Q: Can you give me a short explanation of 7th chords and diminished/aug chords? i learned to use major/minor/flat/sharp chords while playing pop but jazzy stuff has some unfamiliar chords. im trying to play what you wont do for love right now and its got c#7#9 like what does that even mean
A: the way that type of song uses the notation system is a bit oblique .... very normal but not a good starting point for learning chord symbols. i can tell you what chord goes there in that song, it's C# in the bass, and you're gonna want B, F, and E in the mid range. but it may not be clear how we get that from the C#7#9 chord symbol. to get the chord symbol thing a bit better, i think you should start in the key of C, and for your first example just play C major chord (the chord symbol for that is just C), and then add a Bb note to it. that is C7. that's just what that is. good starting place ...... when i was young, someone confided in me that C7 is the perfect way to signal you're about to go to the F chord. try it ... try a song in C, and play some things in the key of C and then drop that C7 and bam, the whole world knows it's time to go to F now. i think that's a good starting point ... that's where i started ... i'll never forget when i learned that. changed my life. i still use that principle in almost every song