My 3 essential chord pattern exercises

[AllanAllen]

I'd play Bm7 - Bbo - Am7 - Ab7b5 - G6. Does that make sense?

This Ab7b5.

Anyway, I said I dropped the 5th from the chords. The grip 4x44xx can be Abm7 and an Abm7b5, and right or wrong, I think of this grip as "m7 no 5th". I probably got too fast and loose with my terminology.

[pauln]

This Ab7b5.

Anyway, I said I dropped the 5th from the chords. The grip 4x44xx can be Abm7 and an Abm7b5, and right or wrong, I think of this grip as "m7 no 5th". I probably got too fast and loose with my terminology.

Double A's way is nice... the F# and B of the Abm7 are the major 7 and 3 of Gmaj.
I am much more likely to play the "m7 no 5th" all the way to the major target now days (ever since I heard Wes sound like he was doing it at the end of the A sections of End of a Love Affair (in G maj). To my ear it has just the right balance of authentic, cool, and modern without standing out.

I used to use the "voicey/changy" chromatic descending chords (and generally still do for soloing ideas in many tunes):

Bm7
Bbdim or Bbdimb6 (6x567x)
Am7 or Am11 (5x553x)
Abm7b5 or Abmaj#11 (4x553x) or Abmaj6 (4x35xx)
G69 or Gmaj7