Cowboy Chords [Archive] - The Acoustic Guitar Forum

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jackstrat
09-29-2009, 06:48 AM
We often read about "Cowboy Chords", the open C, G, D, etc at the first position.

So what are considered the non-Cowboy Chord alternatives? Barres? Jazz Chords?

JackL

fulano
09-29-2009, 07:14 AM
I assume it is anything but those first position chords.

Funny thing is, you can play a whole lot more than cowboy songs with just the basics but they tend to be labeled as such.

Steev
09-30-2009, 02:58 AM
So what are considered the non-Cowboy Chord alternatives?

Corporate CEO chords?

Bern
09-30-2009, 04:41 AM
IMO, the term 'Cowboy Chords' was a creation by a knuckle head. It's a meaningless term.

JohnZ
09-30-2009, 06:07 AM
Maybe I'm from a different era but cowboy chords are played like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej5O2udl2xs

Allman_Fan
09-30-2009, 08:06 AM
Could it be that the non-Cowboy Chords are "Rock-n-Roll" chords? I think they use to call them that . . . wait, maybe that was just one of my synapses misfiring! I never heard the term "Cowboy Chord" until recently, but it does sound like something a condescending rocker would say, eh?

On to the chords!
E = open (low) E,
A string, second fret, index finger
D string, second fret, index finger

Now hammer on the fourth fret with . . . but you already know that.

Move everything over a string for the A chord.

So, why are they called "Barre" chords and not "Bar" chords? 'Cause it looks kinda like a Bar to me. Barre sounds like something French. I'd prefer to do something like a Cowboy than a Frenchie! ;)

Steve Berger
09-30-2009, 09:23 AM
I'm fairly certain the term originally referred to chords typically played in songs by the likes of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and other "cowboys" and it grew from there.

daleyfolk
09-30-2009, 03:00 PM
Maybe a non-cowboy chord is anything that has more than a "m" or a "7" after it.
My friends call them "adult" chords, and they're afraid to try them.

Jhengsman
09-30-2009, 07:30 PM
Could it be that the non-Cowboy Chords are "Rock-n-Roll" chords? I think they use to call them that . . . wait, maybe that was just one of my synapses misfiring! I never heard the term "Cowboy Chord" until recently, but it does sound like something a condescending rocker would say, eh?


I would have said something a jazz snob would say myself :lol:

Allman_Fan
10-01-2009, 08:35 AM
Ah, yes. Just because one condescends doesn't mean they are (REALLY) more sophisticated, just that THEY think so. (It's OK for me to bash my own kind, isn't it?) ;)

I am interested in these "adult" chords that folks are afraid of trying. Are those the kind of chords that you slip dollar bills in between their strings?

Can a praise and worship song contain a diminshed 5th?:eek:

vac4873
10-01-2009, 08:56 AM
Can a praise and worship song contain a diminshed 5th?:eek:

Rather than a flippant reply, here's some fun and interesting stuff about that - sorry - tangential stuff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritone
http://deutsch.ucsd.edu/psychology/deutsch_research6.php

ELK
10-01-2009, 09:03 AM
Ah, yes. Just because one condescends doesn't mean they are (REALLY) more sophisticated, just that THEY think so. (It's OK for me to bash my own kind, isn't it?) ;)

I am interested in these "adult" chords that folks are afraid of trying. Are those the kind of chords that you slip dollar bills in between their strings?

Can a praise and worship song contain a diminshed 5th?:eek:

You only have to slip the dollar bill under the "g" string . . .

A tri-tone in a P&W song can be removed with proper fretboard "exorcises."

daleyfolk
10-01-2009, 10:30 PM
You only have to slip the dollar bill under the "g" string . . .

A tri-tone in a P&W song can be removed with proper fretboard "exorcises."

oh my! ROFLOL:D:D