The Big Six Core Chords - Level I

Your "Jazz" chord foundation.

Published: 08 Sep 2013 Updated: 15 May 2019Visits: 0Code: UL42L1

Category: ChordsInstrument: Ukulele Subjects: Chords • Jazz • Core

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LESSONSeries : The Big Six Core Chords - Level One

The Big Six Core Chords - Level I


The Big Six chords include: Seventh 7, Major Seventh maj7, Minor Seventh m7, Half Diminished Seventh or Minor Seven Flat Five diminished 7 m7b5, Diminished Seventh o7 and Augmented Seventh +7. These six chords form a core set of chords.

The remaining chords for The Big Six, Level I Core Chords.

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The suggested order to learn these Level 1 chords are:

The Big Six chords include: Seventh 7, Major Seventh maj7, Minor Seventh m7, Half Diminished Seventh or Minor Seven Flat Five diminished 7 m7b5, Diminished Seventh o7 and Augmented Seventh +7. These six chords form a core set of chords.

The order to learn these chords are in the order shown. Although the order is a recommendation it's critical to start with the first chord, _the seventh_. After that the maj7 or minor7 and the order can be determined by your needs. This is the order I follow with my private students.

The Foundation of the Big Six

  • Seventh - These are the four F7 voicings that have been covered in this series of lessons.

The Rest of the Big Six Core Chords

Of the Big Six core chords the 7, maj7 and m7 are a bit bigger and a lot more common than the other three and can be used to derive the remaining three chords in this level I.

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UL42L1-7

The Big Six Core Chords - F7, Four Voicings

The Big Six Core Chords, Level I - F7, four voicings. The F7 is a 1 3 5 b7 of the major scale, based on the root of the chord. For F7 the chord tones are: F A C Eb. These ARE the four F7 chord voicings that are used for deriving other chords. If all else fails when trying to remember a particular chord you can go back to your base seventh chords and go through the chord formula for deriving the chord you need.

UL42L1-maj7

The Big Six Core Chords - Fmaj7, Four Voicings

The Big Six Core Chords, Level I - Fmaj7, four voicings. Fmaj7 is a 1 3 5 7 of the major scale, based on the root of the chord. These are the four Fmaj7 chord voicings that will be used for deriving other major seventh derived chords. There are far too many chord shapes to memorize thousands of shapes.

UL42L1-m7b5

The Big Six Core Chords - Fm7b5, Four Voicings

The Big Six Core Chords, Level I - Fm7b5, four voicings. The Fm7b5 is a 1 b3 b5 b7 of the major scale, based on the root of the chord.

UL42L1-m7

The Big Six Core Chords - Fm7, Four Voicings

The Big Six Core Chords, Level I - Fm7, four voicings. The Fm7 is a 1 b3 5 b7 of the major scale, based on the root of the chord. For Fm7 the chord tones are: F A C Eb.

UL42L1-dim7

The Big Six Core Chords - Fdim7, Four Voicings

The Big Six Core Chords, Level I - Fdim7, four voicings. Fdim7 is a 1 b3 b5 bb7 of the major scale, based on the root of the chord. These are the four Fdim7 chord voicings that will be used for deriving other chords. There are far too many chord shapes to memorize thousands of shapes.

UL42L1-aug7

The Big Six Core Chords, Level I - Faug7, Four Voicings

The Big Six Core Chords, LevelI - Faug7, four voicings. Faug7* is a 1 3 5# b7 of the major scale, based on the root of the chord.

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Key Signatures — Circle of Fourths and Fifths – ANSI A & A4 sizes

A handy reference chart of all 15 major and relative minor key signatures. US Letter 8.5 x 11 sized (ANSI-A) , A4

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