A QUICK LOOK AT 'SHELL VOICINGS'

(I was just testing my iPhones. Then a lesson broke out. Please excuse the audio quality and the unscripted rambling!)

These shell voicings, as I describe in the video, are the most compact way of expressing a seventh chord. As you probably know by now, a basic chord consists of the first, third, and fifth notes of the mother scale (1–3–5). Major scales use the major third (3); minor scales use the minor third (♭3). The 5 is common to both forms. The 7 is the next odd-numbered scale degree and can be added to the 1–3–5 to form a seventh chord. There are three kinds of seventh chords:

• The major seventh: uses the 7 from the major scale (1–3–5–7).

• The dominant seventh: uses a flat 7 (1–3–5–♭7). These are usually just called sevenths.

• The minor seventh: uses the flat 7 (1–♭3–5–♭7).

Most jazz standards—those tunes written back in the mid-1900s that have become the backbone of the jazz repertoire—were composed using seventh chords rather than simple, basic “cowboy” chords. Guitarists in the Big Band era came up with very compact ways of expressing chords, using only the three essential notes needed to convey the chord’s flavour. This uncluttered voicing gave the other musicians a cleaner backdrop for their parts, with little or no chance of clashes occurring during improvised solos.

Below are diagrams for the three main flavours: Major 7th, 7th, and minor 7th. Because the 5 is omitted, half-diminished chords are also treated as minor 7th. These are the shapes I used in the video and can be applied to just about any jazz standard. You’ll see in the video that I often curl my thumb over the edge of the fretboard to grab the roots on the sixth string. I find it more comfortable, although it’s often frowned upon.

If you go to YouTube, you’ll find many backing tracks to play along with using these shapes—tunes such as Autumn Leaves, Misty, Fly Me to the Moon, Sunny, Black Orpheus and many more. I encourage you to give them a whirl. The chord chart is the video. I spend quite a lot of time there myself noodling along.