Learn Jazz and Neo Soul chords 101

Explore how major and minor chords are built by borrowing the first, third, and fifth notes from Ionian and minor modes, shaping jazz and neo-soul harmony.

Explore how jazz chords extend basic triads with tensions and extensions, including major seven, minor seven, and major nine, and learn how the nine is formed from the mode.

Learn the four most common seventh chords: major seventh, minor seventh, minor seven flat five, and augmented seven, plus fifth and sixth string shapes used in scales to replace chords.

Explore movable major seventh chord shapes from the fifth and sixth strings, with the seventh a half step below the octave, and apply major seven or dominant seven in progressions.

Learn the minor seventh chord shape starting from C, including barre and non-barre variants, the whole-step octave rule, and hammer-on ideas for neo-soul progressions in C.

Learn to form a minor seven flat five chord from a shape, move the fifth down a half step, and resolve back to the one in the key of D.

Explore augmented seven chords by blending major triads with a minor seven to create a happy, jazz-friendly sound; practice from C and G positions and the two five one progression.

Learn the ii–V–I progression in jazz, practicing two–five–one resolutions in keys like C and A, and see how the augmented fifth resolves to the root while slides lead into it.

Explore major ninths and minor ninths, noting their happy or sad character. Learn why guitar players omit the fifth, leaving root, third, seventh, and ninth.

Master the major ninth chord shape and decide when to use seventh or ninth chords in jazz and neo soul. Start on the third fret of the fifth string.

Explore the minor nine chord shape rooted on the fifth fret, featuring the minor third, minor seven, and minor nine across strings, as used in second, third, and sixth positions.

Discover how to use sevens and nines in key-based progressions, employing unison voicings from one to three to five, then resolve with seven or augmented seven back to the root.

Choose a key, select notes from it, and play the progression with standard chords, trusting your ear to decide what sounds best. Upload your submission to the project section.