Is it crazy that Lesson 3 was (and is) hardest for me?

Gavin

Blues Newbie
Hello fellow BGUers. I'm up Lesson 17 now (Hammer ons, Pull-offs, and "Tweedlies". I think I have everything pretty well down but I still get a mental block on Lesson 3 - 9th chord substitutions.

It just didn't click. It still doesn't click. Everything else does. This is not a fault of the course by any means. It makes complete sense, but it just won't commit to memory for me. My brain is saying "nope, that's weird, I'm not learning that". I for sure thought some of the later lessons would have stumped me, but I'm delighted with how well everything is going.

I just can't seem to get my head around the 9th chord subs.
 

Gavin

Blues Newbie
I don't know. Every other chord progression, and rhythm style up to it flips to the Blues Scale and soloing, I am not having issues with, but there just seems to be a complete brainmelt on that lesson. If I have the book in front of me, I'm fine. I try to do it from memory it's like I've never held a guitar before. At this point I've moved on, resigned to the fact that I can use other chords instead.

Like I say, it's not Griff or the lesson, because everything else is explained the same way and working out great. It's just not sticking. I also have a mental block when it comes to cantaloupe and honeydew melon so I guess I just have a block for some things!!!
 

Danno

Blues Newbie
Well, one way to look at it is that you don't have to use a 9th instead of a 7th all the time. You could just kind of focus on using the 9th on the IV or V chord. I'm sure the lesson explained that 7th and 9th chords are both dominant chords so functionally they're the same and you can use a 9th any place you'd use a 7th.
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
I don't know. Every other chord progression, and rhythm style up to it flips to the Blues Scale and soloing, I am not having issues with, but there just seems to be a complete brainmelt on that lesson. If I have the book in front of me, I'm fine. I try to do it from memory it's like I've never held a guitar before. At this point I've moved on, resigned to the fact that I can use other chords instead.

Like I say, it's not Griff or the lesson, because everything else is explained the same way and working out great. It's just not sticking. I also have a mental block when it comes to cantaloupe and honeydew melon so I guess I just have a block for some things!!!

You definitely need to circle back to that one. 9th chords are BIG in blues.
 

Zzzen Dog

Blues Junior
We all have our personal barriers... nothing wrong with it.

The C shaped (CAGED) dominant 7th took me forever to master. the 9th was always easier for me. Maybe that's why 9ths make more sense to me.

Anyway, good luck!!
 

Silicon Valley Tom

It makes me happpy to play The Blues!
Sometimes a different perspective helps a person to better understand something. You might try searching on YouTube for examples of 9th chord instruction. Otherwise, just stick to what Griff is teaching, and keep trying to do your best. :)

Tom
 

Gavin

Blues Newbie
You definitely need to circle back to that one. 9th chords are BIG in blues.
Yeah, I'll have to go back. I mean, at one point B7 seemed impossible. I just found it odd how my brain didn't process this specific lesson like it did all the others.

I figure as I go through more, by the time I circle back, it will make more sense
 

Gavin

Blues Newbie
So I after typing this out, and getting feedback (thank you by the way), I went back as suggested. I don't know if it's because I've progressed up to the first solo so my knowledge is better or if it's just relooking at it again, but I both figured it out, and figured out my block.

I wasn't connecting the chord to any root, my fault obviously, but I felt the way I was playing them, they were simply hanging out there alone. I was able to connect them to the root note (even if I'm playing it on the high E rather than the low in the case of the C9).
 

Danno

Blues Newbie
So I after typing this out, and getting feedback (thank you by the way), I went back as suggested. I don't know if it's because I've progressed up to the first solo so my knowledge is better or if it's just relooking at it again, but I both figured it out, and figured out my block.

I wasn't connecting the chord to any root, my fault obviously, but I felt the way I was playing them, they were simply hanging out there alone. I was able to connect them to the root note (even if I'm playing it on the high E rather than the low in the case of the C9).
Glad to hear it and yeah, you don't play the low root in that voicing very often at all.
 
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