What's The Chord?

[Jason Lynch]

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

[henry]

E9

[Jason Lynch]

thanks, Henry.

[henry]

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

[Jason Lynch]

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

[saddletramp]

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).

[Jason Lynch]

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

[Mark]

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

[henry]

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

[henry]

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.