Same notes but different chord name/similar sounding chords

[Frankieabbott]

Could someone school me in some chord substitutions (substitute being the word I use as I play a chord and think that it also sounds like another chord).

Like......I know that the A minor 7 chord has the same notes as a C6 chord. But I'm now learning to play dominant 7 flat 9 chords.....and they sound like a diminished chord.

And major 7 chords can sound like a minor chord in another key!

Am I just a late starter to the world of inversions?

[FwL]

If you know how to harmonize the common scales, most of the subs are just two chords over in the scale.

For example

vii for V - Bmin7b5 is G9,

IV for ii - Cmaj7 is Am9,

vi for I - Am7 is C6


Then, you've got the common tritone sub - two dominant chords a b5 apart are versions of each other.

Diminished 7 chords - Repeat themselves every three frets, Lower any note a half step and you get a dominant 7 chord from that lowered half step. By the same rule can function as four different 7b9 chords.


Once you get into triads over bass notes, you get a ton more. A very common one is G/A which can function as Gadd9, G9, A11, Amin11, A9sus etc

Quartal harmony blows the doors wide open.

.

[Frankieabbott]

Originally Posted by FwL

If you know how to harmonize the common scales, most of the subs are just two chords over in the scale.

For example

vii for V - Bmin7b5 is G9,

IV for ii - Cmaj7 is Am9,

vi for I - Am7 is C6


Then, you've got the common tritone sub - two dominant chords a b5 apart are versions of each other.

Diminished 7 chords - Repeat themselves every three frets, Lower any note a half step and you get a dominant 7 chord from that lowered half step. By the same rule can function as four different 7b9 chords.


Once you get into triads over bass notes, you get a ton more. A very common one is G/A which can function as Gadd9, G9, A11, Amin11, A9sus etc

Quartal harmony blows the doors wide open.

.

Thanks for posting this information.....It just might open the mystery of theory and harmony....but the biggie for me will be that I will be able to play a shed load more chords all over the fretboard.

[mr. beaumont]

Right, context is everything. Without any context, generally most people's ears hear the lowest note as the root.

You're spot on about 7b9 chords sounding diminished as well...

Your time would be best spent first getting to really understand how chords are built, knowing formulas based on the major scale...

[Frankieabbott]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Right, context is everything. Without any context, generally most people's ears hear the lowest note as the root.

You're spot on about 7b9 chords sounding diminished as well...

Your time would be best spent first getting to really understand how chords are built, knowing formulas based on the major scale...

Yes......I think that I'm transitioning from just playing chords from chord diagram books by rote to actually thinking about how chords are constructed and where these chord notes are on the fretboard. I've even ventured into shell voicings. I'm enjoying picking up my guitar again.

[mattbn73]

Yeah. Learn how to build basic chords for sure.

As you have discovered, 6th chords are inversions of something else. Once you know the basics of chord construction, practice taking different sixth chords and putting the 6 in the bass. It will yield a diatonic 7th chord of some type which you may already know.

Am7 = C6
F#m7b5 = Am6

Etc
[emoji7]

[ljguitar]

Hi all…

Yes the notes may be the same, but the bass-root note changes the color of the chord. If you play a C chord with the notes C-E-G, and then play Am7 with only the notes C-E-G sounding - it's still going to sound like a C chord unless it has some other context given to it.

There are times I'll play a three note inversion of the G chord (D-G-B) while the band or someone else is playing Em (forming an Em7), but I do so knowingly.

Chord theory is a good thing to know to enhance our playing and the sound/mood/feel/style of the music.

[rick-slo]

Inversions of a chord are not chord substitutions. Many detailed (pages long) articles about chord substitutions are readily and freely available on the internet.

[Frankieabbott]

Thanks for all of your replies folks. The quote below kinda sums me up.




The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
― Socrates