Learning 'melodic' guitar chords

[johnbarnesiii]

Hello,

 

im looking for someone to teach me some melodic guitar chords that are more melodic in nature. By this I mean going beyond the standard basic chords near the nut, and beyond barre chords.

 

I guess I'm talking about chords that add some variance or color to normal chords, such as minors and sevenths, and ninths, augmented, minor-7ths, diminished, etc.

 

also being able to move the basic near-the-nut chords up the neck in a CAGED like way is another thing that might help in terms of adding melody to chords.

 

im thinking along the lines of the Beatles, Elliott smith, Jon Brion, etc.

 

Any leads greatly appreciated.

[Poparad]

This should get you a lot of mileage:

 

1) To expand your basic vocabulary, study simple triads, mainly on strings 1-3 and 2-4, although all string groups is best. However, the top two sets are the ones you'd use most when being "melodic." Learn to play all three inversions (root, 1st, and 2nd), and be able to play all 7 chords in a key with these simple shapes.

 

2) For 7th chords, look up "drop 2" and "drop 3" voicings. There's a lot written about them all over the internet. There are more drop types than this, but these two types are the bulk of what most people use, and you'll get very far just learning these two. The inversions of drop 2 are very useful, although the inversions of drop 3 aren't so much. Ultimately good to know, but you can put them a little further down the list of priorities.

 

3) Lastly, take both of the above two and simply change the top notes of each. Move the highest not up one note in the key or scale you're playing it. Move it one note down. This is the real secret to being melodic with your rhythm guitar playing. It's not about knowing a million shapes, but being able to manipulate a few shapes very well.

[johnbarnesiii]

Thanks Poparad!

[sixstringsamu]

There is a book out called Chord Codex ( you can get it on Amazon). It shows all the possible ways to play chords and their inversions in the major scale and its modes. You should check it out.

[johnbarnesiii]

Thanks sixstringsamu, I'll check this out for sure! Definitely the chord variations would be great for me to learn (7ths, ninths, augmented, diminished, minor sevenths, etc). There are so many videos I've seen with guys playing super melodic chords, that lends itself to super melodic songwriting and makes it super easy to put vocals and other melodies on top. I've always felt limited in my scope with barre chords and basic near the nut chords.

[johnbarnesiii]

Blake Mills is another who plays very melodically. Some very nice voicing of different chords, I really want to expand my chord knowledge

[johnbarnesiii]

Anyone know any good teachers in Los Angeles who can teach me this stuff?

[jamesp]

I'd email Blake Mills. No fooling. I've taken single lessons from players that gave me months if not years of exercises to work on. If Mills doesn't teach or do master classes, he still might have a recommendation for a good teacher.

 

A lot of his chord voicings are going to sound unique because he plays in so many open tunings, but that guy obviously knows this stuff.

[johnbarnesiii]

Thanks James that is a good idea. Just a matter of finding his contact info I guess.

[JureGolobic]

Here a cool exercise: imagine the feeling you would like to crate with one chord. then play a simple major or minor chord that you already know and then start changing the notes. do this until you hear the chord that best describes the feeling you were after. this can take an hour, but you will come up with some really awesome chords.

Write them down of course, so you don't forget them.