Do You Like Funk Guitar? You'll Love This Lesson!

It's time to learn how to play Minor 7 Chords that we can find in our A Shape Barre Chords! These grips are particularly useful in Funk Guitar and sound so cool. They're not particularly difficult to play, which is great news. :)

💡You can call this chords Minor 7th Chords or Minor 7 Chords. I tend to use Minor 7 Chords, but both ways are correct!

How to Play Minor 7 Chords

The basic idea is to start with a C Minor Chord, which you should know now. Then, all we need to do to make it into a C Minor 7 is to lift off the little finger. Take a look at the chord diagram:

This reveals an extra note under the barre, so the barre is doing more work now. It's muting the thicker string and playing the fifth, third, and thinner strings. There's more going on here, but it sounds more cool and funky!

The biggest problem you might encounter is Finger 3 laying over too flat and muting String 3, so make sure the third finger is right on the tip! The same happens with Finger 2. The second finger goes down between the thinner and third strings, which must be right on the tip.

✅ Don't forget to check out the individual notes and ensure they sound good. I call this exercise Chord Perfect Practice, and it's something I teach in the Beginner Course, but I recommend you keep doing it when learning our A Shape Barre Chords!

When to Play Minor 7

There isn't always a rule for when to play a C Minor 7 instead of a C Minor. Most of the time, if you're looking at a chord chart, it will just say C minor. So, I recommend lifting off the little finger and playing with it. Does it sound better or not? Just decide and use your ears. You can be the boss now and say, "I like the sound of this one," or "Maybe that's not right." It's completely up to you when and where to use this chord! Experiment. :)

If you're playing a funky tune and find a vamp, where the music stays on one chord for a long time, playing just a regular C Minor might sound a little dry. You should try lifting the finger off to the C Minor 7 and find ways of spicing up your playing!

There are also some variations and techniques you can try. Let's take a look!

Funk Variation #1: Adding Finger 4

Now that Finger 4 is gone, you can pop it down on String 1, three frets above the barre, and get a very cool-sounding chord. Take a look at the diagram:

Variation #2: Double Hammer-On

The double hammer-on is another cool, funky thing you can do with a C Minor 7. So, you'll start with the regular C Minor and then double hammer on, so you're playing the whole barre and hammering down the second and the third fingers.

It's unlikely for sheet music to show you where to hammer your fingers down unless you're trying to play a specific song that uses this technique. However, you should incorporate it into a song that doesn't use it to make it your cover! Find your way and experiment with the music to see what you like and what sounds good.

Variation #3: Side Slide Entry

Another cool technique is the side slide entry. For this, you would start with a C Minor 7 Chord and shift the entire chord back one fret before sliding it in. The idea is to keep your thumb in the same place as you move your hand back, relax your grip, move the shape back, press down, play, and then slide it up.

You would start with the C Minor 7 Chord, then shift the entire chord back one fret and slide it in. The idea is that when you're moving your hand back, your thumb stays in the same place! You relax the grip, move the shape back, press down, play, and then slide it up.

🚨The key thing is to make sure that your thumb stays in the same place when doing those side sliding movements. It can be difficult if the thumb moves back and you have to move the whole hand!

Songs Practice

Playing some songs is the best way to practice the chords you just learned. Here are great examples for you to practice your Minor 7 Chords using A Shape Barre Chords:

🎵 Miss You by The Rolling Stones

This is an all-time classic Rolling Stones song and a cool one for getting into what Keith calls "Guitar Weaving." It's surely one of the finest examples of this technique ever recorded, and the interplay between Keith and Ron is incredible!

🎵 Long Train Running by Doobie Bros

Many people won't know the name of this song, but they will know the riff! It's an all-time guitar classic and great fun to play. This song uses many of the techniques you'll learn in my Funk Guitar Course, so be sure to check that out and learn particularly the loose wrist and counts for Funk!

🎵 Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Whitters

This song is easy to play, and I even recommend it to beginners, but it's also a great one to explore Funk Guitar and more advanced strumming techniques.

👉 Next, we'll learn A Shape Barre Chords: Sus2. Are you ready?