5.9 Adding Some Blues (7th chords)
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- DESCRIPTION
When you add notes to minor or Major chords they become extended chords. The most common extended chord is the 7th chord. They’re also called dominant 7th chords.
The shape is very similar to the shapes you already know. It’s actually easier since you use less fingers.
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Hi Tomas. I have couple of questions on the 7th chords. Take C7 chord as an example.
Q1. Do we barre the entire 3rd fret across all 6 strings or just the 5 strings (A,D,G,B, E strings)?
Q2. Do we strum the 6th string (low E) as well or just the remaining 5 strings?
Hope the questions are clear. In the video, for C7 chord, I see you’re barring all strings on the 3rd fret – I’m not sure. But when strumming, you are strumming starting from the A string and excluding the E string (6th string).
This is perfectly clear now. Q1: The short answer is… Either is fine. Some people, like myself, prefer to just bar all the way across to keep things simple. But you don’t need to bar or play that six string. Some people prefer to bar just five strings because it takes less strength… for me, it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
Q2: Same answer. Either is fine. The root of the chord is on the 5th string, but you can still play the sixth string and it will sound fine. The note is a part of the chord.
I’d like to include this question on the next RGS Live. I could explain in more detail what’s going on with that sixth string and demonstrate with my guitar.
Thank you so much, Tomas. I am assuming this applies to all 7th chords whose roots are on the 5th string such as C#7 (is there such a chord), D7, E7 etc. Basically full bar is OK for chords whose roots are on the 5th string.
On a side note, in this lesson, we are learning barre chords based on the E and the A shapes. Why aren’t we talking about baby chords on the high strings, such as the G,B and E strings? I’ve observed that in Spanish guitar, baby chords on these strings are used a lot. Can you do a lesson on baby chords?
Many thanks.
Yes, this applies to all A type bar chords (root on the 5th string).
I will add your question about baby chords to the RGS Live coming up. If you’re not already doing this, I recommend working through the Practice Sessions each month. I’ve included many lessons on baby chords in these sessions.
Here’s a few recent ones:
1) https://realguitarsuccess.com/courses/guitar-sessions-apr-2024/lessons/16-baby-chord-warm-up/
2) https://realguitarsuccess.com/courses/monthly-practice-plan-january-2024/lessons/1-bad-times-baby-chords/
Thanks, Tomas.
My pleasure, Nusret.