Little Chords and Scales
I was at a jam session at Guitar Solutions Saturday, and got in a conversation about chord shapes and voicings. Specifically we were talking about a major chord with the third on the sixth string. For instance--if you put a barre at the seventh fret and then put what looks like an open “C” chord underneath it you would have a G major chord. The note on the sixth string would be a “b” which is the third of the chord. . The notes of the chord, low to high, would be b (3), g (R), b(3), d(5), g ( R), g (3).
While I occasionally play all six strings of this chord , I much more frequently use the shape to develop triads on the 2,3 and 4 strings.
Like this--Key of G--Chords G (I) C (IV) D (V)
------------------------------------------------
--8--------------8---------------------7-------
--7--------------9---------------------7-------
-9--------------10--------------------7-------
------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
This is an example of what I think of as “little chords”. Little chords only have two, three, or occasionally four notes. Sometimes They don’t have a root. Freddie Green often used little chords when playing with Count Basie.
These shapes lend themselves to lead and melodic applications. There are a lot of licks available in the immediate vicinity using the G major diatonic, G major pentatonic and “D” mixolydian scales. The D Mixolydian is especially cool because it is a great all purpose scale for jamming over jazz changes such as the IIm7, V7, and I.
Here are the fingerings for those three scales
G Major Diatonic G Major Pentatonic (Starting on 5) D Mixolydian
----------------------------------------------------7-----------------------------------------7-8--10----
------------------------7--8--------------8---10--------------------------------7--8--10----------------
-------------------7-9-------------7--9---------------------------------7--9-----------------------------
-------7--9--10-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--10-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that they all use the notes of the G major scale. The main difference is the starting note.
Of course these chords and scales are all moveable and can be played in any key.
