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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 Scruggy on June 12, 2014 at 1:57pm

Thats sounds like cool idea ive noticed him do that now that I think of it!

Just say a song is in key of G would the only majors or minors be G also? Or is it possible to for a song to be in keyof G but have for example Amajor or Aminor etc? Or will any major or minor be in whi h ever key the song is?

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on June 12, 2014 at 2:39pm

Something to think about, if you change that 151 GDg tuning to a 513 ADf# tuning ( open D - same string set ) it'll be much easier to sort out major and minor chords.

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Permalink Reply by Scruggy on June 12, 2014 at 2:55pm

Hi Robert, can you explain how andcan u still easily get the power chords?

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on June 12, 2014 at 3:34pm

ADf# is Dmaj; barring two frets up gives you Emaj, 3 frets Fmaj, 5th fret Gmaj and so on all based on the root of the chord being on the middle string.

Dropping back 1 fret on the high string (the 3rd of the chord) would give you the minor chord.

Example: Barring across the 5th fret you would have DGB (GMaj) dropping the high string 1 fret gives DGBb (Gm)

Power chords are the 1 and the 5 of the chord so the two low strings at any given fret position give you the power chord. Mute that high string!

7th chords would be made by moving 1 1/2 or 2 steps up on the low string depending on which type of 7th you wanted.

Again with the Gmaj at the 5th fret example, fretting the high and the middle string at the 5th fret and the low string at the 8th fret gives you the G7 chord.

Same thing but fretting the low string at the 9th fret gives you the Gmaj7 chord.

Both theses are partial chords but they sound alright because you have the 1,3, and 7 of the chord.

Once you get comfortable with these simple chord shapes you can explore other shapes for different tonal quality.

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Permalink Reply by Scruggy on June 12, 2014 at 6:21pm

Thanks, really good explanation it makes sence to me now! All seems doable apart from G7 and Gmajor7 a bit of a stretch 3 and 4 frets! Muting the string would that be with the palm of your left hand or finger of your right hand?

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Permalink Reply by robert jones on June 13, 2014 at 1:08am

Stretching 3 or 4 frets should not be a problem unless you have extremely small hands or an injury.

In either of those cases a shorter scale instrument will help diminish the problem.

Muting can be done either way, in this case I find muting with a spare finger on the fretting hand easiest.

I look kinda funny playing a small scale instrument. I have big old paws, with my index finger on the 5th fret of a 25.5" scale guitar I can fret the 12th clean. A soprano uke pretty much disappears when I get my mitts on it. LOL

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Permalink Reply by Muddy Creek Guitars on June 12, 2014 at 3:58pm

If you're playing in the key of G, your major chords are G, C, and D. Minor chords are A, B, and E. F# would be a diminished chord (rare). Lots of blues and rock songs sometimes have an F major chord also.

Of course, there are lots of exceptions. The Beatles, for example, had lots of chords outside of the key on their songs.

Hope this helps.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on June 14, 2014 at 2:33am

the blues and rock songs you are talking about actually do this through a trick called 'modulation' ...

in order to deliver that F chord we must temporarily LEAVE the key of G..

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 13, 2014 at 6:04am

Good response, Muddy.

(I erased most of this entry because the software jumbles up the responses...)

Oh well, lotsa' good ideas anyway.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on June 12, 2014 at 7:34pm

This issue of major/minor comes up a lot on the 3 string and without knowing your fretboard and understanding chord theory there is simply no straightforward solution.

The 3 string is not well suited to chord playing if you're aim is to strum along like a 6 string player would. If on the other hand you treat it like a non-chordal player, say a violinist, there are ways to make it work.

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Permalink Reply by TN Twang on June 13, 2014 at 6:22am

Patrick, I know we had discussions before about incomplete chords (and why J.S. Bach used 'em.)

Robert Jones's suggested tuning above will give you complete major triads on an unfretted 3-string. He also shows how to get 7th chords with root, 3rd and 7th--which is the most popular way to render an "incomplete" 4-note chord with only 3 pitches.

For another alternative, I'm still pretty happy tuning the top 3 strings of "Open E" (G# b e) or "Open D" (F# a d) tuning. I can get all 3 notes of my triads, but I'll admit it takes some work and flexibility to dig the 7th out of the middle string. (Usually, I strum the triad and then slide up 3 or 4 frets to pick the 7th on just the middle string.)

Either tuning, I usually pick one note at a time because I like the finger-picking sound better, but all of the chord tones are there for the strumming whenever I need 'em.