Simple Dominant 7th Chord Substitution – Great for Beginners (Accordion-Friendly Trick)

[breezybellows]

Hi everyone,


I recently put together a short video tutorial demonstrating a very beginner-friendly chord substitution technique using the dominant 7th chord. It’s a simple trick that adds a touch of harmonic color, and it’s especially easy to do on the accordion thanks to the Stradella bass layout.


The example uses just the first phrase of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but the idea applies to any song built on basic chords. It’s also a great way to take a first step into music theory without getting overwhelmed.


Watch the video here:






If you’re a beginner looking for more tutorials like this, I run a free Facebook group focused only on learning and teaching:
Accordion Adventures – Tutorials for Beginners
Join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/accordionadventures





Would love to have you in the group—and feel free to share your own variations or clips using this technique!

 

[Tom]

Nice video Breezy, will be helpful. Of course, as you know, we can do the minor ii > V7 > I also using the same principle, something I find pretty fun. Probably in your next video, but I don’t have facebook.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

Nice video Breezy, will be helpful. Of course, as you know, we can do the minor ii > V7 > I also using the same principle, something I find pretty fun. Probably in your next video, but I don’t have facebook.

You can even expand on that with something like iii-VI-ii-V7-I.

OR, going back to funk, and using a 12-bar blues song like Mustang Sally, make every major chord a dominant seventh.

We could have a lot of fun with chord substitutions, as long as we don't overdue it.

 

[breezybellows]

Yes. I'm planning to add ii-V7-I and the turn around as next steps in a follow up video. I wanted to make the secondary dominant as the first video because of how easy it is to execute on the accordion.

 

[A Tryer]

Thanks Joseph, that was excellent. Off to practice now!