I learned this bad boy outta a Mel Bay book way back, I call it "The Claw." Note the white knuckles.



Fingering:
E-3--
B-3--
G-2--
D-2--
A-3--
E-3--

Chords, like tuning, is a crutch.

I like plotting chords out from scale degrees. It lets me get used to the shapes better than a chord chart does.[/nerd]

Well I didn't start on guitar until after that fire at the gypsy caravan and then the accident at the sheet metal factory. Doctors said I should take it up as therapy. So my chord vocabulary is a bit limited.

burun wrote:Chords, like tuning, am a crutch.

fyp.

I have a very extensive chord vocabulary and no scale vocabulary.

burun wrote:Chords, like tuning, is a crutch.

Only to the degree that grammar is.

All a chord is is grabbing a bunch of notes and naming it in a way that suggests the relationship of those notes to each other and to other groups of notes. It's a fucking necessity if you want to communicate harmonic ideas really quickly to other musicians, and is useful for tracing a harmonic palate without reinventing the language each time.

i ud de thumb when it feel good i go rawk.

i know WAY more than i use on a regular basis...some i have yet to find a use for, some that suggest whole new songs the first time i play them.

i also go thru phases with certain chord voicings, like finding yourself attracted to redheads for awhile and then suddenly discovering you REALLY like women of S.E. Asian ancestry ALOT.

okay, a bit too much there.

i also love me an open E major chord in standard tuning.

i'm sick like that.

I'm taking jazz guitar classes now, so it's getting better. I'll be happy when I not only know how to play them - but can also recognize them when I hear them.

I know how to figure out any chord you spell out for me, and likewise I know how to spell out any chord you play for me. Can I do it in an instant? Hell no. Do I consciously implement it when playing? Barely, and not often. I much prefer to figure out, by ear, what *sounds* best, rather than trying to comply with any of the rules that I understand. One of the best songs I've ever written uses a host of chords that are bizarre if you spell them out and name them. Totally obscure. But I wrote it by ear, so that didn't mean shit.

Playing in a free-form or structured jam environment, it's crucial. In a rock band, all you need is an ear and some time to figure it out.