The ♭VII Push · Funk
A7 · G7
I7 · ♭VII7 in the key of A
The James Brown move. The whole band drops back a whole step and then lands again, and the groove does the rest of the work.
Four bars of the ♭vii push in the key of A, written I7 · ♭VII7 and played driving 8ths over a backbeat groove at around 104 beats per minute. The chord shapes are below, and you can hear the whole thing play (and slow it down) without an account.
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What the chords are
This is I7 · ♭VII7 in the key of A. The degree of each chord is what makes the progression recognisable in any key, so the same four moves transpose anywhere once you know them by number.
- A7 I7 at the 2nd fret, on 5 strings
- G7 ♭VII7 in open position, frets 1 to 3, on all six strings
How it should feel
- Strum
- Driving 8ths
- Groove
- Backbeat
- Tempo
- 104 bpm
- Key
- A
- Voicings
- Campfire
Big open grips and barres — the whole-hand chords everyone starts on.
The shapes
Low E on the left, high e on the right. 0 is an open string, × is one you do not play.
| Chord | E | A | D | G | B | e |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A7 | × | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| G7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
More Funk
- B7 · A7 I7 · ♭VII7 in B · The ♭VII Push
- Bm7 · Em7 i7 · iv7 in B · Minor Vamp
- B7 · E7 I7 · IV7 in B · The One
- Am7 · Dm7 i7 · iv7 in A · Minor Vamp
Posted . Part of a growing library of guitar chord progressions.