Who's into "Chording"

i play my chords either with the nail of my index finger, to make it sound a little more agressive, and for usually chords with 2 notes like power chords and what not. for 3 note and above chords i use my thumb for the root and my index, middle, and ring fingers for whatever other note is in the chord. i copped this from todd johnson.

 

I do pretty much the same thing, except I try to use as many notes of a chord I can, because with 7th chords the the 3rd, 5th, and 7th can change what kind of 7th chord it is.

 

One really cool way to comp is to do what Roscoe Beck does: tap root notes with the left hand and tap syncopated upper chord voicings with the right. As Beck demonstrates, practically any chord can be outlined using fourths, fifths and tritones on the right hand and a root note on the left. Once you work out the rhythms, it's pretty easy, and you avoid the mud that comes with traditionally fingered non-tapped chords. Add some mild chorusing and phasing, and you're as good as a Hammond B-3!

 

Mike Dimin, anyone?

 

That fellow got me into playing chords.

 

I love (tastefully) using chords and double-stops. That's one of the main reasons I'm thinking of re-stringing my 5-string up to EADGC. I figure the clear, high C will sound really nice for that type of playing.

 

Not seriously. Sometimes when Im mucking around with the band I'll play guitar chords for the hell of it, but I probably wouldnt use them in a song.
I now know 9 guitar chords!!

 

If the root is on the A string, that is a good method. If the root is on the E string, then I play the 7th on the D string and the 3rd (actually the 10th) on the G string.

Here's an example of a G7 chord:

B on the 16th fret of the G string.
F on the 15th fret of the D string

G on the 15th fret of the E string

I think the wider intervals make the chord sound a lot less muddy and give the notes some room to breathe.

 

I would do it like this:

Code:

G7:      Gm7:     GMaj7:         GMinMaj7:
-16-|4   -15-|3   -16-|4         -15-|2
-15-|2   -15-|2   -16-|3(or 4)   -16-|3
----|x   ----|x   ----|x         ----|x
-15-|1   -15-|1   -15-|1         -15-|1

(formula: -fret-|finger (or x = mute, with index finger))

I hope I'm right on the actual chords...

 

Hey, thats basicly what I do, but I just play them all at the same time, what is syncopating them?

 

Oysterman beat me to the reply! That's exactly the way I would do it too.

I would just like to add a point about the right hand. You asked how I would strum or pluck it. Well, I personally never strum chords or double stops. I think it sounds better when you pluck them at the same time. I do this by playing the lowest note with my thumb, and the upper two notes with my index and middle finger. It's more like a "triple stop" than a chord in the guitar sense of the word.

 

Listen to Roscoe Beck sometime. He keeps a walking bassline going with his left hand (swung quarter notes) and stabs at double stops to round out the chords with his right. Some of the double stops fall right on the beat that's being defined by the walking line; others are a little ahead or behind. The syncopation's a little tricky at first, as you have to develop some hand independence a la a non-classical pianist in order to pull it off. Actually, it's more of a mental thing than a physical thing.

Another guy who does this a lot is Arne Livingston from the funky fusion trio "Living Daylights". He's not as well known, though.

 

Yep, there ain't nothing like a slap line followed by a double-popped power chord .

 

I caught the Living Daylights by accident. I was actually going to see Project Logic and in the other room/bar the Living Daylights were playing. The bass player made really good use of tapping as a harmonic vehicle for the tunes. He also did some great looping. That was one of the coolest coincidences - walking into a bar and catching a great quality band out of the blue.

 

I do chords using all my right hand fingers to "pluck the strings" nashville country style. To me it has more impact then strumming because the note sound closer. I have a wide neck 5 so physical distance between the strings hurts in strumming.

I was in a single guitar metal band and got into chords to play second to him. and to back up his solo's sometimes.

 

forgive me for being stupid, but do you pluck all strings at the same time, or do you arpeggio them, or strum them or what...?

sorry, i'm just really bad

simon a

 

I've been into slapping chords lately. Nice diversion.

 

to eskimobob

you can do what ever you want with them. i have one of my songs that starts of with arpegios and then goes into open hammer pluck with chords. or you could just strum them but when it's a a chord with a muted string in between it gets all muddied up.