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What's The Chord?

Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:00 pm

Quick Technical Question.
Yesterday, I was fooling around in the key of E, 7th Fret with the A & B pedals down. I slid down to Fret 5 with the pedals still down and lowered my E's, then released everything to get my A. Sounds nice, I thought.
Question: What was the Chord in the middle? A, B and E's Lowered?
Thanks in Advance, 'cos every time I try and work it out, I get a different answer....!
Jason

Re: What's The Chord?

Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:31 pm

E9

Re: What's The Chord?

Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:39 pm

thanks, Henry.

Re: What's The Chord?

Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:39 pm

this is my working!

E9 is made up of:

E - root
G# - 3rd
B - 5th
D - b7th
F# - 9th

the notes you've got at the 5th fret with A+B down and Es lowered are:

1 - B - 5th
2 - G# - 3rd
3 - D - b7
4 - G# - 3rd
5 - F# - 9th
6 - D - b7
7 - B - 5th
8 - G# - 3rd
9 - G - b3rd (you would skip this string)
10 - F# - 9th

Re: What's The Chord?

Fri Aug 17, 2012 4:42 pm

I was picking 4, 5 and 6, so that makes sense. You da man! 8-)

Re: What's The Chord?

Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:31 pm

It could also be a Db5, particularly if you are playing 3 and 6, which would both provided D as a root note along with an F# (3rd) and G# (b5th).

Re: What's The Chord?

Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:53 pm

That what I came up with at first. I guess it's subjective depending on which key you approach it from.

Re: What's The Chord?

Sat Aug 18, 2012 10:43 am

Henry, yes, E9 with no root note is the natural way to think of this position. But you also have a Bm6, let the E's go and it's a Bmb7. You also have a G#mb7, with no 5th note. Handy if you think about it, move up one fret to get from your major to minor. And don't skip that 9th string, it gives you a Gmaj7, better still if you let go the E's a Gmaj9.

The way I think about is; in every bar/pedal/lever position there are several notes available. At any position each note can be the root of a chord and every major has a relative minor. And then you can have chords like our E9 that is formed with no root. It's amazing how many chords you can get out of one position.

Mark

Re: What's The Chord?

Sat Aug 18, 2012 11:02 am

cheers Mark! I will revisit it with those points in mind

Re: What's The Chord?

Sat Aug 18, 2012 2:33 pm

just had a look at what Mark was saying.. these are my scribblings. please shout if they're rubbish, Mark!

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same position in Bm6 context

B - root
D - b3rd
F# - 5th
G# - 6th


1 - B - root
2 - G# - 6th
3 - D - b3rd
4 - G# - 6th
5 - F# - 5th
6 - D - b3rd
7 - B - root
8 - G# - 6th
9 - G - b6th (you would skip this string)
10 - F# - 5th


release Es for Em7. strings 4 and 8 become A - the b7.
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