Major 7 to Major 6 Chord Change [plus Latin Groove]

This quick lesson explores a really cool Major 7th to Major 6th chord change—a great finger exercise and cool Latin American groove.

https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/major-7-to-major-6-chord-change-plus-latin-groove-bites-001

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Wow, I got tired just watching you play that!

I’m probably defeating the purpose of this exercise. But how about using almost the same fingering for the Amaj6 and Amaj7. Start with the Amaj6 fingering setup. Then for the Amaj7, the index can stay where it is on the 4th string. Just move & flatten the little finger to cover both the 3rd and 4th strings. Then lift it off the 4th string and the F# (index finger note) reappears for the Amaj6. I have a number of issues with my hands and am constantly having to look for alternate fingering. Sometimes it’s just not possible. Very happy I can play this cool latin groove!

Yeah, I suppose it kind of defeats the purpose of this exercise :wink:

That said I guess this is a good habit to think about alternative fingering and optimising your fingers movement in general. Although personally I’m unable to flatten the little finger enough to play clear notes on the 3rd and the 4th strings without muting the 2nd string. At least for now. :wink:

Is this some kind of Bossa Nova Rhythm? :heart_eyes: It sounds like! Now the only thing I know about Bossa Nova is that I need it for one of my Dreamer Song, Parole Parole by Mina…it also seems to have a lot of complex chords and seems like anyone makes a different arrangement of it. This Rhythm really seems to fit. Thanks for the lesson…if I learn this it maybe will become less difficult to understand where to start from with my dreamer song.

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I really love this lesson as an exercise!

I want to work on efficient movement in my chord changes. Are there any other similar combos that work well in terms of challenging my fretting hand like this one does? Specifically, I want to work on limiting excess movement in my fretting hand when playing chords to complement something like the Minimal Movement exercise for individual notes.

There are all sorts of 6ths, 7th, 9ths and dim7th voicing combos etc that are very common in Blues and Jazz/ Blues that’ll really help upskill your dexterity, and economy of movement.

Cheers, Shane

This reminded me of playing similar when on music course at college. Bossa Nova mimics the beat of samba, often played on guitar with a steady bass note on the first and third beats, while the fingers pluck chords on the off-beats. This creates a relaxed, swaying feel which is different from other jazz styles.

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