Major

As already established, major chords are strong, expansive, smooth, invite opening and celebration. They are good for accompanying empowerment and delivering new information. They are great for affirmations, especially proclamations. They are like the ride in the stagecoach, a tube trip down the river, a 57 Chevy. Everything is OK in major land. It can be used to sustain a healthy condition, invite someone onto a healing plateau,  or just make it like a kid on a sunny day, playful, celebratory…everything is bitchin’

Minor

Minor chords are thought to be a bit negative in that they invoke sadness. But from a healing perspective they are perfect vehicles for inner journeys, meditations that explore the inner world, even journeys into the dark places of our energetic selves. They invite reflection and introspection and are perfect for diving into the confusing energy of a particular chakra. The mood impacts the heart which invites the Love vibration into the Whole Energy System. Specific and personal cellular information can be stimulated to download into the listener. For one who has not accessed tears in a long time the minor chord is the key. Oscillating between major and minor in a sequence can be like a rocking motion to break through difficult energetic memory.

Major Seventh

A chord that many call dissonant… but it is a magnificent chord for healing. When I use it, and I use it a lot, I feel so expansive and loved. I fall into angelic arms and easily surrender resistance. It is particularly powerful in ending a sequence as it sends messages of ‘everything is all right” and “you will be well taken care of”.  A well placed major seventh is a delight that can open the heart to one’s spiritual heritage. A whole song with them feels cozy and is a sweet invitation to a pleasant place.

Seventh

Seventh chords propel the listener into what must be dealt with. They are powerful and evoke strong movement forward, actually in all directions. They open up places in between chakras and invite cleansing. They are moody but in a strong, bluesy, rockin’ way. Confrontation works in the use of sevenths. So, too, the pushing of a new idea, a reprogramming. Sporadic use in turnarounds, in choruses or bridges can be particularly impactful as they make a strong statement of a new way of being…or at least provide the threshold though which one is invited…or forced…

Sus4

Adding the fourth to anything immediately puts the listener on a threshold between two lands, the land of what was and the land of what can be. It evokes strong Earth ties and calls forth the mysteries of Tribal cultures, shamanic lands where wisdom prevails and drops into the cells like magic. It causes the listener to hover over possibility to open to new vistas and then drops them into the “what was” with the higher vision …where they squirm their way back out into the more desirable and powerful places newly discovered.

Major 9

This chord was what made Steely Dan music so cool. They called it their “Mu” chord. It is an inside texture that lifts you just above where you are…kind of like an attitude, a spiritual cockiness that lays claim to one’s own version of I AM. It is a beautiful chord to ride on, bar after bar. Like an astral journey over the physical dimension with full awareness, it gives new perspectives to the familiar. It is evocative and gives the listener panoramic vision into their issues. Use it sparingly to jump start one’s boring life, little splashes of “dang! there is more after all”

Sixth

Using the sixth is like sitting on your favorite Grandpa’s knee. It speaks of a simple time when things just had a flow. People weren’t empowered much but they had a good connection with life and the land. They did not resist much. It was just “who they were”. Sixths do that. In C it reaches up to the third eye and takes off the blinder, changes the world from all black and white to B&W and a spot of color… Makes things interesting. Use it for helping someone to entertain the option of growing and becoming more powerful. It is easy to digest but adds enough spark to make them look forward and, maybe, even stand up. It loves to swing. And that mood opens the windows and lets the breeze knock off the debris in that hip way.

Drone

Drones of the root, fifth, octave root are raw power. They give foundation strongly and then layer the heavens on top of it. Its like seeing things from a mountain top. Solid on the earth we can take risks and start to move, to dance, to celebrate. In C it links with the throat (G) and the crown (C’), balancing us in the full expression of who we really are. It is the perfect bed for synth pads or power chords upon which the melody can tease and dance and lead us where it wants us to go. Weave an expansive journey between chakra points. Repeat an idea until the listener surrenders and gets out of the way of their healing.

Augmented

This chords is always leading somewhere. Use it to emphasize a point or a chakra. Use it to transition from one chakra to the next, one healing point to another. Hold it and stir the energy so that resolution is desired. Its like a stair step into a better land.

Diminished

The chord of intense contraction. It is like pushing the ball below the surface of the water. It is nails on the chalkboard. It’s the people down the hall fighting. It’s the tailgater riding the horn. It forces you to pay attention. And the more you pay attention the more you integrate. Annoying sounds can be neutralized by mimicking their sound vibration. Our issues are revealed and cleansed by bringing awareness to them. The diminished chord forces us to enter the dark room, invoke the mystery, jump off the cliff…anything to get relief. It is powerful when their is strong patterned thinking and obvious resistance showing. It is good for a know-it-all who won’t drop the schtick. Use it with discretion and guidance. A little can go a long way…and a lot can go a lot farther.

Seconds

Word is that the seconds are where the future lies, the actual living in Oneness that so many talk about. It is the interval we are growing into. It has secrets and mysteries in it. The minor second is so close it is annoying…for awhile. Then we get swept into the mysterious invitation to the exotic land that reveals the thing we have been looking for…but did not know it. When the Bulgarian women swept into the West in the mid 80’s they brought the seconds interval to the Western ear. We simply could not get enough. Use it to pull the listener deep into themselves where answers lie. It’s like an old friend who is also our mentor.