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Chord a Day, March 2nd - Bb7
Learn a new Ukulele chord every day of the year. The chord for March 2nd is Bb7.
Using the root on string one from yesterday's Bb chord allows you to reuse the transposition chart or knowledge for the Bb7 shown today.
Today's Bb7, based on the open position A7
chord, is one of the four-seventh chords of the Big Six Jazz Chords
series of lessons that form the foundation for ALL our 4-part contemporary chords — a.k.a. Jazz
chords.
For the month of March the rest of the chords are all movable Seventh chords and F7 with a lot of alterations. This is the realm of the jazz ukulele player. Except for March 24th's F7, one of the Open Position chords that was forgotten for January.
Secondary Dominant
Bb7 can a also function as a Secondary Dominant chord in five (5) major keys: ( V of IV , V of V , V of VI , V of II , V of III ) and three (3) minor keys: ( V of IV , V of V , V of VI ). For more information checkout (wikiwand) · Secondary Chord
(wikiwand) · A Secondary Dominant (also applied dominant, artificial dominant, or borrowed dominant) is a major triad or dominant seventh chord built and set to resolve to a scale degree other than the tonic, with the dominant of the dominant (written as V/V or V of V) being the most frequently encountered. The chord that the secondary dominant is the dominant of is said to be a temporarily tonicized chord. The secondary dominant is normally, though not always, followed by the tonicized chord. Tonicizations that last longer than a phrase are generally regarded as modulations to a new key (or new tonic).
In a Blues chord progression a seventh chord can function as the I IV and/or V .
Movable Form Comparison
Using a Major movable form chord, based on the open-position A major chord. We can see that there it is simpley changing one note int he chord to derived additional minor and major based chords.
Notice the Root on string one (letter name of the chord) and fifth of the chord on string two does not change at all. And the b3, Eb on string three does not change for the minor-based chords. The Root and the Fifth (Power Tones) of chords built in thirds give a chord stability and a foundation to add the color to.
Harmonic Function for Bb7
The Harmonic Function of a chord is simply how is a chord being used, in context with other chords in a song or chord progression. Here are the most common harmonic functions for today's chord.
Bb7 is the Dominant chord in the keys of Eb, Ebm. A chord truly functioning as a Dominant chord are Full Diatonic .
Secondary Dominant
Bb7 can a also function as a Secondary Dominant chord in five (5) major keys: ( V of IV , V of V , V of VI , V of II , V of III ) and three (3) minor keys: ( V of IV , V of V , V of VI ). For more information checkout (wikiwand) · Secondary Chord
(wikiwand) · A Secondary Dominant (also applied dominant, artificial dominant, or borrowed dominant) is a major triad or dominant seventh chord built and set to resolve to a scale degree other than the tonic, with the dominant of the dominant (written as V/V or V of V) being the most frequently encountered. The chord that the secondary dominant is the dominant of is said to be a temporarily tonicized chord. The secondary dominant is normally, though not always, followed by the tonicized chord. Tonicizations that last longer than a phrase are generally regarded as modulations to a new key (or new tonic).
In a Blues chord progression a seventh chord can function as the I IV and/or V .
Harmonic Analysis, Scales and Modes
All harmonic and scale analysis utilizes Roman Numerals
related to its major or parallel major scale (
Core 4-part
, a.k.a. Jazz
Chords
Today's chord, Bb7 is one of, or based on one of, the Big Six Core Jazz
chords
for creating your 4-part, contemporary chord foundation and Life Beyond the Third Fret.
Movable Form Chords
Today's chord, Bb7, is a Movable Form Chord based off the Open Position A.
Any chord chord can be transposed along the fingerboard.
Learn a New Chord Each Day!!!
This Learn a New Chord Each Day!!! series of lessons was created and published in 2013 (10yrs ago) and has been added to an expanded ever since. 2020 brought videos to the show. 2023 is bringing more Harmonic information.
For a further exploration of this chord and its movable forms visit the Movable Ukulele Chords Lesson Series page.
To find out even more than you would ever need to know about a Bb7 chord — continue reading .
Bb7 is a Core Chord
A core chord is a basic chord that other chords can be derived from - creating new chords from your known chords. Your ever expanding set of core chords creates a solid foundation for playing music on ukulele or any instrument capable of playing chords. There are just far too many chord shapes to memorize all the possibilities. Some chords you can simply create on the fly as needed based on known information and how chords work.
Chord Type(s): Major 4-part
Chord Categories: Movable Form Big Six
Related Lesson: Understanding a Chord Diagram
Open Position chords typically do not show the location of the root or letter name of the chord as these chords are the first chords a ukulele player learns and are almost entirely learned by shape and sound – hopefully, the chords' name. Later on, one develops the ability to determine the location of the chord root(s) or letter name within the chord.
Standard Music Notation and TAB
Standard music notation and TAB for C Tuning, Low and High G
variations
The same numbering notation of TAB can be used to describe the open strings and frets to be played when using text only notation or verbal communications. Using an open position C as an example, we can describe it as 0003 indicating open strings four, three, and two with fret (3) being fingered on string one. An open position D7 indicated as 2020.
As you can see that are numerous ways to describe a chord, either verbally, Standard Music Notation , TAB , in text, graphically using a Chord Grid , etc.
Derived From
Today's chord, Bb7 is a derived chord from A7 . Take any chord progression with A7 in it and explore substituting Bb7 for A7.
Chord Spelling
Chord Spelling is simply knowing what the notes, the chord tones of a chord are.
The notes of all chords can be determined from its corresponding major scale based on the root of the chord and numeric formula.
The notes for Bb7 are:
Bb D F Ab
The chord tones are the 1 3 5 b7 scale degrees of the parent Bb Major Scale .
Bb7 is a movable version of the open position A7 with the root on string one.
Recommended Fingering
Although additional fingerings are possible for many chords. Fingering for any given chord depends the science of how our fingers work and on the harmonic context the chord is being used in, what was the previous chord and what's the next chord. The goal is to play all the notes right behind the frets when possible. Remember longer fingers can reach the lower strings better and finger two and stack on finger three and finger three can stack on finger four.
Although you can play any chord with any finger — as long as it's yours, the recommended fingering for Bb7 is:
Recommended Fingering
1-2-1-1
Alternate Fingering(s)
Here are a few alternate fingerings for today’s Bb7 chord depending on the context the chord is being used.
Alternate fingering(s) for Bb7:
, A barre of finger one is the most functional fingering with this movable form chord.
- 1-3-1-1
Fingering Notation
Fingering notation for a chord using text only, without using a chord grid, is typically done using the finger numbers from left to right, string four to string one (nose to toes). Here is the text notation for January 1st C chord.
A Typical text representation of a chord fingering without using a chord grid.
Fingering Chords
Additional alternate fingerings might be possible for selected chords. If there isn't an overwhelming musical reason for one fingering over another, let efficiency be the determining factor. Something as simple as longer fingers can reach the lower string four and three goes a long way to being efficient when switching chords.
Factors such as playing notes right behind the fret takes less effort than in the middle of the fret. Less effort leads to overall efficiency in play, lower maintenance for maintaining your technique and efficiency leads to speed. This can help in determining what finger to use. Finger three can overlap finger four and finger two can overlap finger three a little allowing them to get closer to the fret.
Remember – the thumb's primary role is to support the fingers – not play notes. Think of the thumb as a Stagehand. He is unseen, doesn't get any lines BUT is a critical member of the team.
Chord Construction, Notes and Intervals
ALL chords can be be constructed based on the their intervals relative to the major scale of the root or letter name of the chord. The individual names of the notes of the chord can also be determined from the same scale.
The chord tones for Bb7 are: Bb D F Ab
Bb7 is the 1 3 5 b7 of the Bb Major Scale based on the root (Bb) of the chord.
7th (pronounced Seventh)
A partial seventh chord can be created by lowering the Root of a major triad two frets.
A seventh chord as a 4-part chord ( 1 3 5 b7 ) and one of the Big Six core chords used to derive other contemporary and jazz chords.
A Seventh chord along with your basic major and minor chords are the msot common chord you will encounter.
NOTE: A Seventh chord is very often referred to as a Dominant Seventh . This is not always accurate as Dominant — is a chord function and not actually part of a chord name, which is a capital letter and chord type information – not it's harmonic function. We don't call a seventh functioning as a I (one) chord in a Blues a Tonic Seventh or the IV (four) chord a Sub-Dominant Seventh chord, etc...
Next Steps
After memorizing todays Bb7 chord and able to switch in time with other chords. The next step is adding various Strums , Fingerpicking patterns, and exploring the Movable Chord versions of today's chord, to your ukulele skills.
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End of Lesson - Thanks, Hope You Enjoyed It!
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A Selection of Books & Reference Charts that are recommended for creating a solid foundation with your chosen instrument and music in general.
Books
Checkout the Books for ALL available books.
Reference Charts
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
Checkout the Books for additional Handy, Dandy Reference Charts.
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