Chord Study #2

Let's continue our study of the basic 5-1 chord progression (C7 to F in the key of F). The following examples could be used as in intro for any "two step" in the key of F.

4/4  |   |   |      |     |  |      |   |   |   |  
     *   *   *      o     *  *      *   *   *   *      o
E-|--5----------||--------------|------10----------|---------||
C-|-----10--11--||--12----7--9--|--10--10--12------|---5-----||
A-|-------------||--------7--9--|--10------12---7--|---------||
G-|--5----------||--12----------|------------------|---5-----||
E-|-----10--11--||--12----------|--10------12---6--|---5-----||
C-|-------------||--------------|------------------|---------||
     (pickup)       C7                                 F

The above example shows how you can mix 2- and 3-note chords to create the illusion of full harmony. Note the important slant bar positions at the 7th fret. The following example is challenging and uses the same melody with a fuller harmonization and more slant bar work:

4/4  |  |  |      |     |  |      |   |   |   |  
     *  *  *      o     *  *      *   *   *   *      o
E-|--5--6--7--||--8-----------|------------------|---------||
C-|-----------||--------7--9--|--10--14--12---4--|---5-----||
A-|-----5--6--||--7-----7--9--|--10--13--12------|---------||
G-|--5--------||--------------|---------------5--|---5-----||
E-|-----------||--5-----6--9--|--10--12--12---6--|---5-----||
C-|-----------||--------------|------------------|---------||
     (pickup)     C7                                 F

That last one is really going to take a lot of practice and uses a reverse slant at the end. Try playing the same melody but using positions from both the first and second example. Here's another exercise using some of these same positions:

4/4   |   |   |       |   |   |   |     |  |  |  |  
      *   *   *       *   *   *   *     *  *  *  *      o
E-|--13--12--10--||------------------|-----6--5--3--|--------||
C-|--------------||--12--10---7------|--------------|---5----||
A-|--12----------||------10---7---7--|-----5--------|--------||
G-|------12--10--||--12--------------|--3-----5--3--|---5----||
E-|--------------||--12-----------6--|--3-----------|---5----||
C-|--------------||------------------|--------------|--------||
     (pickup)     C7                                    F

Experiment witht the phrasing when playing the above exercises. For example, after picking the 2nd chord above (at the 12th fret) let your bar drift down toward the 10th fret before picking the next chord. This makes the phrase much more smooth sounding. You can use this technique all throughout the above examples.