapes as they pertain to CAGED. If you don’t know the CAGED system that well yet, then you should spend a lot more time with the basics first and just try and learn one or two things from the current weekly lesson. There are some really great compositions that are worthy of your time to copy and learn how the various licks are constructed. You will notice a pattern of re-use of these licks in the vast array of compositions created. Once you put the time in to learn how to play those repeated licks well, it becomes easier and easier to incorporate into new compositions as they come up in other lessons. So naturally, in the very beginning, there is a lot of hard work you will need to do to build a repertoire of licks you can fall back on.

      To extend this composition will require to simply follow the concept that you learned over another round of the same progression. That is what the backing track is for. You can vary the note order, timing, or use your ear to create your own thing that fits but is slightly different. This lesson is mainly focused on minor triad shapes over major chords with the addition of a few extra notes that fit so that should be your focus. Learn the basic chord progression first, then add in embellishments as desired. If you have learned what a major seven is, and how it differs from a minor or flat seven chord, then you have learned what you needed to. All that remains is to apply what you learned so it sticks.

      Do not discount your own stuff and what you already know. It’s the way you play it that makes all the difference in the world.

    • Georg B says

      Hi Jim,
      Check out Brian’s lesson ep374 and the micro lesson ml135. You’ll find everything you need there, and hopefully your question will be answered. I hope this helps.
      Georg

  31. Georg B says

    Hi Brian,
    A lesson that’s absolutely clear and easy to understand! Simply great. I keep going back to some of your older lessons and notice that in your newer ones, you break everything down very clearly and precisely. Actually, this content was already there in earlier lessons. The fact that I’m able to follow along and understand better now is definitely due to a combination of two factors. The first is certainly that my knowledge of harmony has expanded thanks to you. The second is that limiting the amount of information in each lesson and the repetitions within a lesson have helped me make progress. For me, at least, less is more. The slow-motion feature you’ve been using more and more lately—when you repeatedly show a played passage in slow motion—is also a huge help to me.
    I’m also increasingly able to put into practice what you mentioned a few weeks ago: Don’t let yourself be distracted by “shiny objects.” That helps me stay focused. I notice that you take this very same motto to heart in your own lessons.
    Your latest lesson focuses primarily on minor triads and how, depending on the context, they can sound like a dominant major 7 chord or a minor chord. The sixth and ninth chords were also covered. That’s great. After lessons like this, I feel like I’ve really understood everything and can remember most of it, which is very satisfying.
    Thank you very much for that.
    Cheers,
    Georg

  35. klox says

    Light bulbs popping everywhere. It’s so obvious the way you presentef maj7ths, 6ths and 9th triads this way. I have always found the use of intervals the most valuable in explaining music theory. Thanks Brian.

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