Mickey Baker's impossible chord

[Rob MacKillop]

I'm happy my videos have helped some people, despite me talking too much on that first one! There's far less chat on the others.

I really like that movement from D13b5b9 to GMaj7, and have used it a lot in other keys when accompanying a singer. Work at it slowly, stopping when it feels too much, and eventually your hand will open up. It also helps to have a fairly low action.

[Peter C]

Work at it slowly, stopping when it feels too much, and eventually your hand will open up. It also helps to have a fairly low action.

I think this is good advice. Don't overdo it at the beginning.

[Peter C]

In Barney Kessel's above rendering of The shadow of your smile, the voicing of the chord as mentioned fits in nicely, I think, with a prominent 3rd. It could also be played:
6-3
5-5
4-5
3-7
2-7
1-7
I use a Fmaj7 in this shape for a piece I play because it flows well into a 1st position Em7. I've been playing for many years and have not really considered the stretch, but I'm sure it would be very uncomfortable without due practice.

I think it's a good idea to practice all aspects of playing: arpeggios will also teach you to stretch more, and just plain playing tunes.

[Desm0nd]

I have small hands and I can do this chord quite easily now. But, it sure was hard work. Start farther up the neck and then work down from there. Its a beautiful chord and well worth the effort.

[Jabberwocky]

I have small hands and I can do this chord quite easily now. But, it sure was hard work. Start farther up the neck and then work down from there. Its a beautiful chord and well worth the effort.

A short scale length guitar makes it slightly easier. Barney Kessel played it on a 25.5" scale length ES-350. RESPECT. I have small hands and can just about grip it on an ES-335/ES-175.

[Dave70]

There's a solo guitar composition by the Brazillian guitarist Garoto, "Sinal dos Tempos" that uses the same voicing for an Emaj7th: 02x144.

The sequence in the piece is pretty nice: 24x254, 13x233, 02x144.

[jzucker]

It's an extremely common chord and one that pretty much every jazz guitarist uses. I use it all the time and have very small hands and play a 25.5" scale guitar with medium flats and medium action.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I'm not a big fan of that voicing because of the sound of the doubled third. I think I'd like a lydian version better:

GMaj7#11: 35x677

[mr. beaumont]

I learned it from George Harrison...

It's the last chord in his solo on "Till there was you."

[jzucker]

whether you're a fan or not, it was used a extensively by many guitarists such as Joe Pass, Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel, Van Eps, Bucky Pizzerelli, etc. It's part of the standard lexicon and pedagogy of jazz guitar and not an impossible chord at all.

[matt.guitarteacher]

I happened upon a beginner book a few years ago that taught a basic stretching exercise, basically multiple fingers of the right hand between each pair of right hand finger. It had never actually occurred to me but is surprisingly effective. I saw in a Keith Jarrett documentary that he said he did basically the same when he was young . Apparently has tiny hands , but an impressive reach.

[matt.guitarteacher]

It's an extremely common chord and one that pretty much every jazz guitarist uses. I use it all the time and have very small hands and play a 25.5" scale guitar with medium flats and medium action.

Hey, Jack. I've been working on stretch fingerings a good bit in recent months and discussing here. There seems to be a lot of push back re the "danger" of them and that the greats mostly didn't use them. I have pretty small hands as well, but find the organization using this kind of fingering very mentally freeing.

I was wondering if you might share how you address some of those concerns and think about them and what/who shaped that for you. I understand you studied with some greats yourself and would appreciate your perspective.

Thanks always. Much respect.

[pingu]

I happened upon a beginner book a few years ago that taught a basic stretching exercise, basically multiple fingers of the right hand between each pair of right hand finger. It had never actually occurred to me but is surprisingly effective. I saw in a Keith Jarrett documentary that he said he did basically the same when he was young . Apparently has tiny hands , but an impressive reach.

can you describe the exercise a bit more please ?

[matt.guitarteacher]

can you describe the exercise a bit more please ?

It's just a stretch. Like you'd do running or whatever. I added the word "exercise" because stretch has a kind of different context in this conversation. Sorry for the confusion.

Something like this:


Kind of gets things loose so that you're not using as much LH muscle to actively SPREAD fingers apart as you play. That's the part that always feels bad to me. Very helpful with younger students and finger spacing.

[joe2758]

I think the best way to get it down is to master the dominant shape that is similar and resolve down to the maj 7 while leaving your pinky down; it's like the perfect exercise to get the chord under your fingers. Don't get hung up on it too much, but I wouldn't throw it out the window either.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

D dominant chord leading to the G impossible chord.

D Altered to G Impossible

[snoskier63]

I think the best way to get it down is to master the dominant shape that is similar and resolve down to the maj 7 while leaving your pinky down; it's like the perfect exercise to get the chord under your fingers. Don't get hung up on it too much, but I wouldn't throw it out the window either.

That was my suggestion, and it worked very well for me. And as someone else suggested, start in the upper frets then work your way down.

[SOLR]

Ah.. the "Soul Man" chord from the 70s.....

Sam and Dave.

S

[princeplanet]

[QUOTE=DavidA23;613979]Hi
...f them to be either a misprint or just plain impossible for my normal size hands. It goes like this:
Chord 7. Gma7: G - D - X - B - F# - B That's a five fret stretch!.../QUOTE]

Isn't it only 4 frets? Happily my fingers cover it easily enough, but there's much harder chords than that around! At any rate, as has been said, who needs 'em? I'm sure you can get by at even Pro level if all your grips for everything were within 3 frets.

[DMgolf66]

I think this is the chord you guys are speaking about. Kenny Burrell uses it a ton and slides it down a few times as he strums it. Ugh, I can't do that. This is the 1st song on the great Subway concert on YouTube. This is a closeup at the 1:35 mark.

[DMgolf66]

[SOLR]

I think this is the chord you guys are speaking about. Kenny Burrell uses it a ton and slides it down a few times as he strums it. Ugh, I can't do that. This is the 1st song on the great Subway concert on YouTube. This is a closeup at the 1:35 mark.

really not a difficult chord, and a useful chord at that.....I'm 5'8" with arthritic fingers and normal size hands and I use it quite a bit, the only one that really stretches is on the first fret ....F# and up is fine.....there are way more difficult ones like this Gilad's stretch Grasso also uses some really difficult ones but they do have long fingers.....

Love the KB post....

S

[StringNavigator]

For my fellow string navigators with normal fingers like mine, this grip is well within your grasp...
You should hear instant improvement if you follow this through, but it will still take practice. However, you won't get carpal-tunnel if you "Goose-Neck"! In fact, the Goose-Neck should be applied to most chords. The alignment of the wrist and hand is as important as the fingers. I learned this by using a small mirror to see what was going on that prevented me from playing this chord. All my Jazz chords sound more clear now.
Even the m7-5: 1 x 7b 3b 5b.
Even the M6: x 1 3 6 3 x.
Even the m6: x 1 5 6 3b x.
Even the M6: x 1 3 6 1 x and 5 x 3 6 1 x

(The numbers represent the scale degrees or intervals, but with respect to the chord root.)

M7: 15x373

7
5
3
1

It's a Drop 2-4 chord.

7
3
5
1

Drop 2-4 voicings always leave the D string out.
When you try to play 1537, the D string has nothing to offer and so you must play the 3 as a 10 on the G string.

Many try to play this chord as a barre chord and fail. The only requirement for the index is to stop the 1.
The index finger is actually arched away from the strings so that it's tip comes down fairly vertical rather than used as a barre.

The ring stops 5 and mutes x, the D string.

The middle finger stops 3 on the G string.

Then the little finger barres 7 on the B string and the high 3 on the E string.

When fingering this chord, a slight roll of the hand works well as you apply 1 5 3 7 3 in order. But not to be too obvious with that.

The trick is to use the fingertips only. Do not use the fleshy fingerprint area on the strings with fingers 1,2,3. Only the little finger barres, somewhat on it's side.

The trick of this chord is to remember to "Goose-Neck" the entire hand so that the fingers are coming straight down, almost perpendicular to the fingerboard. Also, the wrist is twisted so that the hand favours the little finger over the others.

The palm of the hand may contact the E and B strings below the little finger barre, so use that to your advantage.

This would be a good time to review how you align your guitar. How much does the fingerboard tilt towards you? Think of Freddie Green. How much does your headstock point towards the ceiling? Think of Andres Segovia. I found difficult chords easier when I started combining the guitar orientations of these two greats. I also stopped resting the lower bout on my right leg as I raised the angle made by the neck to the floor. My Wes Montgomery style shoulder-strap is running under the trapeze and causing the fingerboard to lift and tilt towards me. I've never been more comfortable with my guitar (a very affordable but great sounding and playing Epiphone Joe Pass, 2013 Indonesia).

These two chords create a grand finale for most tunes. I call it the "Bye-Bye" change:
D13-5-9: 5b 9b x 7b 3 13 (rootless)
GM7: 1 5 x 3 7 3

Played D13-5-9 to GM7.

They're magical in that they are fingered similarly, yet you get a V7-I cadence.

I guess you can also view this D13-5-9 as a Tritone Sub of Ab7+9: 1 5 x 3 7b 9#
So: Ab7+9 to GM7

Either way there is a very 1950's Jazz sounding chromatic resolution (while the little finger holds down the two common tones).

In his way, Mickey Baker provided a handy Jazz outro that lends insight into rootless voicings and Tritone Substitution. They are side by side in Lesson 1. Each lesson is dense with meaning.

[AllanAllen]

Each lesson is dense with meaning.

This is worth repeating.

[Bob65C]

I can easily play the chord referenced here but there are plenty l can't. Usually anything with a whole tone stretch between fingers 2 and 3.