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    92 views14 pages

    Open Chords

    Uploaded by

    Francesco Guarneri
    oc

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 14
    PLAYING THE GUITAR 74 ‘The fst goal of any guitarist wanting to play ‘popular musics to build up a chord vocabu- lary. Thisislgely question of wali ne left hand to remember the various shapes. It does take ime, butthe more offen you use a particular chord, the quicker you will be able tind Rand the smoaher our ayn wll ‘The teen simple chords shown here comprise the beginner's chord vovabuly Using these fifteen in various combinations it 'spossibleto playa simpliied arrangement of ‘many popular songs. Baxin by loka carefully teach chord and ty ta memrize ite shape ar patio Got {your fingers into position one at atime, then ls cach sng separa to ceckthat ol She che msscapring a bedi ome not rng properly, it willbe due to imprecise {fingering or insufficient pressure. fan open ‘tring doesnot sound, one of vourfingerswill be getting inthe way and damping it chord construction Ittakesa minimum of three notes to make a ‘chord, andany combination of three or more ‘notes — however “discordant” they may sound together —can be considered as a cchord of some sort. On the guitar. itis possible to play chords with as many as six different “notesin them (one or each ting) butallthe chords shown here are made up of just three ‘0r four notes —some of which are repeated or “doubled” (see p. 123). ‘Stmplethree-note chords are called mads; ‘twonotesare known asan interval. Allchords convey to the ear two musical ‘Statements. The firsts the “key” or “tone ‘centre: this s the principal note ofthe chord. and it ie the one on which tis built For thio reason, itiscalled the rootnote. The second is Une “harmony”: this isthe etfect produced by sounding the other notes in the chord in relation to the root note. Itis the particular sound of the chord. andi is determined by the intervals between the root note and the other notoe. ‘Take the three Echords—Emajor, E ‘seventh and E minor ~asan example. All three have E.as their root note, but each hasa different sound and therefore a different use, Emaiorisa simple three-note triad com- prising E, G3 and B. But, when youplay E. seventh, youare introducing anothernote into the chord, a D. Thisis what makes t ‘sound diferent toE major. Now play E minor ‘and consider how ths differs from E major. ‘Both are three-note triads, butthe major ‘chord has astrona, stable sound. whereas the holy In each case, itis the interval betwreen theroot note and the third note in the scale ‘ofthe chord that determines whetheritisa ‘major oraminor (see p. 104-7). How to read chord diagrams To leam these fifteen basic chords, you must understand how to read chord diagrame. Thoce aracimply box gride rep resenting the strings and the frets on the fingerboard. The six honontal ines are the strings, with the top E (Ist) atthe top andthe bottom E (6th) atthe bottom. The vertical lines are the fret wires. and the spares in between are numbered to indicate which Example: C major 2: she Press Do not pay this string Ist string zn sma Sed sting ath sting Sth sting eth sng par of the fingerboard is being shown, Finger positions are indicated by circles on the strings. The numbers in the ches tell Yyou which finger to use. A circle without a ‘number m tincicates an optional note. I there is no circle on the string, itshould be played open (untretted). I there isan “X” fn the etring it farme na part af tho chal and should not be sounded at all. Chord diagram Theres nae tht et gees de Istfeton the Gnd sting, the 2d ger te 2 iretonhe ah cng a he el er he 3 felon the th sting The stand Sets oe n. and the 6th stra nt Bite Ramesh ni nae backof the neck someuhere level uth the Ist fret sothat there baler space between the palm and the gutr neck Er The beginner's chord vocabulary Learning these fiteen chords should be {your first job. The three E chords are prob: ably the easiest with which to star: fst, sixstrings are played: second, once you can play E mayor, you need to remove only one finger to play E seventh or E minor. The C chords and the B seventh cll for slightly _more precise fingering fall the notes are to sound clearly. And to play the F chord, you ‘must use your Ist inger to hold down two strings at once. Thisisa simple “barre” (see . 82). Your tumb should be behind your stfinger, providing pressure directly oppo- site the barre, Emajor ; 9 4 E Eseventh 2 3 4 Eminor 2 3 «4 PLAYING THE GUITAR A minor PLAYING THE GUITAR The three-chord theory ‘As soon as you are able to play the fiftoen bbeginner'schords,itwillbecome obvious that some sound better together than others In ‘any key, there are three chords which appear in virtually every base progression They wll ‘always sound good together, whatever order, \you put them in and whatever key you play thom in. Thoy are called the primary chords and they represent the building blocks of all compostion. ‘You can find these three chords in any key ‘by looking at the major scale. Take C as an ‘example, ThekevofC maior has no sharos or flats init So, in one octave, the notes are: C DESeaGA Bc. ‘The note of Ctselfs the root note, and the ‘chord built on thisnote is C major, called the tonic chord, The other two primary chords are the 4th and the Sth inthe scale. Countina ‘up four notes, including C itself asthe frst, brings you to F, and counting up five notes brings you to G. The 4th chord (built on the note of) iscalled the sub-dorninart, andthe ‘5th chord (built on the note of G)iscalled the dominant. Fis therefore the sub-dominant chord and Gisthedominantchordinthe kev ‘of C. (For more details on scales. see p. 104, and on chord construction, see p, 121.) Tn any key, these three chords have the aime relationship to one another. Together, they comprise the “three-chord theory”. Finding the I, IV and V chords Example: key of C major u|m|w)vi]ulw | p| © femeey als — chord (C ma behten Grnste ot major sae V chord (G seventh) Bilton Sth note of major scale 1 2 IV chord (F major) Bull on Ath note of major sale. 3 The Roman numeral system ‘There isa system in musie theory which Chords built on the major scale in five common keys ‘can identify each chord in a key by a Key of C major | Key of D major | Key of E major | Key of G major |Key of A major Romahmmglificia chert trace : built on the root note, is, the2ndchordis Noshasra, esata, 4 sharps, er stare. I-thesraisi, angseon upto Vi Chora number Vill isthe same as chord number | but an octave higher. Each cod ale Pais areen cknamaenice | D|o| E] o| el] a] aj o| B Se eae have already seen that the I chord is the tone, thelVchord ste sub-dominant, | | | E | Itt m| G+) m and the chord isthe dominant The other names are: ‘below, and their Prikl! w| F|w] Gc) w] alw plained in the following pages. vicG| via B|v VI A VI B VI cy) vi vi} Bp | vm] ce) vm| pe] vit aa 76 PLAYING THE GUITAR ‘Chord progressions based on the three-chord theory ‘The best way of talking inthis information and of understanding how the three-chord theory works is to familiarize yourself with the sounds behind the rules. And the only ‘way todo thsisto play hechords oneatter another, in various combinations, while listening to the effects they create. (On the right isa chart which sets out many of the most common I-1V-V chord Progressions using the fileen beginner's chords from p. 75. The tonic and sub- ‘dominant (TV) chords may be major, minor ‘or seventh forms, but the dominant (V) ‘chord in these examples salways majorand is usually nlayed asa seventh ‘Youill soon discover that many ofthese chord combinations are forilor and thot ‘most of them form the basis of popular songs. What makes one different from an- ‘other — apart from the order in which the chords are arranged —is the length of ime ‘you stay oneach chord and the rhythm you give to the sequence. ‘Try playing them. Give each chord an ‘equal count of anything from one to four, and try all the permutations shown within ‘one key so that you can hear how major, minor and seventh chords willsound in, ‘combination | Blues chord progressions ‘The blues isa musical form based almost ‘entirely on the three-chord theory. ‘Although the blues was certainly not ‘analyzed by its creators, its formula has sur- vived to become the structure of popular ‘music, the accepted roots of jazz and the neat Uf ach ‘The most common blues patter is prob- ably the one known as the rwelve-barbiues. It gets its name from the fact that it takes twelve “bars” to complete each cycle of the Basic 12-bar blues TZ chord. jon, “Bars” are explained fully on p. 89-90, but for now we can say that one bar equals a count of 1-2-3-4 ‘The blues is dificult to categorize, how- ‘ever. There are many variations on the theme and many different ways ofarranging Uv tine clues. Surnetiins te chords are ‘majors and sometimes they are sevenths: ‘sometimes the progression isnot even ‘twelve bars long, but may be just eight. The blues is characterized just as much by its 12-bar blues varianion thythms (see p. 97) and its vocal and ead solo styles (see p. 194) as by the construc- tion ofits chord progressions, Below are four typical blues chord sequences in the key of E. The first rep: resents whatis usually considered to be the asic tweive-bar pattern. Thesewunshiows the same progression but with sevenths introduced. The third is a common variation. And the fourth is an eight-bar rather than a twelve-bar sequence. scarfs PLAYING THE GUITAR Onp. 76, weshowed how tofind hel, Vand. \Vehordsbuitton the Ist, th and 5th notes of ‘2-harmonized major scale. We now move ‘on to introduce the chords builton the 2nd, 3rd and 6th notes. These are called the secondary chords. Roman numeralsare used to indicate on which note of the scale each chord ie basod. The VI chord is built on the 6th note of the major scale In any hey, aun yelled the relative minor. Its natural form is asa minor chord, butitcan alsobe played asa majorora seventh, (For more details on is special relation to the tonic or chord, see p. 106.) ‘Tho Il chordie built on the 2nd nota of tho ‘major scale, and is called the supertonic. It, 100, is usually minor but can be played as a ‘major ora seventh ‘The ll chordis built on the 3rd note of the ‘major scale. and is called the mediant —so- called because it ies midway between the tonic (I) and the dominant (V) chords. tis generally played as a minor butcan bea ‘major chord as well Because it has no sharps or flats, take the ‘key of C major asan example again. As you ‘can see from the chart on the rcht. the I chord isa D, the llchord an E. and the VI chord an A. These chords can he worked cut In other keys using the same method of ‘counting up the notes in the appropriate majorscale. Thecharton p. 76 showsthemin Finding the II, III and VI chords Example: key of C major ee Further chord progressions c Die F G A B c I u| m w/v | wl wy] t —— 6) 1 chord (D minor) 2 3 Built on 2nd note of major scale 1 Vl chord (A minor) Built on 6th note of major scale 1 Il chord (E minor) 2 Bult on 3rd note of major sale 2 the fve most common Keys. Common progressions using the Note Thelast two T pecan reat vt Southaven sak tonto GEMM Gi whl cet corseauerce The po. Sah seeps resions shown here represent m Ea Centers sedi solepepusroonm.” Samecigpe | Kevol pe 1f>wMjwi[vit 1 [ay vv Keyoft C [Am] F | G[ C | [Kevae c |e7 pm cic Key of G | Em D | G | [ Keyore G | B7|Em| D| G I Vi ¥ I I tl VI v I Key of C Cc | Am G Cc Key of C & Em| Am| G c Key of G G | E7§ D G Key of G G | Bm Em| D| G | Mule 1 fay wil vito KeyofC c oa G | C | [ Kevore c few] F[ cic KeyofG CG iz D | G | [ Kevoc G | Bm) c| D| G 8 Strumming and flatpicking Basically. strumming is an instinctive action ‘which either comes easily or it doesn't, Most sultorta strum wth plctruma, since these give a crisper sound with a clearer “attack”, ibuitis notunimnoum for playersto sum wth thei fingers, wth their thumb or with ‘thumbpick. As with all right-hand technique, it 'simportant forthe aveal fel afer playingthatvou ae abletomaintaina steady, uid strum, alternating between downstrohes and upstrokes. Upstrokes produre a sharper sound because they emphasize the top strings; downstrokes produce a fller sound because the bass strings receive most ofthe Impact ofthe stroke, Atthe same time, you should be aiming to ‘emphasize accents on various beats. Until {yout can da thie ituille impnesihle tn ostah- lish either downbeats or backbeats. As we ‘enplained on p. 73, you can use your right PLAYING THE GUITAR hand palm to mute or deaden the sings by resting ton top ofthe saddle. You can also we yourletthend tedampen sings. Thisnot only provides “space” where required but is also useful for establishing accented beats. ‘Atthis point itshould come as no surprise that only practice makes perfect. And the best way tn practice emanth cmimming tania with other musicians, with recordings, and with metronomes or thythm mechines AIS et Sty acoso ard country sues flapickng isa rlctrum technique in which you combine open- chord strums and singl-string bass notes. Inits simplest form, this consists of aer- nating the bass notes of en open chord ‘These are almost always the rot note and the “bth” (seep. 121), and the chord diagramsbelow show vouwhich they arin ‘Alternate bass notes for open chords Tor oe Emajor Gmaior Bar eiee Cand. Bam ler Gand Single-note bass runs and fills c F (9-0-0 1+ ttf 0-912 2 2021: 33520} P35 = ‘Connecung bass ine for choras Co F 10 ¢ + rrotes on “and-4 and” ofeach bar a > © ——o—0—0-— 22 Count T-and 2 and-S-end-4-ond" Ploy inking bass six ofthe most commonly used open chords Firstplay the bass note ofthe chord then the chord itself. then the alternate bass note (the 5th), then the chord again. Over the count of four, this produces a bass note ‘on one and three, and a chord on two and four. The technique evolved partially because it gives the left-hand fingers time to form the resto the chord when you are 24 ‘Bass ils for open D mayor ‘This ample bane lnclades iter the B or the C ‘on the thsi from the Aon A 0—0—0—-0, ‘Those potas ar "harsmerad.on™ we open Sh sting (seep 141), Playing at fast tempos and making quick chard changes. ‘When you have mastered these alternate bass notes, the next sop isto introduce simple bass lines and ilsto connect open ‘chords in a progression. A selection of different connecting patternsis given below. They are written out in tablature, instruc- tions for reading which appear on p. 67. that inks A and B seventh “2-2-2 |-9-9— 0-0-0} 2} 22-2 3 90-05 bth 3 0-0-0 00024 o-| bee ‘Connecting bass tine for chords Ato to Eto A = Siete ss abene Seay tha ee oe couns of thesedond tar av sede dexend fom 0 c s D f—9—9-9—-0—9 0 $ 8. 3 [ooo [open] -9 5 a) 9 0. 24 a 9) 2 8 of 22a faa 2 O23 t ——t—o1}2 a0 1“ t too baal oa alo Ascending and assis Connecting bas ln fr chord Eto Ato 87 to {Meisterampleconnecte he chote A ard ‘SPasutSettant bars Ss tee he acencng rn insecond comnece DSc anatG Bon nue ue counts tothe bar the bas otesareon I, 3 nd PLAYING THE GUITAR ‘The basis of most fingerpicking o fingersble auitarpavnasthe development fideper- ‘ont mauomontin your right-hand thurs and fingers, so that you can pla a rhythmic ‘bas line on the bottom strings atthe sare time asa melody ine onthe top stings. ‘There are countess subtleties and van ations in more complicated fingerstve nlay- ing, but, intially, tis better o sick to basic pores in hich your thumb plays the base line and your fingers play the melody. “Much ofthe music that eotures American fingersyls is writen with four beats othe bar. [hese beats are often played as alter- nating bass notes —$0 that there ae two ‘1 0ups of two in each bar (see Folk and country rhythms. 96) Though something ofa trademark in American folk, country and ragtime music, such alternating basslines are never e-featureof classical music nor, neces, otadvences mgesies you can use the basic Soni cminenanciane the others developed through American fall blues, country, regime and rock ses see 73) tisgeneraly eecepted thal the corest Tight-hand position essential o achieve a {goodttone and technique or cassca playing, Butthestee sting guitar wil produce an acceptable tone wth the ight hand in various postions. The most common fn test the edge of the palm on top ofthe bridge. The palmthen actsasasteady anchor point anit can be used to dampen the bas stings in ‘order to create more ofa contrast berwoen the rhythmic bassline andthe melody. This ‘works chiefly because muting the bas stings ‘prevents thom frm ringing an clang ae the melody notes. Fingerpicking and fingerstyles American fingerpicking styles “Tho rhunhorimer's xt one mars) American fingerstves, but forms thefoun- dation of much ofthe technique It ges name from the fact that the right-hand postion looks something ike a curved lw hammer used for pulling nais out of wood. ‘The thumb plays the rhythmic bass notes uth deiner hilo the Tet ana Pk fingers play the melody with upstrokes. The elowhammer was acharocters of Rever aes The two-nger clawhammer The thumb plays he bassline usualy th oumstrokeson the botom tree sings (he 6th, Sth and ath) The Tet and 2nd fingers la ‘melody notes, usualy with uptrokes on the top three stings (ihe 3d, 2nd and Ist). ond Can Ravi dye —aeitune of many ‘other early blues players. Some guitarists usea three finger, rather than a two finger. style. In this case, one fingerplays each of the top three suings. Infinite variations are possible, inclu playing several stingsat once stad of © separately (in oar to sound chords) and Using the thumb to play upstrokes and the fingers to play downstrokes, The three-finger technique Again the thumb pista thro bas sings, but the Sed Snger Sako used so thatthe ist figer Biche eating the Zr get ik te 2 string, andthe id finger ics the Ist string ihat ISvone fnger for each of he top stings. Fingerpicking patterns The examples shown onthe right will gve youan idea ofhow fingerpicking wor, will help you ta develon independent foe control, and wil provide you witha starting point for discovering your own pattem: ‘They are all writen in “tablature” form (in- structions on how to read ths appear on p. 67) and use simple open chords. Although the bass string may vay, the patterns remain basically the same whichever chord {you choose. The fist three examples have a very simple bas line, against which the notes on thetop sings tendo gvea sont“ nppe cr “arpeggio” effet. Inthe other three ‘examples, the thumb plays an altemeting bass. rocking from the 6th tring tthe ath string Begin by playing the exercises slowly. land gradually ineraco the tempo when {your right hand has leamed the pattem Arpeggto-like patterns Open E chord ‘Changing chords while: (Once vou have mastered afew of the basic fingerpicking pattems. the next step iso combine them with some ofthe basicchord progressions you have worked out from . 76-8. As with strurann, ere in Portant thing is to keep the rhythm steady ‘while you make each chord change. Paying ‘along with a metronome ora rhvthm ‘machine may help you with your timing. ‘The example below is one ofthe most ‘common of all chord progressions. a descending sequence of Am, G, Fand E. ‘The frigerpiching potters hs @ suid aler~ nating bass and is played toa rhythm of 1Land-2-and-3-and-4-and. You stay on ‘each chord fortwo barsand play the pattern PLAYING THE GUITAR ‘once for each bar. When you change chord, \your thumb should change to a new bass ‘ring, sn that it plays the root note of each ‘chord ~ the 5th string for A minor, the 6th stung for G, the 4th ating for Fad the 6th string again for E. When you gett the end lf the sequence, you can change from Ero ‘A minor and start again. Combining melody and bass line ‘As wells providing a style for simple chord ‘accompaniments. fngemickina also aves ‘you the possibilty of combining complete tbass and melody lines at the sama ima, so that you can play a two-part arrangement ‘on your own, This sortof style ~ of which ragtime tunes are a good example ~repre- 9—1—3. sents stee-stnng tngerpicking atts most sophisticated. The example given here —2 simple arrangement of "When the Saints ‘GoMarching In” —hasa regula, unfalterina alteratingbass of four beats tothe bar. The ‘melody is played on the Ist, 2nd and 3rd strings, and the bass on the bottom three. o—1—3. 0 —3 ‘Oh when the saints Plectrum-style fingerpicking This lightly mute uy but verethe ye ‘evolved amongst country and rock guitar- iss Risused by counties top players and means flatpicking and fingerpicking can tbe combined: You hold your plectum between yourthumband It ger (as fr normal plectrum sys), butat the same theme your lle Bg ploy woes on the higher strings Example: two-string run Playing ne sing i plecrum andone wth then ger lrtswo seg fone of the Br PLAYING THE GUITAR determines the name of the chord. ‘As soon as you start to work through the ‘examples that follow, youwillalso ee that, by Using the various barre shapes, you can play ioe pes Smee ers en fingerboard. This demonstrates an important characteristic ofthe guitar. Being able to choose where you placa a chard maans that you can play any progression in a variety of ways, each producing a diferent sound. ‘There are four basic barre shapes, each derived from an open chord. The “E shape” Is based on an open E major, the “A shape” ‘on Amajor, the “C shape" on C major and the “G shane" an G major The F shane and A shape can easily be adapted to give minor, seventh, minor seventh and major seventh barre forms. E shape barre chords ‘The principle ofall harrechordsisto take an ‘open-chord fingeringand transformitinioa shape that can be moved up the finger board. Begin by playing a simple E major ‘chord, te way you were shown on p. 75. "Now, in order to release your Is finger so that it can play the barre, you must change the fingering ofthe apen chard. The second step is therefore to hold down the notes of the chord with your 2nd, 3rd and 4th fingers. The third step i to move this whole shape up one fret, bnnging your Ist inger

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