Chords In G Tuning

Before we get into figuring out chord positions it might be helpful to learn something other than barre and three-finger chords. When we get into The Nashville Number System in the next chapter we will be discussing minor chords and chord progressions. Let s go over some of the chord forms used in open ! tuning. "arly on in this boo# we tal#ed about how the barre chord in ! tuning follows the chromatic scale. Staring with open ! you get !$%&b with a barre at the first fret' & at the second fret and so on.

The barre chord is not the only chord form that follows this pattern. "very chord is going to follow the chromatic scale up and down the fretboard. This is #ind of neat because you only have to learn a few chord forms to learn all of the chords. Major Chord Positions &ll of the chords that we have been wor#ing with so far have been ma(or chords. & major chord is made up of the )st ' *rd and +th notes in the scale. & G major chord is made up of the notes G-B-D. ,f you play those three notes together anywhere on the fretboard you have a G major chord.

There are two types of chord positions. -pen position chords have one or more open strings and closed position chords don t. That s easy to remember' isn t it. ,n some of the chord forms shown in this and subse/uent chapters you may notice a white dot mar#ing one of the strings. That white dot indicates an optional string. 0ou can fret it if you want to or you can (ust thin# of that string as being crossed out for that chord form. The first form that we are going to loo# at is called the F position because its first position on the fretboard is an 1 chord.

There isn t any need to write out every single 1 position chord on the fretboard because it follows the same idea as barre chords. The chord one fret up the fretboard 2towards the bridge- , #now it seems li#e going down' but we call it going 3up3 the nec# because the notes are getting higher in pitch4. . .where was ,. -h yeah' the chord one fret up from the 1 position & chord at the seventh fret has to be &$%Bb. ,t can t be anything else because it follows the chromatic scale. ,t also wor#s the other way around. The " chord is an 1 position chord 3cut off3 by the nut. The next chord position is called the 5 or 6 position depending on who you tal# to. Some fol#s call it the 5 position because the first chord we use is the 5 chord' other fol#s call it the 6 position because 6 is the first closed position chord using this form.

&fter " at the sixth fret you get and 1 chord at the seventh fret and so on. Minor Chord Positions Minor chords are made up of the same three notes as a ma(or chord' but in a minor chord we flat the third note. That means we lower the pitch of the third note of the chord by a half step. So' a ! minor chord would be G-Bb-D. 7inor chords have a dar#' moody sound. Sometimes people will say that minor chords are sad or spoo#y' but that s really something that depends on how you use them. The best way to describe them is that they (ust sound different from ma(or chords. There are three main minor chord positions. &ll of them continue along with the chromatic scale. The " 7inor 8osition

The 6 7inor 8osition

The & 7inor 8osition

Seventh Chord Positions & seventh chord is a ma(or chord with one extra note. The extra note is the flatted seventh note of the scale. & G7 chord would be G-B-D-F. Seventh chords have a variety of uses. ,n fol# music you often see seventh chords tossed into a chord progression (ust before a chord change. This wor#s because seventh chords have this funny way of creating a feeling of tension that leads into a chord change. The three most common seventh chord positions are diagrammed below.

&ny barre or ! position chord can be made into a seventh by dropping your pin#y on the first string three frets below the barred fret. ,n other words' if your barre at the second fret with your index finger and put your pin#y on the first string at the fifth fret you would get an &9 chord. Barre across the fourth fret and place your pin#y on the first string at the seventh fret and you get a B9 chord.

-ne seventh chord form that is #ind of a redheaded stepchild in open ! tuning is the 69 chord.

,t is moveable' but it s #ind of aw#ward so most players don t treat this as a moveable position. Using Capo

Thin# of your capo as an extra finger playing a barre chord for you. The cool thing about that is you can play in (ust about any #ey with a few simple chords. 1or

example' if you capo at the second fret and play a 5 chord you wind up playing a 6 chord.

,t s easy to understand using the capo if you loo# at your chord positions. The 5 and 6 chords both use the same chord form at different positions on the fretboard. :sing a capo lets you play with those relationships to ma#e transposing songs into new #eys easier. 5apo at the second fret and play as if you were in ! and you wind up playing in &. 5apo at the second fret and play in 5 and you wind up playing in 6. 5apos can be a lot of fun because you can ta#e a simple song and try it in a whole bunch of #eys until you find something comfortable to sing in. Now' if we capoed at the fourth fret and played as if we were in ! we would wind up playing in B. What would we be playing in if we capoed at the fourth fret and played as if we were in 5. ,f you said' 3"3 you ve got it; The !imitations "# "pen G Tuning 0ou may have noticed that once you get past the first couple of frets in open ! tuning chords there are a lot of strings mar#ed with an 3x3 because there isn t a feasible way to play them. That s #ind of the big drawbac# to this tuning. -pen ! is a great way to start out on the guitar' but li#e any other open tuning it starts to get sha#y when you add in more advanced chording. That is why you will find chord diagrams for standard tuning near the end of this boo#. -ne of the reasons standard tuning 2$ D G B $ from the sixth string to the first4 became the most common tuning is that it lends itself to an ama<ing variety of chord forms that ma#e use of all six strings. The drawbac# to standard tuning is that some of the chord forms are fairly demanding on the left hand. Wor#ing in open ! for the time being will give you a chance to build up your hand strength before you dive into standard tuning.