Complicated chords vs "regular" chords

[JDOD]

Most importantly, practice your arse off and learn all your parts as best you can before you start rehersing. Then you can easily correct things and the band cam practice. There's not many things more annoying that turning up to reherse and some lazy twat hasn't learned his parts so you have to spend time teaching him things instead of rehersing.

 

[m7flat5]

As a jazz guitarist I play with piano a bass a lot, sometimes just piano. The core concept for playing dense chords is the bass plays 1 and 5, the guitar is the tenor voice of the chord and should voice the 3 and the 7. Those two notes are the essence of the chord. This allows the piano to play color at the top of the chord. Additionally by focus on the 3 and the 7 you are able to achieve nice voice leading without making the over all sound muddy.

 

[mjbphotos]

Acoustic or electric? Picked or strummed? Gecko is right - A (add 9) and B (add 4) are really easy to play - by the way both of these are forms of sus chords, and if the piano is playing them then your 'simple' chords may sound dissonant. E/G# is fairly easy if you play a standard E major and use the little finger on the low E string 4th fret. If you're picking, you even play it by using a thumb wrap on the low E and then play just the top 3 strings with a D major moved up 2 frets.

 

[Nola]

by the way both of these are forums of sus chords.

They're actually not, and I think that's why people are saying they're easy. Asus2 (A, B, E) is easy. Aadd9 (A B C# E) isn't hard, unless you add the high open E, but it's definitely not the easiest chord.

 

[mjbphotos]

Oh, you didn't tell us that there were specific fingerings/notes called out! What you're naming is an add 2.

Add9 is a triad with an added ninth above it (1 3 5 9). Add2 means you add a major second to the triad (1 2 3 5).

 

[rob aylestone]

That's the point though - on a piano, 1359 is a 9th - 2358 is a 2nd - but they're just inversions. On guitars it is a bit different because of the extended spread from low to high, so chords are not always played like a piano in terms of sequence. Again, just inversions and perhaps octave doubling. 9th, 11th, 13th etc don't always have to have the added note at the top. Look at piano jazz music - looking at a splodge of notes on the staff often takes me quite a while to find a chord letter name for.

 

[dainbramage]

Thanks a lot los duderinos.

After reading this thread, I cancelled every appointment this last weekend and worked through the "complicated" chords of all the 25 or so songs for rehearsal tonight. Great thing especially as many of the more complicated songs ended up being pretty guitar oriented. Like many of you have mentioned, most of the chords aren't really that demanding after all. And I've learned a whole lot from it.

I've also learned a lot of music theory in this thread. Great posts.

 

[JDOD]

Thanks a lot los duderinos.

After reading this thread, I cancelled every appointment this last weekend and worked through the "complicated" chords of all the 25 or so songs for rehearsal tonight. Great thing especially as many of the more complicated songs ended up being pretty guitar oriented. Like many of you have mentioned, most of the chords aren't really that demanding after all. And I've learned a whole lot from it.

I've also learned a lot of music theory in this thread. Great posts.

Well done mate, hope rehearsal goes well. I had to do something similar last year learning an album written by a classical musician/pianist. Was a right pain in the arse.

Famous Beagle is your man if you want to learn musical theory - if you're just after learning basic, modes/keys and how they all fit together there are a few of us that can give you tips on that.

 

[dainbramage]

Haven't been here in months, but I just wanted to say the show went really well!

All those cancelled appointments and practice paid off well, and I learned a whole lot by not taking the easy route.

 

[gecko zzed]

Haven't been here in months, but I just wanted to say the show went really well!

All those cancelled appointments and practice paid off well, and I learned a whole lot by not taking the easy route.

Well done. Your perseverance paid off. And I learnt some stuff from this thread as well.

 

[nzausrec]

That Major 3rd in the bass is crucial to the chord sounding correct for the song. To play this song on the keyboard, by chord names would have needed it to have been shown as D/F# when on the guitar, this F# is going to be there anyway.

So those notes that have D/F# mean that the first note is the basic chord and the second one string? Is it always one string and perhaps just the bass note?

 

[Nola]

So those notes that have D/F# mean that the first note is the basic chord and the second one string? Is it always one string and perhaps just the bass note?

D/F# as a chord means a D major chord with an F# in the bass (instead of the D). Many times this puts the chord in first inversion.

 

[Delmont]

Actually, you need to voice, diminished and augmented chords. And minors, of course.

Suspended chords (sus 2's and sus 4's) won't matter, as long as someone else has them covered. Neither will dominant 7ths, major 7ths, 6ths, 9ths, or 13ths.

The 1-5 power chord suggestion has save the lives of countless bassists!

 

[Delmont]

Great. So I only need to play it if it's Suspended or Diminished, and regular chords are fine for everything else?

Actually, you'll want to voice diminished and augmented chords. And minors, of course.

Suspended chords (sus 2's and sus 4's) won't matter, as long as someone else has them covered. They're just major chords with an extra note added for decoration - just like, say, a 7th chord.

The 1-5 power chord suggestion has save the lives of countless bassists!

 

[ashcat_lt]

A lot of times in guitar music, those "complicated" chords are more about convenience. They may be easier to finger, or more importantly easier to get to or from the chords around it.

There's that old trick where you go from D to C by "pivoting" on your ring finger. That's thechnicall a Cadd9, but especially if you're going to G from there, it's a lot more efficient.

I almost always play Bmin as Bm7 - either x2023x (D6/B) or x20202. I treat F# minor very similarly. These fingerings are just plain easier to get to and tend to sound more consistent when the rest of the progression is open chords.

Then too I do a lot of just sliding open position shapes up and down the neck, leaving open strings ringing. That very often means the open strings are color tones and some of those chords can get tough to name.

 

[Nola]

Suspended chords (sus 2's and sus 4's) won't matter, as long as someone else has them covered. They're just major chords with an extra note added for decoration - just like, say, a 7th chord.

What?

With a suspended chord, the third is removed and replaced with a 2nd or 4th, leaving the chord ambiguous. It isn't "just a major chord", and it's nothing like a 7th chord, which has a 3rd and a 7th and therefore a clear quality.

 

[Delmont]

What?

With a suspended chord, the third is removed and replaced with a 2nd or 4th, leaving the chord ambiguous. It isn't "just a major chord", and it's nothing like a 7th chord, which has a 3rd and a 7th and therefore a clear quality.

Interesting. Thanks!

I leave the third in and make it a four-note chord. So do other guitar players I know. You might be right that a suspended chord is just three notes, but I've never played with anyone who limited it to that.

I didn't mean it SOUNDS like a seventh. I meant that they have something in common: that just playing the major triad will sound fine. I wouldn't be surprised if you're technically exactly right, though in my unschooled and unprofessional experience, playing the root chord works fine.

 

[Nola]

Interesting. Thanks!

I leave the third in and make it a four-note chord. So do other guitar players I know. You might be right that a suspended chord is just three notes, but I've never played with anyone who limited it to that.

I didn't mean it SOUNDS like a seventh. I meant that they have something in common: that just playing the major triad will sound fine. I wouldn't be surprised if you're technically exactly right, though in my unschooled and unprofessional experience, playing the toot chord works fine.

Hi Delmont, cool thanks for explaining what you meant. Those are "add" chords if they have a 3rd. Cadd9 = CEGD, Csus2=CGD. Sus chord doesn't have to be only 3 notes -- e.g. you can have a C7sus2, which would be CGBbD.