BY KATE KOENIG
Welcome to the current installation of Chord by Chord, a series created to develop your understanding of harmony and the fretboard. Last time I showed you how to develop different D7 voicings from D major chords. This time I’ll demonstrate the exact same with G7 and G.
The Work
As a refresher, a G major triad is consisted of three notes– the root (G), major 3rd (B), and 5th (D), as shown in Example 1. To get a G7 chord, all you have to do is add a flatted seventh, which in this case is F natural (Example 2). Keep in mind, you’re reducing the seventh, F#, by a half step.
Example 3 reveals a G7 voicing obtained from an open G shape. The simplest method to switch between G and G7– which is really something that you frequently have to do in popular music– is to keep your first finger on the F on string 1 for both chords; for the G significant chord, stress the G on string 1 with your 4th finger. Then, to get to the G7 chord, all you have to do is lift your fourth finger. You can likewise attempt muting the 5th string in both of these open chords, for a tighter noise.
The next 2 examples are based upon barre chords in third position. For Instance 4a, all you have to do is raise your 4th finger from the G chord to get to G7, comparable to what you performed in Ex. 3. In Example 4b, you’re essentially playing the same G7 shape, but doubling the flatted seventh with your fourth finger on string 2, fret 6. When playing these examples, bear in mind that you do not need to play all 6 strings; for example, try out sounding only the bottom or top four strings.
Example 5 offers you great, tidy voicings used the top three strings. As the G7 in Ex. 5 omits the root note (G), it works particularly well when you’re having fun with a bassist or pianist. Now have a look at some barre chords in tenth position (Example 6), which can be difficult to play, depending upon your guitar. Remember that you don’t need to include all five notes in each voicing.
The Outcome
You need to now know how to construct a G7 chord and how to transform various G major shapes to G7. An excellent song that utilizes your brand-new chord is Johnny Cash’s “I Stroll the Line.” Next time we’ll continue exploring the dominant seventh chord, through a series of C and C7 voicings.
