Bb7 open voicings

In previous Guitar Chord a Day posts, we've looked at 12 Dominant 7th Chords Every Guitarist should know we've also looked at modifying these chords to create major7, altered, m7b5 and other chords.
These open voicings can be created by modifying the original dominant 7th guitar chords that we've learnt. Today's guitar chord is the day can be created by taking this dominant 7th inversion and moving the note on the top E string of the guitar down to the bottom E string.

You can create a whole series of open voicings like this, by taking the same approach - dropping the note on the top E string two octaves and playing it on the bottom E string - with all of your dominant 7th chords, and the minor7, 6th, 9th, major 7th, m7b5 etc chords that have been created by modifying the original chords. Doing this results in hundreds of new voicings and is well worth exploring!

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B minor 13

Today's Guitar Chord of the Day is B minor 13. This is a nice sounding minor chord with the root note on the bottom E string of the guitar.
Minor 13 chords are usually played as chord i in minor keys, but try playing them in other situations where you might play a minor chord to add some extra colour.

Minor 13 chords use these degrees of the major scale: 1, b3, 5, b7, 9, 11, 13

B minor 13 uses the notes: B, D, F#, A, C#, E, G#

Our guitar inversion uses the notes in this order: B, A, D, G#, C#

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F Major 7

Today's Guitar Chord of the Day is F Major 7. This is a first inversion chord: it has the 3rd of the chord as the lowest note.
Major 7 chords are very common chords, but this is our first Major 7 guitar inversion on Guitar Chord a Day. The major seventh is sometimes written as Δ7, so F major 7, F maj7 and FΔ7 all mean the same thing.

Major 7 can replace Major triads for chords I and IV in Major keys.

Major  chords use these degrees of the major scale: 1, 3, 5, 7

F Major 7 uses the notes: F, A, C, E

Our inversion uses the notes in this order: A, F, C, E

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G minor 69

Today's Guitar Chord of the Day is G minor69. This chord has its root note on the the A string of the guitar - it's good exercise for the fingers as it's quite a stretch! If you're having trouble playing it transpose the chord to a higher fret and work your way back down as your fingers get used to it.
Minor 69 chords are created by playing a minor triad and adding the 6th and 9th: 1, b3, 5, 6 9
G minor69 uses these notes: G, Bb, D, E, A
Today's guitar inversion uses the notes in that order.

Minor 69 chords are usually used as chord i in minor keys.

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C7#5b9 / Bbm7b5 / Gb9 / Dbm6

The recent Guitar Chord a Day series 12 Dominant 7th Chords, introduced 12 useful dominant 7th guitar inversions.

Today's guitar chord of the day is actually four chords in one:

• C7#5b9
• Bbm7b5
• Gb9
• Dbm6

 Dominant 7th chords are easy to modify to create other chords:

• Lower the 3rd one fret to make a minor7 chord
• Raise the b7 one fret to make a major7 chord
• Raise the root two frets to make a 9th chord

Thinking of our guitar chord as a C7#5b9 - this could be created by taking this dominant 7th chord and raising the root and the 5th by one fret to create a 7#5b9 chord.

Thinking of our guitar chord as a Bbm7b5 - this could be created by taking this dominant 7th chord and lowering the 3rd and the 5th by one fret to create a m7b5 chord.

Thinking of our guitar chord as a Gb9 - this could be created by taking this dominant 7th chord and raising the root note by two frets to create a 9th chord.

Thinking of our guitar chord as a Dbm6 - this could be created by taking this dominant 7th chord and lowering the 3rd and the 7th by one fret to create a m6 chord.

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Guitar Harmonics Chords | D Major

Playing the natural harmonics on the guitar creates a beautiful chime like sound. Usually guitar harmonics are played as part of solos but we can also play a number of chords just from the natural harmonics of the guitar.

To play natural harmonics, rest your finger lightly above the fret. Today's guitar chord of the day is a D Major chord played only with harmonics. This can work well when substituted for an ordinary D Major chord at the end of song or in a break.

Rest your finger lightly above the 7th fret of the guitar and play the D, G and B strings with your right hand.

Harmonics only occur on certain locations on the fretboard, in this case the notes of the harmonics (A, F# and D) are the same for the harmonics at the 7th fret and the fretted notes but this is not always the case.

Playing some chords with harmonics can add an interesting twist to your rhythm playing. In some future posts we'll look at further guitar harmonic chords and chords that mix harmonics and ordinary fretted notes. Subscribe to the RSS feed and tune in tomorrow for another Guitar Chord Of The Day

Ab add9 | Every Breath You Take

Today's Guitar Chord of the Day is Ab add9. This is Andy Summer's first guitar chord off the famous Police song Every Breath You Take from the 1983 album Synchronicity.  

Barre across the 4th fret of the guitar with your first finger and make sure every note sounds cleanly.

This guitar chord involves a bit of a stretch for your fingers. If you're having trouble stretching to finger this chord to start with try moving it higher up the guitar's neck and gradually working your way down as your fingers get more used to it.

We've looked at add9 guitar chords in a few previous posts but this inversion is definitely the most challenging to play cleanly!

Add 9 chords use these degrees of the major scale: 1, 3, 5, 9
Ab add9 uses the notes: Ab, C, Eb, Bb
Our inversion uses the notes in this order: Ab, Eb, Bb, C, Eb, Ab

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