Chord name ?

Found this chord shape when searching for Erroll Garner's Misty ,
not sure of the name but it sound lovely between Dm7 and CM7

Technically, it's a G13b9 (the highest note is a 6th = 13th; a proper G7b9 would be 4545). Yes, it works beautifully, but it's slightly mislabeled (except as a more colored substitution).

In general, when you need a 7b9 chord, you can use the dim7 shape positioned so one of the played notes is a fret higher than the root note. So 4545 plays a 7b9 for any of the roots on 3434 (Bb, E, G or C#). If you need a D7b9, a D is on the 3rd string at the 2nd fret, so you could use 2323.

Wait, so the notes are B F Ab E. I guess you could call it a rootless G13b9 like ubulele says.GuitarToolkit has some creative names. The best is probably "Fdim add7" especially on reentrant. It definitely has more of a diminished sound than 6th or 13th to me. This is one of those "name by context" chords.

In the context, the root of G makes the most sense, since it fits a basic fifths progression, and extended chords are frequently rootless. Play the progression with a rootless G7b9 (4545) interpolated in front of the mystery chord, and it's "meaning" becomes more apparent, even though, in isolation, we're inclined to hear the lowest pitch as the most likely root. Come to that, any pitch set (including a basic chord) is a "name by context" chord.

I find their Fdim(add7) name debatable for validity, but that's a separate issue. For that chord interpretation, I'd use the name FmM7b5, explicitly clear, or the possibly misinterpreted FdimM7 (both diminished and major sevenths?)

Thanks for the help all i know is it sounds nice and it's one more chord in my arsenal . + it's easy to play not like some chords i won't mention.

And it's moveble too!

I don't find it very efficient to learn only one chord (special case); I like to learn whole sets of chords by shapes, especially in relation to the four main movable dominant 7th shapes (and thus each possible root string and position on the fretboard). It's magnitudes easier to learn how to derive any chord shape you need, or to learn four workhorse shapes for each common chord type, than to learn thousands of individual chords by explicit name! (And what if you change tuning?)

The starting point is to learn the four dom7 shapes (they correlate to G7, C7, E7 and A7) and which string plays which component of these shapes. (That's quickly mastered with just two observations.) Then you just have to learn to translate chord names according to how they alter certain components. For instance, for a 9th chord, move the root up two frets. For a 7sus (7sus4) chord, move the 3rd up one fret. For a 13b9, move the root up one fret (becoming b9) and the 5th up two frets (becoming a 6th = 13th). With that one bit of insight, you could play all twelve 13b9 chords with only four shapes, and anywhere on the fretboard--much better than learning a single G13b9. You could also derive possible alternatives: instead of moving the 5th, move the 7th down two frets. Chords with gnarly names will quickly be stripped of their intimidation, and soon you'll be amazing your friends and farm animals!

ubulele said:

Chords with gnarly names will quickly be stripped of their intimidation, and soon you'll be amazing your friends and farm animals!

Click to expand...

POTD nominee right there folks. :shaka:

The sequence Dm7-G13b9-CM7 is a variation of the commonly used ii-V-I progression. You could spice it up a bit more by adding a regular G13 before the G13b9.

5555 4557 4547 5777 (or 0002)

The G13b9 in this context could also be interpreted as a Db7#9 acting as a tritone substitution.