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Open Chords and Notes


Delta

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I find as I'm getting older that I like to play chords and notes with open strings as much as I can. It seems easier on the fingers and the picking hand. Obviously I still like to play lead passages higher up on the neck. Thoughts?
"Let me stand next to your fire!", Jimi Hendrix
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I love combining open-string and fretted notes in chords and riffs! Especially when using some of the same open-strings with fingerings sliding up and down and across the fretboard. It's a classic sound, very useful, and really opens up a very wide, big chordal sound.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Sometimes, if I"m playing a chord voiced with open strings near the 12th fret, I"ll reach out and hit those harmonics instead of the true open string.

 

I like doing that so much, I"ll also drop harmonics onto chords at other positions. This, of course, changes the chord to something else, but ask me if I care. (No, not really.) As long as it works in the context of the composition, I"m good.

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I've found myself doing opposite on bass vs guitar. Meaning I'm playing more open voicings on guitar and less on bass. I think the reason is because I'm starting to think more pattern based on bass and hand positions can define that which may involve fretting rather than open strings. As a guitar novice, barre chords and the like are just easier but as I improve I'm finding more open voicings that work. As a background, my instruments in order of proficiency go Keys, Sax, Bass, Guitar. In context, I play bass well enough that I was THE bass player in a band for about 4-5 years, but have only played rhythm on guitar to fill in on guitar songs with no keys. I consider myself a pretty good keys player and adequate on sax for anything rock....not jazz.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Sometimes, if I"m playing a chord voiced with open strings near the 12th fret, I"ll reach out and hit those harmonics instead of the true open string.

 

I like doing that so much, I"ll also drop harmonics onto chords at other positions. This, of course, changes the chord to something else, but ask me if I care. (No, not really.) As long as it works in the context of the composition, I"m good.

 

Oh, man, if you dig that, have I got a 'trick' for you! (Forgive me if you already knew and use any or all of the following!)

 

Classical Guitar technique includes a method where harmonics and "artificial harmonics"- harmonics sounded on a fretted string- are struck by picking or plucking with the thumb ("p") and touching the string at the desired place with the tip of the index ("i") finger, to create the harmonic "node", the 'dead spot(s)' along the vibrating length of the string. This can also be accomplished with a pick and the middle ("m") finger, or- hellllllloooo, Billy Gibbons- a Peso and the edge of the thumb.

 

Now... weirdo that I am, of course I had to eff up that jam- ehrr, come up with my own twist on that technique... ;):D

 

Picking, plucking with my index ("i"), middle ("m"), and ring ("a") fingers, and laying the side-edge of my thumb across the tops of the strings, I can similarly coax out harmonics and artificial-harmonics, and even do so on two or three adjacent strings to create ringing double-stop and triple-stop/triad chimes. Not exactly rocket science, but maybe Rock-it science ;) - and I haven't noticed anyone else doing so... Applied to "D-Chord" or even "Dm Chord" shaped fingerings fretted up the neck on the first three strings, taking advantage of the natural curve of that side-edge of the thumb by the nail, conjures ringing harmonic triads (and of course, the same on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings, etc.). Open-strings, natural or struck with harmonics, add even more to this mix...

 

Do this through an Octavia/Octavio style octave-fuzz with a little wiggle via finger-vibrato or whammy-bar action and dig those wild ring-mod like squidgy overtones singing, ringing and stinging... :rawk:

 

But, I digress... ;)

 

I've found myself doing opposite on bass vs guitar. Meaning I'm playing more open voicings on guitar and less on bass. I think the reason is because I'm starting to think more pattern based on bass and hand positions can define that which may involve fretting rather than open strings. As a guitar novice, barre chords and the like are just easier but as I improve I'm finding more open voicings that work. As a background, my instruments in order of proficiency go Keys, Sax, Bass, Guitar. In context, I play bass well enough that I was THE bass player in a band for about 4-5 years, but have only played rhythm on guitar to fill in on guitar songs with no keys. I consider myself a pretty good keys player and adequate on sax for anything rock....not jazz.

 

I hadn't even thought about combining fretted and open strings on a bass! Cool! Even if that's something that you don't often do.

 

Now, on guitar, cultivate partial-barre fingerings along with open-strings...

 

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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I find as I'm getting older that I like to play chords and notes with open strings as much as I can. It seems easier on the fingers and the picking hand. Obviously I still like to play lead passages higher up on the neck. Thoughts?

 

90% of the time I use a combination of open chords and barre chords. It depends on what the song calls for when playing solo and what I want to hear. When playing with others, if they are playing open chords, I will move up to a higher register and use barre chords and vice versa. Sometimes I just use fills and/or bass runs, while the other player is using chords. I arrange my own tunes and chords. Certain songs were written using open chords and sound best when played that way IMHO. (i.e. Fire on the Mountain, Pretty Woman, House of the Rising Sun, Can't You See, Knocking on Heavens Door, etc.) . While other tunes are jazzy and sound better using barre chords or 4 note chords. Some songs have parts within where I use partial triad chords. I am mostly a rhythm guitar player using a lot of chords to back up my vocals. I am partial to 6ths, 9ths, 7ths, minors, augmented and diminished coloring. I like the key of E for many of my vocals and will let that low 6th string ring open at times when I need that bass in my ear...

 

 

I found myself using more open chords (as most beginners start out with) when I was young. As I got older, I started using more barre chords...then I started relating those barre chords to the open chord positions and using both interchangeably. I start out charting the original chords of a tune (or what ever I can find on various sites), then I will transpose them (if needed) to whatever key I want to sing the song in. Then I will alter or color them (if needed) jazz things up using barre chords and four note chords (if needed), or leave things alone and use more open chords. The key of E provides a lot of opportunities to use both barre and open chords in combination (i.e,. Desert Skies, Since I Fell For You, Scotch and Soda, Family Tradition, Tell It Like It Is, etc.). Playing a lot of tunes in the same key paying attention to their relationship using song structure, progressions, passing chords, barre, chords, open chords, augmented, diminished, etc. chords and arrangements gives me a lot of pleasure and then applying the concepts to other tunes and songs in other keys...just a few Thoughts. :cool:

 

Take care, Larryz
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When I was traveling around the country surfing I used only an acoustic guitar, and I played lots of chord based rhythms to write my lyrics against. Once I sold my acoustics. I quit playing chords much. But when I tried to play some of my old tunes I could not just grab the chords from lack of practice. So as part of my warm up routine. I do play some of my old songs in chords just to keep them fresh in my mind. I do a version of a McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed on guitar, and I do the Lennon Imagine tune on guitar, both of them complicated sets of changes and chromatic runs as done on piano, but I play them on guitar, just for the chord practice, and to keep them fresh in my mind.
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I hit open B & high E a lot when improvising, as unisons, or drones in the middle of runs or fingerpicking patterns. Open G too, but less so. Depending on key, it makes for varied harmonic interest. A lot of pulloffs to open E. So yeah, a lot of use of upper open strings in my playing.

 

Scott Fraser
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I hit open B & high E a lot when improvising, as unisons, or drones in the middle of runs or fingerpicking patterns. Open G too, but less so. Depending on key, it makes for varied harmonic interest. A lot of pulloffs to open E. So yeah, a lot of use of upper open strings in my playing.

I used similar ringing open-strings when flailing away at my own lead solos in a cover of "Day Tripper" (by The Beatles, yeah, THAT "Day Tripper" ;):D ). Ringing, chiming parts that sounded bigger 'n' fancier than they really were- criminally easy to play. Big fun! A delight!

 

 

Gonna have to try that, Caev! Got a tutorial floating around, anywhere? ;)

Well... Play a standard-issue, cowboy 'n' campfire open "D" chord, that familiar little triangle-outlining guy fretted on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings; play 'im loud 'n' proud. Open D/4th and A/5th strings underneath are welcome to the party (see below). ;)

 

Now play all three of those fretted notes simultaneously by plucking upward with your i, m, and a fingers (index, middle, and "ring", or "anular"). Nails help, but fingertips will do, as well.

 

Now do so, but with the side-edge of your thumb, "p", that little ridge of skin along the side of your thumbnail, lightly touching those three strings directly over the 14th, 15th, and 14th frets; allow the natural curve of that part of your thumb to describe the arc between those fret locations; it doesn't need to be scientifically exact, this is surprisingly forgiving if you're "in the ballpark". A ringing D Major triad of chiming harmonics should leap out! Cool, huh?

 

Gain and compression help, but one should be able to accomplish this on an unassisted acoustic guitar.

 

If you then play the open 4th/D and 5th/A strings, allowing them to ring out underneath as the Root and 5th in the Bass ("D/A" as a "Slash Chord"), you'll both create a fuller sound, and help keep this post arguably within this thread's original topical latitude (of Sir Galahad?). ;):D:thu:

 

Now run around finding more such two and three note artificial-harmonic constructs you can wring from your guitar! :rawk: Played with open strings, even within a chord, they can elicit almost electric piano like timbres.

 

Howzatt? How'd I do? :D:wave:

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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If you then play the open 4th/D and 5th/D strings, allowing them to ring out underneath as the Root and 5th in the Bass ("D/A" as a "Slash Chord"), you'll both create a fuller sound, and help keep this post arguably within this thread's original topical latitude (of Sir Galahad?). ;):D:thu:

 

Howzatt? How'd I do? :D:wave:

 

Proof reading for the tutorial, I would suggest "5th/D" be changed to 5th/A strings....even though I get it...great job Caevan, I'll give it a try! :like:

 

Take care, Larryz
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I don't play hardly any electric stuff at home. I have a sloped shoulder Martin dreadnaught I play a lot at home. Maybe it's mostly a Martin thing because they don't pitch the neck back much but typically they play a lot easier in open positions. My nylon guitars I gravitate toward mid neck poistions when left to my own devices. The action on My Córdoba Gypsy Kings isn't any lower but it's nylon strings.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

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So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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Proof reading for the tutorial, I would suggest "5th/D" be changed to 5th/A strings....even though I get it...great job Caevan, I'll give it a try! :like:

 

D'oh! :crazy: Thanks, Larryz. An unfortunate typo! Since corrected, thanks to your pointing that out. :thu:

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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@ Caevan, I didn't mean to nit pick--- I gave it a try using tap harmonics with the middle finger and ring finger instead of the thumb and will have to work on it. I'm all thumbs trying to use the thumb LOL! I'm I hybrid picker and have to have a pick...so, I can strum and tap with the other 3 fingers. I'm also trying the false harmonics using the index and middle finger or ring finger. Your tutorial did remind me to finger chords down below and then know which strings to tap 12 frets up. I was working with scales and chords as I know where my fingers are down below and just concentrate on what's going on above the 12th fret. I was using an electric guitar at normal volume and if I ever get it down, I'll try the acoustic...thanks again! I'll only try it a little at a time as I haven't been using harmonics for the most part... :thu:
Take care, Larryz
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@ Caevan, I didn't mean to nit pick--- I gave it a try using tap harmonics with the middle finger and ring finger instead of the thumb and will have to work on it. I'm all thumbs trying to use the thumb LOL! I'm I hybrid picker and have to have a pick...so, I can strum and tap with the other 3 fingers. I'm also trying the false harmonics using the index and middle finger or ring finger. Your tutorial did remind me to finger chords down below and then know which strings to tap 12 frets up. I was working with scales and chords as I know where my fingers are down below and just concentrate on what's going on above the 12th fret. I was using an electric guitar at normal volume and if I ever get it down, I'll try the acoustic...thanks again! I'll only try it a little at a time as I haven't been using harmonics for the most part... :thu:

 

:2thu:

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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  • 3 weeks later...
I love combining open-string and fretted notes in chords and riffs! Especially when using some of the same open-strings with fingerings sliding up and down and across the fretboard. It's a classic sound, very useful, and really opens up a very wide, big chordal sound.

That's often a great way to get some new sounds going.

2 examples of what Caev cites are...

...Lowell George's early song "Willin'" wherein he slides a C chord up a step & back down as a passing chord, getting a D sus4 in there.

...Pete Townshend used a similar effect in "I Can See For Miles, sliding an E chord shape up the neck to wht would be G & A positions but not barring w/index, letting the open E & B strings ring through.

He also frequently did that in live extemporizations, sliding a D chord shape up & down the neck while letting the D &/or A string sustain beneath.

 

There's a Gregg Allman song from the Allman's early days that shifts from open E to what would be F# minor & G# minor chord shapes on the 5th, 4th & 3rd stings while letting the open 6th, 2nd & 1st strings ring.

That same trick shows up in a Rolling Stones track ("Wild Horsies" ... ?)

 

---------------------------------------------

& abt harmonics, not only are they available at the 12th, 7th & 5th strings as well as the more variable artificial method that Caev described earlier

but w/amplified instruments one can get an even higher octave by halving the distance between the 5th fret & the nut

or, conversely, by matching Lowell George's stratospheric slide licks & finding the spots for the 24th or other hypothetical fret points off the upper fretboard range.

On thicker strings one can get some really interesting effects sliding along between the 5th fret & the nut.

d=halfnote
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I love combining open-string and fretted notes in chords and riffs! Especially when using some of the same open-strings with fingerings sliding up and down and across the fretboard. It's a classic sound, very useful, and really opens up a very wide, big chordal sound.

That's often a great way to get some new sounds going.

2 examples of what Caev cites are...

...Lowell George's early song "Willin'" wherein he slides a C chord up a step & back down as a passing chord, getting a D sus4 in there.

...Pete Townshend used a similar effect in "I Can See For Miles, sliding an E chord shape up the neck to wht would be G & A positions but not barring w/index, letting the open E & B strings ring through.

He also frequently did that in live extemporizations, sliding a D chord shape up & down the neck while letting the D &/or A string sustain beneath.

 

There's a Gregg Allman song from the Allman's early days that shifts from open E to what would be F# minor & G# minor chord shapes on the 5th, 4th & 3rd stings while letting the open 6th, 2nd & 1st strings ring.

That same trick shows up in a Rolling Stones track ("Wild Horsies" ... ?)

I love all o' that stuff!

 

 

& abt harmonics, not only are they available at the 12th, 7th & 5th strings as well as the more variable artificial method that Caev described earlier

but w/amplified instruments one can get an even higher octave by halving the distance between the 5th fret & the nut

or, conversely, by matching Lowell George's stratospheric slide licks & finding the spots for the 24th or other hypothetical fret points off the upper fretboard range.

Indeed!

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Somewhat different approach, but I love having a couple of open strings when I play Pads on the Guitar Synth. String & Orchestra patches are particularly effective.

"Monsters are real, and Ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." Stephen King

 

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Somewhat different approach, but I love having a couple of open strings when I play Pads on the Guitar Synth. String & Orchestra patches are particularly effective.

"Pedal Tones"!

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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My guitar teacher used to say that, in some circles using open chords

immediately got you labeled as a `folkie`. I think things have evolved a bit beyond that,

I would cite our `satellite forum member` Kaki King as an example. But that image persists among the academic crowd.

Same old surprises, brand new cliches-

 

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