3rds & Thirds ... an exploration to enjoy

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Previously this was suggestive of either a G Major or an E minor chord.

We can now add to that. When played over a C# diminished chord, this 3rd will add the quality of C# m7b5 to the sound.

C# m7b5 chord = C#  -  E  -  G  -  B

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Previously this was suggestive of either an A Major or a C# diminished chord.

We can now add to that. When played over a D Major chord, this 3rd will add the quality of D Major 7 to the sound.

D Major 7 chord = D  -  F#  -  A  -  C#

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Previously this was suggestive of either a G Major or a B minor chord.

We can now add to that. When played over an E minor chord, this 3rd will add the quality of E minor 7 to the sound.

E minor 7 chord = E  -  G  -  B  -  D

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Previously this was suggestive of either an A Major or a C# diminished chord.

We can now add to that. When played over an F# minor chord, this 3rd will add the quality of F# minor 7 to the sound.

F# minor 7 chord = F#  -  A  -  C# - E

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Now that we have seen all chords extended with sevenths, we can take stock and label one final time the TAB diagrams with their partial chords or suggestive sounds.

         C#dim     D     Em      F#m      G      A      Bm     C#dim     D      

           A      Bm    C#dim     D      Em     F#dim    G      A       Bm      

          F#m7   Gmaj7   A7      Bm7   C#m7b5   Dmaj7   Em7    F#m7    Gmaj7     

             G       A     Bm    C#dim     D      Em    F#m      G      A

            Em      F#m     G      A      Bm     C#dim   D      Em     F#m 

           C#m7b5  Dmaj7    Em7   F#m7   Gmaj7   A7     Bm7   C#m7b5   Dmaj7

   

            Em       F#m        G        A         Bm      C#dim      D

           C#dim      D        Em        F#m        G        A        Bm      

            A7        Bm     C#m7b5     Dmaj7      Em7     F#m7      Gmaj7   

You may wish to cross reference those TABs with the chord formulae together.

1] D Major 7 = D  -  F#  -  A – C#
2] Em7 = E  -  G  -  B  -  D
3] F#m7 = F#  -  A  -  C#  -  E
4] G Major 7 = G  -  B  -  D  –  F#
5] A7 = A  -  C#  -  E  -  G
6] Bm7 = B  -  D  -  F#  -  A
7] C# m7b5 = C#  -  E  -  G  -  B

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Back to the fun

Warning – Fun Alert – Cool Stuff Dead Ahead

We started off in this whole exploration of 3rds with the notion of having fun, playing, bringing along a 'joie de vivre' to using 3rds and in turn getting the shapes under our fingers.
There followed a deep dive in to some theoretical underpinnings.

Now is time to get back to fun fun fun.
 

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Playing these 3rds solo

If you have not yet, go back to the first page and begin finding the shapes of these 3rds on your fretboard.
Find your fingering.
Most people use fingers 1, 2 & 3 only.

Play them in succession, as double stops, arpeggiated, slide them around, learn them as pairs on one set of strings first before learning on other sets of strings.

Have fun.

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Playing over a D Major backing track

I posted a couple of backing tracks in post #11.

Try playing some 3rds over them, or other D Major backing tracks.
See if you can make your guitar play sound great over the top.
As embellishment work.
As melodic ideas or harmonies, sliding notes up and down in arpeggiated or double stop style.
You don't need to overplay, just make it fit and sound good.

Have fun.
 

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Playing over a B minor blues

CT wanted to be able to use 3rds in a 'bloozy' way and found these D Major 3rds very bright and happy and melodic.
They are.
If playing solo or over a D Major backing.

So for bloozy, try something totally different instead.

Play over a B minor blues backing track. I posted one of these in post #49.

This will work a treat if you mix these D Major 3rds with some B minor pentatonic licks and riffs.

(Something to do with relative minor - but hey - don't even think about it ... just know that it works.)

D Major 3rds and B minor blues - go dig it.
Yeah!

Have fun.
 

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Playing over a minor song

You may want to play a minor moment ... something smooth, soulful and seductive ... something mellow, meaningful and moody ... something honest, heartfelt and heavenly ...

Try playing these 3rds, along with either the B minor pentatonic scale - or even the B Aeolian (B natural minor) scale over a backing such as these:







Feel it, be it, mean it.

Have fun.

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Playing over an E dorian vamp

Yes, it's true.

You can take these D Major 3rds, play them mixed in with a little E minor pentatonic and have some mega dorian fun.

(You can of course use the E blues scale, or, if you know it, E Dorian scale.)

Freaking fast funky E Dorian fun:



Groovy vamp with a light reggae bounce:



Chill with this mellow pill:




Have fun.

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Inspired by my own good self, I have created a few backing tracks with guitar and Digitech Trio+ ... and I have just created a new Guitar Challenge here containing these tracks to practice using these 3rds along with various scales for different moods, sounds and styles as described in the several posts above.

Have fun.