More on 7th Chords
Like major chords, most moveable 7th chord shapes also follow the five basic forms found in chords containing open strings, i.e., C7, A7, G7, E7 and D7. Here are the most common shapes for these chords.
C7
A7
G7
E7
E7
D7
Notice that there are two shapes here for the E7 chord. It is also possible to find alternative fingerings for the other chords shown here. Once you know which notes make up a particular chord, it is possible to arrange the notes in any order as long as the fingering is practical. The following example should help you become familiar with these basic 7th chord shapes.
The following diagrams are six new moveable 7th chord shapes to go with the two C7 shapes you have already learned. All of these shapes are used in Funk playing, so be sure to memorise them well.
A7 Form
G7 Form
E7 Form(1)
E7 Form(2)
E7 Form(3)
D7 Form
Here are some exercises to help you get comfortable with these 7th chord shapes. The first one uses the A7 form moved to a different position on the fretboard for each chord.
This one uses the G7 form on the first four strings.
This one uses all three variations of the E7 form.
Here is one using the D7 form.
C form (1)
C form (2)
A form
G form
E form (1)
E form (2)
E form (3)
D form
After learning each of the 7th chord forms, try joining them all up in the one key. This example uses all the moveable 7th chord shapes you have learned so far. Each of the shapes is played here as a C7 chord.
Often when playing chords in Funk, only the first four strings are used. There are several reasons for doing this. Mainly it is done to give the guitar bright sounding chords which can cut through even in a large band with a horn section and keyboards, as well as staying out of the range of the keyboards and the bass, thus avoiding a muddy sound.
The brightness of these higher voicings also adds to the guitar’s often percussive role in Funk. The following example uses voicings from the C, G, E and D forms.
To finish off the study of 7th chords, here is another 12 bar Blues to really test out your knowledge of the chord shapes.
