The hardest chord that you play

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: khandu
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 11:40 PM

Hmmmm...there is a bastardized E7 that I use that is a bit hard for my brain to compute. It isn't all that hard to make, it's is just hard for my brain to tell my fingers to do it. It is;(from lowest to highest) open E,D,G sharp,B,D,open E.

I love the somewhat unorthodox sound it produces while fingerpicking. And I only use it in one song.

khandu

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: M.Ted
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 10:21 PM

He calls it D7#9+. I think all the notes are there--I you like that one, check his book--Modern Chord Progressions, he's got a million of them!

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: GUEST,frankie
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 06:05 PM

Right you are, Gary T. I automatically mute the G string there because I move that form around. It never occured to me to let it ring in the Eb position. Definitely gives it a bigger sound.
MTed, has that Ted Greene chord got a name? Sounds very spooky. f

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: M.Ted
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 03:15 PM

Oh, I thought it was Boxcar Willie;-)

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From:
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 12:40 PM

Yes

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 12:37 PM

Willie bieng Willie Nelson?

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From:
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 12:27 PM

Almost a jazz feel, very nice really, Mike

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: M.Ted
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 12:10 PM

Mke,

Willie tends toward the kind of chord arrangements that a guitarist in a mainstream 40's/50's swing or dance band would play, not a "roots" style at all--most "country and western" players of the time played in this style, tended toward covers of standards and swing numbers, and frowned on the old "hillbilly" music that we like so much now--except for the fiddles and steel guitars, a lot of the music was very similar to what the "sophisticated" swing bands of the time played--

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: mkebenn
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 08:15 AM

M.Ted, Thank you much, lovely sound(need the bass). Needed the rascal for Willie's "Angel flying too close to the ground" He sure play some weird thangs for a country picker LOL. Mike

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Gary T
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 01:40 AM

Thanks for the clarification, GUEST. My first thought was to play a 3-fingered C chord, not using the bass E string, so I was approaching it differently.

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 01:34 AM

Gary T: Sorry, I ran out of fingers; I'm playing the 4-fingered C chord here, and fretting the Bb on the bass E
BTW I use this inversion of Eb for Teddy Bears' Picnic, and love how the open G rings.

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: M.Ted
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 01:08 AM

Mkebenn,

For D#dim with a nice bass note, try:

2-x-1-2-x-2

Don't need a bass note? Try:

x-x-1-2-1-2

Frankie,

I thought that that chord was impossible when I first looked at it, but it is actually just really uncomfortable-

Here is one, courtesy of Ted Greene--

x-5-4-3-1-1

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Gary T
Date: 14 Jan 02 - 12:50 AM

GUEST said this: You can make a beautiful Eb by playing the C position @ 4th fret and mute the high E.

Rather than muting the high E string, why not drop the little finger onto it at the 6th fret and add the Bb note missing from the above?

frankie said this: Guests' position for an Eb above is a good one but you want to mute the G string as well with your middle finger and you can also reach over the top with your thumb and put a Bb in the bass (6th string, 6th fret).

Why bother muting the G string, since G is a note in the chord, and in fact is the note fingered on the D string?

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Jeri
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 06:37 PM

I'm a guitar newbie, B7 is still tough for me. I can only use the tips of 3 fingers, but the thumb works. Mind you, it could work a lot better.

Rick, I just tried your chord, and it wasn't all that difficult. I'm not going into details on just how I managed, but I did play it

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 06:17 PM

I tried it your way Rick (before reading the how to) but I couldn't do it.

I'll just stick with my basic open chords from now on!

Jon

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From:
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 04:55 PM

Mr Fielding, I need a D#dim, and after 37 years of playing, Ive never run across it. HELP Mike

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 12:38 PM

GEEZUS Ted! A 12 string! I can assure you, nobody in their right mind EVER needs to play this chord. I was simply having fun! The key to it is, the ring finger plays the two bass notes, and the index 'leans' back to catch the first string at mid-finger.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: GUEST,frankie
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 07:15 AM

Thanks for the additional Fmaj7's, MTed. I especially like the first one. Another one, that I use most of the time, is a four note one: 1-x-2-2-1-x.
One other chord that's a bear is one used in Van Ronks' version of St. Louis Tickle, a G that runs 3-x-5-x-8-7. f

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: M.Ted
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 01:02 AM

I'll give up-can't guess your secret trick, but I can play it by rolling the pad of my pinky down as I strum(and this on the Epiphone 12-string that I typically use to workout Mudcat assignments)--why you need to use this chord is my real question--if you are playing rhythm, Ab-x-F-B-Db-x actually is a much more solid sounding chord(and you don't even need to barre to play it)--

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: rangeroger
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 12:59 AM

Since a capo is allowed,putting it at the 3rd fret works.It also provides a hand grip to keep the fingers where they're supposed to be.Don't even have to use the thumb. It anchors on the underside of the neck on the capo.

Wouldn't want to have to incorporate into a tune,however.

rr

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 12:12 AM

Well guys...it is supposed to be the HARDEST chord! I'll give you a hint...there's a bit of a gimmick involved.

Cheers....and don't hurt yourself! If ya want, you can put a capo on the second fret, to make it a bit easier.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: rangeroger
Date: 13 Jan 02 - 12:04 AM

In addition to what simon-pierre has said, I think I've just hurt myself seriously.

I give in. What fingerings ARE you using Rick?

rr

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: simon-pierre
Date: 12 Jan 02 - 11:31 PM

Rick, I've ran out of fingers at the B... and using my thumb for the two bass notes doesn't too good.

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 12 Jan 02 - 11:16 PM

THIS Db7.

Make sure you play all these notes (from bass)

Ab, Db, F, B, Db, F.

Believe me, it's do-able....but it's work!

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: M.Ted
Date: 12 Jan 02 - 02:03 PM

There are two other fingerings for your Fmaj7 Frankie:

5-x-3-5-5-5
and 8-x-7-5-5-5

I think that they are both a bit more full, since you don't have that F-C in the bass--

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: GUEST,frankie
Date: 12 Jan 02 - 06:00 AM

The Lost Chord, now where'd I put the darn thing *g*. Seriously, it's probably a voicing of Fmaj7. Make a F7 chord barred at the first fret with your index finger, fret the 3rd string 2nd fret (A) with your middle finger and the 5th string, 3rd fret (C) with your ring finger. Then do a little barre with your pinky across the 1st and 2nd strings at the 5th fret (notes A and E respectively). There are easier ways to play a Fmaj7 but this one to me is very full and beautiful and it's completely movable.
Guests' position for an Eb above is a good one but you want to mute the G string as well with your middle finger and you can also reach over the top with your thumb and put a Bb in the bass (6th string, 6th fret).f

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jan 02 - 05:13 AM

You can make a beautiful Eb by playing the C position @ 4th fret and mute the high E

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 12 Jan 02 - 04:30 AM

Eb isn't a problem, Bob--you just play in F and capo down two frets. :-)

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: BS: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: Bo Vandenberg
Date: 12 Jan 02 - 03:12 AM

I'd have to say its the VOCAL CHORD.

Asthma being what it is.

Subject: THE HARDEST CHORD THAT YOU PLAY
From: 53
Date: 12 Jan 02 - 12:59 AM

which chord gives you the most trouble and why? in my case it was the barre chord of eb and that position. BOB