Interesting, full sounding chords....

[everton_fc]

Hi, was wondering if anyone could give me a bit of advise.

Sometimes, instead of playing loads of lead guitar, I sometimes want to complement a droning bass guitar with some interesting chords.

So say if the key is A Major, and the Bass guitar is playing an A as a root note, I would like to play 1 strum, open, full chord. But I dont really want to play an A, or Asus2 or Asus4...

Can anyone recommend interesting chords to play for both Major and Minor keys. Nothing too way out, just something that sounds refreshing, causes a bit of tension and buildup, ready for the chorus to rip!

Thanks

[froglord]

Learn all the major and minor chords that fit into the scale.

C   C#   D   D#   E   F   F#   G   G#   A   A#   B

For a C Major scale these are:

C major (duh)
   +2 semitones
D minor
   +2 semitones
E minor
   +1 semitone
F major
   +2 semitones
G major
   +2 semitones
A minor

You can make this more general by replacing the specific note (C in this case) with a roman numeral:

I major
   +2 semitones
II minor
   +2 semitones
III minor
   +1 semitone
IV major
   +2 semitones
V major
   +2 semitones
VI minor

This can then be transposed into any key.

So, for A major:
A major
   +2 semitones
B minor
   +2 semitones
C# minor
   +1 semitone
D major
   +2 semitones
E major
   +2 semitones
F# minor

This actually becomes much easier once you use barre chords:

For A major you start with an E-major-shape barre chord with the root note on the 5th fret of the low E-string (an A). Move two frets (semitones) up and use an E-minor-shape barre chord - this is the II minor chord (B minor in this case). Two frets up again gives you the III minor chord (C# minor) and so on.

Now drop down to the 5th fret on the second string and an A-major-shape barre chord for the IV major (D major). Carry on until you get to the VI minor. Memorise the position of these six chords and you can improvise rhythm guitar in any key with only four chord shapes - all you have to do is start at a different place on the neck, making sure to fret the E-major-shape barre chord with the sixth string on the root note of the scale (e.g. for F major, barre at the first fret).

Wow - what a long post! I hope it makes some kind of sense...

[Dakine]

^ deserves a prize for typing all that :)

[froglord]

^ deserves a prize for typing all that :)

Cheers!  :drink:

I thought to myself, "there's a really simple way of figuring out basic chords: I'll write it down."

Naive fool that I was!

[Muzzzz]

I'll agree with pretty much everything Mr Frog said, but add a few things.

You can get some pretty interesting sounds when you fuse the key note and some of the aforementioned chords.

For example, if you play the key note (C for instance) and chord III (Em), you get  'C Major 7th' (C E G B) which is a nice, refreshing, almost 'jazzy' sound.

Personally, in a minor key, I quite like 'I m (II)' (Which is chord 1 w/ a minor 3rd, with the second note of the scale as the lowest note), so this could be, for instance, Cm (D) - (D, Eb, G, C).

You can find som cool chords by sitting at a piano, playing something as simple as a C chord, and then experimenting with adding notes, moving notes around and fiddling with unusual harmonies (eg, tritones, Aug 5's)

Have Fun!

Muz  :D

[Muzzzz]

Oh, and Dakine, can I claim Froglord's prize? Your Petrucci EBMM, perhaps?  :D