You never stop learning new things on the guitar

[Sharkman]

Last night I was plinking around on the guitar, playing some minor chords for no apparent reason.  I played E minor, with two fingers holding down the fourth and fifth strings at the second fret.  I decided to move my fingers to the third and fourth strings at the second fret, strummed the chord and thought that sounded pretty good.  I then said out loud "What the Hell did I just play?"  Going sixth to first strings, I'm playing E A E A B E.  I had no idea what chord that could be, so I went  to chorderator.com, clicked on chord designer, and I discovered that I was playing an E suspended fourth chord.  I have been playing the guitar since 1980, and I have never ever played that chord before in all those years.  And what's really nice is that it will work if you're playing in the keys of A, A minor, C, D, E, G, and probably a few other keys.

 

So, if you're stuck in a rut, and you're tired of playing the same old things over and over, try a chord position in a different place on the neck, or move one or two fingers to the next string, or something like that, and listen to it.  If it sounds good, write it down so you don't forget it.  And if it sounds like crap, try something else.  But don't ever quit trying to learn or create something new.

[Scott Fraser]

+1.  I would think of that chord voicing as functioning as an A9, but a chord can be spelled as many ways as there are different notes in it, so Esus4 works too. Great discoveries are always just around the corner, especially if you try something you don't already know.

[Caevan O’Shite]

Also, if you consider the A to be the Root, it's an Asus2, virtually synonymous with Asu9.

EDIT: Posted in reply to the OP, before Scott's post displayed.

[Scott Fraser]

2 minutes ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

Also, if you consider the A to be the Root, it's an Asus2, virtually synonymous with Asu9.

Actually that's more correct than calling it an A9, since the 9th implies the existence of the dominant 7. I just never got in the habit of thinking of that as a sus2.

[Dannyalcatraz]

Unless I’m learning someone else’s stuff, every chord I play is a discovery!  I have terrible practice habits, and brute force my way through whatever I’m composing.

[Caevan O’Shite]

7 hours ago, Scott Fraser said:

Actually that's more correct than calling it an A9, since the 9th implies the existence of the dominant 7. I just never got in the habit of thinking of that as a sus2.

Yeah, it's one of those matters where, I think, most guitar players will presume the 'sus' (the suspension of the 4th, by the 2nd) to also imply that that's effectively an added 9, if it's addressed as a 9th at all. That note effectively functions the same way whether it's being called a 2nd or a 9th here in this voicing, although perhaps more of a 2nd, whereas if it were an octave higher, it'd ring out on top and seem more '9-ish', if you will...

   

[KuruPrionz]

I do these sorts of things constantly - "move your finger positions around and see what happens part.

I can figure out what the chord is if I need to, often enough that's just extra thinking. 

 

It's been my experience that too much thinking interferes with playing my guitar so I prefer to avoid it. 

 

It's good to remember that in a group context you may not need all the notes and you might want to just use some of them in a voicing that enhances what's being played.

As a simple but recent example, a singer/songwriter I accompany plays a song that is entirely Fmaj7 and Cmaj7. He's got the tonic, the bassist has the tonic and I zoom on up to the 12th fret area and play an Am on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings - there is no need for the F, then I scoot down to the 7th fret area and play an Em on the same strings. 

 

I'm arpeggiating and sounding more like a keyboard part in that instance. Simple stuff but it sounds pretty and does not clutter. 

As a good friend and great musician once said to me "Whatever I play, don't do that."

[Scott Fraser]

3 hours ago, Caevan O’Shite said:

Yeah, it's one of those matters where, I think, most guitar players will presume the 'sus' (the suspension of the 4th, by the 2nd) to also imply that that's effectively an added 9, if it's addressed as a 9th at all. That note effectively functions the same way whether it's being called a 2nd or a 9th here in this voicing, although perhaps more of a 2nd, whereas if it were an octave higher, it'd ring out on top and seem more '9-ish', if you will...

   

I think context is crucial here. A Sus implies that the chord will resolve its suspended status to the third. But if the chord doesn't resolve, and the sus really stands on its own, is it a 9th? I'm not sure, I didn't study THAT much music theory.

[Caevan O’Shite]

6 hours ago, Scott Fraser said:

I think context is crucial here. A Sus implies that the chord will resolve its suspended status to the third. But if the chord doesn't resolve, and the sus really stands on its own, is it a 9th? I'm not sure, I didn't study THAT much music theory.

Believe it or not, I actually use that exact same grip as the IV (A) Chord in the Chorus of an original Blues piece of mine in Em (tentative working title, "Mile of Bad Road (In Each One of These Shoes)"; no lyrics yet as I don't have a specific singer in mind). It doesn't sound as jarringly uncharacteristic of a Blues tune as you might expect- actually quite fitting and natural somehow. I guess that it blurs the lines between an Esus4 and an Am and an Asus2...

[Dannyalcatraz]

There is a certain joy that you experience when you try/stumble upon an unusual chord voicing or move a finger (or two) just a smidge away from a chord’s standard position and you find it changes the feel of what you’re playing.

 

One way to enjoy that feeling more often is learning to play a song in a tuning different from the one it was written in.  I learned to play certain classic rock songs in E Standard, but one day, I started trying to figure them out in New Standard Tuning- so far, the only other tuning I use regularly.

 

In doing so, I found that I often couldn’t use a similar chord voicing as in the originals: I couldn’t reach the notes; too many intervening strings to mute, etc.  So I’d have to invert or even scramble chords, play them at higher or lower pitches, and so forth.  Even staying as close as I could to the original songs, the songs clearly changed.

[hurricane hugo]

I still screw around with 12-tone rows from time to time

[desertbluesman]

Quote

You never stop learning new things on the guitar

I have been playing since 1964 or so. And I agree.

 

As my fingers get slower I learn new things with pauses and my frequent "clams", which sometimes work out to be new ideas.

[cayine]

On 2/16/2023 at 8:56 AM, Sharkman said:

Last night I was plinking around on the guitar, playing some minor chords for no apparent reason.  I played E minor, with two fingers holding down the fourth and fifth strings at the second fret.  I decided to move my fingers to the third and fourth strings at the second fret, strummed the chord and thought that sounded pretty good.  I then said out loud "What the Hell did I just play?"  Going sixth to first strings, I'm playing E A E A B E.  I had no idea what chord that could be, so I went  to chorderator.com, clicked on chord designer, and I discovered that I was playing an E suspended fourth chord.  I have been playing the guitar since 1980, and I have never ever played that chord before in all those years.  And what's really nice is that it will work if you're playing in the keys of A, A minor, C, D, E, G, and probably a few other keys.

 

So, if you're stuck in a rut, and you're tired of playing the same old things over and over, try a chord position in a different place on the neck, or move one or two fingers to the next string, or something like that, and listen to it.  If it sounds good Safe Mover near me Illinois, write it down so you don't forget it.  And if it sounds like crap, try something else.  But don't ever quit trying to learn or create something new.

I am planning to move from the West Coast to the Northeast in March, and my only major concern is getting my gear there safely. We are getting a Upack trailer and my plan was to pack all of my guitars and amps as if I were shipping them, bubble wrapped and in boxes. I figured it was fine, but my girl put the seed of doubt in my mind. So I was wondering if anybody had recent success moving their gear across country and what they used to do it?