Like to create weird guitar chord shapes?

[STINNETT]

Me too.
That's why I had the idea to create this interval map of the fretboard.
It's certainly not anything new, but as a simple visual tool it's been very inspirational to me. I've seen smaller and uglier interval maps before - but not one like this - so I made one.

The idea was to be able to zero in on a root note anywhere on the fret board and easily visualize all of the scale intervals that surround it for the purpose of inspiring new chords.
So far it has inspired me to adopt several new chord shapes that I simply hadn't thought about before - especially inversions and odd extensions, and it has also made my brain branch out into those ultra-wide Holdsworthian chords.

In case any of you guys think like I do, I thought I'd share this thing.

 

[Altitudes]

Thanks for that, very useful.

 

[Cryo114]

I miss read that as guitar cord shapes. Then opened up the thread saw the picture and for a second, thought you were a most ambitious guy.

Fuck me I'm hung over.

 

[RemoWilliams]

That reminds me of the fretboard chart my, "Melody Chords for Guitar" book by Allan Holdsworth.

Another way to make those weird shapes sing is to have thats Holdsworth tone. Just like butter.

 

[GuitarHack]

I hope I am not the only guitarist (used as a loose term for me) wondering what the hell that means.

 

[CatharsisStudios]

I hear ya brothar

 

[Emdprodukt]

I hope I am not the only guitarist (used as a loose term for me) wondering what the hell that means.

me too.

 

[dreamcatcher]

cheers for this, I'm a rather intervallic player but I never thought to map hat stuff out like this.

 

[Toni S.]

Metalhead, can you give us an example how you formed a chord off that chart?

 

[James-Doolan]

Ok I suck can you please explain how I use this map it looks really usefull its just i have not got the first idea of how to use it

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

I don't have a shit ton of theory but I think I get it for the most part. Don't get the concept of "b" before note numbers though.

 

[James-Doolan]

Ok i think i get it now i just need to brush up on my music theory
GuitarGodgt the b represents sharps/flats if im not mistaken (which i could be as i suck at theory)

 

[Youpimatin]

I don't understand anythingh, argh !

 

[James Murphy]

b = flat, # = sharp

very clear and well layed out diagram... saving it myself.

doubt very seriously you'll "create" any new chords though... new for you, but not new to guitar or music in general... pretty much every possible combination has been explored and used by someone somewhere, you can be sure... it is after all a finite instrument that has several hundred years of documented history.

good job, and a great idea... especially making it so large. that really helps with the visualization and clarity.

 

[STINNETT]

Well, I certainly don't mean that I'll create new chords - just fingerings that are new to me, ones that I've never tried before myself.

Somebody asked for an example of using this.

First of all, you need to know a little about constructing chords out of scale intervals. If that is totally mysterious to you, maybe I can shed a little light - but I recommend researching it a little.

There are lots of different types of chords, but to start with a traditional triad - it would contain the root, a third and a fifth - represented on the interval map as a 1, 3 and 5.
(A little theory for the uninitiated - If it contains a flat third (b3), it would be a minor chord, a major third (3) it would be a major chord.)

Instead of the traditional shapes that everybody knows so well for achieving this, you can look around this diagram for different ways to incorporate those three intervals - possibly spawning several inversions in the process (where the root is not the lowest note).

To explain a little more about basic chord construction - If you include a 7 with the standard triad, it would be a seventh chord.
Leave out the third and include a 2 for a sus2 chord, or a 4 for a sus4 chord. Using this diagram, you may discover several different ways of doing these types of things. Of course, a chord can contain any notes and any intervals you want, these are just some simplified basics.

For me this has been more about discovering new fingerings for diminished and extended chords and trying to open my eyes up to some wide stretches. It's not something that I couldn't figure out with a little experimentation and a little thought, but anything that speeds up and aids the creative process is great in my book.

 

[HandsOfDespair]

Well, I certainly don't mean that I'll create new chords - just fingerings that are new to me, ones that I've never tried before myself.

Leave out the third and include a 2 for a sus2 chord, or a 4 for a sus4 chord. Using this diagram, you may discover several different ways of doing these types of things. Of course, a chord can contain any notes and any intervals you want, these are just some simplified basics.

Are you sure about the sus2 chord? Because normally you always try to keep at least the 3rd and the 7th in a chord, because they are what defines the most a chord. And I never saw a 2 in any jazz books, its always written as a 9th, like Amin9, AMaj9,A9 or Am9b5.

Sorry for being my theory bitch haha

 

[James Murphy]

opeth57... he's right regarding sus2 and sus4 chords... when you leave out the 3rd or 5th and replace with the 2nd or 4th in the same octave as the 3rd or 5th would have been, that's a Sus chord... Sus is short for "suspended".. meaning basically that you are suspending the third or fifth as the case may be. when you see the 2nd and 4th degrees referred to as 9th or 11th respectively, that's when you may still have the 3rd and/or 5th in the chord, and the 2nd or 4th is voiced an octave higher, which has an entirely different sound. this also avoids some potentially nasty major and minor 2nd clashes.

that's a simple explanation.

 

[STINNETT]

Are you sure about the sus2 chord? Because normally you always try to keep at least the 3rd and the 7th in a chord, because they are what defines the most a chord. And I never saw a 2 in any jazz books, its always written as a 9th, like Amin9, AMaj9,A9 or Am9b5.

Sorry for being my theory bitch haha

Leaving out the third is what makes the chord suspended, thus the suspended2 or sus2 chord.
If you play the third, but add a 2nd to the chord, it would be an add9. You would generally want to play it above the third so that it didn't clash with it too bad, hence calling it a 9th instead of a 2nd.

 

[STINNETT]

opeth57... he's right regarding sus2 and sus4 chords... when you leave out the 3rd or 5th and replace with the 2nd or 4th in the same octave as the 3rd or 5th would have been, that's a Sus chord... Sus is short for "suspended".. meaning basically that you are suspending the third or fifth as the case may be. when you see the 2nd and 4th degrees referred to as 9th or 11th respectively, that's when you may still have the 3rd and/or 5th in the chord, and the 2nd or 4th is voiced an octave higher, which has an entirely different sound. this also avoids some potentially nasty major and minor 2nd clashes.

that's a simple explanation.

Haha, nice.

I would only add the the 5th is still common even in a sus4 chord, only the third is generally eliminated.

 

[James Murphy]

troo