The Big Six Core Chords - Level I

The suggested order to learn these Level 1 chords are:

The Big Six chords include: Seventh 7, Major Seventh maj7, Minor Seventh m7, Half Diminished Seventh or Minor Seven Flat Five diminished 7 m7b5, Diminished Seventh o7 and Augmented Seventh +7. These six chords form a core set of chords.

The order to learn these chords are in the order shown. Although the order is a recommendation it's critical to start with the first chord, _the seventh_. After that the maj7 or minor7 and the order can be determined by your needs. This is the order I follow with my private students.

The Foundation of the Big Six

• Seventh - These are the four F7 voicings that have been covered in this series of lessons.

The Rest of the Big Six Core Chords

• Minor Seventh
• Major Seventh
• Half-Diminished Seventh or Minor Seventh Flat Five depending on the chord's harmonic function within the surrounding chords tonality.
• Diminished Seventh
• Augmented Seventh

Of the Big Six core chords the 7, maj7 and m7 are a bit bigger and a lot more common than the other three and can be used to derive the remaining three chords in this level I.