Open String Chords #2

In my last post, I went through a good handful of the most common open string chords for the guitar. All of these traditional chords are played down in the first position of the guitar. For me, things get much more exciting as you start to explore the rest of the neck of your guitar, whilst still incorporating open strings.

These can sound amazing, and are especially suited to the acoustic guitar.

Now, there are literally thousands of chords and shapes to be explored, so really I just want to give you a taste of what can be achieved, and let you explore the neck yourself, but this should be enough to get you started.

Let me take 2 root chord shapes – the E minor and E Major chord shapes, then start sliding them up the neck, staying within the key of E Major.

If you play through these shapes one after another, you can hear the underlying chord progression. Don’t worry too much about the names, The additional 6, 9 and 11 tones are created by the B and E drones that underpin all of these chords.

Did you notice that the final EMajor shape is identical to the first EMajor shape, only 12 frets higher up? You can do this with every chord shape. If you slide a shape 12 frets up the neck, you end up with exactly the same chord, with the fretted notes 1 octave higher.

Now try making your own chord scales using A Major and A Minor shapes, then D Major and D Minor Shapes.

Here’s a simple progression based on the D Major chord pattern.

Again don’t worry too much about the name, the middle chord could also be considered an F Major with a D base but it still sounds the same!

Let’s try something based on the D Minor Shape.

That pair of chords have a nice little “hook” to them don’t they? and much nicer than just bashing out the standard DMaj7 Am shapes out. I could imagine jamming along to that (maybe I’ll turn it into a jamtrack).

I guess finally, you don’t have to slide the standard shapes around you could invent your own.

Just play around and experiment with shapes and sounds. Don’t worry about the name, or whether they’re “official” chord shapes and patterns, remember that the sound is what counts, not what they’re called.

Have fun.