pegor wrote:You know something I've never read about or heard discussed was the way virtuoso GTR players hold a chord shape when they are soloing. Identifing that shape seems to be a big part of emulating their sound.
It looks to me like Clapton grabs a form like an F (if in the nut position) and keeps his index barred there while is other fingers managed the riffing. He holds the same shape regardless of the fret position. I think SRV and Jimi were more fond of a sorta A shape with the thumb thrown in as needed.
Any of you real life musicos notice this or is my imagination?
I'm talking about Clapton and SRV mainly. I'm sure Yngwie just burns scales up and down the neck.
I know what you're saying, but I don't always notice it...
There are different ways to play a chord, jazz musicians do alot of chords with the 5th on the bottom, but those are kinda weird.
How about the C shape chord, when used to play a D or an E. Uses all the fingers, allows for all sorts of pulloffs, and has a full sound. This style of chord represents the triad of a chord, from bottom up.
Most other forms of chords go 1st, 5th, and then another 1st, and then the third, like A or E major open frames. I think of chords as frames. I always had a hard time resisting a quick game of connect the dots, when I look at them.
I am a big fan of the C shape full chord. Really, the thing to get into is triads, or just playing a 1-3-5 on the higher strings. When one uses the C shape, and bars the top, say playing an E with your first finger barring the top three strings...you realize, the E form is the same as the D form with a couple others on bottom!
But with the C form, you have two or three good pull off options there without even moving. Learn to slide the triads around.
It all comes down to knowing patterns 1 through 5. I have yet to find a really good internet link for these. There are jazz versions that are wider, and there are the original classical versions.
It's tough to start talking about chords without going full on into musical theory.
eh, I gotta get in a clearer frame of mind to really harness in on what I want to say.
I'd say learn to work the smaller, higher parts of the chords, and get to know them based on the way they fit into the five patterns, which cover the full major scale from fret zero to fret 12, and then repeat.
In jazz, at least, I wouldn't want to be caught dead playing the low E string unless the song called for some heavier rhythm...so study the top parts of the chords, and how they fit in to the key that you are in. Then you can start making your own chords. Unless we're talking melodic/harmonic minor or augmented/diminshed stuff, everything else is all just the major (and relative minor) scale. Especially if we're talking about rock.
This site has the five as pentatonic. (refresh the page after you go there, to get rid of the shitty popup) Pentatonic is the major/minor scale, just missing some notes. The link at the bottom of
this page shows them all together.
Now, just gotta find ones that fill in the rest of the notes to complete the major and minor scales, and you'd be able to map out all the little parts of the chords, be it a C/D shape chord, A shape, E shape, etc.
I'm lookin...
I like to look at the way the chords fit into those patterns, based on the key that the song (or part, or chord) is in.
I'm sure alot of people know this stuff, I'm just spouting it out here.
dude, Yngwie? hahaha I'm pretty sure he used "Z shape" and "X/Y shape" chords or something....
The modes, they're really just the major scales played over the wrong key. Eff the modes. The only one that ever works is Mixolydian, or Lydian (sometimes). Like when one person plays an Gmajor chord-based progression, and you solo in the key of C major, that's Lydian. Your soloing over the 4 of the key you "sound like" you're in. Solo in the key of D major, over a G chord, and now you're in Mixolydian. There will be one or two important notes between the scales, and one or two that you want to avoid though. I could be wrong about all of this, but I just jammed it and heard the proof....i think....
whoa how did i get into the modes...well those different chord shapes, the best players use a combination of a whole bunch. I'm going to watch peole more carefully. Personally, often I mute strings in between so that I can hit the chords where I want to hit them. All depends on the style of music, I think.
(You'll have great fun playing either a sparkley black acoustic with sparkley pink strap, or a sparkley blue electric at SongFight Presents: PA 
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