The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1
    hi everyone, i'm new here.
    as you can see i would like to what's a good amount of chord shapes to know for each variations of chords... i know that as many as possible is the best, but i can't memorize all of them...
    so what are some of the most practical ones? (no requiring too much stretch)

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    i'd have down cold, a shape for each a major7th, minor seventh, dominant 7th and half diminished chord with the root on the 6th, 5th and 4th string. that's 12--that's nothing. easy to remember.

    but more important that memorizing chord shapes is learning how to build chords--spelling them, and knowing the fretboard. because i know that, i can make chords on the fly, and i don't have to spend time memorizing "grips."

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
    i'd have down cold, a shape for each a major7th, minor seventh, dominant 7th and half diminished chord with the root on the 6th, 5th and 4th string. that's 12--that's nothing. easy to remember.

    but more important that memorizing chord shapes is learning how to build chords--spelling them, and knowing the fretboard. because i know that, i can make chords on the fly, and i don't have to spend time memorizing "grips."
    so about one-two shapes for each type would work?

    also, making them on the fly seems pretty hard... i can do it with some thinking but i can't do immediately yet. what do you recommend that i do to build that ability?

  5. #4

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    like mr beaumont said...learn how the chords are built...root - 3rd -5th and so on....this you can practice all day long in your head..then when you get your guitar in your hands you sholld be able to play them over the entire fingerboard ( in time)..it will take time...chord studies is a long time venture as is learning the guitar..but learning to play the guitar is a trip without a destination...sit down ...guitar in hand...enjoy the journey..

    time on the instrument..pierre

  6. #5

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    A great way to push yourself to create chords is the following exercize. Take a random, relatively advanced piece, and comp it using only 5 frets. You can build every chord using only 5 frets of your guitar.

    Like Pierre says so rarely, it's a time consuming excercise, but it will get you results.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jesus H. Christ
    so about one-two shapes for each type would work?

    also, making them on the fly seems pretty hard... i can do it with some thinking but i can't do immediately yet. what do you recommend that i do to build that ability?
    well that's a start. but the second part, the learning the fretboard and spelling the chords is more important. you'll find yourself discovering voicings for chords you never knew existed!

    me personally, i'd get those down, then start working on inversions on the top four strings, as they are quite immeadiately useful...

    so an example of some useful ones

    Cmaj7: C E G B (R 3 5 7)

    x x 2 4 1 3 ............E B C G ..........3 7 R 5

    x x 5 4 5 3............. G B E G ..........5 7 3 5 (rootless, but of course the root can be grabbed on the fifth string)

    x x 5 5 5 7........... G C E B......... 5 R 3 7

    x x 9 9 8 8 ...........B E G C ..........7 3 5 R

    x x 10 9 8 7 ...........C E G B .......R 3 5 7

    x x 10 12 12 12 ..........C G B E........ R 5 7 3

    That's a start. now yes, that's a lot of shapes, and only one chord, but as you play these, don't just memorize 'em--make a note of the function of each note in the chord. it will make it easier to translate these shapes to other chords

    example: a dominant 7th chord: R 3 5 b7

    simply take the "7" in all of the above examples and flat the 7th. now you're learning the HOW and the WHY. That's crucial.
    Last edited by mr. beaumont; 03-04-2009 at 06:21 PM.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jesus H. Christ
    so about one-two shapes for each type would work?

    also, making them on the fly seems pretty hard... i can do it with some thinking but i can't do immediately yet. what do you recommend that i do to build that ability?
    A good way is to do what I mentioned in my post to you in your "help" thread.

    Loop one chord (BIAB or record yourself comping it). Now, instead of just playing single note lines over it, try playing a chordal line. If you play the root, play the 3rd with it. If you play the 3rd, play the 5th with it, etc. The important thing is to not stay in one position. Find these combinations all over the neck. Especially try to find them vertically along the neck on the same two strings so you can do little runs. Add more intervals as you get better at this. Eventually, you'll get the locations of the intervals pretty wired and you'll develop the dexterity to grab them together, instead of one at a time. Then, begin to work this into your single note soloing. When you are playing over this chord in one chorus, do a single note line, but next time use some double stops.

    I find this to be much more interesting than just practicing an exercise to do this because when you are doing it over accompaniment it is musical, so it's much more fun.

  9. #8

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    One thing that helped me was some info out of a Mick Goodrich book. It was called note stacking. For example, you would restrict yourself to 4 note chords. Play something like 1 3 5 M7. Then try 3 5 M7 1. Then 5 M7 and so on. That gives you somewhat of a chord run up the neck. Some of those voicings might be difficult to do because of weird stretches and such but when you practice it, you modify what you need. You can start with the 3, end with the 1 and reverse the 5 and M7 if you need to. If you don't want to do it with 4 note chords, try it with 3 note chords. Once you get going with one basic triad, you can start adding extentions and leaving extraneous notes out. This doesn't happen quickly but it does happen.

  10. #9

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    I love Mr.B's responses; wish I shared in these dialogues years ago.

    Sailor

  11. #10

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    If your really intersted in learning chords you should be able to play each quality of 7th in root position and 3 inversions and on the following strings. These are the common everyday chords that should be known

    6x432x
    xx4321
    6543xx
    x5462x
    x5x321

    These are your drop two and standard grips next piano style , two handed voicings (2 hands on piano)

    64x32x
    x54x21

    If your ambitious you'll also learn the chord grips that Bach uses in his violin sonatas and partitas

    654x2x
    x543x1

    And if your really obsessed there are

    65xx21
    6xx321
    6x4x21

    and then the Johnny Smith close voiced ones on 4321 and 5432. But those grips are quite a stretch.


    Just my 2 cents, but I'm a chord fanatic

  12. #11

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    "If your ambitious you'll also learn the chord grips that Bach uses in his violin sonatas and partitas

    654x2x
    x543x1

    And if your really obsessed there are

    65xx21
    6xx321
    6x4x21"


    Ouch!! (; On my old, superfat Guild with the .12 gauge strings, I don't even know if that's possible. Those will definitely keep you almost anybody busy though.

  13. #12

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    Actually, now that I think about it, those are very interesting types of voicings. Is there a book or something about these Bach type voicings?

  14. #13

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    Using C major7 and starting close to the nut, moving through the inversions ; and on strings x543x1 they are:

    x324x3 CEBG
    x755x7 EGCB
    x10 9 9 x 8 GBEC
    x 14 10 12 x 12 BCGE

    On the other set they are:

    322x1x GBEC
    735x5x BCGE
    879x8x CEBG
    12 10 10 x 12 x EGCB

    After you learn the ma7, flat the B for dominant, then flat the E for mi7 then flat the G for mi7b5, then flat the B again (A) for dim7.

    Now back to ma7, sharp the G for ma7#5. flat the G for ma7b5. make them dominant and alter the G's again.

    Now minor 7, raise Bb to B for mi ma7.
    For mi7#5, take the mi7 and sharp the G.

    Now do close voiced ii V I's all 4 inversions to really get the feel.

    oh, don't forget. all 12 keys

  15. #14

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    I forgot one thing. These voicings are great to add the open B or E string to.

  16. #15

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    hi guys,
    as always on this forum,great tips,great advice the best jazz forum
    on the web,keep it coming
    yorg

  17. #16

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    Not to be picky, but in the second position here, would the notes be G B E G, rather than G B E C--or am I reading this wrong?


    Quote Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
    well that's a start. but the second part, the learning the fretboard and spelling the chords is more important. you'll find yourself discovering voicings for chords you never knew existed!

    me personally, i'd get those down, then start working on inversions on the top four strings, as they are quite immeadiately useful...

    so an example of some useful ones

    Cmaj7: C E G B (R 3 5 7)

    x x 2 4 1 3 ............E B C G ..........3 7 R 5

    x x 5 4 5 3............. G B E C ..........5 7 3 R

    x x 5 5 5 7........... G C E B......... 5 R 3 7

    x x 9 9 8 8 ...........B E G C ..........7 3 5 R

    x x 10 9 8 7 ...........C E G B .......R 3 5 7

    x x 10 12 12 12 ..........C G B E........ R 5 7 3

    That's a start. now yes, that's a lot of shapes, and only one chord, but as you play these, don't just memorize 'em--make a note of the function of each note in the chord. it will make it easier to translate these shapes to other chords

    example: a dominant 7th chord: R 3 5 b7

    simply take the "7" in all of the above examples and flat the 7th. now you're learning the HOW and the WHY. That's crucial.

  18. #17

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    no, you're right--just typing faster than the brain's moving!

    i've corrected it in the initial post.

  19. #18

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    Thanks! I think your approach is a good one.

  20. #19
    Here's a (hopefully) different way of looking at it. Learn a few grips very thoroughly. You probably already know E A D and G bar chords, so start there. Now learn how each note in that chord functions. Then you figure out how to alter chords you know to make new ones. If the 9 is just 2 frets above the root or below the third, and you know which notes in your "grip" those are, then you know how to change the grip to let those notes in. Another way to add variety is to figure out new ways to use your chords. Over a C chord, a Dmin triad (DFA) is the 9, 11 and 13. Not very stable, but nice color on the way to your Emin triad (EGB), which is the 3, 5 and 7. Your bassist adds a C and you've got a Cmaj7 chord. This way you can get all these movable 3 or 4 note grips to bounce around over static chord progressions or add color without having to learn a bunch of new grips. Good luck.

  21. #20

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    Any moveable chord that you learn can be multiplied by 12....just move it up the neck. So this adds up fast. It is not how many you know......it is how many moveable "Positions" you know that counts....I think.