Does anyone ever add an extra F# on the sixth string

[Cecil6243]

to a B7 chord with their thumb?

was going from an F#m7/E with a thumb on the F# on the second fret of the 6th string. (Peaceful Easy Feeling-The Eagles), and thought heck there's an F# in the B7 chord too, so why not add an extra one in the same place with my thumb also? It sounds good to me and gives it a fuller meatier sound IMHO.

Just wondering?

[terryj47]

I use the F# with my thumb on D chords in some songs adding the third as the low note. Adding it as the fifth to a B7 should be fine. I'll have to try it.

[H165]

Yes. I use F# fingerstyle. Left thumb and right ring finger alternating bass from the B to the F#.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by H165

Yes. I use F# fingerstyle. Left thumb and right ring finger alternating bass from the B to the F#.

I thought of that! Great minds think alike! Well yours is probably great not sure about mine. A lot of my discoveries are serendipity.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by terryj47

I use the F# with my thumb on D chords in some songs adding the third as the low note. Adding it as the fifth to a B7 should be fine. I'll have to try it.

Yup! I like adding that F # to the D chord in Heart of Gold by Neil Young!

[Charlie Bernstein]

I do. And there are lots of cool sounds you can get hitting other notes on the other strings. A highly bluesy chord, if you work it. It's especially succeptible to pinky and ringfinger bends.

[Cecil6243]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

I do. And there are lots of cool sounds you can get hitting other notes on the other strings. A highly bluesy chord, if you work it. It's especially succeptible to pinky and ring finger bends.

[soma5]

I put my middle finger between the 5th and 6th strings and get both notes that way. Not everyone can manage that due to fingertip shape, but it's worth it to try and see because it's a useful technique. It helps to have taller frets, but that carries with it other potential issues.

[Coler]

All the time but with my finger or yep I will grab it with my thumb but it does obviously change the root note of the chord - so that doesn’t work in some situations.

[cdkrugjr]

Not a big deal if you have a bass player playing the B.

But if not, a “Second Inversion Triad” or <nerdy>the 6-4 inversion<\nerdy> gets a bit weird.

Often, the second inversion is treated as a “double suspension” of the 5 of the chord, so in B you’re playing f#-b-d#, is often treated as “F#sus4sus6” which would then resolve to f#-a#-c#.

Now that particular voicing really can’t be played…we don’t have a c# on the 4th string—but it’s helpful nonetheless to think about Why we might want an inversion rather than a root-position chord.

[Nymuso]

Sure, do it all the time and have since I started playing. I don't always play that F# I just want to grab the B with my thumb and the F# is along for the ride. But this fingering has proven to be very handy over the years since with slight variations I can get, B9, B6add9, B7b9 and some others.

[Italuke]

One person's "fuller meatier" is another person's "muddy and dissonant." A quick theory lesson:

You can't just stick any note of a chord in any old place (in the order low to high). ESPECIALLY the bass/lowest note.

Having the fifth of a chord sounding as the lowest note creates a perfect fourth, which was for centuries considered a dissonance. Something which DEMANDS resolution rather than standing static on its own. This shifted around the Classical and Romantic eras as music became more "vertical" as opposed to "horizontal" (more chordal, less contrapuntal).

So you have to know and want that sound. Do you understand what happens when a chord has the fifth as the lowest note? Do you know how that sonority functions in the progression you're playing? (Remember, music happens OVER TIME, not standing still.)

If you understand and desire that sound, you add the low F# In a B chord. If you don't then you likely will want to mute the low E string.

[Coler]

^ good post.

May I add, for the same reason you don't play the open A as part of your D chord just to fill it out.

[rmp]

with a D chord, all the time.

with a B7, no, good idea tho.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Cecil6243

to a B7 chord with their thumb?

was going from an F#m7/E with a thumb on the F# on the second fret of the 6th string. (Peaceful Easy Feeling-The Eagles), and thought heck there's an F# in the B7 chord too, so why not add an extra one in the same place with my thumb also? It sounds good to me and gives it a fuller meatier sound IMHO.

Just wondering?

Hi Cecil
I add bass notes (like you discussion of this 'slash' chord) when I'm playing solo guitar and it's appropriate.

When in the band, we have a bass player so I tend NOT to.