Open chords you normally use at higher fret

[Neilson]

Saw many singers playing their guitar at higher fret, not barre chord.

what you guys normally use higher than those 1st to 3rd fret that sounds good? I have been over relying capo, so wanna improve myself with this chord that are at higher fret. .... Thanks.

[LSemmens]

C7 fingering on the 5th fret makes for a great E7 chord. I often play D fingering on the 7th for a G chord too.

[boombox]

Originally Posted by LSemmens

C7 fingering on the 5th fret makes for a great E7 chord. I often play D fingering on the 7th for a G chord too.

Was going to mention both of those - that C7 fingering forms the basis of the verse for Jefferson Airplane's 'Plastic Fantastic Lover' and was used a lot in the 60s. Similarly the D chord moved moved up and down is used in many 60s and 70s songs - Wishbone Ash's 'Blowin' Free', CSN's 'Marrakech Express', April Wine's 'Page Five' etc. Omitting the top E from the chord too makes a nice chord used at fret VII then V in the old classic 'Get Together' (though not in the Airplane version where Paul capoed at V).

One of my favourite uses is the open C chord with the G added on the top E string - the correct way to play Yes' 'Wurm' (start with the root on X, then VI then III). I also use it for Bill Fay's 'Some Good Advice' (X, VIII, VI, V for the main riff.)

Some I use, in no particular order:

Em. . . .0 7 9 0 0 0

A . . . . X 0 7 6 5 0. . . . . . X 0 11 9 10 0

Am. . . . . X 0 7 5 5 0. . . . . .X 0 10 9 10 0

D. . . . . X X 0 7 7 5. . . . . . . X X 0 11 10 10

Dm. . . . . . X X 0 9 6 5. . . . . . . . X X 0 10 10 10

There are many others and some variations on the above, but look at your chords and see what notes you need. Maintain the open strings and see where you can find the fretted notes on upper frets, but not in the same order, and don't shy away from doubled notes. The inversions will reveal themselves.

[xtremekustomz]

C shape on the 3rd fret for a D

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by xtremekustomz

C shape on the 3rd fret for a D

Are you sure?

[Mr. Jelly]

Take a chord played at the nut area and use part of it that's fretted. Move it up the neck and it's a different chord. Now in some places this new chord can benefit by using open strings. Sometimes you can take one of these shapes and lift a finger for a root note open string drone sound. It can sing. I'm just trying to state the concept of what you may be looking at.

[Marshall]

Originally Posted by A-Mac

Some I use, in no particular order:

Em. . . .0 7 9 0 0 0

A . . . . X 0 7 6 5 0. . . . . . X 0 11 9 10 0

Am. . . . . X 0 7 5 5 0. . . . . .X 0 10 9 10 0

D. . . . . X X 0 7 7 5. . . . . . . X X 0 11 10 10

Dm. . . . . . X X 0 9 6 5. . . . . . . . X X 0 10 10 10

There are many others and some variations on the above, but look at your chords and see what notes you need. Maintain the open strings and see where you can find the fretted notes on upper frets, but not in the same order, and don't shy away from doubled notes. The inversions will reveal themselves.

Even ore "open" would be:

A2 . . . . X07600
Am2. . . .X07500 (Very troubled sounding with a C and B half step off each other)
AM9 . . . .X06600 (Probably my favorite chord of late)

[fogrider]

Not sure what it's a called, but it's nice:

5 0 5 5 0 0

Wrap your thumb around for the low E string.

From there you can move to any of the following (some already mentioned in previous posts):

X X 0 5 6 0

X X 6 6 0 0

X 0 5 7 0 0

X 0 7 5 0 0

X 7 7 5 0 0


Lots of possibilities...

[YeOldRocker]

Originally Posted by AndyC

Are you sure?

I use that configuration all the time, particularly when going from C to D - just slide up.

[Long Jon]

Originally Posted by xtremekustomz

C shape on the 3rd fret for a D

Originally Posted by AndyC

Are you sure?

Originally Posted by YeOldRocker

I use that configuration all the time, particularly when going from C to D - just slide up.

Me too, for instance in Little Feat's "Willin'", which I learned to play by someone showing me, before later realising that was actually a D

(I use a "real" D for the main verses and the slidy one just for the little slidy phrase).

Originally Posted by Long Jon

Me too, for instance in Little Feat's "Willin'", which I learned to play by someone showing me, before later realising that was actually a D

Yeah it's a very common folk move to go from the C to the D by simply sliding the C position up a couple of frets

[zabdart]

Suggest that everyone purchase Ernie Hawkins' DVD set on "The C-A-G-E-D System" for a good manual for taking your guitar playing to the next level.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by YeOldRocker

I use that configuration all the time, particularly when going from C to D - just slide up.

Hi YOR

And if you play the C chord shape
0
1
0
2
3
3
…on the third and other frets, you can mute the 1st string (or leave it out) as needed.

There are lots of chord shapes which work up the neck and on different sets of strings (shift the shape over to a different set of strings).

[Von Beerhofen]

There's an easy way to move open chords which is simply based on the mayor and minor scales.
For instance for E Mayor

0 2 2 1 0 0
0 4 4 2 0 0
0 6 6 4 0 0
0 7 7 6 0 0
0 9 9 8 0 0
0 11 11 9 0 0
0 13 13 11 0 0

or alternatively

0 2 2 1 0 0
0 4 4 3 0 0
0 6 6 4 0 0
0 7 7 6 0 0
0 8 8 7 0 0
0 10 10 9 0 0
0 12 12 11 0 0

Note that the basic shape changes from mayor to minor or vice versa in the progression.
It can be applied to any chord in any position but it's harder to do when the chords use added notes.
The fun is that only basic chordshapes can be used to create interesting movements and your pinky is still free to fret another note in that region.

Ludwig