Minor 7th Chord Shape

This week's Guitar Chord Of The Week is a minor 7th shape that is often used by jazz guitarists. It's a useful chord shape to know for many other music styles, too. Once you have learned it, try using it in the example jazz chord progression at the end of the article...

Guitar Chord Of The Week - Minor 7th Chord Shape

Minor 7th Chords have a slightly different sound than standard minor chords. The additional seventh note gives them a bluesy / jazzy feel and they are often used in these styles of music. This week's Guitar Chord Of The Week is a favorite among jazz guitarists, and is often used for the 'ii' chord in 'ii V I' progressions (learn about ii V I progressions here).

Minor 7th Chord Construction

Minor 7th chords are simply minor triads with an additional minor seventh note added to them. To construct a Cm7 chord, take a standard Cm triad (notes C, E flat and G), and add the minor 7th note (B flat). Therefore, the notes in a Cm7 chord are: C, E flat, G and B flat. The notation below shows this clearly:

Don't worry if all this talk of 'intervals' and 'triads' doesn't make much sense! It's actually quite straightforward, and we've compiled a series of articles to help guitarists get to grips with chord theory. You can see the first article, in which we explain the basics, here.

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Minor 7th Chord Example Jazz Progression

Below is a cool, jazzy chord progression that uses this week's minor 7th shape along with some other nice jazz chords. Once you've got the chords worked out, try playing the progression at a medium tempo.

Jazz guitarists don't often strum chords like folk / indie guitarists. Instead, they like to use chords quite sparingly, as a means of supplying a harmonic accompaniment for the soloist. Experiment playing the sequence below in a jazz style.