The next few ideas that we are going to be looking at will apply only to functioning dominant chords, so you need to understand clearly what that means.

A functioning V (dominant) chord is one that resolves to it's I chord.

Hopefully you know your diatonic chord sequence (click here if not) and know that the V chord is a dominant 7th chord. It contains a lot of tension (between the 3rd and b7th degrees of the chord) that wants to resolve to the I chord of it's key. Some examples (but you need to know all of them):

G7 (V) -> Cmaj7 (I)

F7 (V) -> BbMaj7 (I)

Luckily there is an easy way to do it on the guitar neck that saves you from having to remember every note in every key (although that is a good idea).

• If the root note of the V7 chord is on the 6th string, the I chord root will be found in the same fret on the 5th string.

• If the root note of the V7 chord is on the 5th string, the I chord root will be found two frets back (toward the nut) on the 6th string.

Easy peesy. Make sure you understand this fully before moving on.

Video Lesson

 

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