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