Cool Chords

[jazzer]

I'm so excited about my 1st Taylor, a 710, that I thought I'd share some of my favorite chord voicings w/ y'all. Many of you players out there probably know some of these, but they may be new for some of you.
Over the years I've really liked combining open strings w/ fretted notes, & doing things like getting an open string that's a half-step away from another fretted note. A classic example of this kind of chord is from the opening of Neil Young's "Old Man":
Dm9
xx0560
in this chord, there's a 1/2 step dissonance between the minor 3rd (F) on the B string, & the 9th, which is the open high E string.

Another D chord using this same concept is D13, with the 13th being the open B string, & the 9th being the open E string:
x54500
You can add the 5th of the chord if you'd like w/ your pinkie on the high E string, 5th fret.

My favorite chord right now is this voicing of Am7(sus4):
x05530

I use my 3rd & 4th fingers on the 5th fret, because my hands are smaller. If you use your 1st finger at the 3rd fret, you can also mini-bar it across the high E string for an another 7th. Our praise band plays "Ancient of Days" in C, & this chord is killer in this spot:

C F/C C C F/C C
Blessing & hon - or, glory & pow - er
C Am7(sus4) G/B
be unto the Ancient of Days
(& etc.)

This Am7sus4 doesn't really play in that voicing in any other key (unless you've got an AMAZING stretch in your hand), but a similar voicing is this F#m7(sus4):

244200
Try using your thumb on the bass note on the low E string. Prince uses this chord in the intro to "Purple Rain" - it's the 2nd chord he plays, after the Steely Dan "mu major" A chord to start (those are another complete lesson).

One more for tonite, it's getting late, & I have to get up early & play my Taylor!

Have fun w/ this Fmaj9(add6):
133030
1st finger on low E, 2nd finger on A string, 3rd finger on D string, pinkie on B string, now get your thumb way back on the neck & get that hand out of the way of those open strings!
More later -

[jazzer]

Sorry, my spacing on "Ancient of Days" didn't work out - the Am7sus4 comes on the word "Days".

[purplegleb]

This voicing of yours:
xx0560
is actually a Dm7/9

and this voicing the Am7(sus4)
x05530
you can take out that raised 5th (the high E)
and then change things around to
5x553x

personally, I like this version of the Asus4

5x543x
and then combine it with this 7/9 raised 5
5x645x

[Muggy]

Thes are easy and they sound good.I'm not sure what the official name are.

x24400 X being the fat E string.

x07650

xxx0775

Muggy

[jazzer]

purplegleb - yes, I guess technically the Neil Young chord has a 7th in it, my jazz teachers in college told me that upper extension chords assumed dominant 7ths, so that's why I called it that. Your 5x553 I think of as G/A, & the 7/9 raised 5th (5x645x) I think of as E/A. It's all a matter of naming the chord, I tend to go w/ what's easiest for me to conceive in my brain. Slash & pedal point chords are often really suspended chords of some sort, they just are simpler to name G/A rather than Asus7-9 or whatever. Also naming them that way can assist in conceiving solos over that chord, if the chord is E/A you can play E major scales over that chord (throwing in an A note every once in a while, since that's the root of the chord, & altering the D# to a D natural) & it'll work pretty well. By the way, those two chords are easier for me to play w/ the bass note being the open A string rather than the bass note being played on the low E string, if you go between those two chords your 3rd finger can just stay on the D string.

[jazzer]

Muggy - your 3 chords are:

x24400 X being the fat E string - B sus4 (Paul Baloche uses this a lot)

x07650 - A major

xxx0775 - D major

On that D chord, try this for a D sus 9 (or sus 2 if you prefer calling it): xx0755