Pack 05 showed you the machine: a string vibrates, and everything else is consequence. This pack runs the same machine on chords. A chord is not a shape. It is a stack of thirds cut out of a scale, and every rule about chords — why there are only four triads, why vi can stand in for I, why a ii–V–I is two notes, why a triad over the wrong bass sounds like fusion — falls out of that one fact. Eight laws, each caused by the last, every voicing verified in E.
Same rule as Pack 05: each law exists because of the one before it.
Partials 4:5:6 of the string are a major triad. Stack two thirds and there are exactly four outcomes. That's every triad there is.
Stack thirds inside the seven-fifths stack and you get I ii iii IV V vi vii°. Quality is decided by position, not choice.
Chords that overlap do the same work. Three families: home, away, pull. That's why vi can replace I and why ii replaces IV.
E–G♯–B in any order is E. So the smoothest progression is the one where each voice barely moves. Voice leading is just laziness done well.
7, 9, 11, 13 are just more thirds. And the top of one chord is the bottom of another — rootless voicings are free.
The 3rd and 7th fix the quality. The root is the bass player's problem. A ii–V–I is two strings.
Every chord can be preceded by its own V (gravity works anywhere). Every key can borrow from its parallel minor (the stack next door).
Put a triad on top of a different root and you've named a scale in one grab. This is the fusion chord, explained.
Pack 05, Law 01: the string's partials 4, 5 and 6 are E, G♯, B — a major triad. Those three notes are in the ratio 4:5:6, the simplest three-note ratio there is. So the triad is stable because it's what the string already does, and a third-plus-a-third is the stack the ear accepts as "one thing." Now the arithmetic: a third is either major (4 frets) or minor (3 frets). Two of them, in order, gives four possibilities. That's all the triads that exist.
| Triad | Stack | Notes | Feel |
|---|---|---|---|
| E major | 4 + 3 | E G♯ B | settled — the string's own chord |
| E minor | 3 + 4 | E G B | settled but shadowed |
| E diminished | 3 + 3 | E G A♯ | pinched — contains the tritone, wants out |
| E augmented | 4 + 4 | E G♯ C | weightless — octave in three equal parts (Pack 05 Law 06) |
E Em Edim Eaug
e|-----0-------0-------3-------0-----|
B|-----0-------0-------5-------1-----|
G|-----1-------0-------3-------1-----|
D|-----2-------2-------2-------2-----|
A|-----2-------2-------x-------3-----|
E|-----0-------0-------x-------0-----|
G♯ is the only difference between E and Em — one fret decides the mood
The thing to take away: every chord you will ever play is one of these four with more thirds stacked on top. There is no fifth kind. Sus chords aren't a fifth kind — they're a triad with the third removed, which is why they sound like a question (no third, no mood).
TARGET · play the four in a row, slowly · then only E and Em, alternating, listening to the G string · that one fret is the whole subject of major and minorTake E major — the seven-fifths stack from Pack 05 — and build a stack of thirds on each note, using only notes from the scale. You don't get to choose the quality. The scale decides. Three come out major, three minor, one diminished, and it is always in the same order in every major key on earth: I ii iii IV V vi vii°.
Emaj7 F♯m7 G♯m7 Amaj7 B7 C♯m7 D♯m7♭5 (Emaj7)
I ii iii IV V vi vii°
B|------9-------10------12------14------16------5-------7-------9-----|
G|------8-------9-------11------13------14------4-------6-------8-----|
D|------9-------11------13------14------16------6-------7-------9-----|
A|------7-------9-------11------12------14------4-------6-------7-----|
shape: maj7 m7 m7 maj7 dom7 m7 m7♭5 (B7 low: x-2-4-2-4)
Why the qualities land where they do: the major chords (I, IV, V) sit on the three notes touching each other in the stack of fifths — E's nearest neighbours A and B. The minor chords sit on the next three. The diminished chord sits on D♯, the far end of the stack, the note least related to home — so of course its chord is the unstable one. Chord quality is position on the circle of fifths. Same law as the mode dimmer in Pack 05.
TARGET · play the seven up and back · then say the roman numeral before each one · then play only the three majors, then only the three minorsLook at the notes. E is E G♯ B. C♯m is C♯ E G♯. G♯m is G♯ B D♯. They overlap by two notes each — so they do roughly the same job. That's the whole of "harmonic function": the seven chords sort into three families by what they share. Home (I, vi, iii), away (IV, ii), pull (V, vii°). Every progression in every style is a walk between those three rooms.
| Family | Chords | Shared notes | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home (tonic) | E · C♯m · G♯m | E–G♯ · G♯–B | rest, arrival, "we're here" |
| Away (subdominant) | A · F♯m | A–C♯ | departure, lift, "somewhere else" |
| Pull (dominant) | B7 · D♯dim | D♯–F♯ (+ the tritone D♯–A) | tension, "go home now" |
E → C♯m A → F♯m B → D♯dim
e|----4-----4----|----5-----5----|----7-----5----|
B|----5-----5----|----5-----7----|----7-----7----|
G|----4-----6----|----6-----6----|----8-----8----|
two notes stay two notes stay two notes stay — same job, new colour
The pay-off for writing and soloing: a progression is just a route through three rooms. Home → away → pull → home is I–IV–V–I. Home → away → home is the plagal "amen." Home → pull → home is the blues turnaround. When you want a progression to feel new without changing the route, swap within the family — that's what every "sad version" of a happy song does (I becomes vi).
TARGET · play I–IV–V–I · then vi–ii–V–I · then iii–IV–V–vi · hear that it's the same journey three times"Little Wing" — Hendrix. Em → G → Am → Em → Bm → B♭ → Am → C → G → F → C → D. It moves between home (Em, G), away (Am, C) and pull (Bm, D) — and the B♭ and F are Law 07 arriving early. Hendrix wasn't thinking roman numerals, but the ear was, which is why it never sounds like twelve chords; it sounds like three rooms and a garden.
E major is the set {E, G♯, B}. Any order, any octave, any string. So a chord has as many "shapes" as there are ways to arrange three notes — and the useful ones are the three inversions: root on the bottom, 3rd on the bottom, 5th on the bottom. Once you see chords as sets, the smoothest way from one to the next is obvious: move each note as little as possible. That's voice leading, and it's why pianists sound smooth and guitarists who only know barre chords don't.
root pos 1st inv 2nd inv
E G♯ B G♯ B E B E G♯
e|-----7---------12---------4------|
B|-----9---------12---------5------|
G|-----9---------13---------4------|
the same set, three different bottoms — pick the one nearest your hand
E A B E
e|-----4--------5--------7--------7-----| G♯ A B B
B|-----5--------5--------7--------9-----| E E F♯ G♯
G|-----4--------6--------8--------9-----| B C♯ D♯ E
every voice moves by step or not at all
Landau's rhythm playing is this law. He almost never plays the same chord shape twice in a row; he plays the nearest inversion, so the top note of the chords makes a melody on its own. The Custom Standard on the neck pickup, top-three-string triads, volume at 6 — that's the sound, and it's a consequence of chords being sets.
TARGET · play I–IV–V–I in all three inversion "lanes" (start at 4, at 9, at 12) · sing the top note as you goPack 05 Law 05 said a scale stacked in thirds is one big chord. The chord-side version: 7ths, 9ths, 11ths and 13ths aren't new chords, they're the same stack continued. E G♯ B is E. Add D♯: Emaj7. Add F♯: Emaj9. And here's the trick that makes jazz and fusion voicings cheap — the top of one chord is the bottom of the next. The upper four notes of Emaj9 (G♯ B D♯ F♯) are G♯m7. So G♯m7 is Emaj9 with the root missing. The bass player has the root. You never needed it.
Emaj9 G♯m7 = Emaj9 (no root) G♯m7♭5 = E9 (no root)
e|-----x-------------7----------------------7----------| B 5
B|-----7-------------7----------------------7----------| F♯ 9
G|-----8-------------8----------------------7----------| D♯ / D 7 / ♭7
D|-----6-------------6----------------------6----------| G♯ 3
A|-----7-------------x----------------------x----------| E R (bass player's job)
The rule of thumb: for any I chord, play the iii chord and it becomes a 9th. For any dominant, play the m7♭5 a major third up. Henderson's voicings are almost all this — four notes, no root, the bass underneath doing the naming.
TARGET · loop an E bass note on the RC-5 · play G♯m7, G♯m7♭5, back and forth · hear Emaj9 → E9 → Emaj9 without ever playing an EFollow Law 05 to its end. The root is the bass player's. The 5th is in the harmonic series of the root anyway (Pack 05 Law 01 — the amp plays it for you). What's left? The 3rd and the 7th. Those two notes decide major or minor, dominant or not. Everything else is colour. So a whole ii–V–I fits on two strings.
F♯m7 B7 Emaj7
ii V I
B|-----5--------4--------4------| E(♭7) → D♯(3) → D♯(7)
G|-----2--------2--------1------| A(♭3) → A(♭7) → G♯(3)
at every change, one note stays and one note falls a fret
Why this changes your soloing: if you land on the 3rd or 7th of each chord as it arrives, you are "playing the changes" with one note per bar. The rest of the bar can be anything. Pack 01's motif-redesign (D became C♯ over A7) was this law — C♯ is A7's 3rd. You were doing guide tones before you knew the name.
TARGET · play the two-note ii–V–I · then solo over the loop landing ONLY on the two-note chord at each change · then let the rest be freeTwo ways out of the seven-chord box, both consequences of laws you've already played. First: gravity (Pack 05 Law 02) works from any note, so any chord can be preceded by its own V — a secondary dominant. Second: the parallel minor is just the stack next door (three clicks darker on the dimmer), so any chord from E minor can be borrowed into E major and the ear accepts it as a shadow passing over.
G♯7 C♯m7
B|-----13-----------5------| B♯ (C) → E ← the borrowed leading tone
G|-----11-----------4------|
D|-----13-----------6------|
A|-----11-----------4------|
E D(♭VII) C(♭VI) B7 E E Am(iv) E
e|-----0--------2--------0--------2--------0-----| e|---0--------0--------0-----|
B|-----0--------3--------1--------0--------0-----| B|---0--------1--------0-----|
G|-----1--------2--------0--------2--------1-----| G|---1--------2--------1-----|
D|-----2--------0--------2--------1--------2-----| D|---2--------2--------2-----|
A|-----2--------x--------3--------2--------2-----| A|---2--------0--------2-----|
E|-----0--------x--------x--------x--------0-----| E|---0--------x--------0-----|
major → shadow → shadow → pull → home the minor plagal: home, grief, home
The mechanism: the borrowed chords all carry a note from the parallel minor — G, C or D — that E major doesn't have. The ear hears the stack shift one or three clicks darker and back. It's the dimmer switch from Pack 05, applied to chords rather than scales. Nothing is "outside." It's next door.
TARGET · play E–D–C–B7–E · then E–Am–E · then insert G♯7 before any C♯m · you now have twelve usable chords in E instead of sevenThe fusion chord, finally explained. Put a plain triad on top of a different bass note and you get a big extended chord for the price of a small one — and, better, the pair names a scale. D over E is E Mixolydian. F♯ over E is E Lydian. G over E is E Dorian or Aeolian. One grab, one mode. This is how Henderson and Landau comp: simple triads, moving bass, huge harmony.
D/E F♯/E G/E
= E9sus = E13♯11 (no 3) = Em7
Mixolydian Lydian Dorian / Aeolian
e|-----2-------------2--------------3------|
B|-----3-------------2--------------0------|
G|-----2-------------3--------------0------|
D|-----0-------------4--------------0------|
A|-----x-------------x--------------2------|
E|-----0-------------0--------------0------|
same bass, three triads, three worlds — the ♯11 (A♯) in F♯/E is the Lydian tell
Why it sounds like fusion: a slash chord has no 3rd in the guitar part (or hides it), so the quality is ambiguous — and ambiguity plus a strong bass is exactly the Pack 05 Law 06 float, but with a home. It's the sound of a mode being stated rather than a chord being played. Landau's "clean, huge, undefined" chords are this: a triad, the bass elsewhere, the BigSky doing the rest.
TARGET · E drone on the looper · cycle D/E → F♯/E → G/E, two bars each · solo over each with its mode · you're playing the dimmer switch as harmonyA progression in E where every chord is a law. Nothing is decorative. Loop it, comp it, then solo over it landing on guide tones.
bar chord law 1 Emaj9 Law 05 — the stack continued 2 C♯m7 Law 03 — home family, redecorated 3 F♯m7 → B7 Law 06 — the two-note engine (ii–V) 4 Emaj7 Law 02 — I, the scale's own chord 5 G♯7 Law 07a — secondary dominant, the borrowed leading tone 6 C♯m7 arrives as a destination this time 7 Am7 → D/E Law 07b (borrowed iv) → Law 08 (slash, Mixolydian) 8 F♯/E → B7 Law 08 (Lydian float) → Law 03 (pull) → back to bar 1 voicings (all verified) Emaj9 C♯m7 F♯m7 B7 Emaj7 G♯7 C♯m7 Am7 D/E F♯/E B7 e|-----x-------x-------x-------x-------x-------x-------x-------0-------2-------2-------2----| B|-----7-------5-------10------4-------9-------13------5-------1-------3-------2-------0----| G|-----8-------4-------9-------2-------8-------11------4-------0-------2-------3-------2----| D|-----6-------6-------11------4-------9-------13------6-------2-------0-------4-------1----| A|-----7-------4-------9-------2-------7-------11------4-------0-------x-------x-------2----| E|-----x-------x-------x-------x-------x-------x-------x-------x-------0-------0-------x----|
Listen for the joins. Bar 1→2: Emaj9 to C♯m7 — three notes in common, the floor drops a third, nothing else moves (Laws 03 and 05 at once). Bar 3: watch only the G and B strings — A/E → A/D♯ → G♯/D♯ — the guide tones doing the whole job. Bar 5→6: the C (B♯) in G♯7 is the one note not in E major, and it's why bar 6's C♯m7 lands harder than bar 2's. Bar 7: Am7 is the shadow; D/E lifts it into Mixolydian; F♯/E in bar 8 lifts again into Lydian, and B7 pulls the whole thing home. Three rooms, two borrowings, one bass note, eight laws.
TARGET · comp it with top-three inversions only (Law 04) · then solo landing on 3rds and 7ths at each change (Law 06) · then record bothOne law per day again, in order. Day 1 is the four triads until you hear the shape, not the name. Day 2 is the harmonised scale until you can say the numeral before the chord. Day 4 is inversions until your hand goes to the nearest one without thinking. Day 6 is the two-string ii–V–I — do this one until it's boring; it's the most important page in the pack. Then loop The Proof and comp for ten minutes with nothing but top-three inversions and slash chords.
This is a comping pack, so it's the Custom Standard, neck SSV, DCX as the desk, Jan Ray off. Laws 04–06 want the top three strings clear — Mesa clean with a touch of Mobius chorus and a plate, volume at 6 so the triads don't bloom into mush. Laws 07–08 are the Landau clean chord: Jan Ray on, volume at 5, BigSky big. When the Deluxe Reverb arrives, all of this is what it's for.
Session 14 (How Chords Are Built) was the "what." This is the "why," and it closes the loop with Pack 05: scales and chords are the same seven notes stacked two ways, so every law about one is a law about the other. Pack 07, when it comes, applies the machine to rhythm — the third thing the string does.