Moving Past Barre Chords--6 Chord Forms You Can Use This Weekend

When I was 19 years old I auditioned for a position as guitarist in a jazz orchestra.  I thought since I knew all the ‘A’ and ‘E’ barre chord forms, that I pretty much knew all the chords.  Or at least, all the chords that really mattered.  I was wrong.  I couldn’t get three bars into the chart.  I was really, really embarrassed. 

So I auditioned for piano, got the spot, and then pestered the guitarist who did know all the chords until he showed me.  He was a fantastic jazz player, and I still couldn’t beat him today, but I learned a lot. 

These six chords are among the many he taught me as essentials—learn to use these and you’ll have a great start moving past barre chords.  They sound great, and they make you look smart.    

Chord #1

Major 7 with a 6^th string root.  Here it is at the 3^rd fret: 

The easiest way to grab this chord is to first play a Bmi barre chord at the 2^nd fret, then move your 1^st finger so it only frets the 6^th string at the 3^rd fret.  The back of your 1^st finger should deaden both the 5^th and 1^st strings.  Thinking of it this way makes it instantly familiar (providing you already know the Bmi). 

This Major7 form is a very clean sounding chord, because the 6^th string acts as a sort of bass note, with the rest of the chord starting almost an octave up.  Especially below the 5^th fret, this keeps the low strings from sounding muddy and undefined. 

It is of course, a moveable chord form, so it’s useful up as high as you can reach.  You find the chord just like you’d find a regular ‘E’ type barre chord.  In other words, Gma7 is at the 3^rd fret, Ama7 at the 5^th, Cma7 at the 8^th, and so on. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the sound of this chord, try substituting it for a regular ‘G’ chord, and see how it sounds. 

Chord #2

Major 7 with a 5^th string root.  Shown at the 3^rd fret:

 

This one is easy to translate visually from its open form—Ama7.   It sounds best with the 6^th string deadened (as shown), because the 5^th string is the root of the chord.  Makes for a clean sound.  Use the tip of your 1^st finger—the one you’re barring with—to touch the string and deaden it. 

I actually like the sound of this chord with the 1^st string deadened too.   I do that with the back of my first finger.  A little practice and you’ll have it. 

You find this chord like any other A-type barre chord—i.e, Cma7 is at the 3^rd fret, Dma7 at the 5^th, Fma7 at the 8^th, and so on.  Along with the 6^th-string-root Major 7 I showed you last time, you can find any Major 7 chord from the 8^th fret down. 

If you need a song to try it out, it works great (along with the Gma7) on America’s ‘Tin Man’.  Like this, strumming up and down:

Gma7     -     -     -    |  -   -   -   -   |Cma7   -   -   -   |  -  -  -  -  |

Sometimes late, when things are real and people share the…

If you don’t have the recording, check it out here on youtube. 

Chord #3

Minor 7, 6^th string root.

LOVE this form for a mi7 chord.  It’s really a simplification of this basic mi7 barre chord:

 

We’re just taking away the 5^th and 1^st strings.  The thing that’s so great about this chord is that it puts your wrist (and elbow) in a very relaxed position.  Once you get used to it, you can play this chord easily, even when your hand is tired.  And just like the first chord in this series, it’s like the chord is actually a bass note with a chord on top of it—very clean. 

You deaden the 5^th string with the back of your 2^nd finger, and deaden the 1^st string by raising your 3^rd finger just slightly.  If getting that 1^st string to go dead is hard at first, don’t worry—the note actually fits into the chord.  It’s just better without it.  Note:  it helps to roll your fingers a little to the outside, so they’re more rigid.  This chord took me a week or so to get used to. 

You find it like any other E-type barre chord—i.e., Gmi7 at the 3^rd fret, Ami7 at the 5^th fret, Cmi7 at the 8^th fret. 

To try it out, play along with Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’ here on youtube.  You just move back and forth between the 5^th and 7^th frets. 

Ami7 – Bmi7 - |

Chord #4

Minor 7, 5^th string root.

 

Although this form will require a little more practice before you can grab it easily, I guarantee you’re going to love it.  You’ll love it for two reasons:  it sounds great (which makes it usable), and it’s another form that’s easy on the hand.  (In the next installment I’ll show you it’s 6^th-string counterpart—they make an extremely useful pair).  Here it is at the 5^th fret:

Just like the Gma7 and Ami7 I showed you earlier, this chord has the bass note/chord thing going.  Clean. 

Chord #5

Dominant 7, 6^th string root.

This one is going to feel like a freebie, because it’s the exact same position as the previous chord, only with a 6^th string root:

 

By now you will have noticed this is another chord with a sort of bass note/chord thing going.  It’s a useful chord.  All the chords I’ve shown in this little series are useful.  They’re not esoteric, once-in-a-while chords, but utterly practical.  You don’t need a jazz chart in front of you to find a place for these; they work in ‘regular’ music. 

Putting it to use

Along with chords 2 & 4, try this little progression:

Dmi7  - - - |G7 - - - |Cma7 - - - | - - - - |

Move the whole thing up one fret and you have:

Ebmi7 - - - |Ab7 - - - |Dbma7 - - - | - - - - |

NOW we’re talkin’.   Seriously.  You don’t have to be afraid of progressions like the one above.  One more chord to go, and then I’m going to give you some sample progressions so you can practice these in useful ways.

Chord #6

Dominant 9, 5^th string root. 

 

Okay, this one for SURE will make your playing sound sophisticated.  It's an excellent substitute for a ‘7’ chord.  If the music says D7, try D9 instead.  It might not sound right every time, but it’s good to have in your pocket.  The more you use it, the more you’ll like it, I think. 

With any new chord, it helps to ‘see’ it on the neck—so here’s how to see this chord.  Play a plain old C7, the open version. 

Do you see the triangle formed on the 3^rd, 4^th & 5^th strings?  This is basically a C7 chord.  We’re stealing this triangle, moving it up two frets to make it a D7, then adding the first two strings back into the mix for a 9 chord. 

Putting all six chords to use

Here are some chord progressions to get you started.  Mix and match these a little, and try them up and down the neck. 

Chords 1, 2 & 6

Gma7 - - - |Cma7 - - - |D9 - - - |Gma7 - - - |

Chords 1, 3 & 6

Gma7 - - - |Ami7 - - - |D9 - - - |Gma7 - - - |

Chords 2,4 & 5

Cma7 - - - |Dmi7 - - - |G7 - - - |Cma7 - - - |

Chords 5 & 6

G7 - - - | - - - - |C9 - - - | - - - - |D9 - - - | - - - - |G7 - - - | - - - - |

Any questions, post them here at the bottom as a comment, or hit the contact button above--I'll get back to you as soon as I can.  If you want some chord charts to try these out on, ask me--I'll attach them to an email.  I have a lot of them. 

All right—get to work. 

If you’d like even more help improving your knowledge of the guitar neck hit the CONTACT button, and let’s set up a few lessons.