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Just playing chords and notes from the key you are playing is always a quick and easy way to knock out some riffs, but what if you want to try something a little different, a little more interesting? Well, for just that reason, we’re starting a new weekly series here at FretFeed calledThink Outside the Box, where we’ll be taking a look at songwriting and playing techniques for people who want to push the boundaries of music. Today let’s talk about spicing up some run-of-the-mill chord progressions with some extra dominant chords.

V7 - I resolutions

One of the strongest resolutions in modern western music is the V7 - I chord progression. What that means is that you play the dominant chord (1 - 3 - 5 - b7) of the fifth note of the key, and then the root chord. In C major, it would be  G7 - C.  in G major, it would be  D7 - G , etc.

Adding additional V7 - I resolutions

Let’s take a look at the chords of the G major / E minor scale:

G  - Am - Bm - C  - D   - Em   - F#dim

With the exception of the F#dim chord, you can always use a V7 - I resolution on any of the chords in the scale.  So now let’s walk through this set of chords again, this time using V7-I resolutions on each chord:

(D7)  -  G  - (E7)  -  Am  -  (F#7)  -  Bm  -  (G7)  -  C  - (A7)  - D  - (B7)  - Em  - F#dim

This opens up a whole new world of sonic possibilities! Try taking a few common chord progressions you know, and throwing some dominant chords, and see how different they sound! A word of advice though, you may want to avoid playing a minor version of a chord before playing an equivalent dominant. It has kind of a rough sound, and should be avoided. This is, of course, that is what your going for. Bm - B7 - Em is an example.

Dominant Substitution

This is a common practice found in a lot of jazz standards.  Before we changed chord progressions by changing any chord into a V7 - I, now we are going to do a similar substitution by replacing any chord from the scale (again with the exception of F#dim) with it’s equivilent dominant. Let’s take a look at this new modified list of chords:

G  - (G7)  -  Am  - (A7) - Bm - (B7) - C - (C7)  - D  - Em (E7)  - F#dim

*note: D7 is not listed because it is naturally in the scale.

these new dominant chords are designed to replace there counterparts, so it’s not always a good idea to play something like Bm - B7 back to back.

Soloing over these Chords

Since we are using notes from outside the scale, just using the G major scale when playing over these isn’t going to sound right. We are going to have to switch scales while playing over these chords. You have a number of options here:

• The Mixolydian Scale ( 1-2-3-4-5-6-b7) - This is the diatonic scale for dominant chords, and it can work fine here.
• The Blues Scale ( 1-3-4-b5-5-b7 ) - Blues always uses this scale over dominant chords, and there is no exception here. Great if you want a more traditional sound.
• The Phygerian Dominant Scale (1-b2-3-4-5-b6-b7) A mode of the harmonic minor scale.  This has a very classical sound, and is good for dominant chords that resolve to a minor chord.
• The Lydian Dominant Scale (1-2-3-#4-5-6-b7) A mode of the melodic minor scale. This is good for when you has a dominant chord that doesn’t resolve (not part of a V7-I) or you want a bit more of a dreamy, ‘out-there’ sound.