It was a festive night in Fort “Party” Worth last month at the Juke Jumper’s 31st Anniversary Show. I finally met legendary musicians Sumter Bruton, Jim Colegrove, Johnny Reno, Jim Milan and Craig Simecheck. These cats were really laying it down by swingin’, jazzin’ and rockin’ the blues all night long. They know the music business well, (you know like, been there, done that) yet they still know how to have fun on stage and it filters through to the crowd who were clapping after every solo in the beginning and dancing to every song by the end. Luckily, I was seated at a table with Blue Lisa and Joanna Iz, two girls who know how to groove and help keep the Dallas blues scene together. We were then joined by Fort Worth hipsters Wes Race and James Hinkle who greeted us warmly and enlightened us on the imminent beatific dance from Jill the High Priestess of Bop and the smooth arrival of crooner Oklin Bloodworth, which made us all yell “Shabam!” I had the band autograph an album from 1981 where they backed up Robert Ealey, called Bluebird Open in which they all delighted in the memory.
Sumter signed off with a secret chord, which was … A min b5.
He said “Hey, check out this chord, it is really just a diminished triad, but check it out.” It is spelled Root, flat 3, flat 5 = A, C, Eb, with each note separated from the next by exactly a minor third. Add the next minor third up (Gb) and now we have a diminished 7 chord. Because of this unique structure, any one diminished chord shares exactly the same notes and chord shape as the other three and can be interchanged within a progression. Wow, this is a really cool device to use when you want to create tension and really go outside with solos or chord work. Start with the A dim 7, fret the chord on the fifth fret hold the same shape and move it up three frets to the C dim 7, now up three frets to the Eb dim 7 and finally to the Gb dim 7 to complete the movement. When soloing, try a diminished arpeggio over the four chord, for example in the key of A when you hit the four chord which is D, try playing the A diminished, then slide back into A minor pentatonic for the one chord. Next month, we will further explore Sumter’s secret chord and show you two ways to substitute a diminished chord into a blues progression.
A special thanks to Sumter Bruton for sharing his vast musical knowledge and for letting me sit in with the band and play his guitar!
“Diminished Chords”
* The numbers following the chord letter are where you fret your fingers
on the string. If there is a "0" then the string is open, if there is an
"x" then no note is played.
Enjoy, and always keep your ears open.
- Jackie Don Loe -
Guitar
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