"I play major 7th chords when one needs to be there. When it doesn't, I play something else. What's so hard about this??"

I think the point of much of this thread is that some people wish to discuss how to *tell* when the chord needs to be there. There are objective and subjective reasons. Some folks are trying to come to grips with the factors that go into the choice.

My judgment of course is always flawless in this matter.

(Oh, Lord, did I just respond to a post by josepp?)

Having said that, I've seriously been thinking about *why* it seems that M7 usually seems uncalled-for in folk accompaniment. One theory that comes to mind is that, if you go back into the British/Celtic provenance of the majority of the music we are talking about, you find melodies emphasizing the pentatonic or hexatonic scales. The leading tone (the basis of the M7 chord I would say) is not used much (not at all in some melodies) except in final cadences where the dominant (V) chord is called for anyway. Opinions from the theorists?

Cheers
-Glenn

-Glenn