Substitutions & Passing Chords cont..
2] The second chord substitution we will talk about is the Major 7th on ‘steroids’.
As you know, the major 7th chord is just the major with the 7th tone following the major scale. Many musicians cannot differentiate the 7th from the major 7th. The 7th is the same as the dominant 7th. Using the key of C, that will be C + E + G + Bb. The major 7th will be C + E + G + B. So, whenever you hear a C7 or C dominant 7, you’d know what to play. Whenever you hear a C major 7, you’d know what to play also. In the diatonic representation, it is simply d + m + s + t.
The major 7th substitution is used frequently when playing your 6th chord [la], or your 2nd chord [re].
A + E + G on left hand /// C + E + G + B on right hand
As you know, the major 7th chord is just the major with the 7th tone following the major scale. Many musicians cannot differentiate the 7th from the major 7th. The 7th is the same as the dominant 7th. Using the key of C, that will be C + E + G + Bb. The major 7th will be C + E + G + B. So, whenever you hear a C7 or C dominant 7, you’d know what to play. Whenever you hear a C major 7, you’d know what to play also. In the diatonic representation, it is simply d + m + s + t.
The major 7th substitution is used frequently when playing your 6th chord [la], or your 2nd chord [re].
A + E + G on left hand /// C + E + G + B on right hand
D + A + C on left hand /// F + A + C + E on right hand
Now, the major 7th chord should not be new to some of you who already use its power when playing songs. It can be used on your 1 chord, 2 chord, 4 chord, or 6 chord. It adds a jazzy feel to your chords.
Basically, the chords listed above show the way you will play it on your 6 and 2 chords. But the power I want to give to you in this substitution play is a lot ‘phatter’:
A + E + B on left hand /// C + E + G + B on right hand
Basically, the chords listed above show the way you will play it on your 6 and 2 chords. But the power I want to give to you in this substitution play is a lot ‘phatter’:
A + E + B on left hand /// C + E + G + B on right hand
Now, to make it a lot ‘phatter’, you can add some ‘steroids’ to this.
Don’t ask what I mean by ‘steroids’ because I’m not sure either. It’s a term I got from my interaction with Jamal Hartwell. All I know is that it’s basically spreading your major 7th chord [it looks like you are playing the tonic with the dominant chord: d + s major].
A + E + B /// C + G + B + D
Don’t ask what I mean by ‘steroids’ because I’m not sure either. It’s a term I got from my interaction with Jamal Hartwell. All I know is that it’s basically spreading your major 7th chord [it looks like you are playing the tonic with the dominant chord: d + s major].
A + E + B /// C + G + B + D
The trick is not to play it all at once. You have to flow into each note one after the other to give a form of slurred feel [legato].
This substitution is best used on your 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th tone chords. It can be used on your 4th chord, but you have to use your ears to find out if it suits the context of what you are playing. It would sound quite abstract if you do not know when to use it.
As you may or may not know, the Major 7th chord in gospel music is probably one of the most used chords in the urban and contemporary style. It is even used in jazz, and neo soul. If I want to ‘phatten’ that Major 7th up a little more, I would be using two substitute chords:
1. Minor 11th Chord
2. Minor 9
Both of these chords can replace a Major 7th. So what that means is that whenever you are playing a regular major 7th, you can fill it up with these chords.
(Remember the concepts of the relative minor and relative major scales? You can always flip them in ways which you use one of them to substitute the other. Look for a post on the relative minor inn the archives for better understanding).
Here are the substitution combinations:
If playing an Ab Major 7th you can then play this chord to add "steroids" to it:
F Minor 9 or F Minor 11
Say for instance you have a chord that looks like this:
F + C + G /// Ab + C + Eb + G
This substitution is best used on your 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th tone chords. It can be used on your 4th chord, but you have to use your ears to find out if it suits the context of what you are playing. It would sound quite abstract if you do not know when to use it.
As you may or may not know, the Major 7th chord in gospel music is probably one of the most used chords in the urban and contemporary style. It is even used in jazz, and neo soul. If I want to ‘phatten’ that Major 7th up a little more, I would be using two substitute chords:
1. Minor 11th Chord
2. Minor 9
Both of these chords can replace a Major 7th. So what that means is that whenever you are playing a regular major 7th, you can fill it up with these chords.
(Remember the concepts of the relative minor and relative major scales? You can always flip them in ways which you use one of them to substitute the other. Look for a post on the relative minor inn the archives for better understanding).
Here are the substitution combinations:
If playing an Ab Major 7th you can then play this chord to add "steroids" to it:
F Minor 9 or F Minor 11
Say for instance you have a chord that looks like this:
F + C + G /// Ab + C + Eb + G
You can replace the chord with an F minor 11th which looks like this:
F + C + G /// Ab + Eb + G + Bb F + C /// Eb + G + Ab + Bb
F + C + G /// Ab + Eb + G + Bb F + C /// Eb + G + Ab + Bb
So, you can use the Major 7th on steroids with your minor 11th chord and your minor 9th chord to add instant “phatness” to your regular major 7th chord.
Bass Combination
A good cheating trick to know when to use this chord or when it will sound nice is to look at your bass note. Remember, if you are listening to a song, listen for the bass note, and make that the basis for your chord. For example if you are listening to a song and the main bass note to the song is F, then chances are you will play:
1. Ab Major 7th
2. F minor 9
3. F minor 11
Move in whole steps
To add some interesting flavour and some nice changes to your music, what you can do is move these Chords in whole steps up or down. It gives you this really nice jazzy and neo soul kind of sound when you do this. You can use this whole–step movement concept as passing chords to get to the next Major 7th or you can just use them as “fillers”. Fillers are movements you use when you are just playing around, warming up, or with talk music. Since they are so jazzy, you will only use them a few times.
See, you can think of it as: start - destination. If you need to get to another major 7th combination, then you can move the minor 11th, minor 9th, or major 7th in whole steps to get to the destination. It creates a very rich sound and you can use this to start building a vocabulary of passing notes.
Melody Line
This trick is an awesome method to make your songs really intricate and complex. Take the melody line of the song, which is easy to hear, because it is usually the highest note you hear from the singer.
Listen to the soprano for that melody line. Once you hear the melody note, work backwards to figure out the Minor 11th. So for example if the melody line or soprano note, which is the highest note in the chord is Bb, the chord you will play is an F Minor 11th, making sure that you form your chords such that the Bb is the highest note in the chord. You see? You can work backwards as well if you want to base your chord such that you play a ‘phat’ melody line using the minor 11th chord. It works really well.
Assignment
1. Match the Major 7th on Steroids and the minor 9th with every single bass line
2. Match every single melody line (i.e. highest note) and fill out the rest of the chord for every single note.
So essentially you are going to work forward from the bass to figure out the entire chord, then work back from the melody line to figure out the entire chord as well for the minor 11th. Knowing these combinations gracefully will allow you to use more improvisational techniques very well.
Let’s try out a little test, shall we?
1. Say for instance you hear a song and the bass line is Ab and you want to make your chord ‘phat’ with the Major 7th on steroids. What two chords can you use to fill out the bass line that you hear?
2. Say you hear the melody line in a song and it goes from Bb to C to Eb to G, what chords will you play to fill out the melody line?
The Major 7th is an integral part of gospel music. Filling it out with the minor 11th chord makes it sound really ‘phat’. More importantly, you have to use your ear.
We can give you best-case scenarios, but if it doesn't sound good, DON'T DO IT!
The Major 7th and its brothers (minor 11th and minor 9th) have a sound that goes with many different chords. What this means is that it's hard for the minor 11th to sound bad at all. It goes very well with urban music. What you have to decide is if it "fits" and that is up to your discretion. It's a tool used to add instant ‘phatness’ to your playing and should be used at your discretion. Just don’t forget the importance of your ears. The chords are awesome and I use these chords as a foundation to all of my playing.
More Substitutions & passing chords:
*Flat 7th substitutes
*Di-tone and Tri-tone substitutes & passing chords
*7th chord voicing substitutes