DangerPete
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- Oct 21, 2020
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I have a tenor ukulele in high-G tuning. When strumming along and a C chord is called for, I sometimes play C6 (all 4 open strings) instead to add a bit of colour. It seems to work well except in two cases:
1. A cadence to a tonic C chord (I don't play any jazz or blues where cadences to extended chords are common).
2. If C is a dominant chord, then there's sometimes a Bb melody note that clashes with the A in C6.
I also often play Em7 when Em is called for. It not only adds colour but is also normally a bit quicker for beginners like me to change to, depending on the previous chord. It also seems to work well, again with the exception of a cadence to a tonic Em chord.
C6 contains the same notes as Am7, and Em7 contains the same notes as G6, so you might think that playing Am7 and G6 when Am and G are called for, respectively, would work just as well. However, at least to my ears, they always sound wrong -- Am7 always sounds more like a type of C chord, and G6 always sounds more like a type of Em chord. I suspect that this is down to the voicing -- in high-G tuning, the C note is lower than the A note while the E note is lower than the G note.
So after all that, I'm finally getting to my question: Do other people perceive major 6th and minor 7th chords the same way, or is it just me? If it's not just me, is it the other way round for low-G players? In low-G tuning (and cuatro tuning), the A and G notes would both be in the bass, so would these two chords sound more like Am7 and G6 than C6 and Em7?
1. A cadence to a tonic C chord (I don't play any jazz or blues where cadences to extended chords are common).
2. If C is a dominant chord, then there's sometimes a Bb melody note that clashes with the A in C6.
I also often play Em7 when Em is called for. It not only adds colour but is also normally a bit quicker for beginners like me to change to, depending on the previous chord. It also seems to work well, again with the exception of a cadence to a tonic Em chord.
C6 contains the same notes as Am7, and Em7 contains the same notes as G6, so you might think that playing Am7 and G6 when Am and G are called for, respectively, would work just as well. However, at least to my ears, they always sound wrong -- Am7 always sounds more like a type of C chord, and G6 always sounds more like a type of Em chord. I suspect that this is down to the voicing -- in high-G tuning, the C note is lower than the A note while the E note is lower than the G note.
So after all that, I'm finally getting to my question: Do other people perceive major 6th and minor 7th chords the same way, or is it just me? If it's not just me, is it the other way round for low-G players? In low-G tuning (and cuatro tuning), the A and G notes would both be in the bass, so would these two chords sound more like Am7 and G6 than C6 and Em7?