Different chord voicings and movable shapes

[columbia]

Arnie Berle’s Chords and Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar is a great book on the subject.

Respectfully disagree about the Ted Greene book unless you’re highly motivated.

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by columbia

Arnie Berle’s Chords and Progressions for Jazz and Popular Guitar is a great book on the subject.

Respectfully disagree about the Ted Greene book unless you’re highly motivated.

The problem with Greenes, "Chord Chemistry," is that it starts out in very deep musical water for novices. The sections on simple triads and various voicings is much easier to grasp. IMHO - Ted should have had these parts at the beginning.

[columbia]

I hope to get into Chord Chemistry and Greene's other books before I die, but with its tiny handwritten chord diagrams it's not the most accessible.

In the Berle book the chord diagrams are large, with every element of the chord (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13) identified below the diagram. It also is limited to the most-used chord shapes; the Greene book has some chords spanning 7 or 8 frets, which I'm sure only Ted Greene could play.

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by columbia

I hope to get into Chord Chemistry and Greene's other books before I die, but with its tiny handwritten chord diagrams it's not the most accessible.

In the Berle book the chord diagrams are large, with every element of the chord (1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 13) identified below the diagram. It also is limited to the most-used chord shapes; the Greene book has some chords spanning 7 or 8 frets, which I'm sure only Ted Greene could play.

That's one of the reasons I mentioned the simple triad sections.

[rick-slo]

Why can't one just hear how they want to voice things. Not clear why browsing through a thousand chord guitar book would be that helpful. If you can group things into patterns and think fast enough there is value for on the fly stuff.

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Why can't one just hear how they want to voice things. Not clear why browsing through a thousand chord guitar book would be that helpful. If you can group things into patterns and think fast enough there is value for on the fly stuff.

That's been my approach for a long time. I'll put a cluster of notes together to suit myself and then put a name on it.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by RRuskin

That's been my approach for a long time. I'll put a cluster of notes together to suit myself and then put a name on it.

Hi RR and rick-slo…

Because of being involved with figuring out all things music since age 8, I'll hear an instrument play a chord while playing a song, and immediately grab my guitar and find the notes (sometimes needing to play the passage again).

I assumed that was a natural thing to expect of other players, and find it in very few. They want/need TAB, or notation, instead of developing their ability to hear and seek.

So as a teacher I began doing some basic ear training to help players learn to 'find' all the notes they heard, in proper range.

[wguitar]

For me, the fun in playing guitar is opening doors of musical exploration and making it your own. I love seeing a new chord (to me) in some sheet music and exploring the different voicing for that chord to add to my toolbox. Sometimes I'll just start playing stuff because it sounds good to me and later discover that I have stumbled onto something like a moveable chord shape or whatever. While I have little patience for an in depth study of music theory at my age, I continuously learn new things and my guitar life is great (and lots of fun)!

Happy strumming all,

Cheers !