All styles

Blues, jazz, soul and funk

Soul and R&B on guitar: chords and rhythm.

Soul loves soft, rich chords, maj7 and m7, stepping down from one degree to the next: Fmaj7, Em7, Dm7, Cmaj7. Play them as light chords or arpeggios, letting each note ring.

IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii7 – Imaj7Level · Advanced

The progression

Pick a key: the charts change right below. "Listen" plays the progression with its rhythm; a click on a chord plays it alone, the arrow opens its page.

Key

In C major · 80 BPM
  • Fmaj7
    F major 7××321
  • Em7
    E minor 7123
  • Dm7
    D minor 7××12
  • Cmaj7
    C major 7×32

The rhythm

One bar of the strumming hand, beat by beat. While it plays, the stroke being played lights up.

1
·
2
·
3
·
4
·
  • strum down
  • down, cut short
  • strum up
  • up, cut short

In the collection

2

Songs in this style, with their chords or the scale of their solos.

From the same world

The music born of the African American tradition: the blues' seventh, the rich chords of jazz and soul, the strumming hand of funk, and gypsy jazz's la pompe.