I've decided to start posting more little guitar lessons for the beginners (and less beginners of you) to check out. I've also included photos to help.
Today I'll be discussing chords. More precisely, the concept of adding 5ths to beef up a chord.
For those among you who didn't know, the basic chords you play ( A/C/G/Cm/Dm etc) are only made up of 3 notes. We call them triads. those three notes are namely the root, used to name the chord ( the root of a C chord being C), a minor (3 halfsteps) or major (4 halfsteps) third, and a 5th (7 halfsteps).
Now, let's forget the concept of minor/major. We're going to look at 5th "chords" (we'll refer to them as chords in this article, but as i said, it takes at least 3 notes to make a real chord)
First of all, here's your run of the mill A5 chord, but with a complete voicing. the third muted by the middle finger.
|-5-|
|-5-|
|-x-|
|-7-|
|-7-|
|-5-|
![[http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/b5.jpg]](http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/b5.jpg "http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/b5.jpg")
This chord can be moved an octave higher:
|-x--|
|-10-|
|-9--|
|-7--|
|-x--|
|-x--|
![[http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/b5-2.jpg]](http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/b5-2.jpg "http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/b5-2.jpg")
Personally I mute the top low strings with my middle finger so i can give a full strum to the chord anyway, sounds alot more percussive. of course in other cases this is useless.
This chord shape also applies to any Barre chord with the root on the 6th string. so moving the second b5 shape up one fret, you'd get c5. and so on.
here's the same concept but with a d5 chord, with the root on the 5th string. the voicing is a little bit different.
|-5-|
|-x-|
|-7-|
|-7-|
|-5-|
|---|
![[http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/d5.jpg]](http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/d5.jpg "http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/d5.jpg")
|-10-|
|-10-|
|-7--|
|----|
|----|
|----|
![[http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/d5-2.jpg]](http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/d5-2.jpg "http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/d5-2.jpg")
5th chords are often used in rock.
--
Of course, there aren't only triads. the 7th chords you play are made up of 4 notes. the root, the third, the fifth and the seventh. you can add an additional fifth without changing the chord's voicing. this can be used in repetitive strummed patterns where you can add or remove a fifth on a random basis to add a variation to the tone.
here's a G7 chord with an added fifth.
|--1--|
|-(3)-|
|--0--|
|--0--|
|--2--|
|--3--|
![[http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/G75.jpg]](http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/G75.jpg "http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/G75.jpg")
And with this finger pattern, you can easily shift to a C chord, but let's add a 5th to this c chord as well.
|-(3)-|
|--1--|
|--0--|
|--2--|
|--3--|
|-----|
![[http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/C5.jpg]](http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/C5.jpg "http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/C5.jpg")
Lastly, here's a little fun lick to practice if you want to start toying around with tapping. Don't mind it if you're already good at tapping, it's very basic.
in this example I'm tapping an A minor arpeggio. root A (5th fret), minor third C (8th fret) and Fifth E (12th fret). as you can tell, an arpeggio is essentialy the same thing as a chord, except the notes are played one after the other.
|-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
![[http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/taparp.gif]](http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/taparp.gif "http://seb.geekvision.net/lesson/taparp.gif")
Tap with the middle finger! this way you will be able to do it even while holding a pick.
Hope you find those useful. Put suggestions of what you'd want me to cover in the next batch of lessons.
Today I'll be discussing chords. More precisely, the concept of adding 5ths to beef up a chord.
For those among you who didn't know, the basic chords you play ( A/C/G/Cm/Dm etc) are only made up of 3 notes. We call them triads. those three notes are namely the root, used to name the chord ( the root of a C chord being C), a minor (3 halfsteps) or major (4 halfsteps) third, and a 5th (7 halfsteps).
Now, let's forget the concept of minor/major. We're going to look at 5th "chords" (we'll refer to them as chords in this article, but as i said, it takes at least 3 notes to make a real chord)
First of all, here's your run of the mill A5 chord, but with a complete voicing. the third muted by the middle finger.
|-5-|
|-5-|
|-x-|
|-7-|
|-7-|
|-5-|
This chord can be moved an octave higher:
|-x--|
|-10-|
|-9--|
|-7--|
|-x--|
|-x--|
Personally I mute the top low strings with my middle finger so i can give a full strum to the chord anyway, sounds alot more percussive. of course in other cases this is useless.
This chord shape also applies to any Barre chord with the root on the 6th string. so moving the second b5 shape up one fret, you'd get c5. and so on.
here's the same concept but with a d5 chord, with the root on the 5th string. the voicing is a little bit different.
|-5-|
|-x-|
|-7-|
|-7-|
|-5-|
|---|
|-10-|
|-10-|
|-7--|
|----|
|----|
|----|
5th chords are often used in rock.
--
Of course, there aren't only triads. the 7th chords you play are made up of 4 notes. the root, the third, the fifth and the seventh. you can add an additional fifth without changing the chord's voicing. this can be used in repetitive strummed patterns where you can add or remove a fifth on a random basis to add a variation to the tone.
here's a G7 chord with an added fifth.
|--1--|
|-(3)-|
|--0--|
|--0--|
|--2--|
|--3--|
And with this finger pattern, you can easily shift to a C chord, but let's add a 5th to this c chord as well.
|-(3)-|
|--1--|
|--0--|
|--2--|
|--3--|
|-----|
Lastly, here's a little fun lick to practice if you want to start toying around with tapping. Don't mind it if you're already good at tapping, it's very basic.
in this example I'm tapping an A minor arpeggio. root A (5th fret), minor third C (8th fret) and Fifth E (12th fret). as you can tell, an arpeggio is essentialy the same thing as a chord, except the notes are played one after the other.
|-t12p5h8-t12p5h8-|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
|-----------------|
Tap with the middle finger! this way you will be able to do it even while holding a pick.
Hope you find those useful. Put suggestions of what you'd want me to cover in the next batch of lessons.
"NAILFACE" - spe
