August 2021

Am Maj7

Cm Maj7

Em Maj7

Examples of moveable minor major7 chords with the root note on the Low E (6th) string.

Click on a chord to view more minor major7 chord forms.

Minor Major Seventh Chords, shortened to “m Maj7”, are played by adding the major 7th note (one half step down from the root’s octave) of the major scale to a minor triad, or chord.

Minor major 7th chords are used commonly as passing chords, and don’t necessarily have a sad or happy sound.

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Minor Major 7 Chord Formula
1 + 3♭ + 5 + 7

Notes of the C Major Scale

C Minor Major 7 Chord = C + E♭ + G + B

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The index finger is used to do this and enables the chord to be moved up and down the neck.

The diagrams below show how to play major and minor barre chords in standard tuning. The curved lines shown in the diagrams indicate the notes that are barred (fretted using one finger).

Major Barre Chord Forms

Root notes on 6th and 5th Strings

Guitar Tab example of a chord progression using Major Barre Chords

   G           C           D                       
e|-3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5-|
B|-3--3--3--3--5--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7-|
G|-4--4--4--4--5--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7-|
D|-5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7-|
A|-5--5--5--5--3--3--3--3--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5-|
E|-3--3--3--3-------------------------------------|

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Minor Barre Chord Forms

Root notes on 6th and 5th Strings

The guitar tab below is a similar chord progression with a minor barre chord (Em) included. Notice how the use of minor chords give progressions a different sound and feel.

   G           C           Em          D           
e|-3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--7--7--7--7--5--5--5--5-|
B|-3--3--3--3--5--5--5--5--8--8--8--8--7--7--7--7-|
G|-4--4--4--4--5--5--5--5--9--9--9--9--7--7--7--7-|
D|-5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--9--9--9--9--7--7--7--7-|
A|-5--5--5--5--3--3--3--3--7--7--7--7--5--5--5--5-|
E|-3--3--3--3-------------------------------------|

Barre Chords by Root Note

F♯ Locrian Scale Mode

G Major Scale Pattern	F♯ Locrian Scale Mode Pattern

The scale diagram on the left is the pattern used for a two octave Major Scale. The scale diagram to the right shows the Locrian Scale Mode taken from the same pattern of the Major Scale, starting on the seventh note of the scale. (F♯ Locrian is Relative to the G Major Scale)

D Mixolydian Scale Mode

G Major Scale Pattern	D Mixolydian Scale Mode Pattern

The scale diagram on the left is the pattern used for a two octave Major Scale. The scale diagram to the right shows the Mixolydian Scale Mode taken from the same pattern of the Major Scale, starting on the fifth note of the scale. (D Mixolydian is Relative to the G Major Scale)

Phasers produce sounds similar to flange and chorus effects, but the phasing and replication of the original sound signal produce a “spacier” effect than the more natural tone of these other effects. The term phasing or phaser was originally used when referring to the flange effects of the 1960s.

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In the late 1960s phasers became available in the form of guitar pedals. The Univox Uni-Vibe phase shifter was introduced to the North American market in 1968 and was added to the gear used by guitarists like Jimi Hendrix. The Uni-Vibe, also known as the Jax Vibra-Chorus, was originally released in Japan by the Shin-ei company with the intention to reproduce similar sounds of a Leslie speaker.

Another one of the earliest phasers, the MXR Phase 90, was released in 1972 and helped launch the MXR brand in the following years. The MXR Phase 90 is shaped differently than a lot of bulkier effects pedals of its time, with a slim rectangular enclosure and just one control knob to adjust the phasing speed. In the early 1980s Jim Dunlop bought the MXR brand after they went bankrupt and started the production of the new version of the MXR Phase 90 adding more features to the original pedal.

Reverb is a natural occurrence for all sounds and noticeably occurs when sounds are acoustically different in different rooms due to the way the sound carries or is reflected. These environments factor into how long the reverberation lasts or fades out. Reverb is one of the most common effects used in recordings and as effects for different instruments.

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Built-in spring reverb units were first used in Hammond Organs in 1939, and was adopted for guitar amplifiers using spring reverb tanks inside the guitar amp. The different sizes of reverb tanks allows them to be placed inside the cabinet of combo amps and in guitar amp heads.

Spring reverb units are made with a metal enclosure containing metal springs stretched to each side of the enclosure, connected to a transducer on one end and a pickup (similar to those used in plate reverb) on the other end. The sound of the guitar’s signal is sent through and causes the springs to vibrate creating a reverb effect.

Stand-alone reverb units usually have longer springs, allowing for more reverb to be produced through them, and often look similar to a guitar amp head. These reverb units became popular with surf guitar.

Analog Reverb Effects

Analog reverb effects are produced by several different manufacturers. Since these pedals use analog circuitry, they aren’t as sonically flexible as Digital Reverb effects. Both come as pedals or stomp boxes, and in rack mountable units.

Digital Reverb

Digital reverb units process the guitar signal to create spring reverb type effects as well as more extreme reverberation effects for more ambient sounds, but sometimes lack the warmer tone analog effects produce. Digital reverb effects can be found in studio software, rack units and stompboxes and allow the user to simulate different rooms or environments to process the sound.

The major scale goes through seven different notes and the octave of the root note. Adding the 9th note of the scale is the same as the second note of the scale.

1 + 3 + 5 + 9

1 + 3♭ + 5 + 9

Dominant 9 Chords

Dominant 9 chords add the 9th note of the scale to the dominant 7th chord form.

1 + 3 + 5 + 7♭ + 9

1 + 3♭ + 5 + 7♭ + 9

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Major 9 Chords

Major 9 chords can be played adding the 9th note of the scale to a major7 chord.

1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9

1 + 3♭ + 5 + 7 + 9

From the 1950’s to today, the evolution of overdrive and distortion has been a huge milestone in electric guitar history. The discovery of overdrive and distortion for the electric guitar led to so many options for guitarists and made new genres of music possible to take off.

Overdrive

Overdrive effects pedals mimic the sound of an old tube amp with its volume cranked all the way up causing the speaker to break up and distort the sound. They produce a more subtle overdriven sound, saturated with less “bite” and clipping than distortion pedals. The clean tone can still be heard but the sound has slightly more grit to it than the normal clean tone especially when the strings are strummed harder. Overdrive effects are great for music genres with a less heavy or edgy sound like blues or country.

Before distortion pedals and multiple-channel guitar amps, guitarists played through their amps at lower volumes for the best clean tone. It was almost frowned upon to play through a tube amp at higher volumes. Guitarists experimenting with new sounds started to turn their amps all the way up and even cut or poke holes in the amp’s speaker to get an overdriven guitar sound not commonly heard in recordings at the time.

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In 1951, the guitar player for Howlin’ Wolf’s band, Willie Johnson, turned his tube amp way up for the recording of “How Many More Years”. The tone of the overdriven amp was rare for its time and slowly became a desired sound for other guitarists. This song is now referred to and credited by many as one of the first rock and roll songs recorded.

In a Nashville recording studio during the early 1960’s, Glenn Snoddy was an engineer at the studio when a happy accident happened on one of the tracks of a Marty Robbins recording. About a minute and a half into the song “Don’t Worry”, you can hear this happy accident happen out of nowhere. On the recording, Grady Martin’s bass guitar was plugged into a mixer channel with a blown transformer and caused the signal to sound fuzzy. The track was kept on the record and sparked a new sound other guitarists wanted for their own.

Glenn Snoddy took this accident and traced back to where the problem occurred in the faulty mixer, and began to develop a stomp box that could be used to create the fuzzy guitar sound. Snoddy presented the design to a friend at Gibson, and the result was the introduction of the Maestro Fuzz-Tone in 1962. The Fuzz-Tone started off being marketed towards electric bass players, and then towards guitarists with the idea that it would allow their guitar to sound like different instruments. Gibson sold very few units of the Maestro Fuzz-Tone to the public in the beginning years.

In 1964, the Kinks released a song called “You Really Got Me”. Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks probably still argue about the speaker of the guitar amp responsible for the guitar tone on this track, but Dave insists he sliced the speaker in his guitar amp with a razor blade which created the guitar tone heard on the record.

A year later in 1965, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones picked up a Maestro Fuzz-Tone to track what he originally heard in his head as a horn section with his guitar on “Satisfaction(I Can’t Get No)”. The sound of Richard’s guitar was so different that he didn’t like it at first when hearing it on the radio. Despite that original feeling towards the new sound of his guitar, he learned to love it and so did so many other guitarists, then and now.

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Fuzz and Distortion

Music genres with loud, crunchy guitar tones like rock and metal, distortion is a key element. Distortion effects use higher gain and produce heavier, crunchier tones from either a guitar amp or through a distortion pedal. Guitar amps and distortion pedals boost guitar’s electric signal, causing the sound to “clip”, and create the distortion sound.

After the introduction of the first fuzz guitar pedals, companies started to expand on the circuits and abilities of the fuzz sound. The early fuzz pedals used transistors to overload the signal to create the fuzz effect. The 1970’s brought along using the operational amplifier in distortion pedals and changed the game completely. The op-amp allowed the sound to be clipped much harder than the fuzz pedals available, opening a door to new guitar tones and options.

The demand for overdriven and fuzz guitar tones changed how guitar amps were made also. Guitar amps with at least 2 channels allow you to use a clean tone or switch to overdrive or distortion tones. Other amps with one channel sometimes have a boost option to boost and dirty up the clean tone, but will often need a distortion pedal beyond that.

There is a huge assortment of distortion pedals available today for electric guitar. Most of these distortion pedals are based on several classic pedals with a classic sound, recreated and slightly modified.

Double stops are used in various styles of guitar playing including the blues, rock, country, metal, and more.

Double stops add harmony and fatten up guitar riffs and lead guitar. Double stops are played using specific intervals. An interval is the distance between the notes in a scale. Double stops are commonly played in, but not limited to, third and fifth intervals.

Double Stop Thirds

Double stop thirds are played using the root and third (major) or flat third (minor) notes of a major scale. In a chord, the third note makes the chord major or minor.

Double Stop Thirds in the Key of C Major

    C  Dm Em F  G  Am  Bm  C    
e|--0--1--3--5--7--8---10--12--|
B|--1--3--5--6--8--10--12--13--|
G|-----------------------------|
D|-----------------------------|
A|-----------------------------|
E|-----------------------------|

The guitar tab above shows double stop thirds using the B and high E strings. This tab shows the same double stop thirds using most of the guitar strings. Notice how double stop thirds are played slightly different on the G and B strings.

    C  Dm Em F  G  Am Bm C    
e|--------------------------|
B|-----------------1--3--5--|
G|--------0--2--4--2--4--5--|
D|--2--3--2--3--5-----------|
A|--3--5--------------------|
E|--------------------------|

Double Stop Fifths

Double stop fifths use the root and fifth note of a major scale just like power chords do.

Double stop fifths are pretty much power chords without the root’s octave played. There are a couple ways to play double stop fifths.

C Major Scale in Fifths

    C  D  E  F   G   A   B   C    
e|-------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------|
D|--5--7--9--10--12--14--16--17--|
A|--3--5--7--8---10--12--14--15--|
E|-------------------------------|

The guitar tab above shows double stop fifths with the root note on the lower string (A). Now let’s take a look at another way to play double stop fifths with the root note as the higher note. Playing double stop fifths this way is easier because you can play them using one finger and gives you the ability to play riffs easier.

Double Stop Fifth Guitar Riff

e|-----------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------|
G|---------------5-------------------|
D|--7--7--5--7---5----5--7--7--5--7--|
A|--7--7--5--7--------5--7--7--5--7--|
E|-----------------------------------|
   P.M.-------|      P.M.----------|  

Octaves

Octaves are a type of double stop that use the same note played on different strings. Octave riffs are popular in modern rock and metal. The guitar tab below shows how to play octaves that are closest to each other on the guitar neck. Mute the string between the other two strings you’re strumming with your finger (shown with an “x”).

e|-------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------|
G|--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-12-12-12-10-10-10-10-10--|
D|--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x--x--x--x--x--x--x---|
A|--3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-10-10-10-8--8--8--8--8---|
E|-------------------------------------------|

You can play the same octave pattern using different strings this way:

e|-----------------------------------|
B|------------------8-8-8-6-6-6-6-6--|
G|--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--|
D|--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-5-5-5-3-3-3-3-3--|
A|--3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|

Notice the to play the octaves on the higher strings you need to stretch your fingers across an extra fret than on the lower strings.

Octave effects combine the guitar’s signal with a duplicated signal, raising or lowering it an octave in pitch, creating a synthesizer type of sound. Both guitarists and bassists use octave effects to create a lower range and thicken up their tone. Octave effects go hand-in-hand with fuzz and distortion and many of these pedals use the option of fuzz in the pedal controls.

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Jimi Hedrix used a pedal called the Octavia, though he called it the Octavio, to record the solo heard on “Purple Haze”, and on the song “Fire” in 1967. The Octavia is an octave fuzz effects pedal invented by Roger Mayer, Hendrix’s sound tech, that became popular after Hendrix started playing through one. The version of the Octavia used on those recordings was never used again and the circuits and transformers were swapped out in the later versions that were eventually released.

The octave effects pedals available today combine the fuzz or overdrive and different options to create sounds that can make the electric guitar sound like a synthesizer or like a bass guitar.

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Pitch Shifters & Harmonizers

Pitch Shifter effects alter the pitch of the guitar’s original signal to create detuned or other pitch effects, and are not limited to just an octave up or down from the original note(s). Some pitch shifting effects can be used with an expression pedal to control the amount of the effect applied to the signal.

Harmonizer effects work similar to pitch shifters, and allow one guitar to sound like multiple guitars playing in harmony.