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major and minor chords

Hi all quick question, withe the 151 tuning its fairly straight forward to get the power chords and although I know the fingerings to get major and minor chords but as im still learning playing slide mostly I was wondering if its possible to substitute the major and minor chords with single note from top and bottom string?

For example instead of playing a G major chords I just pluck the bottom string in a GDG tuning, same applies for A major chord except this time press the second fret on bottom string? Etc

For minor chords the same as above except use the top string?

I am aware it wont sound perfect but with a bit of distortion to help was wondering if anyone else has done this starting off!

Thing is the more I play the more I want to learn more but when things get difficult I dont play as much, so if I get a few songs done in an easy to play fashion I know ill want to progress more ie getting the major and minor chords properly!

Thanks in advance for any help!

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on June 14, 2014 at 7:21am

Hi Kid,

Sorry if I gummed up the works. I took a music theory class about 45 years ago, so I have forgotten what little I knew. That said, what I suggest seems to work in a solo playing environment. I wouldn't even think of trying it in ensemble playing or if the endeavor required reading music.

the best,

Sam

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Permalink Reply by Scruggy on June 14, 2014 at 8:59am

Cheers Sam, I try to take in all I can so apprciate all advice given, some advice I might not even fully understand now but the more I learn and then go back and reread all the posts they make alot more sense the second time around!

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on June 14, 2014 at 7:58pm

Good luck with that Scruggy. You may have more luck in then just learning to trust your ears, then make your own decisions about the theory.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 14, 2014 at 9:33am

D*#$ it!

I leave town for 24 hours, and you guys invent more new tunings.

I'm hard at work on a 4-string so I can try Phrygian Kid's Open G. I think I can wrap my mind around it based on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th strings of a traditional tuning plus a bass note that I can play with a barre.

Sam's idea caught me totally off guard. I gotta' think about that for a while.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I'm really enthusiastic about examining as many tuning possibilities as possible--either for good of for evil. However, it must be awful for musical newbies to hear all of this indecision. My apologies to any who're perplexed more than helped.

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Permalink Reply by Wichita Sam on June 15, 2014 at 1:24am

I've been using it in gigs for about three years. It's a really simple way to fatten up the sound of a solo act without having to learn all the cord shapes. I used to play traditional 6 strings, but my fingers don't work so well now, I can manage a note/chord system that gives me Majors, minors (partial?) and 7ths with a barre and only one moving part.