Vertical Truth: Chordal Mechanisms for the Guitar
Unit 7: 9th Chords
Goal: Obtain a complete, methodical approach to learning 9th chords; all types, positions, voicings and alterations.
Blues, Country, Rock, Jazz, Pop, Funk, R&B, Soul and more all use 9th chords. Trust me when I say that learning 9th chords will up your game no matter what genre you’re into.
If you follow instructions and are patient, persistent, and do the drilling just like I demonstrate in the videos, you'll wind up knowing more about playing 9th chords than many professional guitar players - in just a few months. That’s months, not years. I've guided many, many students through this material, and I can guide you through it as well.
Besides the fact that it worked for me (I have made a living gigging, writing, recording and teaching guitar for almost 50 years - and raised 5 kids doing it), it has worked for my students.
Here's what a few (out of thousands) of my personal students have said about Unit 7 specifically:
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Unit 7: 9th Chords has helped me bridge a lot of gaps in the way I think about the fretboard. Over the past few years I had found myself stuck in repetitive voicings and chord progressions resulting in lack of motivation to pick up the guitar. This unit helped me establish relationships between chords and scales that has brought more interest to my playing through new pathways to take melody and harmony. The concepts I learned strengthened my ability to identify more complex chords by ear, removing the mystery when approaching new songs. Unit 7: 9th Chords has brought a new freedom to playing guitar and I would highly recommend it to any player who is stuck, or wants to take the mystery out of complex chords to take your playing to the next level. - Nick Duchene
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Jay’s approach to 9th chords in Unit 7 is the best I’ve seen and material you won’t find anywhere else. Even if you’re not a jazz guitarist, Unit 7 will increase your knowledge of the neck and expand your playing abilities. I highly recommend! It’s amazing stuff! - Bill Foster
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Unit 7 is a continuation and development of what’s learned in Chapters 5 and 6 of Jays’ Vertical Truth. As with Jay’s other units, you’ll learn how to play these throughout the Key Circle. If you’re looking to further your chordal vocabulary, this is a must! - Brian Manning
This material notched up my own playing significantly when I was first taken through it by my teacher, John Elliott. As far as I know, it is a unique approach and is superior to anything I have seen.
On a personal note, I love the material in this Unit! It is a huge bang-for-the-buck! I use it constantly in my own playing. If you go through the material and actually do the drilling, I guarantee you'll notch up your guitar playing by a quantum leap!
This lesson series contains:
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25 lessons
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58 pages
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214 fretboard diagrams
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73 notation examples
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35 videos
Here's a promo video that shows what the content of the PDF looks like. It also contains a clip that demonstrates the dynamic fretboard diagrams that are contained in every video:
How about playing a 12-Bar Blues using 9th chords? It's easy! Here's a quick lesson:
You can download a PDF that goes with this video HERE - no cost or further commitment required.
Here's a short, 3-lesson series that will give you more of an idea about the content of this Unit on 9th Chords:
3 close-voiced 9th chords (root on the 5th string), and 3 open-voiced 7th chords (root on the 6th string); learn them by rote if you don't already know them, and drill them as demonstrated in the video below:
Step 2: Take the chords learned in the previous lesson above and put them into 2 different ways to play a II-V-I progression. II-V-I is a super-important progression - as important if not more important than the I-IV-V as it occurs in the Blues. II-V-I in some form occurs in every genre. Check it out:
Step 3: We can alter (sharp or flat) the 5th of the open-voiced and the 9th of the close-voiced dominant chords you learned in the previous lesson. That gives you 5 more chords!
Believe me when I say that all this just barely scratches the surface of what is contained in this lesson series!
Questions
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Are previous Units necessary to know before going through Unit 7: 9th Chords?
It depends on what kind of learner you are:
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Random Acquisition: What this means is that you learn by rote whatever you pick up from here and there, adding it to what you already know with some kind of intuitive, idiosyncratic organisation. So with that in mind, my approach makes liberal use of fretboard diagrams and demonstration videos. I just put it out there; you take what resonates and leave the rest. Therefore you don’t necessarily need the prerequisites.
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Method-Oriented: You want to know “Why?” How does all this fit together? What’s the concept? You desire a step-by-step approach with each step built on the one before. You want a logical progression. You understand that a methodical approach results in a BIG PICTURE with no gaps, which piecemeal, random acquisition can never achieve. Therefore you need the prerequisites.
For the Number 2 folks (Method-Oriented), the following links will take you to the Sales Page of each Unit. Check them out to determine whether you need any of the prerequisites:
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The amount of material shown in the Table of Contents is overwhelming. This might be biting off more than I can chew.
I get it; yes, it's a crap-ton of stuff. But look at the other side of the coin; it's a massive value. The bang for the buck is off the charts! But more importantly…
The path is laid out for you, step-by-step, guiding you through with explanatory text, fretboard diagrams and demonstration videos.
Like I said above; If you follow instructions and are patient, persistent, and do the drilling just like I demonstrate in the videos, you'll wind up knowing more about playing 9th chords than many professional guitar players in just a few months.
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Do I have to be able to read music?
That's actually kind of a tricky question. There is quite a bit of music notation in the PDF. However, there is liberal use of fretboard diagrams (214 to be exact) as well as 35 demonstration videos. So it is possible to go through the lesson series and ignore the music notation.
There is no TAB - I am generally negative on the use of guitar tablature. I won't get into it here. You can go HERE for my position on that subject.
I highly recommend learning to read music but I'm very organic in my approach to teaching reading. With my personal students, the skill to read is acquired at different points along the way, and it happens automatically as a result of going through the method.
My main concern is not about reading music, it's about knowing the neck. If you've got that together reading is not a big deal.
If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
HERE'S THE DEAL!
The retail price for Unit 7: 9th Chords is $119: Anyone can purchase - if you want to pay full price without signing up and no strings attached, just click on the button below:
If you are a Master Guitar School Site Member you can use your Members-Only Discount and purchase for $59!
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If you are NOT a Site Member: When you click on the button below you will be prompted to sign up as a Site Member. Membership is free and there are many other benefits to being a Site Member, but the Members-Only Discount is a big one (at least 50% or more)! After signing up you will be automatically redirected to the Members-Only Discount.