Hi guitar players, in this video I'll
show you 5 of my favorite E7-voicings
on the guitar and I'll also tell you
when I use them and give you some
examples that you can use in your rhythm
playing, so, as always, the goal here is to
give you some inspiration. Leave me a
comment if you liked the video or tell
me which one of these voicings you liked
the most!
This E7-voicing has the same
shape as an open C7 chord but moved up
the neck. On the diagram, you can see
where to place the fingers of your
fretting hand.
The root is on the seventh fret of the
A-string; the major third on the sixth
fret of the D-string; the flat seven is
on the seventh fret of the G-string and
I play another root on the fifth fret of
the B-string.
So the perfect fifth of the chord (B)
is left out but as a general
rule you can leave out this chord tone
without really changing the quality or
function of the chord.
I use this shape mostly for picking
individual notes because I like how the
flat seven rings out against the root.
The distance between those two notes is
a major second interval and I like the
soft dissonance that this creates.
also this is a great voicing for
remembering the E7-arpeggio in this
position.
This next voicing is very similar to the
previous one, the difference being that
the root that was played on the A-
string is left out and a perfect fifth
is now added on the high E string.
You may have noticed that that same
major second interval is present in this
chord so again, I like to use it for
playing picking patterns and letting the
strings ring out so you get that soft
dissonance. I especially like this chord
voicing playing alternated with an A
minor voicing.
 
 
Now we're getting a little bit more
creative, because I want to show you how
I add 'tensions' to a dominant seventh
chord. One of the great qualities of a
dominant seventh chord is that you can
add tensions to it and tensions are
notes that are not chord tones, so up
until now, I showed you 2 voicings that
had the Root (R), major third (M3) perfect
fifth (P5), flat seven (b7), your basic chord tones,
but now we're going to add a ninth (9), and a little bit later I will show you how to
add a thirteenth (13) to a chord. Tensions
don't change the chord function but they
add color to the chord for example the
ninth of the scale will add a certain
jazzy flavor to dominant seventh chord.
An E dominant seventh chord with an
added 9 is simply referred to
as an E9 chord.
I like this voicing a lot in jazz but
also in blues. It's great for rhythm
comping a swing or a shuffle and also
you can slide this entire voicing a
semitone up or down. Now while we're
talking about tensions, let me share with
you a quick way to alter the tensions in
this chord voicing. For example, the ninth
in this E9 chord can be altered and that
means it can be moved as semitone up or a semitone down.
 
If I move the ninth in this chord
voicing by a semitone for example a
semitone up -  and it's actually really
easy to do in this voicing because I
only have to move my pinky one fret up - 
then I end up with an E7#9 chord
and that's a long name for
a chord but this chord is actually
widely known as the 'Jimi'-chord because
it was one of Jimi Hendrix's favorite
chord voicings. You hear it in Purple
Haze for example.
If I move the ninth a semitone down, then 
I get an E7b9
and this is a very dark
sounding chord that I don't use that
much but it works great before an Am-chord.
Still, in that seventh position, I can add
the fifth on top again just like we did
in the second voicing. Now this is still
an E9-chord, but the top voice has
changed, so that's why I consider this to
be a different voicing. Also, to my ears,
it has a darker color than the previous
voicing + the fingering is different,
so watch how I use my ring finger to bar
the three highest strings on the seventh
fret
This voicing to me 'breathes' funk; it's one
of my favorite voicings for playing funk
guitar. Now it may be a bit of a stretch
but with your pinky if you can reach the
ninth fret on the high E string there
you have the 13th this is a sound that
you may recognize from James Brown songs
Finally, the voicing that I like the most
for E7 or actually, I should say E9 is
this one in 12th position and it is a
voicing that I found when I studied
Robben Ford's playing and it really is a
peculiar way of voicing the E9 chord
because the 9 is somewhat buried into
the chord. Some of you may consider
this to be a sus 2 chord more than it is
in E9 chord; also there's no perfect
fifth in this voicing and the lowest
note is the D is the flat 7 that is played
on the D string
I like how it sounds it has, again, that
major second interval into it and it
gives it a very specific sound it's a
very clear sounding voicing, almost
glassy. There are a few fun extras in this
chord voicing that I would like to show
you as well. Now if you move your ring
finger one fret upwards your ring finger
normally plays the major third in this
voicing but when you move it up you play
the fourth of the scale so you could
consider it to be an E9sus4 now
still focused on that B string if we
change that tenth fret to the twelfth fret
and we play the fifth of the
scale that's a chord tone that's the
perfect fifth or the B of the E7-chord.
So we're back to the E9, now we can
slide this voicing just like we did with
the third voicing now what's even better
is that the chord shape or outline on
the guitar neck is the same as that third
voicing and while the chord tones are in
different places the visual outline the
structure of the chord on the guitar
neck is the same for these two E9-
voicings. Now this is one of the things I
find truly fascinating about the guitar
is that so much of it is visual. There
are shapes and patterns on the guitar
neck that you can learn that will make
it easier for you to remember for
example chord voices or a scale. Also,
often times these shapes return in other
places, so when you learn one shape or
one pattern you can use it in different
situations. That's also the reason why I
animated this video because I really
wanted to get that point across and I
hope that my animations will help you
remember my 5 favorite chord voicings.
In the next video, I will show you
how I use these different voicings on a
backing track that has only 1 chord... an
E7 obviously :-)
