Figuring Out Chords

Snowman999

Active member
I watch TV with my guitar and just play. Eventually I'll come up with something and work it into a song. My latest has a capo on the 5th fret and kind of seems like it's based in a strange F chord. My fingers are constantly moving, so I had no idea. I did a search and came up with this site. It's really neat. The chord was an F(sus)2 with variations.

You just touch on the fret and it shows the chords.

There's much more this site does. If I can use this, anyone can.

Guitar Chord Analyzer (Chord Namer/Identifier) | Oolimo.com

chords.jpg
 
The online chord analyzers are pretty nice.

I recently downloaded a Jazz Chord book. For the life of me, I can' t figure out how people twist their fingers into such convoluted positions. Jazz guitarists must be double jointed freaks of nature with 6 inch long fingers. My stubby sausages don't come close.

That's why I play rock and roll. :thumbs up:
 
The online chord analyzers are pretty nice.

I recently downloaded a Jazz Chord book. For the life of me, I can' t figure out how people twist their fingers into such convoluted positions. Jazz guitarists must be double jointed freaks of nature with 6 inch long fingers. My stubby sausages don't come close.

That's why I play rock and roll. :thumbs up:

Before 2017 I wrote 2 or 3 songs where my fingers moved while playing a chord. Like most punk rock guitarists, if I was playing a G or A I played a G or A till I changed chords. Now, I'm just all over the damn place. Which for my tone deaf ears makes adding other instruments a nightmare.

I had a friend I worked with who played jazz chords and I was in awe of his fingers. Because he played chords my fingers could never move to. To be able to do it with such ease was astounding. BUT, IMO Page is the greatest guitarist, and watch him play. His fingering is HUMAN. It's the choice of chord changes and notes that make him special. Even old swing band videos of guitarists just playing chords, they're more complex, but they're not insane. These books show you what the full 6 string chord would look like, in reality most just play 3 - 4 strings at a time, making it easier to position your fingers.

I love in the old music books where they show the chords, and some are physically impossible.

I have to look deeper into the site I posted about. Maybe there's something in there that will help me with choosing the right notes to add for arranging. I foresee days of experimenting and getting it all wrong.
 
Before 2017 I wrote 2 or 3 songs where my fingers moved while playing a chord. Like most punk rock guitarists, if I was playing a G or A I played a G or A till I changed chords. Now, I'm just all over the damn place. Which for my tone deaf ears makes adding other instruments a nightmare.

I had a friend I worked with who played jazz chords and I was in awe of his fingers. Because he played chords my fingers could never move to. To be able to do it with such ease was astounding. BUT, IMO Page is the greatest guitarist, and watch him play. His fingering is HUMAN. It's the choice of chord changes and notes that make him special. Even old swing band videos of guitarists just playing chords, they're more complex, but they're not insane. These books show you what the full 6 string chord would look like, in reality most just play 3 - 4 strings at a time, making it easier to position your fingers.

I love in the old music books where they show the chords, and some are physically impossible.

I have to look deeper into the site I posted about. Maybe there's something in there that will help me with choosing the right notes to add for arranging. I foresee days of experimenting and getting it all wrong.

I recommend the Beato Book. It's music theory but relatable and his videos help illuminate the concepts. Things like what notes go with chord progressions are covered.

I am another sausage fingered ham handed player, but I have become better by learning the modes and scales and such.


For those of us without the stretch ability I like capo's and alternate tunings. Great for creativity jolts.


Almost forgot: Rick Beato
 
For every jazz chord there will be multiple names, so If it sounds good - it is good, no matter what it's name. However, as in most music, the chord name is linked to those around it. We could rename every common Am as C6, but Am fits fine doesn't it!
 
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For those of us without the stretch ability I like capo's and alternate tunings.
Whoever came up with the capo, I would like to shake their hand, presuming they are still on this mortal coil.
In a recording sense, the combination of capos, alternate tunings and varispeed has been liquid gold for me. They light my sonic skies.....
 
I recommend the Beato Book. It's music theory but relatable and his videos help illuminate the concepts. Things like what notes go with chord progressions are covered.

I am another sausage fingered ham handed player, but I have become better by learning the modes and scales and such.


For those of us without the stretch ability I like capo's and alternate tunings. Great for creativity jolts.


Almost forgot: Rick Beato

I have seen his videos. They are excellent. He's quite informative. The problem is, I have no idea what he's talking about (it's the same with most lesson videos). Sometimes it falls into place and by the end I've put it together. Then I have to rewatch to fully understand.

Books on music and me, do not mix. They might as well be in another language.

For every jazz chord there will be multiple names, so If it sounds good - it is good, no matter what it's name.

That's the way I look at it. My problem is, I write pop music and I have a tendency to accidentally make it dissonant when it doesn't need to be.

Whoever came up with the capo, I would like to shake their hand, presuming they are still on this mortal coil.
In a recording sense, the combination of capos, alternate tunings and varispeed has been liquid gold for me. They light my sonic skies.....

I love my capo. I never used one till a few years ago.

I wrote a song and asked the singer from my FFMH album to sing it. The first thing she did was rearrange it. We argued for at least an hour. I finally gave in, and we tried it her way. After ONE try she said "your way is better." Then she said "I can't sing it in this key. You need to change the key." This is one of the first songs I wrote that wasn't straight chords. I panicked and said "How do I do that?" She thought I was a insane and said "A capo." OOOH. I didn't have one. She did it in the key I wrote it in (I still don't know what it is).

This is a video I made for it. It has a "CONTEXT" panel attached now. I'm locked out of this account, because of password and email problems.

 
I love my capo. I never used one till a few years ago.
I'd been playing bass for 7½ years when I decided to learn guitar, mainly because of a cellist I was playing with at the time. Initially, I was Mr "hero-I'm gonna learn every chord in existence" but even "simple" chords like Eb or G# gave me cause for pause ! After 3 or 4 years of increasingly mis~shapen hands, I succumbed to the capo.
Rarely has succumbing been so magnificent a move !
One good thing about my capo~less days though; I would throw in chords that sounded right to me even though they may not be the choice of anyone else on earth. Even now, it helps with a certain kooky inventiveness. I remember about 16 years ago, playing with people I'd not previously played with, when they'd hear the chords I used for the songs we'd play, they'd say things like "that's an interesting choice of chord !" Then they'd insist we went on some other journey.
I don't play guitar for aesthetic reasons or to become brilliant. It is merely a means to an end and to that degree, capos and varispeeding are as important to my recording as breathing is to my living.
 
Well, funny this topic came up. A capo doesn't just have to be for funny chords. I am working on a song, The chord progression is rather straight forward. But when adding the acoustic, I wanted the acoustic not to sit in the same space. Put on the capo and played the same chords, but now the acoustic has its own space and and I can balance the EG with the AG and they don't fight with each other. Plus my acoustic has nice open strings.

Lots of uses for the capo and I think it is a wonderful piece of equipment. I would also add, it is amazing how you can add a capo, play the same chord pattern and standard tuning and now it is new, but the chord patterns still work. I have used one off and on for many years, but I never really exploited it like I should have.
 
I have a Taylor that is my least favorite for recording,except when I capo it. For some reason it just opens up as soon as I slap a capo on it. Probably something to do with the nut composition but whatever works, I say!
 
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