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Minor 7th Chords Guitar Lesson

Home > Guitar Lessons > Beginners > Basic Guitar with David Anthony > Minor 7th Chords
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David Anthony

Minor 7th Chords

Now that you know the major, minor, and dominant 7th chords, it is time to move on to the minor 7th chords.

Taught by David Anthony in Basic Guitar with David Anthony seriesLength: 21:16Difficulty: 2.5 of 5
Chapter 1: (0:51) Intro Music David Anthony lays down a nice acoustic groove to get things started.
Chapter 2: (1:57) Introduction to Minor 7th Chords Before you start working on the Minor 7th chords, take some time to review the chords learned in past lessons, especially the Dom7 chords since they are still new to you.

Also, make sure that you are now totally comfortable with reading chord diagrams!

Note: Click the “Supplemental Content” tab for diagrams of all chords presented in this lesson.
Chapter 3: (2:47) A Minor 7th The following scenes will take you through the basic MI7 chord shapes. Pay close attention to how each chord sounds. What good is learning a whole slew of new chords if you can’t identify what each one sounds like? MI7 chords are typically described as having a “smooth” sound. What words would you use to describe their sound? Minor 7th chords add more colorful options that can often be substituted for basic minor triads.

AMI7: Once again, the fingerings used for the MI7 chords in this lesson are the most basic options. More difficult chord fingerings, such as barre chords, will be discussed in later lessons.

To form an AMI7 chord, start with a basic Am shape. Then, simply lift up your third finger so that the G string is now ringing open. Now you have AMI7!
Chapter 4: (4:02) B Minor 7 BMI7 can be played two different ways. The easiest way is to start with the chord shape for B7 that you learned in the last lesson. Then, lift up your first finger. The D string should now be open. The resulting chord is BMI7.

The second option, which is more difficult for beginning players, is a barre chord shape. To perform this chord, the first finger will barre the five highest strings at the second fret. For many of you, this will be the first barre chord that you have learned.

There are some key ideas to keep in mind when playing barre chords.

1.Do not slant your first finger to the right or left. Try to keep it parallel and close to the fretwire.

2.Apply equal pressure at each point across the barre. Most beginning players have problems getting the E and B strings to ring because they fail to observe this guideline.
Chapter 5: (3:11) C Minor 7 All barre chords are moveable shapes. This means that they can be transposed up and down the neck to form chords of the same quality. Once you have mastered BMI7, slide its barre chord shape up one fret to form CMI7.
Chapter 6: (1:49) D Minor 7 DMI7 takes us back to some “open” chord shapes. The easiest way to form DMI7 is to bar the E and B strings at the first fret. The middle finger will fret the note “A” on the G string. The D string is played open.
Chapter 7: (1:35) E Minor 7 Start with a basic Em chord shape. Then, fret the “D” note on the third fret of the B string with your pinky. You now have EMI7.
Chapter 8: (1:30) F Minor 7 This chord fingering involves playing notes along the first fret. The A string will be muted by the first finger fretting the low E string. The second and third fingers will then fret the D and G strings respectively. This is a moveable chord shape.
Chapter 9: (1:08) G Minor 7 Slide the movable chord shape learned in the last scene up to the third fret to form GMI7.
Chapter 10: (2:26) Final Thoughts David lays down another acoustic groove to exemplify how MI7 chords can be applied. Here are the chords he is using in case you are interested:

AMI7 DMI7 E7

Then GMI7 C7
  • Minor Seventh Chords in Tablature
  •  
  • B Minor 7th Barre Chord
  • Easy B Minor 7th
  • C Minor 7th Barre Chord
  • E Minor 7th Chord
  • F Minor 7th Chord
  • G Minor 7th Chord
  • A Minor 7th Chord
  • D Minor 7 Chord
  •  
  • Reading Chord Charts #1
  • Reading Chord Charts #2
  •  



Supplemental Learning Material

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Member Comments about this Lesson

Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.


joeman123joeman123 replied on April 10th, 2011

Ive had this question ever since I started watching David's lessons I just havent bothered to ask. What makes up a 7th chord whether minor or major? For instance, why is it called 7th? Is it because its the seventh note in a particular scale? Im trying to get a grip on theory and just need a little help.

jboothjbooth replied on April 12th, 2011

I think you have it spot in. An A Major chord with an added 7th would be an A Major 7th, etc.

timctimc replied on March 28th, 2008

This lesson is about the level I'm at, but I found it a bit frustrating because it didn't explain the very points I'm stuck on - namely muting unplayed strings & getting a nice tone when strumming. I can pluck 3 note chords ... but I could anyway. What exactly is David doing (with both hands) with regard to the unplayed strings?? Does that come later?

freshguitarfreshguitar replied on October 3rd, 2010

i got the excat same question about it. have you figured it out by now ?

jboothjbooth replied on March 28th, 2008

I believe for most of it he simply isn't playing the unplayed strings. If you wish to strum you can slightly mute them with other fingers, by laying fingers down slightly next to the string they are fretting. BUt for the most part the chord shapes he is using with unplayed strings are meant for fingerpicking so the unplayed strings simply are not played instead of just muted. There will more on things like this in the future though, this lesson is mainly to add the chords to your arsenal.

patrick carbajalpatrick carbajal replied on January 23rd, 2010

are the tips of ur fingers suppose to hurt a little?

matt_routleymatt_routley replied on September 20th, 2010

yep! i wouldn't recommend playing for more than an hour at a time if youre a complete beginner

dagchristiandagchristian replied on April 23rd, 2009

The last thing you do in this lesson is very cool! In the final thoughts, are you improvising or maybe you have a tab for this :)

Basic Guitar with David Anthony

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David Anthony is an acoustic guitar aficionado. In this series you will learn basic concepts that are essential to playing any style of guitar music.



About David Anthony View Full Biography David Anthony was born David Anthony Volckmann, on November 9th, 1982, in the small town of Mount Hope, NY. As a child he absorbed the church flavored musical environment that his parents provided. With this influence he realized at a young age that music would not simply be a passive experience for him. It was not until the age of 15 that he decided to string up his first guitar. Relying solely on his father for his foundational chord knowledge, he quickly became enamored with the possibility of endless melodic structures, and the goal of becoming a fantastic player himself.

His early shredder influences came from Kirk Hammet of Metallica. During his first few years of guitar playing, he developed a very workable knowledge of pentatonic, major and minor scales. Over the years his musical interests swayed from rock to standards, from jazz to classical, and a strong love of the art of flamenco guitar; Spanish finger style. It was not until the age of 18 that he decided to surround himself entirely with the music of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. This influential exclusivity enabled him to learn more about thinking outside of the musical box. In one year he had learned than in the prior 3 years. Picking up multiple ways to structure melodies, create chords and use different modes, his writing and improvisational abilities grew exponentially. In his senior year of high school, he was responsible for the development of the first Musical Appreciation class in the schools history, and had aided the instructor in the teaching of those classes.

After high school, his focus started to rest mainly in writing. With this he realized that he would need additional, abstract influences to develop a unique style of writing. After a couple more years of playing in a small band, and writing some decent material, he greeted 2004 with a move to Nashville, TN. There he found the exact influence that would change his opinion of the guitar forever. Attempting to weed out a strong foundation in shredding and solo techniques, he began learning finger style guitar, and quickly realized the options that his door would open for him.

As he picked up more complex chord structures and jazz scales, his style became a passion for him that continues to drive him and push him to learn more. He feels strongly about the connection between musical input and the music you write. He notes that his subconscious pool of influence, developed from the music he listens to, is almost directly responsible for the type of music that he writes. He adamantly believes that in order to create a unique, soulful style, the pool must remain unpolluted by substandard music. What's that mean? As David puts it, "If you don't want to play crap, don't listen to crap."

David currently teaches Jazz guitar in Fort Collins, Colorado, with plans to move back to Nashville in the spring to pursue a career in writing.

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