CLARIFICATIONS AND CORRECTIONS! 🔴When playing a 7(#9) chord, it's common to remove the 5th in the chord. Why? Because it really doesn't add any "important flavors" to the chord. Also, the nature of the guitar makes it difficult or sometimes impossible to play afull 7(#9) chord. 🔴As mentioned at 07:10, you'll rarely hear the 3 and b3 played side-by-side on a single instrument. But across different instruments, you can expect that the two will compete against one another in a blues or rock setting. For example, a blues pianist might play A7 with a major 3rd of C#, and in that same octave, a lead player might play a C natural. 🔴There is some VERY UGLY NOTATION at 10:53, during the David Gilmour lick. I wrote this tablature in MuseScore and forgot to check all the staff notes :( 🔴At the end of this video, when I say my videos have "no ads," I meant promotions or in-video advertisement. I don't have ads in my lessons because 1) i hate ads and 2) they completely destroy the flow of an educational lesson. But I do monetize this channel, meaning you probably see some ads before clicking on one of my videos. This collects enough money to pay a few bills, but it's really my patreon supporters who enable me to make straightforward lessons without spamming you with VPN ads, razors, or one of the other hundred other companies bugging me to do ad-reads!
Most of the things you discuss are beyond my skill level. However, I listen because I know you are gifted. Thanks for all that you have shared regarding music. One day it will click for me.
Thanks for commenting about omitting the 5th! I was noticing that when I go to try this chord on my baritone uke I'll have to omitting the 5th scale degree for lack of strings. So it's good to know that's a common practice on a six-string.
The 5th is often left out, especially with jazz chords (dominant 7, minor 7, mayor 7 etc.) These are called ‘shell chords’. Playing the 5th in the chord just ‘clutters’ things up.
Craig Steven here…long time listener first time caller. I love your Channel…. You are a natural teacher. So I have to comment on your A7 add#9 graphic. The cigarette and the bottle of liquor … just sheer genius. I always wondered why I liked hanging out with Hendrix chord ! Keep up the awesome work.
Jake! Long time no see, bud! Glad to see you're still at it. I don't know that I would've made the progress that I made without your channel. Thanks for all of the hard work!
One thing to note is that minor 9th intervals sound very dissonant and won't sound right in most contexts. A 3 above a b3 creates a minor 9th interval, while a #9 above a 3 creates a major 7th interval. This would explain why it sounds better in major. However, that doesn't explain why the #9 sounds good in the bass (this creates a minor 9th). It probably works because it gives the major chord a dominant sound, which is all about tension.
I made exactly this same comment. The minor 9th has pretty limited application. It sounds really cool if you add it to a V7 chord before resolving to a I or a i, for example. The reason is because the V7-I movement is already built on tension and release. The V7 already has several notes pulling you toward the tonic chord. By introducing a b9, you simply get an even greater pull toward that tonic. The major 7th is much easier to work with.
Yep! I didn't want to get into flat 9s (that's it's own lesson IMO) but i teach V7#9 - V7b9 - i in the Codex. The pink Floyd song Breathe actually resolves more like a backdoor cadence though, bVII - i (D to Em)
One of the most intriguing applications of this “wrong but right” clashing thirds thing, is in the song “Drive my car” by the Beatles, specifically in the “you can do something in between” bit. The twist is that the perceived dissonance isn’t between major and minor thirds that are actually played, but between the minor third that we ACTUALLY hear, and a major third that, while in reality it is entirely absent, is so clearly IMPLIED by the context in which the chord appears that our brains sort of supply the major/minor dissonance that isn’t really there. The weird thing is that, in the context of the song, it sounds really crunchy and dissonant, and is often erroneously transcribed as an A7 #5 #9 chord, a pretty dissonant chord. But if you actually analyse what notes are being played/sung, in isolation, it’s not particularly dissonant at all. It’s just a major triad in first inversion, with an added major 2nd above the root. Specifically, it’s just an F add 9 with the third in the bass. Now, if you just play an F add 9 over an A bass, in isolation, it is NOT going to sound like that chord from “Drive my Car”. Out of context, it entirely lacks the distinctive dissonant “crunch” associated with that moment in the song. But… in the song it appears in the context of the key of D major, exactly at the point where we expect to hear a classic dominant 7 chord built on the fifth degree, which would be an A7. Also, the lowest note is an A. So the context primes us to experience the chord, not as an F chord, but as some kind of A7, even though it’s missing the major third required to make it that chord. If it’s any kind of A chord, you would think it would be an A minor, as it DOES have the minor third. But we simply don’t experience it that way. We experience it as a major chord, and we experience the minor third that in reality is an integral part of the chord as a dissonant blue note over it.
Holy crap this is a big moment for me, i waited patiently for two years and only on your third video back does RUclips deem it appropriate to let me know! 😅 Welcome back man we've missed ya
This was an amazing video! It's so necessary for us as musicians to come at topics like this major/minor rub from new perspectives and with a different focus. Yes, I can see why this video could be confusing to a newer musician. But the good news is: it's all confusing until it's not. Food for thought is way more important than knowing every ingredient.
I know some Indians songs that have both major and minor thirds. They were composed in Sindhu Bhairavi and Piloo / Kapi ragas. One of them is "Thumbi Vaa" composed by Illayaraja. It was composed in the Kapi raga. 😊
Interesting. I wrote a YT comment about this a couple of weeks ago. In Sweden we call that a -10 (minus 10) chord. As you said it contains both the major and the minor third. So there is a 3 and a flatted 10 (the minor third, one octave higher). That way of thinking makes the function of the chord clearer, at least to me. Like @ulomagyar7166 says in the comment I guess it should be called a minor 10. The problem arises when you have a minor chord with a major 10. I guess it could be minor 7 add maj 10. A bit of a mouth full, I think I’ll stick to +10. A long time fan of your channel. I’ve bought a couple of your well crafted courses. I recommended your excellent Codex to a music student friend of mine. He couldn’t be happier. Neither could I. Keep up the good work𝄢
Good to know, that might be a regional thing! I've never heard of a minor 10th in this context, but everything you're saying makes sense to me... however the + sign is used to "augment the 5th" so a +10 chord would be very confusing for many musicians I think. Also I'm thrilled you're enjoying the book :)
Steve Winwood played it on the keyboard in "I'm a Man" with Spencer Davis Group. The Paramounts (with Robin Trower) had a UK hit in 1964 with a cover of "Poison Ivy" that included the E7♯9 at about 1:16. It also had a lot of G and A, so there is a chordal similarity with "Purple Haze". Hendrix also used it in "Foxy Lady" which was recorded before "I'm a Man" even though it came out later. I guess it was a popular chord at the time because Paul McCartney was pretty excited about using it in "Michelle" in 1965 (where he sings "ma belle" is B♭7♯9).
A couple of years ago I was improvising a song on piano, and I happened to do that minor third over a major chord, and it's so good. My tune feels completely wrong if it's not there. I just checked, and I do not play the fifth, but a minor seventh. I might change that to a major seventh in a later verse, but it's actually almost too spicy in the context of the tune.
3:33 yes, and no. The chord that uses both the minor and the major thirds both of which function like thirds and not ninths is often cslled the "split-third chord" or "mixed third chord"
The solo section around 10 minutes in is great! That weird modal mixture sound where just one note shifts a half step has become one of my favorite musical "toys" - that little shift really stands out to the ear and creates these little moments of interest. I think I actually first started exploring this as a result of your video where you demo'ed that Emaj7 - Am progression, but another great example is the jam sections from The Grateful Dead's song Eyes of the World. It goes from an Emaj7 to a Bm, and there's this shift from E major to E mixolydian. In that case the note that "shifts" is the 7th - you play the natural seven over the Emaj, then use the flat 7 in the mixolydian portion. Every time I land that little shift as the chord changes, there's a special little moment of interest and satisfaction. There are so many cool progressions that use a trick like that, it's a very cool thing to explore. Thanks for your vids!
I bought a used 6505MH awhile ago and I agree it’s an amazing amp head from raw metal tones to Heavy Blues tones .. ..just WOW every time I hit power on‼️. Onto Peavey cabs next 👍
i consider myself to be decently versed at understanding the concepts of music theory. even if something like this is considered review for me, I still love it. because there's always an opportunity to learn more
It's (shhh) jazz. A tritone substituted Bb13 shell chord. The key elements are the D (maj3) and Ab (7) of the Bb13 that invert to produce a G# (maj 3) and D (7) in E7#9... G moves from the 13 to the #9 (F##). You can do this with all altered and extended dominant chords due to the tritone between the maj3 and the 7. Blues loves a dominant seventh chord so we're not compelled to resolve it, and because the bass is firmly E, we think E dominant. This is the same reason that E minor pentatonic works over an E7 chord... that "G" is actually an F##, #9. It works fine over a bass player playing a walking line that incorporates G# (maj 3).
Tie Your Mother Down by Queen is another example of playing the minor 3th followed by the major 3th. It's in the very well known rythmic guitar riff created by Brian May that plays a natural C followed by a C# on an A chord. There's also a C chord later, where the minor third appears and the major third goes out.
In jazz (and therefore funk and fusion) the full scale elaboration of a 7#9 chord is typically either of: R b9 #9 3 #11 5 6 b7 (half-whole diminished scale) R b9 #9 3 #11 #5 b7 (altered scale) Both sound bluesy but the latter especially so. Actually by shorthand convention the first one is notated 7b9 and the latter 7#9, even though both contain both 9ths as well as other alterations.
E7#9 is also the first chord in Sunny Day Real Estate's song "Killed By An Angel". First time I ever played that chord was when I figured out that song when I was 14 or 15 years old. I'm almost positive (despite my fuzzy memory of how to even play the song) that the guitar line in the verse resolves into dancing with accidentals around an arpeggiated A Maj chord. Interesting in light of what you were saying about the interplay of E7#9 and A Maj It was fun to hear your analysis of this. I had always felt like this chord shape was dissonant and a bit strange, yet powerful as hell when utilized properly; and I hadn't really thought about it much in the last 25 years since then.
A maior dificuldade que eu tive no estudo da harmonia foi esse "olha como soa estranho as terças maior e menor tocadas ao mesmo tempo", aí eu ouço o som e acho lindo. Foi um caminho longo e árduo pra entender a harmonia tradicional e como ignorar ela solenemente na hora de compôr, pra não limitar a arte a uma convenção, uma vez que a convenção jamais se aplica a expressão de maneira eficaz.
This relationship naturally occurs in the dominant 13th Court. From the bottom up, the voicing of the flat seventh third and 13th creates that critical element. E7#9 A13 D7#9 G13 highlights the usability and beauty of that musical phenomenon. The song "Spinning Wheel " uses a very obvious version of that combination in a sequence. On a more obscure note, the sonority created from flat seven major third and sharp nine in atonal classical music is referred to as the "Viennese triad."
As a new viewer, that face reveal of talking while playing was something else haha. I was thinking "Oh that's cool, he must've pre-recorded the script and then played to it to keep the notes in line with what he's describing." But no, you were playing and casually reciting your script at the same time like a savage! Love it!
Wonderful topic. I remember a G7#9 used for the piano fill stabs, in between the phrases in the chorus of "Maybe I'm Amazed," for the reasons you mention. I think this chord was favored by jazz keyboardists, since they can't play "in-between" the keys to hit that blue note, the way a guitar / voice / clarinet / harmonica can bend in to it.
0:34 - Odd, When I hear that *C#* , I hear a *Maj7* ! (combined with the *D*) Where's the *D* coming from? The loop-audio or you guitar? 3:00 - The *D* has disappeared!
So great brotha, as a guitar teacher myself I'm always dreaming of ways to explain this exact conundrum. Cheers to you for putting it all together and sharing this info! Man, if I'd had this youtube channel when I was a teenager. Amazing
Cool man, I’ve been thinking about and messing with this very concept, and was just thinking minor third is happy in major context but not the opposite. You elaborated on it nicely, appreciated.
It’s been a long time since I played it, but I believe Opeth’s song Deliverance uses an F#7#9 chord in the riff under the first couple verses. Though it may be something else, because I definitely wouldn’t call that riff bluesy 😄
Dylan Carlson from Earth (especially the modern version of the band) uses the minor to major third move a lot in his music. Has a country/blues twang while still being over a moody chord. Great vid as always Jake!
The full, formal notation for what is just the hendrix chord in a I IV V progression with basic pentatonic minor is absolutely nuts. Looks crazy and way more complicated than it is.
🥰 I missed these inspiring videos. I feel like playing with adding the major and minor 3eds to different cords now. Try it as the base note, or add it an octave o two higher than the root note. I might try that later today. Thanks for the inspiration. 😍
The whole blues major minor things took me forever to wrap my head around when 1st learning music theory, this video gonna help a lot of people to get them on the right track. Good see ya back :)
man, I'm just happy to be subscribed to this channel, those videos are really great Trying to slowly but surely learn (guitar) music theory (I am a drummer). You explain and show it on a level that resonates with me very well :)
I love that dom7-#9 chord. It has to be played in the right inversion and with the right dynamics, and then the paradox just flies right by, with the dominant 7th below the #9. It is a chord that must come with its own attitude. Leave that behind and it will fail.
Fantastic video that’s very helpful with composition. Also the mutually exclusive thirds jam absolutely sounds like a million 80s and 90s power ballads. A lot of songs use that tonality all over the place.
The basics of Blues is fairly straightforward but to really understand and play the many styles of Blues is anything but. Many a good guitarist has sat in with a seasoned Blues Band and fell flat. Like any genre, it takes immersion to be fluent. A common refrain that I hear is, it’s just a 12 bar and easy or boring.
12:41 Though one example does come from a very successful song from the late '60s: Light My Fire, where the verse progression goes from Am to F#m. Of course, that 'haunting' quality is there too (I remember feeling really uncomfortable with that progression when I first heard it).
A #9 in this case is an octave higher than a #2 so properly named. By your own axiom, a minor chord doesn't like a major third. However tradition, which largely influences our musical tastes & expectations, shows that altered dominant chords (which by definition have a major third) are very accepting of alterations. Hence the common term altered dominant.
I always assumed it arose from the early blues singer-guitarists playing major chords and singing mainly minor pentatonic over the top; incorporating both thirds helps pitch the minor. And it is an example of how theory can struggle with styles outside common-practice harmony (eg c1700-c1900 European classical music) because the description of #9 misses the double 3rd point and is actually incorrect if the chord is written with eg G natural over G# in E because the first principle of intervals is you count letter names to determine the number it gets. But if it is actually a 9 then it’s not part of the pentatonic. In the end the only thing that matters is the sound - and certainly it’s all those early blues players cared about.
Check out The Magnificent Seven by The Clash, on the live version in From Here to Eternity at around 00:59. One guitar plays major the other minor simultaneously
1 1/2 year now in my music theory piano journey coming from just noodling on the guitar for a while, and when i started looking at chords as poly- chords So this A would be + C#- or an easier viisual example C Major + D minor in stacked Thirds or C/C- + D major. it really changed how easy it is to understand the upper extesnsions / alt of chords only looking at chords in 7th's and worse traids, is a big waste of time if you're playing jazz or blues and honestly any kind of music (IMO) and I wish someone would have shown me this on my self taught journey from the start. if people taught the stacked thirds poly chords from the get, It wouldn't make these ALT lead sheets so crazy for musicians/ and sound less "scary" when you hear them. and Yeah Chormatic mediants are so cool and all over the place too especailyl in instrumental music , where they can change centers really quick like surfing with the alien . A picady third that really fucked me up for a while outisde of the classical piece ending in it, was imagine by A perfect circle, I remember when i was looking at the melody like how the fuck did he just go to the major third. such a beautiful cover and makes it so much better with it, alright enough of talking to myself lol . Thanks again for the lesson cheers mate !
I watch Rick Beato and he explains and plays chords and "sounds" that sound like hits in the making! Brian May also thinks that. Beato "exposed" a Sting hit song by simply playing various cords. Hmm...never knew how "easy" it was to create great sounding sounds. The trick is putting them together into a whole creation and adding great lyrics.
@@SignalsMusicStudioThe simplest explanation why the Hendrix chord works is to not treat the C as a normal minor third (6/5). 12-tone equal temperament makes a comma the size of 36/35 vanish, meaning that the 6/5 minor third is equal to the septimal minor third, or 7/6. It also makes the harmonic seventh 7/4 equal to 9/5. This means that a no-5 Hendrix chord has pitches 1/1, 5/4, 7/4 and 7/3 (=7/6 one octave above the root) instead of 1/1, 5/4, 9/5 and 12/5. Thus the chord will be tuned as 12:15:21:28 instead of the much more dissonant 20:25:36:48. The former has smaller values meaning that it will have less harmonic entropy than the latter. The C can also be interpreted as 19/16 (!!!), in which case the chord is 1/1, 5/4, 7/4 and 19/8 and tuned to 8:10:14:19, demonstrating even lower harmonic entroy. In 12-tone equal temperament it is still identical to 12:15:21:28, anyway.
I was also sitting here with my keyboard working out the music math and man does it sound bad when you bring the extra weird note down into the other notes register instead of playing it at a high pitch over the top or in the bass line. Thanks for clarifying that at the 7m mark :)
First time I heard the explanation of #9. Since it's the minor chord and major I've thought that -10 would have been the correct one. Now I know why it's #9.
I don't think you can hold out a major 3rd over a minor chord, but you can use it as a passing tone. I'm a bassist and I wouldn't think twice about using it as a chromatic note in a walking bass line. For example, let's say I'm in A minor and I know the next chord is a D minor. I might go A, B, C, C#, D, landing on the D when the change happened. Because it passes by in a half or a quarter beat, and because there's a logical movement, it sounds fine.
Check out The Magnificent Seven by The Clash, on the live version in From Here to Eternity at around 00:59. One guitar plays major the other minor simultaneously
@@supremelordoftheuniverse5449 yeah, I just listened. Definitely sounds like it "should" be minor but one of the guitars is playing the major. I compared it to the album version and you can't hear the same dissonance, but the guitars are much louder in the live version.
The major third on top of a minor chord creates a flat 9 and that is considered by some to be the most dissonant interval that just sounds bad. Whereas the minor third on top of a major chord creates a major 7 interval. While also quite dissonant, it's much more enjoyable, creating an emotion of longing, or dreamy nostalgia. Throwing in the flat 7 even lessens the dissonance because it mediates between the major and minor third. The major third now forms a tritone with the flat 7. That is pretty dissonant but very common and perfectly resolves to the tonic chord. The minor third on top now forms a perfect fourth with that flat 7 and that is one of the most harmonic intervals. Removing the fifth from the chord is imo more than just removing some unnecessary note. The fifth forms a flat 6 interval with the added minor third. The flat 6 is not particularly dissonant, but to my ears it has a minor vibe to it that makes the flat7/sharp9 chord more muddy. leave it out and the clash between the major and minor third becomes more prominent.
There’s only song I’m aware of that plays a clashing major third in a minor context, Glory and Gore by Lorde in the third verse / bridge. It sounds amazing, even though it is dissonant. It feels nothing like a regular major third. In a weird way, it feels like an augmented minor third.
![Motifs and Chords- The Fast and Easy Way to Make Music! [SONGWRITNG - MUSIC THEORY - LESSON]]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/z3Dy6Mnp5Og/mqdefault.jpg)
![Making Music with Pascal's Triangle + the LOCRIAN scale [RIFFING WITH MODES #7]](/img/1.gif)
CLARIFICATIONS AND CORRECTIONS!
🔴When playing a 7(#9) chord, it's common to remove the 5th in the chord. Why? Because it really doesn't add any "important flavors" to the chord. Also, the nature of the guitar makes it difficult or sometimes impossible to play afull 7(#9) chord.
🔴As mentioned at 07:10, you'll rarely hear the 3 and b3 played side-by-side on a single instrument. But across different instruments, you can expect that the two will compete against one another in a blues or rock setting. For example, a blues pianist might play A7 with a major 3rd of C#, and in that same octave, a lead player might play a C natural.
🔴There is some VERY UGLY NOTATION at 10:53, during the David Gilmour lick. I wrote this tablature in MuseScore and forgot to check all the staff notes :(
🔴At the end of this video, when I say my videos have "no ads," I meant promotions or in-video advertisement. I don't have ads in my lessons because 1) i hate ads and 2) they completely destroy the flow of an educational lesson. But I do monetize this channel, meaning you probably see some ads before clicking on one of my videos. This collects enough money to pay a few bills, but it's really my patreon supporters who enable me to make straightforward lessons without spamming you with VPN ads, razors, or one of the other hundred other companies bugging me to do ad-reads!
Most of the things you discuss are beyond my skill level. However, I listen because I know you are gifted. Thanks for all that you have shared regarding music. One day it will click for me.
You should pin this comment
Good clarifications. Thanks much!
Thanks for commenting about omitting the 5th! I was noticing that when I go to try this chord on my baritone uke I'll have to omitting the 5th scale degree for lack of strings. So it's good to know that's a common practice on a six-string.
The 5th is often left out, especially with jazz chords (dominant 7, minor 7, mayor 7 etc.) These are called ‘shell chords’. Playing the 5th in the chord just ‘clutters’ things up.
The cigarette and whisky graphic were hilarious.
hi, my name is kozmo, and i have a seventh chord addiction.
I am so happy to see more of your videos Jake. Please keep them coming!!!
I agree
Me too. Been a while, was really happy to see this 🙂👍💯
Please never stop making these as you give hope to guitarists who are trying really hard
YEAHHHHH! ANOTHER LESSON!
Thank you, Mr. Lizzio!!!
WELCOME BACK BABY!
I'm not even a guitarist and I know music theory but I still love your videos and I still can learn something from them.
Dude, I remember watching a ton of your videos when I first started studying music theory, it’s so cool to see you upload again!
Craig Steven here…long time listener first time caller. I love your Channel…. You are a natural teacher. So I have to comment on your A7 add#9 graphic. The cigarette and the bottle of liquor … just sheer genius. I always wondered why I liked hanging out with Hendrix chord ! Keep up the awesome work.
Jake! Long time no see, bud! Glad to see you're still at it. I don't know that I would've made the progress that I made without your channel. Thanks for all of the hard work!
Great to see you making content again man. I love the channel and your work ethics. I learned a lot from your channel. Massive respect.
Great to see you back with new videos! ✨
One thing to note is that minor 9th intervals sound very dissonant and won't sound right in most contexts. A 3 above a b3 creates a minor 9th interval, while a #9 above a 3 creates a major 7th interval. This would explain why it sounds better in major.
However, that doesn't explain why the #9 sounds good in the bass (this creates a minor 9th). It probably works because it gives the major chord a dominant sound, which is all about tension.
I made exactly this same comment. The minor 9th has pretty limited application. It sounds really cool if you add it to a V7 chord before resolving to a I or a i, for example. The reason is because the V7-I movement is already built on tension and release. The V7 already has several notes pulling you toward the tonic chord. By introducing a b9, you simply get an even greater pull toward that tonic.
The major 7th is much easier to work with.
Another awesome thing you can do is V7#9 - V7b9 - i . Or, speaking of stealing from Pink Floyd, D7#9 - D7b9 - Em
Yep! I didn't want to get into flat 9s (that's it's own lesson IMO) but i teach V7#9 - V7b9 - i in the Codex. The pink Floyd song Breathe actually resolves more like a backdoor cadence though, bVII - i (D to Em)
Those are all used as passing tones for a long time.
One of the most intriguing applications of this “wrong but right” clashing thirds thing, is in the song “Drive my car” by the Beatles, specifically in the “you can do something in between” bit. The twist is that the perceived dissonance isn’t between major and minor thirds that are actually played, but between the minor third that we ACTUALLY hear, and a major third that, while in reality it is entirely absent, is so clearly IMPLIED by the context in which the chord appears that our brains sort of supply the major/minor dissonance that isn’t really there.
The weird thing is that, in the context of the song, it sounds really crunchy and dissonant, and is often erroneously transcribed as an A7 #5 #9 chord, a pretty dissonant chord. But if you actually analyse what notes are being played/sung, in isolation, it’s not particularly dissonant at all. It’s just a major triad in first inversion, with an added major 2nd above the root. Specifically, it’s just an F add 9 with the third in the bass.
Now, if you just play an F add 9 over an A bass, in isolation, it is NOT going to sound like that chord from “Drive my Car”. Out of context, it entirely lacks the distinctive dissonant “crunch” associated with that moment in the song.
But… in the song it appears in the context of the key of D major, exactly at the point where we expect to hear a classic dominant 7 chord built on the fifth degree, which would be an A7. Also, the lowest note is an A. So the context primes us to experience the chord, not as an F chord, but as some kind of A7, even though it’s missing the major third required to make it that chord. If it’s any kind of A chord, you would think it would be an A minor, as it DOES have the minor third. But we simply don’t experience it that way. We experience it as a major chord, and we experience the minor third that in reality is an integral part of the chord as a dissonant blue note over it.
Holy crap this is a big moment for me, i waited patiently for two years and only on your third video back does RUclips deem it appropriate to let me know! 😅
Welcome back man we've missed ya
New Signals Music Studio video HYPE! I'm so pumped
This was an amazing video! It's so necessary for us as musicians to come at topics like this major/minor rub from new perspectives and with a different focus. Yes, I can see why this video could be confusing to a newer musician. But the good news is: it's all confusing until it's not. Food for thought is way more important than knowing every ingredient.
2023 will forever be known as the signals-less year. Love watching these videos again.
10:30 Beautiful. So glad to have you back, Jake! You're like my favorite music RUclips channel!
This is the best vídeo in the Internet
One of the best lessons I've seen on RUclips, I'd rate it 7#9/5.
love to see someone who knows what theyre talking about and explains it well
min3 half-sharp is also very useful in blues, especially with slide players. So in key E, halfway between G and G#.
So glad to see you back at it making great educational videos again !!! Thank you !!
I know some Indians songs that have both major and minor thirds. They were composed in Sindhu Bhairavi and Piloo / Kapi ragas. One of them is "Thumbi Vaa" composed by Illayaraja. It was composed in the Kapi raga. 😊
Yes! Raga Jog also employs both thirds in a pleasant way
You're a great, great teacher and this video is gold. Great didactics without under or overestimating the audience. On point! Thanks!
thanks for this nice comment 😁
Interesting.
I wrote a YT comment about this a couple of weeks ago.
In Sweden we call that a -10 (minus 10) chord.
As you said it contains both the major and the minor third.
So there is a 3 and a flatted 10 (the minor third, one octave higher).
That way of thinking makes the function of the chord clearer, at least to me.
Like @ulomagyar7166 says in the comment I guess it should be called a minor 10.
The problem arises when you have a minor chord with a major 10.
I guess it could be minor 7 add maj 10. A bit of a mouth full, I think I’ll stick to +10.
A long time fan of your channel.
I’ve bought a couple of your well crafted courses.
I recommended your excellent Codex to a music student friend of mine.
He couldn’t be happier.
Neither could I.
Keep up the good work𝄢
Good to know, that might be a regional thing! I've never heard of a minor 10th in this context, but everything you're saying makes sense to me... however the + sign is used to "augment the 5th" so a +10 chord would be very confusing for many musicians I think. Also I'm thrilled you're enjoying the book :)
Sorry my bad.
Yes of course, that would be an aug 10.
So it only works in Sweden🇸🇪
jake I love you please never stop making videos
Steve Winwood played it on the keyboard in "I'm a Man" with Spencer Davis Group. The Paramounts (with Robin Trower) had a UK hit in 1964 with a cover of "Poison Ivy" that included the E7♯9 at about 1:16. It also had a lot of G and A, so there is a chordal similarity with "Purple Haze". Hendrix also used it in "Foxy Lady" which was recorded before "I'm a Man" even though it came out later. I guess it was a popular chord at the time because Paul McCartney was pretty excited about using it in "Michelle" in 1965 (where he sings "ma belle" is B♭7♯9).
Important detail is that the minor third is often played sharp (with a bend) where possible (e.g., in lead).
Paging Mr. Page. 😊
LedHed Pb 207.20 🎶 🎸 🎹
A couple of years ago I was improvising a song on piano, and I happened to do that minor third over a major chord, and it's so good. My tune feels completely wrong if it's not there. I just checked, and I do not play the fifth, but a minor seventh. I might change that to a major seventh in a later verse, but it's actually almost too spicy in the context of the tune.
3:33 yes, and no. The chord that uses both the minor and the major thirds both of which function like thirds and not ninths is often cslled the "split-third chord" or "mixed third chord"
The solo section around 10 minutes in is great! That weird modal mixture sound where just one note shifts a half step has become one of my favorite musical "toys" - that little shift really stands out to the ear and creates these little moments of interest.
I think I actually first started exploring this as a result of your video where you demo'ed that Emaj7 - Am progression, but another great example is the jam sections from The Grateful Dead's song Eyes of the World. It goes from an Emaj7 to a Bm, and there's this shift from E major to E mixolydian. In that case the note that "shifts" is the 7th - you play the natural seven over the Emaj, then use the flat 7 in the mixolydian portion. Every time I land that little shift as the chord changes, there's a special little moment of interest and satisfaction.
There are so many cool progressions that use a trick like that, it's a very cool thing to explore. Thanks for your vids!
It’s been used over and over all over rock and blues for at least 100 years.
I tbink the 'rule' then is you can have major and minor 3rds at the same time, but they can't be only a semitone apart without sounding clashy.
I bought a used 6505MH awhile ago and I agree it’s an amazing amp head from raw metal tones to Heavy Blues tones ..
..just WOW every time I hit power on‼️. Onto Peavey cabs next 👍
I only discovered this channel recently and, seriously, where have you been all my life!
Finally ! I used this 7#9 Hendrix chord in one of my recordings and didn't know what it was, but it suited the track. Now I know ! Thank Jake 👍
I'm halfway through the Chord Progression Codex and it's great!
i consider myself to be decently versed at understanding the concepts of music theory.
even if something like this is considered review for me, I still love it. because there's always an opportunity to learn more
Nice to see you again Jake, your videos are so insightful
It's (shhh) jazz. A tritone substituted Bb13 shell chord. The key elements are the D (maj3) and Ab (7) of the Bb13 that invert to produce a G# (maj 3) and D (7) in E7#9... G moves from the 13 to the #9 (F##). You can do this with all altered and extended dominant chords due to the tritone between the maj3 and the 7. Blues loves a dominant seventh chord so we're not compelled to resolve it, and because the bass is firmly E, we think E dominant.
This is the same reason that E minor pentatonic works over an E7 chord... that "G" is actually an F##, #9. It works fine over a bass player playing a walking line that incorporates G# (maj 3).
Dude i love your videos. I'm so glad that you're back.
The Chord Progression Codex is amazing. Thank you for putting that together.
Hey, that was really useful and presented clearly. Instant subscribe. I'm gonna hit up your back catalog.
I ALWAYS wonder about this. Love the hendrix chord since the first time I heard it. This was top notch as usual, you spoiled us! Thank you
The Codex is amazing ❤
First time I actually enjoy reading a music theory book from cover to cover
yeahhhhhh!
Tie Your Mother Down by Queen is another example of playing the minor 3th followed by the major 3th. It's in the very well known rythmic guitar riff created by Brian May that plays a natural C followed by a C# on an A chord. There's also a C chord later, where the minor third appears and the major third goes out.
In jazz (and therefore funk and fusion) the full scale elaboration of a 7#9 chord is typically either of:
R b9 #9 3 #11 5 6 b7 (half-whole diminished scale)
R b9 #9 3 #11 #5 b7 (altered scale)
Both sound bluesy but the latter especially so. Actually by shorthand convention the first one is notated 7b9 and the latter 7#9, even though both contain both 9ths as well as other alterations.
Absolute inspiration Jake. Thank you!
Best videos on RUclips period
Welcome back jake. Have learned much from you and look forward to learning a lot more.
E7#9 is also the first chord in Sunny Day Real Estate's song "Killed By An Angel". First time I ever played that chord was when I figured out that song when I was 14 or 15 years old. I'm almost positive (despite my fuzzy memory of how to even play the song) that the guitar line in the verse resolves into dancing with accidentals around an arpeggiated A Maj chord. Interesting in light of what you were saying about the interplay of E7#9 and A Maj
It was fun to hear your analysis of this. I had always felt like this chord shape was dissonant and a bit strange, yet powerful as hell when utilized properly; and I hadn't really thought about it much in the last 25 years since then.
A maior dificuldade que eu tive no estudo da harmonia foi esse "olha como soa estranho as terças maior e menor tocadas ao mesmo tempo", aí eu ouço o som e acho lindo. Foi um caminho longo e árduo pra entender a harmonia tradicional e como ignorar ela solenemente na hora de compôr, pra não limitar a arte a uma convenção, uma vez que a convenção jamais se aplica a expressão de maneira eficaz.
babe wake up !!!!
This guy is teaching classical college music he is correct in that way however THE maj 3 is ablue note in minor
Don’t wake her up she’s had a rough week
This relationship naturally occurs in the dominant 13th Court. From the bottom up, the voicing of the flat seventh third and 13th creates that critical element. E7#9 A13 D7#9 G13 highlights the usability and beauty of that musical phenomenon. The song "Spinning Wheel " uses a very obvious version of that combination in a sequence. On a more obscure note, the sonority created from flat seven major third and sharp nine in atonal classical music is referred to as the "Viennese triad."
As a new viewer, that face reveal of talking while playing was something else haha. I was thinking "Oh that's cool, he must've pre-recorded the script and then played to it to keep the notes in line with what he's describing."
But no, you were playing and casually reciting your script at the same time like a savage! Love it!
Wonderful topic. I remember a G7#9 used for the piano fill stabs, in between the phrases in the chorus of "Maybe I'm Amazed," for the reasons you mention. I think this chord was favored by jazz keyboardists, since they can't play "in-between" the keys to hit that blue note, the way a guitar / voice / clarinet / harmonica can bend in to it.
your content and lessons are among most fun and informative across whole youtube
0:34 - Odd, When I hear that *C#* , I hear a *Maj7* ! (combined with the *D*)
Where's the *D* coming from? The loop-audio or you guitar?
3:00 - The *D* has disappeared!
Excellent presentation of an obscure topic, bonus points for the callout to Adam Neely. #FeedTheAlgorithm
Thank you for this lesson. Incredibly well presented as usual.
Omg the best guitar teacher is back, and it’s a video on jimi hendrix at that !!! let’s go
So great brotha, as a guitar teacher myself I'm always dreaming of ways to explain this exact conundrum. Cheers to you for putting it all together and sharing this info! Man, if I'd had this youtube channel when I was a teenager. Amazing
Cool man, I’ve been thinking about and messing with this very concept, and was just thinking minor third is happy in major context but not the opposite. You elaborated on it nicely, appreciated.
Play the minor 3rd and the natural 2nd if you want your descending lines to sound bluesy over a major or a dominant chord.
It’s been a long time since I played it, but I believe Opeth’s song Deliverance uses an F#7#9 chord in the riff under the first couple verses. Though it may be something else, because I definitely wouldn’t call that riff bluesy 😄
this thought me a LOT Jake! stellar work yet again
Good explaining. I love the sound, love JH. I heard the same sound in string quartets by Mozart, too.
Dylan Carlson from Earth (especially the modern version of the band) uses the minor to major third move a lot in his music. Has a country/blues twang while still being over a moody chord.
Great vid as always Jake!
The full, formal notation for what is just the hendrix chord in a I IV V progression with basic pentatonic minor is absolutely nuts. Looks crazy and way more complicated than it is.
🥰 I missed these inspiring videos. I feel like playing with adding the major and minor 3eds to different cords now. Try it as the base note, or add it an octave o two higher than the root note. I might try that later today. Thanks for the inspiration. 😍
The whole blues major minor things took me forever to wrap my head around when 1st learning music theory, this video gonna help a lot of people to get them on the right track.
Good see ya back :)
man, I'm just happy to be subscribed to this channel, those videos are really great
Trying to slowly but surely learn (guitar) music theory (I am a drummer). You explain and show it on a level that resonates with me very well :)
Another fantastic video, great enthusiasm and wonderful music!
I love that dom7-#9 chord. It has to be played in the right inversion and with the right dynamics, and then the paradox just flies right by, with the dominant 7th below the #9. It is a chord that must come with its own attitude. Leave that behind and it will fail.
great explanation, mate! keep up the great work, much love
Fantastic video that’s very helpful with composition. Also the mutually exclusive thirds jam absolutely sounds like a million 80s and 90s power ballads. A lot of songs use that tonality all over the place.
The basics of Blues is fairly straightforward but to really understand and play the many styles of Blues is anything but. Many a good guitarist has sat in with a seasoned Blues Band and fell flat. Like any genre, it takes immersion to be fluent. A common refrain that I hear is, it’s just a 12 bar and easy or boring.
Blues is great! I just can't wait until someone somewhere writes a second blues song /s
When your book is available in the UK i will buy it for sure. I really want to support your work and say thank you for all these amazing lessons.
Currently available to ship to UK!
@@SignalsMusicStudio Brilliant news... save me a copy. I'll order this week !
8:57 - The main riff to "Have a Drink on Me" by AC/DC has that "corrected" third.
Great stuff!
Your voice is fenomenal!
Great video. I was listening while driving, looking forward to rewatching with a guitar in the evening.
12:41 Though one example does come from a very successful song from the late '60s: Light My Fire, where the verse progression goes from Am to F#m. Of course, that 'haunting' quality is there too (I remember feeling really uncomfortable with that progression when I first heard it).
LOL yes that song is one of a kind!
A #9 in this case is an octave higher than a #2 so properly named. By your own axiom, a minor chord doesn't like a major third. However tradition, which largely influences our musical tastes & expectations, shows that altered dominant chords (which by definition have a major third) are very accepting of alterations. Hence the common term altered dominant.
I always assumed it arose from the early blues singer-guitarists playing major chords and singing mainly minor pentatonic over the top; incorporating both thirds helps pitch the minor. And it is an example of how theory can struggle with styles outside common-practice harmony (eg c1700-c1900 European classical music) because the description of #9 misses the double 3rd point and is actually incorrect if the chord is written with eg G natural over G# in E because the first principle of intervals is you count letter names to determine the number it gets. But if it is actually a 9 then it’s not part of the pentatonic. In the end the only thing that matters is the sound - and certainly it’s all those early blues players cared about.
Check out The Magnificent Seven by The Clash, on the live version in From Here to Eternity at around 00:59. One guitar plays major the other minor simultaneously
1 1/2 year now in my music theory piano journey coming from just noodling on the guitar for a while, and when i started looking at chords as poly- chords
So this A would be + C#- or an easier viisual example C Major + D minor in stacked Thirds or C/C- + D major. it really changed how easy it is to understand the upper extesnsions / alt of chords only looking at chords in 7th's and worse traids, is a big waste of time if you're playing jazz or blues and honestly any kind of music (IMO) and I wish someone would have shown me this on my self taught journey from the start.
if people taught the stacked thirds poly chords from the get, It wouldn't make these ALT lead sheets so crazy for musicians/ and sound less "scary" when you hear them.
and Yeah Chormatic mediants are so cool and all over the place too especailyl in instrumental music , where they can change centers really quick like surfing with the alien .
A picady third that really fucked me up for a while outisde of the classical piece ending in it, was imagine by A perfect circle, I remember when i was looking at the melody like how the fuck did he just go to the major third. such a beautiful cover and makes it so much better with it,
alright enough of talking to myself lol . Thanks again for the lesson cheers mate !
I watch Rick Beato and he explains and plays chords and "sounds" that sound like hits in the making! Brian May also thinks that. Beato "exposed" a Sting hit song by simply playing various cords. Hmm...never knew how "easy" it was to create great sounding sounds. The trick is putting them together into a whole creation and adding great lyrics.
One fun place to use a 7#9 is on an applied dominant to the vi chord, because the #9 is actually diatonic to your original key.
Love that chord, it's like a joker in music theory; breaks all rules but it works!
I still don't understand why it works 😅
@@SignalsMusicStudio Me neither ;D But that's, apparently, the magic of music
@@SignalsMusicStudioThe simplest explanation why the Hendrix chord works is to not treat the C as a normal minor third (6/5). 12-tone equal temperament makes a comma the size of 36/35 vanish, meaning that the 6/5 minor third is equal to the septimal minor third, or 7/6. It also makes the harmonic seventh 7/4 equal to 9/5.
This means that a no-5 Hendrix chord has pitches 1/1, 5/4, 7/4 and 7/3 (=7/6 one octave above the root) instead of 1/1, 5/4, 9/5 and 12/5. Thus the chord will be tuned as 12:15:21:28 instead of the much more dissonant 20:25:36:48. The former has smaller values meaning that it will have less harmonic entropy than the latter.
The C can also be interpreted as 19/16 (!!!), in which case the chord is 1/1, 5/4, 7/4 and 19/8 and tuned to 8:10:14:19, demonstrating even lower harmonic entroy. In 12-tone equal temperament it is still identical to 12:15:21:28, anyway.
I was also sitting here with my keyboard working out the music math and man does it sound bad when you bring the extra weird note down into the other notes register instead of playing it at a high pitch over the top or in the bass line. Thanks for clarifying that at the 7m mark :)
Long Slow Goodbye by Queens of the Stone Age uses a vocal melody that plays the minor third over a major chord in the verses
Great lesson, and the graphics around 4:45 had me lol'ing
oh how our little major triad has grown up!
When the triad joins the triads!
The tritone (3-b7) is so dissonant that it can easily support b9, #9, b5, #5, #11, 13, b13 … it can handle anything!
I see Signals, I watch immediately!
First time I heard the explanation of #9. Since it's the minor chord and major I've thought that -10 would have been the correct one. Now I know why it's #9.
I don't think you can hold out a major 3rd over a minor chord, but you can use it as a passing tone. I'm a bassist and I wouldn't think twice about using it as a chromatic note in a walking bass line. For example, let's say I'm in A minor and I know the next chord is a D minor. I might go A, B, C, C#, D, landing on the D when the change happened. Because it passes by in a half or a quarter beat, and because there's a logical movement, it sounds fine.
Check out The Magnificent Seven by The Clash, on the live version in From Here to Eternity at around 00:59. One guitar plays major the other minor simultaneously
@@supremelordoftheuniverse5449 but what is the main chord they're playing it over?
@@rome8180 from the context of the song I’m inferring it’s the minor
@@supremelordoftheuniverse5449 yeah, I just listened. Definitely sounds like it "should" be minor but one of the guitars is playing the major. I compared it to the album version and you can't hear the same dissonance, but the guitars are much louder in the live version.
The major third on top of a minor chord creates a flat 9 and that is considered by some to be the most dissonant interval that just sounds bad. Whereas the minor third on top of a major chord creates a major 7 interval. While also quite dissonant, it's much more enjoyable, creating an emotion of longing, or dreamy nostalgia. Throwing in the flat 7 even lessens the dissonance because it mediates between the major and minor third. The major third now forms a tritone with the flat 7. That is pretty dissonant but very common and perfectly resolves to the tonic chord. The minor third on top now forms a perfect fourth with that flat 7 and that is one of the most harmonic intervals.
Removing the fifth from the chord is imo more than just removing some unnecessary note. The fifth forms a flat 6 interval with the added minor third. The flat 6 is not particularly dissonant, but to my ears it has a minor vibe to it that makes the flat7/sharp9 chord more muddy. leave it out and the clash between the major and minor third becomes more prominent.
There’s only song I’m aware of that plays a clashing major third in a minor context, Glory and Gore by Lorde in the third verse / bridge. It sounds amazing, even though it is dissonant. It feels nothing like a regular major third. In a weird way, it feels like an augmented minor third.
Oooh I gotta check this out when I have a minute!