Here are some starting points for seeing the relationships between 6th voicings and their functional equivalents: a) For major 7th chords, play the major 6th chord whose root is the fifth degree of the major scale. b) One approach to a dominant 7th voicing is to play the minor sixth chord on the fifth degree of the dominant. c) Another dominant 7th approach is to use the minor 6th chord whose root is one-half step up from the root of the dominant. d) Minor 7th chords are just inversions of major 6th chords, so this combination is natural. e) The same goes for minor 7 flat 5 and minor 6th chords. With the latter two examples, thinking in terms of 6th voicings opens up the possibility of moving voicings along a corresponding major or minor 6 diminished scale and then resolving to the next chord, rather than to simply hold a static voicing.

As we discussed in Examples 2 and 4, dominant 7ths derived from the same diminished 7th can be used as substitutions for each other. Here is B flat 7 resolving to E flat maj7, and voiced with three substitutions over a shell voicing in the left hand: a) an E7 resolving to a B flat 6 voicing over the E flat maj7, b) a G7 resolving to another inversion of the B flat 6, and c) a D flat 7 resolving to yet another B flat 6 inversion. Where are the chord symbols, you ask? We could include them as they appear with alerations in Example 4, but Barry wants you to focus on the basic structure of the voicings. As we'll see momentarily, this makes them easier to move along a scale.

You can float those dominant substitute voicings up the diminished 7th arpeggio ...