Help me learn some new chords

[SixShooter]

I took guitar lessons for 2-3 years when I was in highschool but eventually stopped and started working on my own, learning rock songs by ear, which I am pretty good at. Stopped playing for 20 years and picked it up 3 years ago. It's going well!

I pretty much use entirely bar chords and variations off them.

I use for example 355433 for a G chord (root on 6th string)
and x35553 for a C chord (root on 5th string)
and I know the Maj7 and minor chords for those fingerings. I can do alot with these chords, sometimes playing only some of the strings in the fingering (even though I finger them all).

Are there other fingerings or voicings of major/minor chords that I should know about for playing rock? I do know all of the cowboy chords of course. Is there anything I am missing out on? I have found these so useful that I haven't needed to learn any others and I can switch between them very quickly. But maybe these are limiting my sound?

[BigDaddyLH]

Do you want to learn to play some Steely Dan songs?

[MojoMonster]

Originally Posted by SixShooter

Are there other fingerings or voicings of major/minor chords that I should know about for playing rock? I do know all of the cowboy chords of course. Is there anything I am missing out on? I have found these so useful that I haven't needed to learn any others and I can switch between them very quickly. But maybe these are limiting my sound?

Don't just limit yourself to "rock" chord voicings... Eddie didn't.

You can slide these down the neck as well:
Minor 6 & Minor 7th:
Em6: 0022020
Em7: 0022030
Fm6: 133131 or 131131
Fm7: 133141 or 131141

C7: x32310
D7: x5453x
E7: x7675x
C9: x33230
D9: x5455x
E9: x7677x
E7#9: x7678x

Esus4: 022200
Asus4: x02230
A2: x02200

alt cowboy chords:
C/G: 332010
Cadd9: x32033 or x32030
G something: 320033

MM

[SixShooter]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyLH

Do you want to learn to play some Steely Dan songs?

Why do you ask?

I do love them, though never tried to play any of their songs. Starting to reach past my ability, but maybe there are some that I could handle.

[SixShooter]

Originally Posted by MojoMonster

Don't just limit yourself to "rock" chord voicings... Eddie didn't.

You can slide these down the neck as well:
Minor 6 & Minor 7th:
Em6: 0022020
Em7: 0022030
Fm6: 133131 or 131131
Fm7: 133141 or 131141

C7: x32310
D7: x5453x
E7: x7675x
C9: x33230
D9: x5455x
E9: x7677x
E7#9: x7678x

Esus4: 022200
Asus4: x02230
A2: x02200

alt cowboy chords:
C/G: 332010
Cadd9: x32033 or x32030
G something: 320033

MM

Yippee, new chord day!!!

I printed these off and will check them out. Thank you for taking the time to post these.

[BigDaddyLH]

Originally Posted by SixShooter

Why do you ask?

I do love them, though never tried to play any of their songs. Starting to reach past my ability, but maybe there are some that I could handle.

SD songs use cool chords. Add2 chords, for example. And from Aja, slide from the the first to the second chord:

x4x563 --> x3x452 (CMaj7#11)

[jazztele]

must...resist...teachable...moment....

look, we can give you a bunch of chords...or...we can teach you how to make them yourself...interested?

[klasaine]

Are you listening now to any particular type of music that prompts you to want to learn new chords? Something beyond barre chords? Application is key.

[weelie]

basic jazz set:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSfzKflDoLI

For me all chords I know are variations of the 5 cowboy chords, CAGED. Nothing really wrong with that. And actually to me the A and G as well as C and D are the same chord shape... so you only have three different, actually... DAF! So basically the two barres and the D or C chord. There's a lot of mileages in those.

[SixShooter]

Originally Posted by jazztele

must...resist...teachable...moment....

look, we can give you a bunch of chords...or...we can teach you how to make them yourself...interested?

To be honest, I'm not real knowledgeable regarding theory. I know major and blues scale patterns though I can't tell you all the notes in a scale. I understand intervals a little, but that's about it. I would like to learn more at some point but I think it will require some serious study. If there some easy things you can teach me I would welcome it, but I am not ready to dive in deep.

[Bob Mc]

Ditto what klasaine asked. Do you know basic harmony? I waited 30 years into playing guitar to understand it! When of the best lessons I ever had was when I learned the diatonic chords of a Major scale.

[SixShooter]

Originally Posted by klasaine

Are you listening now to any particular type of music that prompts you to want to learn new chords? Something beyond barre chords? Application is key.

I'm not really trying to play any new type of music. Right now I am playing in a praise band which involves learning about 4 rock syle songs a month. Non of them have unusual chords.

I guess my main question is: are most people using the chord patterns I showed in my OP for basic rock songs, or are there other ways to get for instance an A maj besides what I have shown (bar chord with root on the 6th or 5th string or x02220)?

I know this is a somewhat broad question. Thank you everyone for your help, patience, and ideas.

[SixShooter]

Originally Posted by Bob Mc

Ditto what klasaine asked. Do you know basic harmony? I waited 30 years into playing guitar to understand it! When of the best lessons I ever had was when I learned the diatonic chords of a Major scale.

I must admit I don't! I have a book at home that might go into this. I'll check it out and report back.

This is cool that everone is so eager to help.

[brokenjoe]

Do yourself a favour and learn how to make your own chords.

Sure, it requires a teensy bit of theory at first, but once you understand what you're doing you can forget all about it and just use your ears and eyes.

Trust me, your playing will increase by leaps and bounds.

[warmingtone]

As others have said, a little bit of theory goes a long way...learning how chords are constructed, the basic triads even combined with a knowledge of the fretboard notes will open up a lot of doors.

But to spike a little interest, here's a few...

The "police" chord...a stack of fifths as used in tunes like "message in a bottle" and in variations like "every breath you take" and fairly influential such as in satriani's "always with you"

message in a bottle main riff, stack of fifths

-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
----------8---------------------------------------------------
-------6----------9-------11-------6-s-7-----------------
----4----------7-------9---------4--------------------------
-------------5-------7---------2-----------------------------
...C#.......A..........B...........F#....

These make a kind of add9 sound but have no 'third' so are neither major or minor specifically

For power chords, inversions can sound great....for instance in free's "all right now" chorus

All right now, power chord inversion and ground bass

-------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
----9-------------7~--7-7~~----2~~------------------
----7-/-/-/-------5~--4-4~~----2~~-------------------
----0-------9-7--0~--0-0~~----0~~-------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
...A..................G....D..............A.....

In addition, this example uses a common bass of A throughout...

When playing with others, less is often more...

So, smaller chords can be very useful and produce nice "voice leading". Eddie van halen is a master of these things despite being known for the tapping pyrotechnics, but features in many players and across genres

So...particularly useful are chord forms made along the d,g and b strings (also the d,g,b,e strings)...many of these "shapes" will have several "functions" depending on which note you consider to be the "root" or by adding different roots to them...say via the bass player

---x----------x-----------x-----------------x--------------------
---5----------6-----------5----------------5---------------------
---5----------5-----------5----------------4---------------------
---5----------7-----------7----------------5---------------------
---x----------x-----------x-----------------x-------------------
---x----------x-----------x-----------------x--------------------

C or Am7..F or Dm7...Am or Fmaj7...Em or Cmaj7 or G6

Of course you can slide them around to make any chord and find a lot more "shapes" from just three note formations.

There are quite a few "magic chords" of formations of notes that I like to use that can be superimposed and moved around easily, perhaps going to take a bit to know how to apply them.

I'm quite fond of fifth and fourth "stacks" or just the use of the intervals as a rhythmic/melodic kind of thing...

-----5------5--------------------------------------------------
-----3------6---------------------------------------------------
-----x------5--------------------------------------------------
-----5------5--------------------------------------------------
-----x------5--------------------------------------------------
-----x------x--------------------------------------------------
...ex1.....ex2

ex1 is a stack of fifths much like the "police chord" and is neither major or minor and has a kind of 9th sound that can work well sliding around...Hendrix tunes like angel and castles from memory use these kinds of things and they can be used a little like 'octaves' and take well to distortion or clean tones.

ex2 is the 'so what' chord (miles davis) Dm7add4 but is pretty much a 'stack of fourths' and has similar qualities. Also, it contains all the notes of a pentatonic scale in it's 'formula', so it is Dm pentatonic expressed as a chord that can open doors into other areas

Inversions can be fantastically powerful...consider common "progressions" such as this open chord thing....

------------0-------------------------------------------------
---1---3---1----------------------------------------------------
---0---0---2----------------------------------------------------
---2---0---2----------------------------------------------------
---3---2---0----------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
...C...G/B..Am

notice that the bass is stepping down through the c major scale C,B,A and the upper 'voice' is stepping up C,D,E in the opposite direction...voice leading can be a very cool thing!

Inversions also appear in things like "wind cry's mary" from hendrix say....

-------------------------------------------------------------
-----7--8--9----------7-----8------9-------------------------------
-----7--8--9----------7-----8------9-------------------------------
-----7--8--9----------7-----8------9-------------------------------
-----5--6--7----------7h9--8h10-9h11-----------------
-----5--6--7----------------------------------------------------
.....D..D#..E...........D......D#.....E.....

essentially the chords D,D#,E in the first 'set' it is in second inversion, meaning the fifth is in the bass (A,A#,B) while in the second he hammers on to the third making first inversion chords, meaning 3rds in the bass (F#,G,G#) in a kind of call and response thing.

Most of this stuff isn't going "too far out" into extensions and such but without a bit of theory it can be hard to know how to apply things. There is also the "fundamentals" like knowing the notes on the fretboard and what notes are in simple triads that are required at least to some degree.

A popular sound is the use of open strings as a kind of ostinato, much like "all right now" kept a constant A in the bass, open strings can be used in similar ways for effect. Obviously an open b and e string might work well in a song in the key of E, an open E also works well in songs in C though and in surprising ways with a "bit of theory"...

---0-----0----0----0---------------------------------------------
---0-----0----0----0---------------------------------------------
---5-----3----6----4---------------------------------------------
---7-----4----6----4---------------------------------------------
---0-----4----4----2---------------------------------------------
----------2---------------------------------------------------
...ex1...2.....3.....4...

ex 1 a close mysterious sounding Amadd9...ex2 an F#7add4...ex3 a C#m7...ex4 a Bsus4

...

However, there is limited scope in just learning a 'dictionary' of chord shapes without knowing how they are constructed, how to quickly find them and how to effectively apply them. Perhaps messing around with some of these will encourage you into exploring these kinds of things...

[jazztele]

Originally Posted by SixShooter

I guess my main question is: are most people using the chord patterns I showed in my OP for basic rock songs, or are there other ways to get for instance an A maj besides what I have shown (bar chord with root on the 6th or 5th string or x02220)?.

they might be, but that's no reason you need to. You've shown interest, that's enough to make me want to help you out more.

you don't really need to know any "theory," just some fundamentals. The major scales are the starting point. You can build every chord in the world using some simple formulas, starting with the major scale of the root of the chord...so the A major scale for your A chord. (A B C# D E F# G#)

You see, that A major chord, whether you play it on five or six or whatever strings, is just a combination/repetition of three notes--the Root (first), third, and fifth note of the A major scale. A, C#, and E.

so an A chord is anywhere you can play an A, C#, and E. Anywhere. How cool is that? There's TONS of possibilities.

Every chord has a formula. I'll shut up now and see if you're interested before I keep going.

[boneyguy]

I thought I'd draw out the chords for you that MojoMonster described. I have this cool new software that creates fretboard diagrams really easily so I thought I'd use this as a chance to get to know this program better. If I messed up any of the diagrams just let me know and I'll fix it. You can print this out also.

[SixShooter]

Originally Posted by warmingtone

As others have said, a little bit of theory goes a long way...learning how chords are constructed, the basic triads even combined with a knowledge of the fretboard notes will open up a lot of doors.

But to spike a little interest, here's a few...

The "police" chord...a stack of fifths as used in tunes like "message in a bottle" and in variations like "every breath you take" and fairly influential such as in satriani's "always with you"...

Warmingtone- Thank you so much for all of this information that you have posted for me. I have actually been thinking about learning some Police so this has got me excited to start. I have printed off everything you wrote and plan to start trying it tonight.

[SixShooter]

Originally Posted by jazztele

they might be, but that's no reason you need to. You've shown interest, that's enough to make me want to help you out more.

you don't really need to know any "theory," just some fundamentals. The major scales are the starting point. You can build every chord in the world using some simple formulas, starting with the major scale of the root of the chord...so the A major scale for your A chord. (A B C# D E F# G#)

You see, that A major chord, whether you play it on five or six or whatever strings, is just a combination/repetition of three notes--the Root (first), third, and fifth note of the A major scale. A, C#, and E.

so an A chord is anywhere you can play an A, C#, and E. Anywhere. How cool is that? There's TONS of possibilities.

Every chord has a formula. I'll shut up now and see if you're interested before I keep going.

JazzTele- This is great stuff and I understand it. Can't wait to go home and mess with it on my guitar. I appreciate your willingness to teach. So let me explore this concept and then I will surely come back for more.

[jazztele]

Originally Posted by SixShooter

JazzTele- This is great stuff and I understand it. Can't wait to go home and mess with it on my guitar. I appreciate your willingness to teach. So let me explore this concept and then I will surely come back for more.

alright, so let me throw you just a little more then--some common formulas.

remember, they all start with the major scale of the root. even for minor chords. Let's stick with "A" for all examples.

again, formula 1: major triad-- R(root) 3rd, 5th.

minor triad: R, b3, 5 (so here we take the third note of the scale, C#, and lower it one half step to a C. So an A minor chord is A, C, E)

major7: R, 3, 5, 7

dominant 7 (often just called a 7) R, 3, 5, b7

half-diminished or m7b5: R, b3, b5, b7

6: R, 3, 5, 6

6/9: R, 3, 5, 6, 9

wait a second? 9? there's only seven notes in the scale. go back around and keep numbering. So when you get back to the root, that's 8, 2=9, up an octave from the root? Dig?

okay, one more, just cuz they're so useful

9: R, 3, 5, b7, 9 (this chord is related to the dominant 7th because it has the b7 in there)

the next step is to figure out what notes you really need to play to get the point across. Theoretically, a 13th chord is seven notes--not gonna happen on the guitar. but you can putthe idea across of a thirteenth with as little as 2 or 3 notes, sometimes...

but more on that another time...