Can you play this chord?

[LiveMusic]

Originally Posted by bufflehead

Yep. Capo three, play C. Piece of cake.

Huh? You can't capo up in the middle of a chord progression, even with a sliding capo. EDIT: It's difficult anyway. But I don't think this one can be done. A real good guitar player can pull this off; just wondered how many of you can play it easily. But as I've said, I think there are better chord shapes for this progression.

G - Bm - G7 - C
D - Eb (kind of a slide up from D to Eb)
G - Em - A7 - Cm - D

I have a sliding capo but I've never stuck with it. Perhaps there is someone in the world who could do this but I'd bet against it until I saw it! Nah... there is no time between the D and Eb chords. Can't be done.

[stanron]

I have no difficulty doing

3 1 1 3 4 x

as a barre chord. Having said that I've never played all five strings at once. As a finger picker I can pick any two, three, or four notes from that shape as circumstances require. Thinking about it, I suspect I have never actually played Eb in a piece. I don't play with brass so I don't need to go there. I'll use it for E, F and G chords although I can't remember ever going past an A with this shape.

If you don't need the range of bass notes that this shape offers there will be simpler shapes you can use.

x 6 5 3 4 3

is the 'barred up C shape'

x x 5 3 4 3

is simpler if strumming is the game.

x x x 3 4 3

has all the notes of Eb if bass notes are not needed.

Complexity, for it's own sake, is not a virtue.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

Huh? You can't capo up in the middle of a chord progression, even with a sliding capo.

True. I think the comment was about choosing a capo on 3 for the whole song.
As I said, for a song with an Eb in it, you can often use a capo for the whole thing (frets 3, 1, 4 or 6, usually), but in your case maybe not...

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

G - Bm - G7 - C
D - Eb (kind of a slide up from D to Eb)
G - Em - A7 - Cm - D

What song is it? And do you need the whole chord or just part of it?

[pjroberts]

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Keep in mind too, if you don't need the G on top but DO need it on the bottom:

3 x 1 3 4 x is a very handy shape.

This is one of my faovirite partial shapes, I will frequently play the xx134x shape up and down the neck, way easier and a colorful shape anywhere. The full C bar shape is tougher to do on the fly, but I’m practicing that because it’s super useful. Outside of those super stretch edge case chords (what I classify as JazzDude chords) you can pretty much do most anything in most positions when you get this one down. It’s a handful though and it’s my clumsiest move, somstill restricted to practice.

[jseth]

I have to admit that, when I was talking about all the blues and rock players who work out of that chord shape, I strayed far afield from the OP intent...

Although I CAN play that shape as a barre, I don't know why in the world I would want to! That shape, with the third barred on the bottom, has never come up for me in the music I play...

[LiveMusic]

Originally Posted by JonPR

...
What song is it? And do you need the whole chord or just part of it?

Due to copyright issues, I can't put up a recording (yet) or I would. Solo, it will have to sound good just me and geetar; in a band, it doesn't matter as much. It's kind of a key change and then back. I am no expert on theory but that's what it sounds like to me. (I haven't done a session on it yet.) It doesn't last long until it goes back to the root but it's long enough, a full measure in the Eb. It's very cool. I don't do this much in songwriting but it's cool. When I do it, I don't consciously think, "Oh, I need a key change here, that would be cool." It just happens as I'm writing the song. First time I did it, the band leader in the session was writing the chart and he was aghast at the complexity. Well not aghast, but it was a challenge. The very skilled session players even disagreed on how best to chart it. They can read it no matter what as long as it's written correctly in Nashville number system. Whenever I get an 'expert' to hear it, I will ask if it's a key change or just what you'd call it.

I guess the bottom line is I really don't play Eb, ever, unless I have to. Seems it always come in some kind of weird progression like this and the difficulty is making it sound good just on acoustic... solo... guitar/vocal. If it's just a song in the key of Eb, I would use capo or tune down. The second bottom line is... there is no reason I shouldn't be able to play Eb with ease. I can play pretty much any other chord needed for singer-songwriter stuff.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

Due to copyright issues, I can't put up a recording (yet) or I would.

Oh, it's your song? You've written a song with a chord you find hard to play? How did you decide on that?

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

Solo, it will have to sound good just me and geetar; in a band, it doesn't matter as much. It's kind of a key change and then back. I am no expert on theory but that's what it sounds like to me. (I haven't done a session on it yet.) It doesn't last long until it goes back to the root but it's long enough, a full measure in the Eb. It's very cool. I don't do this much in songwriting but it's cool. When I do it, I don't consciously think, "Oh, I need a key change here, that would be cool." It just happens as I'm writing the song.

That's all cool...

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

First time I did it, the band leader in the session was writing the chart and he was aghast at the complexity. Well not aghast, but it was a challenge. The very skilled session players even disagreed on how best to chart it. They can read it no matter what as long as it's written correctly in Nashville number system.

I'm intrigued!
They don't sound like very skilled players to me. It's not an especially complex sequence, just a couple of common borrowed chords (Eb and Cm). And an Eb chord would be written bVI, or (AFAIK) b6 in the Nashville system.

Chord sequences are not copyright, btw, so there'd be no problem just posting audio of the progression.

[LiveMusic]

To JonPR...

I'm apparently not writing clearly and people are probably bored with this, so, we'll let it go lol. The first song, I can't say any more about it right now and it doesn't matter anyway... the issue is I can't play Eb to sound like I want it to sound and play it cleanly enough.

The description of the session and players was not this song, it was another song, one I wrote that has what I guess is a somewhat unusual key change in it. Believe me, the session players are likely as skilled as just about anybody on the planet. Top notch, busy session players. The issue with my song was writing the chart QUICKLY so that everyone could follow it (and we could refer to it later) as the studio clock was ticking. The discussion went something like, "blah blah blah... oh... I see... there's actually a key change in this song." Don't ask me, I'm just a songwriter! I think it might have been where we had extra time and I had this other song... and had written the chart in one key but then they said, no, there's a key change. (I am, obviously, no expert. Hopefully, a good songwriter, lol.)

[Johnny K]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

Do you play this chord... C-shape barre chord. Say, at fret 3, it would be 365343. I can play about any chord necessary to play pretty much anything, but I really have trouble with this.

Sounds like your trying to play the acoustic version of Plush (BTDT). Keep practicing, it will come.

[vibrolucky]

I have a Taylor 510 with a skinny neck I can pull off that chord with...Not so much on my Acoustics with larger necks.

[Mr Picky]

The C shape bar is quite common in fingerstyle, it is a bit of a pain. I used to battle with it, but got there in the end.

It’s why a lot of players struggle with the intro to Under the Bridge by the Chili Peppers. Although I think that may be on the banned list with Stairway.... [emoji6]

[ocarolan]

x32013 = Cmajor.

Move it up 3 frets x65046 = Eb major.

Keith

[patrickgm60]

OP's question is about the barre "C" chord. My answer is "Yes, I use it as needed." A bit awkward, but sometimes necessary. The "Ooh, she takes care of herself..." part of Billy Joe's "Always a Woman to Me" comes to mind as an example, where it's needed a couple of times.

As others have posted, any "new" chord takes a while to be able to grab quickly. I'm glad I did my wood shedding when I was much younger, with more time, patience, and dexterity. : )

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

To JonPR...

I'm apparently not writing clearly and people are probably bored with this, so, we'll let it go lol. The first song, I can't say any more about it right now and it doesn't matter anyway... the issue is I can't play Eb to sound like I want it to sound and play it cleanly enough.

The description of the session and players was not this song, it was another song, one I wrote that has what I guess is a somewhat unusual key change in it. Believe me, the session players are likely as skilled as just about anybody on the planet. Top notch, busy session players. The issue with my song was writing the chart QUICKLY so that everyone could follow it (and we could refer to it later) as the studio clock was ticking. The discussion went something like, "blah blah blah... oh... I see... there's actually a key change in this song." Don't ask me, I'm just a songwriter! I think it might have been where we had extra time and I had this other song... and had written the chart in one key but then they said, no, there's a key change. (I am, obviously, no expert. Hopefully, a good songwriter, lol.)

I'm sorry, but I'm having a really tough time believing top notch session players are not thrown off by one chord being "out of key" or borrowed from another.

I really want to know the context now. Your song must be pretty weird. Which means I'll probably like it.