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How do you memorize chords and their forms?


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So many chords, so little time. Anyone have ideas on simplifying the memorization of chords/their inversions/names? I have problems with the more convuluted names and was wondering if there was a method to make it easier to remember a shape with its name as guitar chords can often get really mathematical and I hate math. I do try to practice chords and inversions, but it seems that every week I review and try to memorize some of the more complex chords by name with it's shape, I forget it again two weeks later. There are so many guitar books out there, but I've yet to see anything in regards to making the memorization of chords easier, other than sheer blunt repetition and practice.

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It rather depends on what level you play at. It would be wise to understand the barre chord forms for major, minor, 7th, and minor-7th first. Sus2 & sus4 chords also barre easily along the neck. It gets a little tougher when you get into extended chords. They are a couple easy forms for 9th chords to which you can also easily add 11ths or 13ths. In a very general sense if you know the chord shape and know the notes along the string where the tonic resides you can move your chord up and down the neck. Advanced jazz style players who use lots of extended chords often strip them down to just the 3rd, 7th and extensions.

 

Obviously a knowledge of the notes across the entire fretboard and an understanding of the scale/modal theory from which the chords are derived are the best way of understanding, especially if you're diving into inversions, however, theres no substitute for practice.

 

Even though I have an extensive knowledge of music theory and a lifetime of playing experience and practice I'll never be as fast at putting chords together on the fly as the best players are.

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i just think of what goes into a chord, like you got your basic triad, with the root third and 5th, these are related to scales and the root is the first note of the scale and the third is the third note in the scale, etc.

 

just know your scales, and then you can make your chords pretty easily, like if i want an Am9 chord, the 9 is just the second note in the scale but it has to be the highest note of the chord. so you can play an A C E & B, you dont have to play it in that order really and like the guy up their said, jazz players use 3rds 7ths and extension so it would be made of these notes, C G & B, you can do whatever you want with whatever combination of notes, it all depends on if you can get it to sound good...

 

i just mess around with stuff like that...

 

practice, practice, practice, 'tis the only way...

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If you know any piano, its much easier to think of the actual chord arpeggios that way. To translate that into guitar chords, you just have to sit down and think out your basic barre chords. Theres no cheating memorization, really. Just have to do it.

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Theres no cheating memorization, really.

 

 

Actually there is.

 

Learn to think intervallically.

 

Minor thirds for example have definite shapes that can be memorized.

 

Another shortcut is to subtract 7 from any altered degree > 8 to get your scale degree. e.g. D9 - 7 = 2; the second scale degree, or E.

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I learned music theory long before picking up a guitar and I've never taken any guitar lessons. I figure out how to play "movable" chords (no open strings) and stick with those. Once in a while I pick up a guitar book and get a few surprises: oh look, an easier way to play an A9! :rolleyes:

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The best way is to learn enough theory to understand how chords are constructed, and then start playing with other people and actually learning songs...

 

Even better if you can get in a band w/a guitarist who's about two steps ahead of you, so you're forced to work harder.

 

That''ll force you to memorize whole bunches of chords, and as your skill level increases you can up the complexity of the songs you learn.

 

It's actually fun, too.

 

MG

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So many chords, so little time.

 

 

I just picked up a book called Fretboard Logic that I had heard about in these forums. According to that guy, there's really only 5 chords (i'm understating the theory.) The C-A-G-E-D Sequence, he calls it. I've been trying it and it works! You can quickly play about 5 inversions of any chord, giving it different voices.

 

That book does a great job of explaining fretboard layout in a way that makes sense and probbaly in a way you haven't thought of before.

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