Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveMusic
So, my question is... how do guitar players get to this point? Did somebody show them this? Did they just naturally think to themselves, "I wonder how I could play this and it won't sound like the normal cowboy chord shapes, what would sound cool?"
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Pretty much, yes (I guess).
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveMusic
Are guitar players who do this a step above in innate talent, just some natural skillset that is inherently above the rest of us?
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No. Unless you define "talented" as not being hidebound by rules.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveMusic
An example would be watching Paul Simon play "Scarborough Fair."
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Yes, those are interesting chords, from someone who is theoretically pretty knowledgeable.
It's worth mentioning that he got one of those chord shapes - x04030 - from Martin Carthy's arrangement of the tune:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCjUDUshHdQ
Carthy has made a career (since then) of experimental guitar tunings and chord voicings, and knows exactly what he's doing.
Sample of his intellect and immense (but modest) knowledge here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-lAqiaLBTo
Paul Simon added the Asus2 shape - x02200 - realising it formed a perfect partner to x04030 as a
dorian vamp. Note that neither chord contains a C, and yet it suits the A dorian vibe. (This is a jazz sensibility, although I don't know how knowledgeable about jazz Simon was at that time, or whether this was just intuitive.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveMusic
If you watch Gordon Lightfoot play "Sundown," he has a capo at fret 2. Now, relative to the capo, you see that he plays a chord that sounds like an E-chord shape. Again, that is relative to the capo. The actual chord would be F#. Go back now relative to the capo. So, if I play a cowboy chord shape, 022100, that's the chord. Except he is playing what appears to be 022400, with the A-string and D-string being barred with his index finger. The next chord, relative to the capo is a B-chord. Except he doesn't play a cowboy chord shape, such as a barred 224442. He simply moves his finger to the D-string at fret 4 (relative to the capo) and plays what appears to be 024x00. Sounds to me like he is muting the G-string to get the B-chord sound. It took me awhile to be able to play these chord shapes fluidly but I think I got it now. Cool!
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Yes - there's a kind of light-bulb moment with shapes like this, where you realise how little you need to imply the chords you want. I think it does take a certain attitude or viewpoint to be open to that way of thinking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiveMusic
What prompted this thread was this video of Sir Paul playing "I Got A Feeling." I think he is tuned down a whole step and playing an unusual A-shape, adding a couple of fingers to get an unusual D-shape. Since he's tuned down, it's G and C. Point is, the fingered shapes are not cowboy chords. It sounds way cooler than what a G-shape and C-shape (tuned E to e) would give.
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Sure. The downtuning is for his voice, primarily. He plays Yesterday in that tuning, using G shapes for the actual key of F.
Here, he's using what I think of as Keith Richard chord shapes. In open G tuning (losing the 6th string), a G chord (obviously) is x00000, and C is x02010 (C/G to be precise, but does the job). To play any of Keef's famous chord riffs, all you need to do is covert those to barre shapes, which is easy enough. Two (easy) chord shapes, to cover any major chord you want, anywhere!
But you can emulate that in standard tuning, at least in key of A, by doing with Paul is doing here: x02225 for A and x04235 for D.
However, all of this is nothing compared to the kinds of chord voicings Bert Jansch worked out and employed all the time: Such as in this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmVA7BHsF1I (drop D)
or this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsL-2cHKgMc (DADGAD)