This tasty Major Seventh Chord voicing works great when used sparingly in jazz or pop ballads…
Don’t fuss over how the chords are named. Just absorb the essence of the sound and the visio-spatial pattern on the keyboard and enjoy!
You may wonder: How is it possible to have a major chord without a “3” in the the voicing? There are at least two reasons:
- “The 3” is a strong harmonic of the chord root, so it is already embedded in the overtones of the overall sound, even if you cannot hear it explicitly
- Used in the proper context, the expectation of a major sound is so strong that this voicing will still be perceived as having a major quality anyway.
Homework
Using your ears and knowledge of scales and chord structure, “transpose” this voicing to all spellings in three musically-useful patterns:
- Chromatically Ascending: C > Db > D > Eb > E > F > Gb > G > Ab > A > Bb > B > C.
- Chromatically Descending: C > B > Bb > A > Ab > G > Gb > F > E > Eb > D > Db > C.
- Cycle of Dominants: C > F > Bb > Eb > Ab > Db > Gb > B > E > A > D > G > C.
Doing so will develop an enormous chord vocabulary that you will know by ear, intellect, eye, and muscle… laying a rock solid foundation for fluent improvisation.