Members wankdeplank Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 OK so here's the scenario, you're learning a new song (an old standard, not one of your own), you download the tab or play it by ear, and realize there's something just a little off. It just doesn't sound the way you heard it on the radio. And then you try a different voicing or two and walla, that's it - now it sounds right. When I started playing, it was all open chords, or 5th or 6th string root bar chords. Finding out more and more that that B string root chord (D shape) fuels a heck of a lot of pop songs. Can I get a witness? Anybody know what I'm talking about or even give a who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 Definitely!! If you play it like an "Amin7" shape with a partial barre it's like a mini "Cmaj" shape - that one gets used a lot in pop, reggae, calypso, funk... It's hard to appreciate how cool this sounds until you do it in a band context with a bass guitar that can cover the root. It gives great separation between the parts and a tighter sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted September 1, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 Cool, thanks for the Amen brother. Another great one is moving the Dmin shape up the board without a bar. Pretty easy to hit on the fly too after a little use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 I hear you too Wankdeplank... The other day I was writing a song and couldn't find the transition from Bm that I was hearing in my head. I took the barre off the Bm and bang, it was exactly what I was looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 I hear you too Wankdeplank... The other day I was writing a song and couldn't find the transition from Bm that I was hearing in my head. I took the barre off the Bm and bang, it was exactly what I was looking for. In case you're interested, depending on whether you were playing the Bm as an Am or an Em, the chord would be either D6/E (basically a variation on Bm7) or Emadd2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted September 1, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 Well anyway what kind of inspired this thread was learning an old 70's tune named Brandy (been learning some songs my Bass player is familiar with). So I get the tab and it's in E, but the open E just doesn't sound right to start. and the A shape E at the 9th fret definitely ain't right so I end up using the D shape E (fifth fret B string root) and walla perfectimundo. But then I find that the little flourish at the end of the verse sounds best with an open E and the E to A thing at the end of the chorus sounds best with the A shape E (9th fret G string root). So I end up using three different chord voicings for E all in one song. And surprisingly another song I've been learning (Sister Golden Hair) uses pretty much the same chords and also sounds best using that D shape E mostly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 Cheers, I'm not the best at working out that technical music theory. Or, as I see it to be technical, might not be for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 I'm not into technical stuff either, really. The "Theory challenged hack" line in my sig is true. I got the diagnosis from here: http://www.chorderator.com/designer. Click on the virtual fretboard and it will tell you what chord you've "designed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 ^ I was in college in the early to mid 70's. Your bass player sounds like my kind of guy. I love both those songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted September 1, 2014 Members Share Posted September 1, 2014 In case you're interested, depending on whether you were playing the Bm as an Am or an Em, the chord would be either D6/E (basically a variation on Bm7) or Emadd2. I'm notorious for playing chords I can't name . The chorderator is now on my favorites list. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted September 2, 2014 Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 Ditto, cheers DeepEnd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted September 2, 2014 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 ^ I was in college in the early to mid 70's. Your bass player sounds like my kind of guy. I love both those songs. Yep I hear ya (I'm vintage as well). Funny how those two songs use all the same chords and have such different vibes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 2, 2014 Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 I hear you too Wankdeplank... The other day I was writing a song and couldn't find the transition from Bm that I was hearing in my head. I took the barre off the Bm and bang, it was exactly what I was looking for. I have no idea what you're doing but I was noodling around with it and a couple of progressions that sounded good were Bm Bm(sans barre) Gmaj7 F# and Bm Bm(sans barre) Em7 F#. What progression are you working on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted September 2, 2014 Members Share Posted September 2, 2014 I have no idea what you're doing but I was noodling around with it and a couple of progressions that sounded good were Bm Bm(sans barre) Gmaj7 F# and Bm Bm(sans barre) Em7 F#. What progression are you working on? I'll have to try your chords DeepEnd. I'm going from Bm Bm(sans barre) to F#m to G and experimenting with mixing in A and D for the chorus. I was just mucking around with it the other day and may have to finish it (for a change), now that you've asked me about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danhedonia Posted September 3, 2014 Members Share Posted September 3, 2014 Same, and same. I can figure out whether there's a 4th added, etc., but not really sure of best way to notate. HUGE ups to you for sharing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danhedonia Posted September 3, 2014 Members Share Posted September 3, 2014 OMG @ the Dad Rock-gasms. There's a port on a western bayAnd it serves a hundred ships a day .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Danhedonia Posted September 3, 2014 Members Share Posted September 3, 2014 How about "How Long" by Ace? Paul Carrack's first big splash as a songwriter ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted September 3, 2014 Members Share Posted September 3, 2014 Same here. Often when I'm jamming with people they'll say "what was that chord" and my response is to play the chord and say something like: "I don't know - this one. It's an F of some sort" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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