Hi. It’s the second to last day of the 7 Chords in 7 Days course. I hope you’re having fun learning (or re-learning) these chords.
Today’s chord is a different way to plat a minor 7 chord.
The two ways you’re probably used to playing this chord will be using the basic Em7 open chord shape and the Am7 open chord shapes. You can barre these chords and move them up the fretboard.
Here’s another way.
This chord is loosely based around the Am7 open chord which, if you move it up to the 7th fret, becomes an Em7.
This different shape takes the root on the A string at the 7th fret. You can also play the bottom E string to thicken up the bass. If you do this you’re playing a lower E on the 6th string and then another E an octave higher on the A string at the 7th fret.
Your first finger frets the G note on the 5th fret of the D string. This note is the minor third. Your third finger plays a D note at the 7th fret (the 7th) and your fourth finger plays another G note, this time on the 2nd string, 8th fret. You can also play the top E string open to add the E tone to the chord.
Where this chord is different is that there’s no 5th in the chord. You’ve got the 1st, minor 3rd and the 7th. The missing 5th makes this chord sound different to the standard minor 7th chords.
Using This Chord
Like all the other chords I’ve taught you, this one can easily be moved up or down the neck – just don’t play the open strings.
I love the tone this gives me when I’m playing songs on the acoustic in the keys of D or E. In those keys I frequently need to use a Bm or C#m and until I learnt this chord, the only way I knew to play those chords was as a straight barre chord. This would sound a bit odd when the rest of the song used open chords. This chord is a good substitution to use. Have a look at the video to see what I mean.
Hope you enjoy this. See you tomorrow for the last lesson.