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GMC Forum _ THEORY _ How To Expand My Chord Vocabulary?

Posted by: Lester Jun 7 2018, 10:03 AM

Hi guys,

So, I am looking to expand my guitar chord vocabulary.
Right now, I just know the standard open chords and the barre chords, including some 7th variations.

To be able to be more creative in songwriting and sound a bit less predictable, I'd like to improve in this area.
Thing is, I don't have a clue where to start

Any suggestions?

Lester

Posted by: klasaine Jun 7 2018, 03:48 PM

Learning songs with 'other' chords is an excellent (and time honored) method.
What are some artists/bands that you like that employ different or foreign sounding chords and chord progressions?

Here's a few good books ...

http://berkleepress.com/guitar/berklee-rock-guitar-chord-dictionary/
http://berkleepress.com/guitar/the-chord-factory-build-your-own-guitar-chord-dictionary/
http://berkleepress.com/guitar/the-guitarists-guide-to-composing-and-improvising/

If you just want a chord lexicon, this is the gold standard. It is designed for more advanced guitarists ...

https://books.google.com/books/about/Chord_Chemistry.html?id=0Oek8Uaa4OgC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false

The title says 'Jazz' but it's really for any style ...

https://online.berklee.edu/store/product?product%5Fid=8521044&usca%5Fp=t
https://books.google.com/books/about/Complete_Jazz_Guitar_Method_Mastering_Ja.html?id=g7Lhom8uxAkC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false

Posted by: PosterBoy Jun 8 2018, 10:24 AM

Hi Lester

As well as more chord vocabulary look into some of the tools like chord substitution and back cycling 5ths that are commonly used in Jazz but will work anywhere.

For example easy chord substitutions can be things like changing a G chord to a Bm
It works because Bm is basically a Gmaj7 without the G that would work in the keys G major and D major.
You can work this out for every chord in the diatonic scale.

Backcycling 5th is just pretending the next chord in a progression is the I chord and inserting the V chord before it

For example in a chord progression Dm G7 Cmaj7 you could make it Dm Dmajor G7 Cmaj7 Where the D major is the 5th chord in G which is the next chord in the progression.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jun 8 2018, 09:10 PM

Chord Chemistry is my favorite book on this topic. There is also a chords book by Joe Pass which is very inspiring.

The secret here is to learn more about harmony and theory to be able to use the chords that you learn. It doesn't make sense to learn lots of chords but don't know how and where to use them.

For this I recommend you to read about:

- Tonalities
- Chord functions
- Extended Chords
- Modal Interchanges
- Substitutions

Posted by: Lester Jun 13 2018, 09:46 AM

Thanks for your input guys! I will check it out and figure out an approach