{"id":84,"date":"2018-04-20T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-10T09:45:30","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T17:45:30","slug":"minor-and-major-seventh-chords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/minor-and-major-seventh-chords\/","title":{"rendered":"Playing With Minor And Major Seventh Chords"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hey everyone, it\u2019s Jordan here. I\u2019m gonna give you a quick and easy tip that will make playing minor and major seventh chords so much easier.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These chords are the bee’s knees: they\u2019re super versatile, expressive, and it\u2019s easy to come up with a lot of unique ideas using them. It\u2019s crazy how adding one note to your triads will boost their musicality as much as they do, but hey… Music is a mysterious thing.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>Ever feel like each hand has a mind of its own? Maybe that can be a good thing…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anatomy of a Minor Seventh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, let\u2019s look at the minor seventh chord. What a unique chord this is, and I\u2019ll tell you why. Let\u2019s take a look at the <\/span>A minor 7th <\/strong>chord as an example. This chord consists of 4 notes:  <\/span>A-C-E-G.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you look at the bottom 3 notes of the chord, you\u2019ll see and hear where we\u2019re getting that <\/span>minor <\/strong>sound. After all, that\u2019s the minor triad right there.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But have a look at the top 3 notes: <\/span>C-E-G. <\/strong>That right there is the C major triad.  If you\u2019re into music theory, you\u2019ll notice that the <\/span>C major triad <\/strong>and the <\/span>A minor triad <\/strong>are actually related, and that\u2019s what makes the minor seventh chord so cool. It\u2019s a blend of both the major and the minor. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you think of this chord as this blended sound, you\u2019ll find there\u2019s a lot of ideas you can come up with. You can try playing in \u2018A minor mode\u2019 in your left hand and \u2018C major mode\u2019 in your right to make some cool sounding melodies and exercises.  It\u2019s pretty crazy the kinds of ideas you\u2019ll come up with in this mentality. Give it a try!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span>You can play your left hand with one mindset and your right with the other. This results in some awesome licks and ideas!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about the major 7th?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The major seventh chord is another blend of major and minor triad sounds, but the ordering of notes is a little bit different. Let\u2019s take a look at the <\/span>C Major 7th <\/strong>chord this time. Just like the minor 7th chord, this chord consists of 4 notes: <\/span>C-E-G-B.<\/strong> The bottom three notes are (surprise surprise) a <\/span>C major triad, <\/strong>consisting of the notes <\/span>C-E-G. <\/strong>The top three notes form an <\/span>E minor <\/strong>triad:  <\/span>E-G-B.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, the root or bottom note of any chord is always the most important for determining that chords mood. So even though there\u2019s a minor chord up top that colors the chord, it is always going to have that unmistakable major sound due to that triad in the bottom. Nevertheless, you can take this sound and build on it with that <\/span>E minor <\/strong>chord on top, just like with your minor 7th chords.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning to dissect larger chords like this will help you out a ton for improvising and songwriting ideas and give you a deeper awareness of the possibilities of each chord.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s how I see my minor and major 7th chords! It\u2019s a simple perspective switch with a ton of awesome potential. I hope you find some new ideas for these awesome chords! Let me know what you come up with.  Send me an email at <\/span>jordan@pianote.com<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheers,<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jordan<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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