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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 11, 2014 at 6:01am

You've discovered a trick that I've seen widely used by pickers--including some pretty good ones--on all sorts of instruments (and not just the CBG variety).

Sometimes you don't know the chord. Sometimes there's no good way to play the chord without throwing your hand out of position. Sometimes it's all going by too fast.

Whatever happens, you can be pretty certain that any kind of "A" chord has an A in it, etc., etc. Better to hit one note and be right than to crash and burn.

However, if you play nothing but the root note of each chord in the tune, you just became a bass player. (That's about all I played for the first year after I bought my first bass guitar.) Just get a different instrument and carry on...

TN

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on June 11, 2014 at 9:08am

there is some merit in this answer, but the (v) note will also be a pretty safe bet, its unlikely to be a diminished chord.  (which is exactly why your guitar is tuned like it is, so anybody can play it ).. so the first and most natural answer is 'you go up to fret x and play the lot'...

But its hardly reasonable to say 'you've just become a bass player'...

I see you stumbled on two of my blogs there, theres a couple answers (certainly not the only two).  A guitar player might fall back on a pentatonic scale, but a musician (including the bassist) might understand tertian harmony (the way chords are built up in thirds) and so he don't need to know if its minor, major or Lieutenant-General., he just plays every second note from the scale, starting from (in this case) A.. Major, minor, these are just labels for whats going on.  You don't need the label if you can see and perceive the thing that it is describing.

Take your pick with those blogs, they are both targeted for beginners.  If you want to wail like SRV or one of the Kings do the 5's, if you wanna construct pretty chords and harmonies then start with the 3's.  Either will lead nicely into the other, but be warned, they both demand some practice time and commitment over a few months if they're going to produce results.  They are also both as yet unfinished, and will probably ramble on for quite some time to come, so as you catch up you'll probably flip flop between as I add material, like two different tv shows that you're watching in a week. Have fun, I'm at your service if you need any help :)

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Permalink Reply by Scruggy on June 12, 2014 at 3:34am

When you say  go to fret x and play the lot do you mean play all 3 strings like a power chord? That works fine as its fairly close to major or minor but what about if you have a  say for example G power chord and a G major or minor in the same song? It will be more noticeable  so in that case could you try note from bottom or top string depending on major or minor?

If your writing your own song you can work around that issue but I want to learn songs I like that chords can be found online!

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on June 12, 2014 at 8:08pm

I agree Twang. If in doubt just play the 1 and preferably on the bottom, particularly if your flying solo. Other notes are cool but they only function according to their relationship to the tonic anyway. That's why it's called the root.

And while the bass player doesn't have to stick to the tonic, most of the time I sure wish they would.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 11, 2014 at 6:05am

Bass-player story:

Kid bugs his dad for a bass guitar until he finally gets one for Christmas. Instrument comes with 6 free lessons.

First week, he goes to his lesson and tells his dad that he learned 4 notes on the E string.

Second week, he says he learned 4 notes on the A string.

Third week he doesn't come home on time. Finally shows up at 2 A.M. smelling of cigarettes and beer. Tells his dad he had to miss the free lesson because he had a gig.

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Permalink Reply by Scruggy on June 11, 2014 at 6:17am

Ha ha ha brilliant!

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Permalink Reply by Rick McKeon on June 12, 2014 at 7:00am

Nothing wrong with partial chords, especially with a 3-string. The most important notes of a chord are the 3 and the 7. The 3 (b3) gives it a major/minor sound and the 7 (b7) gives it a maj 7/dominant 7 sound. So playing a partial chord or just a single note can work great as long as you play it like you mean it.

Rick

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Permalink Reply by Scruggy on June 12, 2014 at 2:00pm

Thanks, still getting to grips with theory so 3 and 7 and major7 etc over my head im afraid, trying to learn bit more each day! Thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Rick McKeon on June 12, 2014 at 2:30pm

I did a series of lessons on music theory you might like. Each lesson is pretty simple and easy to understand, but by the time you go through all of them you will know quite a bit of theory! They were for banjo but the theory applies equally as well to any instrument. Check them out here https://rickmckeon.com/banjolessons.html  Scroll down to Banjo 1000: Music Theory.

Enjoy!

Rick

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Permalink Reply by Scruggy on June 12, 2014 at 2:58pm

Thanks will defo give it a look, if its half as good as your other lessons ill know in no time, thanks again!

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Permalink Reply by Rick McKeon on June 12, 2014 at 4:30pm

If you go to the lesson "Chords in a Key" I show why the 1 4 and 5 chords are major, 2 3 and 6 chords are minor, and the 7 is diminished in any given key. BUT you can always get outside the key signature. Typically in ragtime music the 2 and 6 are both major (but not always) to maintain that upbeat feel.

Rick

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Permalink Reply by Muddy Creek Guitars on June 12, 2014 at 1:19pm

With your guitar tuned to GDG, none of your one finger or slide chords are major or minor; they are all power chords. It's the third of the chord that makes it major or minor, which yours is missing. For example, G major=GBD, Gminor=GBbD. When your play your power chord (GDG) it will work when either a major or minor chord is called for.

So, you are correct that you can just play an A for an A minor chord. But you can also play the A power chord (AEA) and it will sound find.

Here's a cool little thing I learned from watching Seasick Steve: if you're playing a major chord, hit your low two strings open and hit your high string on the fourth frett with your slide. If you slide up to it, it sounds really cool. For G minor, do the same thing but use the third fret instead of the fourth.

Hope this helps!

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