Different chord voicings and movable shapes

[wguitar]

Hi,

Wanting to learn more and different ways to voice chords in my playing. What is a good source for this ? Also, other than the very common E and A shape barre chords, what other movable chord shapes do you tend to use, and/or would you recommend I explore ? I'm primarily a strummer.

THANKS!

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by wguitar

Hi,

Wanting to learn more and different ways to voice chords in my playing. What is a good source for this ? Also, other than the very common E and A shape barre chords, what other movable chord shapes do you tend to use, and/or would you recommend I explore ? I'm primarily a strummer.

THANKS!

Check the CAGED system. It uses five movable forms for all major chords: E and A are just two of them. Here are the C, G and D forms for an Eb major chord:

C form: x-6-5-3-4-3
G form: 11-10-8-8-8-11
D form: x-(1)-1-3-4-3

The last two are obviously a little awkward in full, but still highly usable in part.

All five shapes link up the neck in an overlapping series (in C-A-G-E-D-C... order), so you can always play any major chord you like (all 12) in any position on the fretboard, using whichever of the 5 options is closest.

For minor chords, the options are more limited, because there only 3 open position minor shapes: Em, Am and Dm. There's no full barre equivalent for "Cm" and "Gm" (because we normally play those chords with either the Em or Am barre forms).

So, an open position Cm could be x-3-1-0-3-x: 4 strings only, which does convert to a movable shape, but a rather awkward one.
An open position Gm is 3-1-0-3-3-3 (as many of those as you can actually fret) which obviously won't convert to movable except in partial form.

Of course, you can always revert to 3-string triad forms - which are definitely worth learning, because they also form upper tones of more complex chords. E.g., the shape x-x-x-5-5-5 (Am triad) could also be a partial C6, Fmaj7, D9 or F#m7b5 - even an Ab7#5b9! Jazz players do this all the time - dropping the roots (and sometimes 5ths) from their shapes.

E.g., here are just some of the triad forms on the top 3 strings in the key of D major - complete triad names first, then possible partial chords:

x-x-x-0-0-0 = Em, G6, A9
x-x-x-0-2-0 = C#dim, A7
x-x-x-2-2-0 = A major, F#m7, Dmaj9
x-x-x-2-2-2 = F#m, Dmaj7, A6, Bm9
x-x-x-2-3-2 = D, Gmaj9
x-x-x-4-3-2 = Bm, Gmaj7, Em9
x-x-x-4-3-3 = G, Em7, A9sus4
x-x-x-4-5-3 = Em, G6, A9
x-x-x-6-5-3 = C#dim, A7
x-x-x-6-5-5 = A, F#m7, Dmaj9
x-x-x-6-7-5 = F#m, Dmaj7, A6
x-x-x-7-7-5 = D, Gmaj9
x-x-x-7-7-7 = Bm, Gmaj7, Em9
x-x-x-7-8-7 = G, Em7, A9sus4#
x-x-x-9-8-7 = Em, G6, A9
x-x-x-9-8-9 = C#dim, A7
x-x-x-9-10-9 = A, F#m7, Dmaj9
x-x-x-11-10-9 = F#m, Dmaj7, A6
x-x-x-11-10-10 = D, Gmaj9
x-x-x-11-12-10 = Bm, Gmaj7, Em9
x-x-x-12-12-10 = G, Em7, A9sus4
x-x-x-12-12-12 = Em, G6, A9
....
and so on.

You can hear John Lennon exploiting a lot of those in the intro to Dear Prudence - in drop D, so he has all the open strings too.

Naturally you can shift that series up or down the fretboard to get other keys ... And then you have all the different triad shape possibiliites on strings x-x-D-G-B-x...

But IMO - while this is all a good exercise to test your fretboard knowledge - it's easier (quicker) and more useful to just work with CAGED (full 5 or 6-string shapes), in various different keys, and using the chord shapes to fit scale patterns around.

[wguitar]

Thanks JonPR,

This is very helpful. I can see where the partial 3-chord triads can really broaden my guitar playing horizons without having the carpal tunnel flare up. Glad to hear that jazz players do this all the time.

Cheers!

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by wguitar

Hi,

Wanting to learn more and different ways to voice chords in my playing. What is a good source for this ? Also, other than the very common E and A shape barre chords, what other movable chord shapes do you tend to use, and/or would you recommend I explore ? I'm primarily a strummer.

THANKS!

Hi wguitar

YouTube is a good source.

Here are two charts of strings 1-2-3 and 2-3-4 for two major chords…and these are just designed to be 3 note clusters, unless there is an open string which can become the bass note.

Pay attention to the dots on the fingerboard.

These repeat an octave higher in the same order…once you memorize the order and begin to play around with them, it's pretty handy. You can develop your own understanding of minor or ½-diminished chords, sevenths etc.

Expand to 4 strings and you can readily include 9 or 11 or 13 chord forms, all of which are not so useful for playing polkas but useful for many other song styles.

I often play inversions as shortened chord forms (only playing 3 or 4 strings not all 6 at once - even when strumming). Learning to pluck is helpful too…

I consider the fingering which we traditionally call Dm7 as the 'root' fingering, but I can run the pattern of three fingerings up and down the neck without thinking about them.

Hope this adds to the discussion.

I have lots of these hand-crafted charts which I did when I taught guitar. I just screen-snapped pics from my iPad of them for posting.

[cliff_the_stiff]

Great triad descriptions☝️.
Google a CAGED chord shapes description.

[Mr. Jelly]

Almost all chord shapes, or parts of them, are movable. Take any chord and break it down to it's parts or notes. You can then find the same notes in many different places on the neck. Use what you want or what works. There are times you may elect to only use two notes. Or an arpeggio in the form of a lead riff.

[egordon99]

Sliding a D chord down to the fifth fret makes a G chord. Sliding it down to the 7th fret makes an A chord. All while keeping the open fourth string in the bass.

[egordon99]

Also, you can move the E form down to the fifth and seventh fret to get A and B chords but don’t do the barre; just the three fingers from the regular E chord. Leaving the sixth, second, and first string ring open can sound really cool.

[wguitar]

All,

This is exactly what I'm looking for so keep the info & tips coming.

THANKS!

[davidbeinct]

Moving an open C up two frets so it’s got a D root on the A string is a cool sound. You can just let the open strings ring. Probably don’t want to overdo it but for a bar or so it’s a cool replacement for a D major chord.

[davidbeinct]

Also if you’re fingerpicking you can really start moving the shapes around and just only pick the strings you need. If you find the video of Mississippi John Hurt playing You Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley I think he just moves his open G shape around. Hah! Just!

[MC5C]

Full barre chords are a concept that it's good to get past and leave behind, if you want to use richer chord shapes. With that said, the only 6 note "barre" chords that I play are indeed the E and A shapes. I use mostly (95%) fully moveable shapes with four notes, root on one of the bottom three strings. If I see a minor chord, I very often add the b7 for a m7 chord, if I see a major chord I might play a Maj7 chord. m7b5 chords are nice. 9th chords instead of 7th chord. This an entry drug to jazz, so treat with caution...

Basically the root names the chord, the third makes it major or minor, the 7th adds flavor, and all the other notes add spice...

[NormanKliman]

Here’s a shape I like to use as a passing chord. Call it a 7th if you like. The open first string adds a lot of color (at this position, it’d be a D9):

-----
--1--
--2--
--4--
--3--
-----

Same intervals on higher stringset. Open fifth string sounds good at a few positions:

--1--
--3--
--4--
--3--
-----
-----

Same intervals on lower stringset (I’ve scooted this one up a fret to show the fretting of the third string). A bit of a stretch but still doable, depending on your intentions:

------
------
--1--
--3---
--5---
--4---

In case it’s not obvious, all three of the above shapes can be played anywhere up the fretboard.

Here’s a major-seventh shape I like and use a lot. I posted about it here almost a year ago. The open first string sounds good in the last two chords, and both of them work well for strumming and arpeggios.

Gmaj7
--x--
--0--
--0--
--4--
--2--
--3--

Cmaj7
--x--
--0--
--0--
--9--
--7--
--8--

Emaj7
--x--
--0--
--8--
--6--
--7--
--0--

[nightchef]

There are a couple of first-inversion shapes that I love and play a lot; they're variations on the D and G shapes in the CAGED system.

An E major 1st inversion in the D shape looks like this...

4x245x

...with the middle finger damping the A string and the index finger damping the top E string. (Note that you can turn it into a lovely add9 by just bringing that index finger down.)

An A major 1st inversion in the G shape looks like this...

x4x255

...with the finger that's fretting the A string (either middle or ring finger works) damping both the bottom E string and the D string.

Slight variations on both the above produce my favorite chord voicing in the known universe, the first inversion major 7th voiced 3-1-5-7:

4x244x

x4x254

[RRuskin]

Get a copy of Ted Greene's "Chord Chemistry." Pay close attention to the sections on triads, and open/closed voicings.