Secret Chords

[MoreSpaceEcho]

knowing theory makes it easier to talk shorthand.

having been in bands where i was the only one who knew theory, there were plenty of times i was quietly chuckling to myself as my bandmates would be having some elaborate argument/discussion about some rudimentary thing...

[ubertar]

friend who put out the anti-intellectual premise that my studies in college were going to ruin my music.

Reminds me of a couple punk rock guitarists I once knew, who avoided learning theory b/c they were afraid it would destroy their creativity. I said, "why don't you rip the frets out of the guitars then? There's theory already built in to the instrument".
Everything they played had pentatonic scales and power chords, so they knew some basics, but with that mind-set, they would have been better off without that.

If you're going to be anti-theory, you might as well go all-in. Lydia Lunch's guitar playing in Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Beirut Slump, etc. is the best example I can think of for that approach, and making actual music with it. Throbbing Gristle is another. Theory always sneaks in, of course, intuitively if not intellectually. No one lives in a vacuum.

[Magnetic Services]

Some of my favorite chords are simply the result of laziness. Take this one, for example:

X
0
0
2
2
2

I think it's some kind of D minor 7-type thing? Easy to finger and sounds way more interesting than a normal D or D minor.

[A.David.MacKinnon]

My handy dandy chord finder tells me that an A6/11. If it was a Dmin7 it would be

X
0
0
2
1
1

[losthighway]

Some of my favorite chords are simply the result of laziness. Take this one, for example:

X
0
0
2
2
2

I think it's some kind of D minor 7-type thing? Easy to finger and sounds way more interesting than a normal D or D minor.

Actually ..... cleans off glasses.

That's a Dmaj7. It's got A, D, A, C# and F#. Since a D maj triad is D, F#, A, and the vii is C#.

I love major 7 chords and use them in most of my songs, but I'm not sure if I've ever used that voicing. Think I'll write a song.

[Magnetic Services]

My handy dandy chord finder tells me that an A6/11. If it was a Dmin7 it would be

X
0
0
2
1
1

This is why I work behind the glass.

[Snarl 12/8]

I have secret cords.

If you're ever grabbing patchy lookin cables in my "studio", [unlikely], don't use the ones with sharpy marks, like, x's or abbreviations on the ends, without talking to me.

[vvv]

I tie a knot in the bad ones.

Or are yers reverse-wired?

Back on topic: I really like the "Can't Find My Way Back Home" fingerpickin' walkdown C-chord.

[Snarl 12/8]

Or are yers reverse-wired?

One's phase flipped, one's ground lifted, etc.

[vvv]

[CraigS63]

I like this one to simulate the Hard Day's Night opening chord on one guitar (and no bass, and no piano)
low to high
3 3 0 0 1 1

I think all the right notes are there (especially double, if I'm on the 12 string).

[losthighway]

I like this one to simulate the Hard Day's Night opening chord on one guitar (and no bass, and no piano)
low to high
3 3 0 0 1 1

I think all the right notes are there (especially double, if I'm on the 12 string).

That one's a little trickier for my theory brain. G-C-D-G-C-F

I kind of want to call it G7add4, but someone might have another way of looking at it cause there's no B to firmly give the major 3rd and stake it as a clear G chord. The only other idea would be to call it C5/Dmin which is a pretty weird idea.

Yes, the important thing is if it sounds cool (which it clearly does) but it's fun to find the geography of some of these weird ones.

[vvv]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always feel ya often gotta kinda look at any given chord in the context of its use, in order to most accurately name it.

I mean, in Eb, ya might have a Ab, but in C#, ya might have a G#, see.

[losthighway]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always feel ya often gotta kinda look at any given chord in the context of its use, in order to most accurately name it.

I mean, in Eb, ya might have a Ab, but in C#, ya might have a G#, see.

This is true.

[frans_13]

High note drones low in the mix for the chorus. Jingle jangle. Could be anything.