When building a 4 part chord the most important notes of that chord would be the 3rds and 7ths of chords tone. These two notes determine whether or not the chord will be a major, minor, or dominant. The root and fifth of the chord will not do that. In this video I will be basing the chord structure on a 12 bar jazz blues in the key of A.


When I say targeting the 3rds and 7ths of chords I mean highlighting or intentionally landing on these 2 notes as each chord changes. It is a great practice for learning small voicing’s of chords as well as a great tool for improvising. I will supply grids below showing you where I played these notes on the video, but remember there are many places on the guitar where you can locate the 3rds and 7ths of chords. Look for patterns that will surely arise when searching these notes out. As always keep strumming.


Chords for 12 bar blues

A7    -    D7      -    A7           -    Em7     A7

D7    -    D#07    -    A7           -    F#7

Bm7   -    E7      -    A7     F#7   -    B7      E7