Mark V Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Last night I was sitting on the couch mucking round with my acoustic guitar and I perfected a nice little riff/chord progression I'd been working on.About 3/4 of the way through it goes to a Dmaj7,at which point my wife says,thats nice,is that that America song? I go, wha? who? aw fuck! Just cause I play a scummy maj 7th chord on an acoustic it has to be an America tune.This is not the first time this has happened to me.I asked her if she would have said the same thing if I'd played it on the piano.Probably not she said.Which has inspired me to learn it on the piano which is my main instrument,the part with the major 7ths,there's gonna be some full on heavy guitars,damn it ..I think I still like major 7ths. I once had a quasi-religious experience..then I realised I'd turned up the volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rog Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I love that CMaj7/FMaj7 on the Velvet's [i]Sunday Morning[/i] They're great if used all the time or very sparingly. "That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." - Banky Edwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark V Posted October 31, 2003 Author Share Posted October 31, 2003 quoted by Rog [quote] I love that CMaj7/FMaj7 on the Velvet's Sunday Morning [/quote]I wouldn't mind betting there's quite a few songs that have a Cmaj7/Fmaj7 thing.Just thought of one,Time waits for no one,Rolling Stones.( or maybe its Fmaj7/Cmaj7 ? cant remember) I once had a quasi-religious experience..then I realised I'd turned up the volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 maybe you can revoice it to change its sound a bit - you always leave the major 7th on top - last note to be played ? kylen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeebus Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I've been playing too many major 7ths too lately, and I'm trying to quit. I've also cut out minor 7ths, and I'm down to a pack of 4ths a day. Maybe I'll stop roots too, but one step at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your Ad Here Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Instead of a Cmaj7 (for example), try playing a G chord with a C in the bass. It's a good substitute for the Cmaj7, which can sound pretty hakneyed on the guitar in certain contexts, as you've discovered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Dude, major 7ths are just wrong, unless you're playing jazz. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbrock1san.rr.com Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Mark V: [b]at which point my wife says,thats nice,is that that America song? I go, wha? who? aw fuck! Just cause I play a scummy maj 7th chord on an acoustic it has to be an America tune..[/b][/quote]That happens to me too, I think the song is "Ventura Highway". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffbayson Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Major 7ths? Blech! What a bunch of [b]sissies[/b]! :rolleyes: It's all about flatted fifths these days. Throw in a sharp ninth, and OH MAN, you are rockin. :evil: :evil: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
area51recording Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 My favorite thing is to play a nice Major 7th arpeggio on piano during setup/soundcheck. Never fails that some dimwit in the band will launch into singing "Look at me...." (Misty) in his best Bill Murray voice. Musical morons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rog951 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Lee Flier: [b]Dude, major 7ths are just wrong, unless you're playing jazz. ;) [/b][/quote]What's WRONG with "Ten Years Gone"?!?!? ;) None more black. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Maybe it's time to start experimenting with Maj9 chords instead :D . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedster Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I go through this shit all the time. Not necessarily the Maj7 thing, but just any time I'm playing something, someone just fucking HAS to compare it to something else. Someone in my band is so bad at this I'm almost afraid to start ANYTHING around this person. Trouble is, most times it's not really anything like what they're comparing it to...they just feel this need to compare it to something. As for Maj7ths...I love 'em. But, like anything else, there's a time and place for 'em. "Cisco Kid, was a friend of mine" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roto Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 The endless search for a new chord. Unfortuantely I think they've all been played :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george costanza Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 "Major 7th..."...wasn't that one of the discarded titles for Sgt. Pepper ? I think both Tedster & [quote]Originally posted by Evil D Mon: [b]Maybe it's time to start experimenting with Maj9 chords instead :D .[/b][/quote]are onto something helpful with their comments; I particularly think dressing them a bit with extensions gives them a more picquant character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¾ Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 I'm just down to a fifth a day of scotch that is and anyway, naturally you want to throw some sort of 7th or 9th chord in there if you are passing through some sort of melody thingamajig. Music is sorta like that, ya know? Sometimes even a buncha minor chords need to go into a spasm of 7ths. But the cool, cool, cool trick is to mess a round noodling in 7th chords and then resolve out into something unexpected like a C major chord. Nobody is expecting [i]that[/i] anymore. I guess the idea is just not to fall any traps and chords, like lyrics, can fall back into "cliches" so you can either reject the cliche or use it as a stepping stone to the new, creative, surprise chord change. You do have a choice. Reject convention; or utilize it to move into your own voice. Personally I'm working on some super-secret 13th, 14th and 15th chords. My bass player and I were working on the dreaded 16th chord, but our piano exploded. So don't try it at home. Not without a fire extinguisher near by. And always sand between codas. the only good signature is the one on a cheque or a confession Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salyphus Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Try a 6/9 instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan South Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 A major seventh chord is just a poor, heartbroken minor ninth in search of its long lost root. Unite it with its root note, and life will be beautiful. ;) The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaGe Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by S'allowe'en: [b]Try a 6/9 instead.[/b][/quote]I was gonna say that. Or a Maj9#11 but it may be out of context. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylver Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Yeah, I hate those Major 7ths. I won't paint with green either. Too over used and people start comparing you to Monet. And cooking, don't even get me started on cayene pepper. I mean, do I LOOK like Emeril? :rolleyes: I really don't know what to put here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Sounds more like a Rundgren tune to me... :cool: Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted October 31, 2003 Share Posted October 31, 2003 Anybody think Gary Moore can smoke a guitar ? He uses major7th chords - Parisienne Walkways and Still Got the Blues. See Gary gives it the good old Led Zepp approach - 'first I'll give you something moody or ponderous, then I'll come back and smash you over the head with a sledge hammer full of 1176s' :D kylen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salyphus Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Mark V: [b]Last night I was sitting on the couch mucking round with my acoustic guitar and I perfected a nice little riff/chord progression I'd been working on.About 3/4 of the way through it goes to a Dmaj7,at which point my wife says,thats nice,is that that America song? I go, wha? who? aw fuck! Just cause I play a scummy maj 7th chord on an acoustic it has to be an America tune.This is not the first time this has happened to me.I asked her if she would have said the same thing if I'd played it on the piano.Probably not she said.Which has inspired me to learn it on the piano which is my main instrument,the part with the major 7ths,there's gonna be some full on heavy guitars,damn it ..I think I still like major 7ths.[/b][/quote]Also you might try a different voicing of the chord. You're probably playing in either open position or maybe fifth position...how about a voicing that puts the C# and D right next to each other for added tension: 0 3 6 4 5 x (I also threw a 9th in there on the top string) Depending on the context of the tune you might also try adding an alternate root note, such as the F# on the low E string.... Just some other ideas from someone who has no idea what an [i]America[/i] tune sounds like ;) (though I do love [i]American Tune[/i] by Paul Simon.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Botch. Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 [quote]Originally posted by Rog: [b]I love that CMaj7/FMaj7 on the Velvet's [i]Sunday Morning[/i] [/b][/quote]I think that's the progression on the America tune (can't remember the title): "Flyin' me back to Memphis, gotta see my Daisy Jane..." Major 7th's have a special place in my heart, I saw some dude in a music store when I was very young playing these cool chords, I kinda looked over his shoulder and realized he was just playing major triads with with flatted 1st, damn I thought I was cool when I did that at home... :rolleyes: :D Botch "Eccentric language often is symptomatic of peculiar thinking" - George Will www.puddlestone.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 OK - now ya did it ! Ha Ha :) The first time I heard a maj7 and knew it was Neil Young playing 'Tell Me Why'. kylen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan South Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 A major seventh chord can sound quite spicy, even menacing, when you voice them so that the seventh in the bass. I guarantee that that won't make your girlfriend think of Ventura Highway. The Black Knight always triumphs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salyphus Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 Yeah there's a Jobim tune called Aquas De Marco that starts with that voicing on guitar. Nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YourMotherShouldKnow Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 There's something about "America" (the band!) that I really, really dislike. I used to play a couple of their songs out occaissionally when I did acoustic gigs. Ugh, the regret. There's so non-threatening. They don't make any statements that you can get passionate about one way or the other. I hate their guts. Hahahah. Band on the Run starts with a DMaj7 chord. The middle parts in Pink Floyd's "Time" go from DMaj7 to AMaj7. These don't sound so whimpy and Rog-O is right about Ten Years Gone. Zep didn't play many Maj7's though. I think there might be one in "Down By The Seaside." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Johnny B Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 Major 7ths are in a lot of those sticky sweet ballads. Peter Frampton used them, but he pulled it off and is a smokin player. I kind of like it when I hear horns do major 7th sometimes, but they can't overdo it. I guess it's like anything, too much spice makes it overpowering, but the right amount and it tastes great, if, a little sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WFTurner Posted November 1, 2003 Share Posted November 1, 2003 I like to use maj7ths a lot. A lot of times I use them without the 3rd alot. Gets a maj7th effect but leaves the predictibility to the ear up in the air a bit... offering a mild sense of tension. Sometimes adding the 3rd later in the passage offers such a stunning relief of tension that the ear doesn't pick up so much on the normal poppy straight out much used feeling. William F. Turner Songwriter turnersongs Sometimes the truth is rude... tough shit... get used to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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