SF's top secret guide to guitar chords

[Sascha Franck]

Well, if you think this is "gobbledegook", why don't you just stick with trial and error?

Personally, I am a very "emotion driven" player, still, I love to have my "chops" under control.
And that's why I started this thread, nothing else.
If you don't like that, why not stop wasting your time and therefor stop even bothering to read it?

[Sascha Franck]

Oh, and to add... large portions of my income are a result of me actually KNOWING what is asked for whenever there's some "Ebj7/9/#11" chord symbol.
Your hand will defenitely have to learn the shape, memorizing it quickly too, but your brain needs to know this as well, especially in case a conductor will ask you to play a different inversion.
But as the two of you, thinking this is "gobbledegook", most likely never work with conductors, you may as well not know wtf I'm talking about.

[Kim Lajoie]

Wow! Maybe I'll graduate from power chords one day!

Forever,




Kim.

[Caleb]

Thanks Sascha.
I keep tempting myself with the idea of learning the guitar (and buying one).

If I do, I'm going to the Royal Academy of Sascha Franck for my guitar lessons.

Keep posting - I'm only too happy to copy and paste myself a library of techniques from someone who's willing to share.

Even if I don't want to learn how to play, sitting with an old shitty guitar and finding the chords might also help me with programming guitar parts into my computer.

Caleb

[Karbon L. Forms]

Oh, and to add... large portions of my income are a result of me actually KNOWING what is asked for whenever there's some "Ebj7/9/#11" chord symbol.
Your hand will defenitely have to learn the shape, memorizing it quickly too, but your brain needs to know this as well, especially in case a conductor will ask you to play a different inversion.
But as the two of you, thinking this is "gobbledegook", most likely never work with conductors, you may as well not know wtf I'm talking about.

Yeah Fairy Nuff. I'm not that kind of guitarist. I'm very much a creator of my own stuff. I very rarely learn how to play other peoples songs. Like all those idiots who learn to play Hendrix solos note for note when the man himself would never have played a solo the same way twice. (probably)
I CAN work out chords though I'm not very quick at it.

[munchkin]

Can you guarentee I'll play like Eddie Van Halen if I follow your teachings? I'm planning on releaseing a tarnce track where I rock out like Eddie. I've always wanted to hold an axe between my legs and be able to do the splits in the air legitimately on stage. It doesn't look so good holding a laptop in your hands.

Seriously, great work Sacha. If it helps me even learn one chord then that's got to be better for humankind when they hear my music.

[Big Tick]

Now... any keyboard wiz gonna do the same for playing synths ?
'Tick

[Klemperer]

Also, many books about theory (or even only about chords) seem to make a big mystery out of it.

Most "popular" harmony and most popular chords aren't all that mysteric though.
As you can see allready, the diagrams and explanations posted will fit on 2 A4 pages easily - other folks seem to feel the need of wasting 100 pages for such things. It's getting even worse with harmony books, I tell ya...

I believe you after my first experiences . I read in some harmony books over the years and put them back on the shelves of the library nearly unread. Then I found a book (but more about old classical music, err) from Diether de la Motte who has written too about "Kontrapunkt" and one about melodies. I liked his harmony book (still as a paperback available today, but must be about 25 years old now...) because of the many score-examples. It began with music from old-old componists like Orlando di Lasso or so, was just fun to play those little examples without understanding too much, and on VSTi-s from now (well, ghost, can be fun).
And always on my reading-list stays an even much older book from a surely now unknown Mr. S.Jadassohn, "Lehrbuch der Harmonielehre", came out in 1883 , I've got a copy from 1911 ("13.Auflage"), found in the attic. That's definitely not the stuff that gets you to quick results, is it .
So I saved your post yesterday and will take it with me to learn things better.

[Sascha Franck]

Now... any keyboard wiz gonna do the same for playing synths ?
'Tick

I have some writing in the works, covering some harmonic theories and the likes, which I will most likely try to explain using piano/keyboard examples. But a) don't expect it to be finished too soon and b) don't expect any keyboard wizardry being explained or shown either...

[Sascha Franck]

Allright, here's the next installment (actually, referring to my first post it's the third, but I prefer to put up this one for now):

Some sort of "guitar-ish" approach.

Before I start, some notes:
ALL chords developed by following this "method" can be achieved by the method presented before as well. And not even as much. So you may ask of what use this might be. The answer would be that the organisation behind it is a bit different, taking advance of certain guitar-bound organisation possibilities.
Unfortunately, I don't have any nice graphics for this (the previous ones are from some StarDraw document, part of an older version of StarOffice, can't find the installation CD anymore, so I only have some reader installed).
But it shouldn't be that hard to understand without graphics either.


For now, the following approach will ONLY be dealing with 7th vocings (Xmaj7, Xdom7, etc).
Following common sense, it can be said that in all those chord forms, the 5th (unless altered, becoming b5 or #5 that is) isn't necessary at all (and even an altered 5th often isn't required).
This means, that a 7th chord could be played effectively only using root, third and seventh, to describe its function properly.
This will also result in the option to even leave out the root too as soon as something else (a bass player or sequencer or whatever) will play it, therefor effectively reducing the amount of "required" notes to describe a chord properly to 2.

OK, what we will do now is to organize our strings in pairs:
- E6 and A5
- D4 and G3
- B2 and E1
For this approach we will strictly limit us to what will happen on each pair of strings:
- E6 and A5: Bass (playing root notes and eventually some passing notes, we'll see).
- D4 and G3: third and seventh of a chord (while the 7th migght be replaced by the 6th in case the chord symbol or melody asks for that).
- B2 and E1: Everything else. Could be used for chord extensions and melody notes or a combination of those.

As we're limited to the above mentioned "rules", there's only two options to find a given root of a chord.
Example: an A bassnote could only be found on E6, 5th fret or on A5, 12th fret (we won't be dealing with the open A string for now)

The next important part of the chord, the 3rd, could then be found on either D4 or G3. In case we play the root on E6, we'll find the third on G3, in case the root is played on A5, the third will be found on D4.
Example: We'll take our A chord and make it minor. When using the Root on E6, 5th fret, the C (our minor 3rd) willbe found on G3, 5th fret. In case we're using the A root on the 12th fret of A5, the C would be found on D4, 10th fret.
Changing the A minor chord to major would only require to make the C become a C#, so we'll have to raise it by one fret.

Let's proceed to the last important part of the chord, the 7th.
Assuming we're dealing with an Amin7, there's again two possibilities to find our 7th (the G that is). In case A root is placed on E6, the G would be found on D4, 5th fret. In case we'd use the A root on A5, 12th fret, the G would be found on G3, 12th fret.
To make that 7th major (G becomes G#), we'd only have to raise it by one fret. To make it a 6th (which is quite sometimes replacing the 7th, look into my first post, "voicing rules") we'd have to lower it by one fret.

Time for a little conclusion so far:
Root on E6 = 3rd on G3, 7th on D4
Root on A5 = 3rd on D4, 7th on G3

This will give us two options (root on either E6 or A5) to finger each of the following chords:
- Xmaj7
- X7
- Xmin7
- Xminmaj7 (minor chord with major 7th)
- X6 (7th replaced by 6th)
- Xmin6
- eventually Xmin7/b5 (in case the 5th isn't that necessary, which often is the case).

While these chords are indeed sounding relatively simple, they do have their use. For example, once you need a more sparse interpretation of a given chord (let's say you're playing along some rather stuffed arrangement), you could just leave out the root and only play the chord's 3rds and 7ths on D4 and G3.
Here's some small example of an Amin7, D7 progression, with the e-piano allready doing most of the chord work, using the "root on E6" version first, then using "root on A5":
http://home.arcor.de/s.franck/gitchords ... Chords.mp3
(I made that backing in 2 minutes, so just forget about the musical/sound content, it's for demonstration purposes only).

The next advance of this method would be all the different possible fingerings, allowing for more movements in, say, the bass. Here's some typical
|| Amin7 D7 | Gj7(6) E7 ||
progression, first there's the chords in both options soloed, then there's some attempt at a comping against some cheesy melodic stuff (I am by no means a second Joe Pass, so forgive my sloppy playing on this one):
http://home.arcor.de/s.franck/gitchords/WalkingBass.mp3


Allright, we could now proceed to the top two strings, offering all sorts of options regarding "color" tones or whatever.
In this particular case I limit myself to the options being within 2 frets of reach from the root note.
In our given A chord exanple, this would mean, that for the "root on E6, 5th fret" version we'd limit ourself to frets 3 to 7, for the "root on A5, 12th fret" version the limits would be 10th to 14th fret.
You can of course go way beyond those limits, but for an explanation it should work well that way.
Let's analyze which options there are for each version, using our A chord example:

Root on E6, 5th fret, B2 string options:
Fret 3, note D = 11. Nice optional note for a min7/11 chord, working fine for almost all minor contexts.
Fret 4, note D#/Eb = #11/b5. Sometimes an option for maj7 chords (maj7#11), sometimes also good for a Dom7 chord (Dom7/#11 or Dom7/b5, depending on the context). Sometimes a requirement for min7/b5 chords.
Fret 5, note E = 5. Obsolete note in most chords, still useful for a chord shape or as a melody note.
Fret 6, note F (sometimes even E#) = b13/#5. Great for all sorts of "altered" dom7 chords, sometimes used in minor chords as a passing note as well, not used as often in maj7/aug (augmented = raised 5th) chords, but it happens.
Fret 7, note F# = 13. Quite often used for all sorts of major chords, no matter whether they are maj7 or dom7. Not used that often for minor7 chords, you may find it in some funky or modal jazz stuff though. Quite useful for minmaj7 chords though.

Root on E6, 5th fret, E1 string options:
Fret 3, note G = 7. Only useful as a melody note, if required, doesn't add anything much to the chord color.
Fret 4, note G# = maj7. See above.
Fret 5, note A = 1 (octave, root). May not add much to the chord, making sense for the shape or melodic content though.
Fret 6, note Bb = b9. Almost exclusively used for dom7 chords, pretty useful at that.
Fret 7, note B = 9. Can be used on almost anything.
Fret 8 (yes, exception from the 2 fret in reach limit, I know), note C/B# = 3-/#9. Not so useful as a doubling for the ninor third, highly useful as a #9 in altered dominant chords though (thus the exception!).

Root on A5, 12th fret, B2 string options:
Fret 10, note A = root/octave. See explanations above.
Fret 11, note Bb = b9. See above.
Fret 12, note B = 9. Dito.
Fret 11, note C/B# = 3-/#9. Dito.
Fret 12, note C# = 3+. Doesn't add much, personally I'd hardly ever use it following the currently described approach.

Root on A5, 12th fret, E1 string options:
Fret 10, note D = 11. See explanations above.
Fret 11, note D#/Eb = #11, b5. Dito.
Fret 12, note E = 5. Dito.
Fret 13, note F (sometimes even E#) = #5/b13. Dito.
Fret 14, note F# = 13. Dito.

Finally, here's two more examples, using the same two progressions/backings as above, now completely leaving out all bass notes, exclusively using the options described.
http://home.arcor.de/s.franck/gitchords ... nsFunk.mp3
http://home.arcor.de/s.franck/gitchords ... nsJazz.mp3

Some final notes: I allready said so, you could get to all these chords using the previous approach as well, but this might offer another viewing point.
As said right in the beginning of this thread, I'm only covering the HOW to play yet, the WHERE, WHEN and WHY to play might be covered in another thread whenever I may find the time...

As said before, feel free to ask whatever you like in case something's unclear.

[tee boy]

Sascha,

Great, thanks for that insight! Good of you to take the time to share your wealth of knowledge.


Can i ask a few questions though:

- Is this method not just the CAGED method?

- If so, do you not think a 'laymens' guide to CAGED would be more beneficial before going into more indepth voicing rules etc?


Just a thought, cuz in my own experience it pays to make things a apparently basic as possible when attempting to teach new concepts. Initially, talk of voicings and extended chords can tend to cloud and over complicate imo.



Hey, but great stuff. Look forward to your next installment!

[Orbitutle]

Damn.. this is great.. Would you make it into one doc someday?

[Sascha Franck]

- Is this method not just the CAGED method?

As said in another reply, it's not exactly fundamentally different from the CAGED method, but it leaves something out while adding the left out content otherwise (IMO at least).

- If so, do you not think a 'laymens' guide to CAGED would be more beneficial before going into more indepth voicing rules etc?

Well, to be honest, no.
From what I can see there's all sorts of different approaches to the CAGED method as well (admittedly I haven't been looking in a while), so it's not as if there would be any sort of general consensus.

Apart from that, the two methods desribed so far have some things in common which should enable almost any player looking for something beyond open position and "barré over all 6 strings" chords to easily adopt things to his/her style.
A) They are easily moveable throughout the fretboard, just as barré chords (method #1 even refers to them, at least more or less).
B) They are somewhat consistent in their layout, offering a "root note on E6 or A5" approach, which is again something which most barré (or even power) chord users will be familiar with.
C) IMO they offer access to some more or less advanced options a bit quicker than CAGED (I wouldn't bet on that though).

Apart from all that, the methods described are used sucessfully since almost a decade (some things even longer) in my personal teaching.

I have to admit that everything I posted so far would look better on a proper website, in a book or along with some nice pictures. But for whatever reasons I decided to post them here at first, plus, I'm not a website designer or layout expert at all.

Just a thought, cuz in my own experience it pays to make things a apparently basic as possible when attempting to teach new concepts. Initially, talk of voicings and extended chords can tend to cloud and over complicate imo.

I like to use basic concepts myself as well.
But I can't see anything going much beyond that so far.
See, IMO method #1 is more or less like "1200 barré chords for guitar" compressed into 3 diagrams and a few explanations. In fact, "1200 chords..." doesn't even offer you insight into which note has to be changed in order to achieve this or that (btw, is there any book called "1200 chords..."? If so, I should change those quotes as it was just some randomly chosen title).
Method #2 offers an approach I haven't seen often yet at all (actually, I've never seen it, just something partially similar) - and I don't find it to be overly complicated either.

I could really recommend checking out what I've written so far, most of my students never had a problem to understand things at all, and I defenitely asked them to play rather complexed chord progressions as their homework, some things they've never even heard about before.
Well, of course, such highly compressed "methods" do indeed work best in a one-on-one teaching situation, so in case anything becomes unclear I could easily play some example or explain things a bit further.
Still, I do believe that these approaches DO have their value.
I mean, I analyzed a LOT of books on all that shit (along with books about harmony and the likes) and, even if this might pretty much sound like patting myself on the back, I usually found things to be explained in a way more complicated way.

[Sascha Franck]

Damn.. this is great.. Would you make it into one doc someday?

Sure, once this thread is finished.
All required files are allready saved on my HDD.

[GrooveMonkee]

Thanks for taking the time to post this Sascha!