Buddy McCue
Well-known member
Okay, this is a little strange...
When I was learning the chord shapes for the dominant seventh, I tried associating the different inversions to the different elements.
I wanted to remember each of them from the top string down.
* Air has the Seventh of the chord on top, because the seventh is the highest part of the chord.
* Water has the Root of the chord on top, because water is the root of all life.
* Fire has the Third of the chord on top, because the third is an active interval, and activity is represented by fire.
* Earth is stable, so it is associated with the Fifth of the chord, the most stable interval. Also, the fingering for this chord is kind of blocky and four-square, which reminds me of rocks.
The drawing shows the D7 going up the fretboard (GCEA tuning,) but the mnemonic works for any key of course. I don't know if this would help anyone else memorize these things, because everyone's brain works differently, but I thought this was an interesting enough idea to share.
When I was learning the chord shapes for the dominant seventh, I tried associating the different inversions to the different elements.
I wanted to remember each of them from the top string down.
* Air has the Seventh of the chord on top, because the seventh is the highest part of the chord.
* Water has the Root of the chord on top, because water is the root of all life.
* Fire has the Third of the chord on top, because the third is an active interval, and activity is represented by fire.
* Earth is stable, so it is associated with the Fifth of the chord, the most stable interval. Also, the fingering for this chord is kind of blocky and four-square, which reminds me of rocks.
The drawing shows the D7 going up the fretboard (GCEA tuning,) but the mnemonic works for any key of course. I don't know if this would help anyone else memorize these things, because everyone's brain works differently, but I thought this was an interesting enough idea to share.
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