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Core Chords - The Big Six - Building a Solid Chord Foundation
An introduction to the series of lessons for building your core, essential 4-part chords.

Category: Chords Instrument: Ukulele Subjects(s): Chords • Intermediate • Advanced • Jazz • Core

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Core Chords - The Big Six - Building a Solid Chord Foundation

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.

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.

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From four the F7 chord voicings or shapes below, your can build your massive 4-part, a.k.a., “jazz” chord vocabulary.

Click on any one of the individual F7 chords above to start the lesson for that particular voicing or shape.

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Core Chords - The Big Six - Building a Solid Chord Foundation…

Why F7?

Why this F7? Why not a C7, E7, G7 , or other open position seventh chords that these core chords are based on?

This F7 is based on the Open Position E7 and the only one of the E7, C7, A7 and G7 open position chords that the Big Six Core Seventh chords, in their first position, first fret (1) transposable versions are a natural letter chord name. That way you don't have to worry about Enharmonic Equivalents such as C#7/Db7, A#7/Bb7, or G#7/Ab7. An yes I know that there is E# - however that is very rare.

Beyond Basic Open Position Chords , Basic Movable Form Chords and Core Set Of 4-part Contemporary Chords there are just too many chords shapes too memorize. Learning the principles of how chords are constructed and the ukulele fingerboard are the way to go. Then you can create more advanced chords like 9#11, 7#5-9, 13b5, 7+9 on the fly as needed.

Seventh chords are the chords that have the most possible variations. 9th, 11th, 13th, b5, #5, b9, #9. And, combinations of the same.

Download the PDF file for the latest, complete, and most up-to-date version. As well as additional information not presented on-line.
End of Lesson - Thanks, Hope You Enjoyed It!

Related Lessons, Videos, Lesson Series, Songs, Books & Reference Charts, Resources & Assets, Workshops are below.

Videos
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Learning Core Seventh Chords on Ukulele

Beyond basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and a core set of 4-part chords. There are just too many chords shapes too memorize. Learning the principles of how chords are constructed and the ukulele fingerboard are the way to go. Then you can create more advanced chords like 9#11, 7#5-9, 13b5, 7+9 on the fly as needed.

Related Lessons
Related Lessons for Core Chords - The Big Six - Building a Solid Chord Foundation.
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Naming Chords on `Ukulele

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Transposing Individual `Ukulele Chords

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Building a Solid Jazz Chord Foundation for `Ukulele

Commonly called "Jazz Chords", these more sophisticated, contemporary chord voicings find their way into a wide variety of music forms and styles. This lesson is the first on the series that builds your core foundation for these chords.

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Dominant Seventh Chords?

Not all seventh chords are actually "dominant" seventh chords. This lesson covers when is a Dominant Seventh Chord NOT truly a Dominant seventh?

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Chord Substitution on `Ukulele

A chord substitution is when one chord replaces another chord or is used in addition to a current chord.

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Understanding a `Ukulele Chord Diagram

There're a lot different ways to show chord shapes, diagrams and images on a fretted instrument. This is the basic chord diagram I use in all my lessons and book. In this lesson the basic chord diagram as used for ukulele is explained.

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Types of `Ukulele 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.”

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Core Chords - Creating the Big Six from F7, 1st Voicing

Taking a movable "F7" chord, you can derive each of the Big Six Core Chords. 7, maj7, m7, m7b5, dim7, and aug7 from that voicing.

UL42-7b
Core Chords - Creating the Big Six from F7, 2nd Voicing

Taking a movable "F7" chord, you can derive each of the Big Six Core Chords. 7, maj7, m7, m7b5, dim7, and aug7 from that voicing.

UL42-7c
Core Chords - Creating the Big Six from F7, 3rd Voicing

Taking a movable "F7" chord, you can derive each of the Big Six Core Chords. 7, maj7, m7, m7b5, dim7, and aug7 from that voicing.

UL42-7d
Core Chords - Creating the Big Six from F7, 4th Voicing

Taking a movable "F7" chord, you can derive each of the Big Six Core Chords. 7, maj7, m7, m7b5, dim7, and aug7 from that voicing.

UL42-7alt
Altered Seventh Chords on `Ukulele

Beyond basic open position chords, basic movable form chords, and a core set of 4-part chords. There are just too many chords shapes too memorize. Learning the principles of how chords are constructed and the ukulele fingerboard are the way to go. You can then create more advanced chords like 9#11, 7#5-9, 13b5, 7+9 on the fly as needed from your core set of chords.

Related Lesson Series
Related Lessons Series for Core Chords - The Big Six - Building a Solid Chord Foundation.
Jazz Standard Chord Progressions

These are the chord progressions, extracted from my book "Exploring Jazz Chords on Ukulele" for use with on-line and private students.

The Big Six Core Chords - Level Four

The Big Six Core Chords - Level Four series of chords that build on the Bix Six Core Chords and form the foundation for ALL your jazz chords include: Alternations and Extensions to the level I, II and III chords.

The Big Six Core Chords - Level One

The Big Six Core Chords - Level One include: Seventh 7, Major Seventh maj7, Minor Seventh m7, Half Diminished Seventh or Minor Seven Flat Five diminished 7 (m7b5), Diminished Seventh °7 and Augmented Seventh +7. These six chords form a core set of chords.

The Big Six Core Chords - Level Three

The The Big Six Core Chords - Level Three series of chords that build on the Bix Six Core Chords and form the foundation for ALL your jazz chords include: Diminished Major Seventh ( dimL7 ) and Augmented Major Seventh ( augL7 ).

The Big Six Core Chords - Level Two

The Big Six Core Chords - Level Two series of chords that build on the "Bix Six Core Chords" and form the foundation for ALL your jazz chords include: Major Sixth ( 6 ), Minor Sixth ( m6 ) and Minor-Major Seventh ( mL7 ).

Related Books & Charts
Related Books for Core Chords - The Big Six - Building a Solid Chord Foundation.
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A Guide to Advanced Ukulele Chords - Volume I

Beyond learning basic Ukulele chords, most players struggle with advanced chords. Commonly called "jazz" chords, these more sophisticated voicings find a wide use in all forms of music. A Guide to Advanced Chords for Ukulele - presents a highly organized and efficient approach to the mysterious subject of advanced chords. Chord dictionaries are not the answer.

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Exploring Jazz Chords on Ukulele

Exploring jazz chords using a variety of common chord progressions based on songs from the standard jazz repertoire. Core Chords are the basic set of chords needed to play a wide range of music, in a variety of styles. This set of chords includes basic open position chords, basic movable form chords and the core 4-part "jazz" chords.

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The Advanced Guide to Guitar Chords - Volume I

Commonly referred to as jazz chords, this book provides detailed information on voicing 4-part chords. Covers common string families. Beyond learning open and barre chords, most guitarists struggle with advanced chords. Commonly called "Jazz" chords, these more sophisticated voicings find a wide use in all forms of music.

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A Guide to Blues Chord Progressions for Ukulele A to Z

The Blues are at the heart of all American music. It has influenced Country, Rock, Folk, Jazz, Bluegrass and just about every form of American music we listen to today. 26 blues progression in C and G tuning, progressing from basic to advanced jazz progression, with chord grids and substitutions explained.

A Selection of Books & Reference Charts that are recommended for creating a solid foundation with your chosen instrument and music in general.
These are books & reference charts that apply to a majority of all lessons on LearningUkulele.com / Learning Ukulele with Curt.
Learning the Ukulele Fingerboard – C Tuning

Finally, learn the names of the notes of the fingerboard.

Six Secrets of the Ukulele Fingerboard – C Tuning

Learn the six fingering principles to navigating the ukulele fingerboard. Fingering is one of the most universal topics.

Harmonic Analysis for Scale Selection and Chord Substitution

Harmonic Analysis is the understanding of the functional sequence of chords. It is the process used to analyze the harmonic structure of a progression, song or composition.

Ukulele – Reading Music Series – Primer

Learn to read single note melodies in the first/open position is a lot easier than you might think.

Daily Practice Material for the Contemporary Ukulele

An organized collection of daily practice and reference material for the contemporary ukulele player for developing the vocabulary and knowledge necessary for single note playing.

Checkout the Books for additional Handy, Dandy Reference Charts.

Reference Charts

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G - G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for C Tuning, Low or High G – G C E A

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for G Tuning, Low or High A – D G B E

Ukulele Fingerboard Chart for G Tuning, Low or High A – D G B E

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

Checkout the Books for additional Handy, Dandy Reference Charts.

Related Lesson Files, Resources and Assets
Related Assets for Core Chords - The Big Six - Building a Solid Chord Foundation.
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Movable 7th Chords for Ukulele Chord Chart - C Tuning

A handy dandy single sheet chart showing the each voicing of the four, seventh chords Big Six seventh chord voicings.

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On the web since 1992 and a Mac since 1987 (Mac II) • Serving up Ukulele content since 2003 ( 22 years ago ) • Lets Kanikapila!!! v12.13.0 (8.2.23) • And, since Sept 2020, happily on Pop!_OS Linux and a System76 Thelio. Half the cost of the iMac and a real treat to use. I use it for ALL development work. Only wish the Affinity Suite of apps by serif where available on Linux (and I do know you can run them in Wine with a few hacks).
This sit has ben profesionaly red. awl tpyos aree free and no aditonal chrge • I'm blaming it on “jazz” fingers. “Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
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