Alter progression

[gibson69]

Hi, I have a really easy chord progression I'm playing. It goes F7 for a measure then Bb7 for a measure. Occasionally it will go F7 then Bb7 and C7 in the same measure, followed by F7. How can I spice this up or make it more interesting

[brwnhornet59]

You can alter any dom chord easily. Throw in #9 or b9, #4,(b5), or #5, (b13).

You can also just add the 9 and or the 13 either way you like.

You can use combinations as well, #9/13 or 9,b13 or b5 etc...

you can also use tritone subs or borrowed dom from the rel minor etc...

[gibson69]

Ok, and is this an acceptable finger, just for the straight dom chords. Sorry if I ask dumb questions I'm fairly new at guitar(1 year) and jazz guitar(2 months)
F7 Bb7
X X
6 9
5 7
7 8
6 8
X X

[JonnyPac]

I'd suggest learning as much about intervals as possible and then building interesting voicings for the basic chords you posted. Exploring altered dominants should come a bit after that. Look up a collection of "jazz voicings" to get started- alter from there. Good luck.

[brwnhornet59]

Originally Posted by gibson69

Ok, and is this an acceptable finger, just for the straight dom chords. Sorry if I ask dumb questions I'm fairly new at guitar(1 year) and jazz guitar(2 months)
F7 Bb7
X X
6 9
5 7
7 8
6 8
X X

Yes, they are acceptable voicings. Where did you learn these drop 2 chords?

I did not realize that you were totally just beginning. Do like Jonny said, learn intervallic relationships while you are studying. It will help you greatly.

Go to the link in my signature. Matt Warnock's site is full of chords, scales, how to build them etc...also he has tons of lessons if you interested. They are free.

x x These are dom 9 chords built off of the chords you gave.
8 9
5 7
7 10
6 8
x x

[gibson69]

I know about some stuff but i've got holes in my learning, well i have areas where it just doesnt come has quickly. But I know how to make drop 2 chords haha

[gibson69]

Also, so its just a rotating F7 Bb7, would I just throw in a 9 chord here and there or should I add them in a specific order?

[brwnhornet59]

What you need to do in that particular aspect is experiment. Since everything is dom you can go as crazy as you like. The key is to listen to what you like and try it all. Dom 7 chords are vanilla, make everything altered, then add or subtract from there.

Keep everything dom9 for now and try adding different alt notes to each chord, find what you like and what works for you. This becomes a vast landscape when looking at the theory behind it. Different alt notes imply different tonal situations.

Play a jazz blues in F. You will find that when the Bb comes into play that you can add the b9 on beats 3 and 4, creating a dim sound. You can also substitute the lydian chord Ab M7 #11.

1, 3, #4, 7

If you look at the notes you will see that AbM7 #11,is a rootless Bb13. b7, 3, 13, 9

You can do the same with the others as well. This should give you a few things to mess around with.

[AmundLauritzen]

You can get a long way with just extensions. Dom9ths, like brwnhornet59 suggested sound great. Generally, you'd want to be careful with vanilla dominant 7ths as they can sound very "country western"-like. Raising the root to get the 9th eliminates this wonky intervallic structure. This is a good way to get more out of what you know. Take every dom7th voicing you know and raise the root a whole step and voila: now you have dom9ths without having to learn the voicings from scratch.
dom13ths sound good too. To get these, raise the fifth of your vanilla dom7th's a whole step. For b13th's(or #5's) raise it a half step.

My suggestion is to get the unaltered sounds in your ear first. Then play your dom9th chords, and raise or lower the 9th a half step to get #9 or b9. This is good ear training when you compare the sound to what you know. only one note changes and this is easier to get into your ear than some full blown altered voicing, in my opinion. Then take vanilla dom7th voicings and raise or lower the 5th a half step to get your b5 and #5's.

You will notice something interesting with dom7thb5's and dom7thb9's. They are symmetrical up the fretboard. There is only one voicing, but the order of the notes changes. Seeing the symmetry of dom7thb5's is a good eye opener for understanding tritone subtitutions, and you will discover that for example F7b5 and B7b5 have the same notes just in different order.

Go crazy with it