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New Chord Shapes
I think this is a question for the guitarists out there. Has anybody learnt any new chord shapes recently or got any nice favorite chords they can share?
Yesterday evening I was practising for sunday and listening to Michael Smith's version of Open the eyes of my heart. I wanted a different E shape; the standard one at the neck end is fine but not so good to play the following Emaj7 in the song, and my other usual E shapes (a barred A on 7th fret or a power chord of E withouth the G# at the same place) didn't do the trick either . So I came up with this:
E o
B 5
G 4
D 6
A 7
E o
sorry if this is not the correct tabbing, but try it. A lovely rich sound across all 6 strings.
Might be a bit of a stretch as I am struggling to get back into that shape quickly, but it is always nice to come across something new.
Anyone got any other shapes they can share that are a bit more unusual?
Tags: chords
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on -
So, in other words, the same shape as the basic C major fingering ( 0 3 2 0 1 0 ) but moved up a few frets and taking advantage of a low and high E? That's a quick route to building new chord - take an existing one (or part thereof) and locate it elsewhere on the neck.
Most of the chords I have been figuring out recently aren't very helpful since they are for my 4ths tuning (D G C F Bb Eb). However, some of the three and four string shapes would be applicable on the lower strings or could be adapted. One, that I've used for years on my bass (also in 4ths) is a first inversion pattern. You could use it for, say, A/C#, thus:
x 4 7 6 x x (C# A C#)
You can also make use of any suitable open strings. For example, the previous one over an open E string or how about sliding up a couple of frets for B/D#:
x 6 9 8 0 x (D# B D# B)
A song I'm playing this weekend is Matt Redman's "I Know You Love (Bowing Down) - Songs of Fellowship 803. The chords for the chorus are:
|: A / / / | B/D# / D / :|
but it works to add a second chord in the first bar (as it was in the first book I found it in):
A / A/C# | B/D# / D /
On a standard tuning guitar, I'd play:
x 0 2 2 x x
x 4 7 6 x x
x 6 9 8 x x
x 5 7 7 x x (or x 5 7 9 x x - in effect a Dadd9)
The pattern is the same on my "piccolo bass" (retuned guitar) except that I start a couple of frets higher (no open strings in the first chord) and have the option of putting the final chord over a low open D for a big ringing sound.
Wulf
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Read on -
Probably my favourite (and overused) non-standard chord shape is this "cheats Bm" (actually a Bm11)
x 2 0 2 3 0
It's really good for quick chord changes in and around D, G, Em etc. shapes, especially in hymns where you only have to play the chord for a beat or so.
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Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on
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You can do a similar F#m: 2 0 2 2 x x (top two strings could also be played on the second fret but that would be a bit more of a finger buster).
Wulf
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Read on
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Yes, I use that one too... but often just let the top two strings ring out, i.e. 2 0 2 2 0 0, making it an F#m11. It works nicely for songs in key of E (see e.g. "By your word" on my page). You can also move the same shape up two more frets to get a nice G#m sort of chord.
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Permalink Reply by David Bull on -
You can use all sorts od chord shapes if you don't care what they sound like!!!!!
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