Chapter 2
Adding Spice: Basic 7th Chords
IN THIS CHAPTER
Playing dominant, minor, and major 7th chords
Trying songs that use 7th chords
Access the audio tracks and video clips at www.dummies.com/go/guitaraio/
This chapter shows you how to play what are known as open-position 7th chords. Seventh chords are no more difficult to play than are the simple major or minor chords described in Book 2 Chapter 1, but their sound is more complex (because they’re made up of four different notes instead of three), and their use in music is a little more specialized.
The situation is kind of like that of the knives in your kitchen. Any big, sharp knife can cut both a pizza and a pineapple, but if you spend a lot of time doing either, you figure out that you need to use the circular-bladed gizmo for the pizza and a cleaver for the pineapple. These utensils may not be as versatile or as popular as your general-purpose knives, but if you’re making Hawaiian-style pizza, nothing beats ’em. The more your culinary skills develop, the more you appreciate specialized cutlery. Likewise, the more your ear skills develop, the more you understand where to substitute 7th chords for the more ordinary major ...
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