4-part Contemporary Chords, a.k.a. Jazz Chords

The Big Six Core Chords is a series of lessons for building your core, essential 4-part chords. These chords commonly called jazz chords, are really just 4-part chords used in a wide range of musical styles. These chords include: Seventh , Major Seventh, Minor Seventh, Half Diminished Seventh or Minor Seven Flat Five, Diminished Seventh, and Augmented Seventh. These six chords form a core set of chords.

Harmonic Analysis ( HA ) is the process used to determine the harmonic function of chords within a chord progression. A chord progression is defined as a sequence of chords, each chord has a root and has a particular chord type. The relationship of a chord's root to a scale determines its function within that scale's tonality. Once a chord's function is identified, scale selections along with chord and scale substitutions can be made. This process is called Root Movement Analysis ( RMA ). This series of lessons are extracted from my book for use with individual private and on-line students. Each lesson directly corresponds the chapters in my book Harmonic Analysis for Scale Selection and Chord Substitution by Curt Sheller (me).

"Transposition" is the process of moving a note, chord, scale or any musical passage from one key to another key. All music can be transposed, from a single note to a complex musical score. This lesson deals with transposing chords on ukulele and transposing chords.

Naturally, for Ukuleles, all chords need to be voiced using only the four strings available. You would think that this is limiting, when in actuality it's quite liberating when you learn the makeup of chords. Chords can be categorized into four categories: “Open Position Chords”, “Movable Form Chords”, “4-part - a.k.a. Jazz Chords”, and “Free Form Chords.”

The basic first chords most players learn. There are the chords in the first one, two, three and four frets of the ukulele and include at least one open string.

Sometimes called barre chords, these chords venture beyond the third fret.

A "Triad" is a three note chord. In traditional chord theory there are four traditional triad chord types: major, minor, diminished and augmented. And four contemporary triad chord types: sus2, sus4, add2 and add9. Triads can be used harmonically, as chords and melodically, as single notes. Triads are a great way to get started with creating melodic solos and improvising.

"Free Form" chords are those chords that do not fall into one of the other chord categories. They typically don't show up in chord dictionaries or software programs.