# Your favourite chord (right now)



## Nag (Mar 11, 2021)

I'm guessing this is the best subsection of the forum to post this thread in.

So, recently (at least in my guitarist life) I've taken a rather different approach to music in general. Instead of just working on chops-based stuff like nailing Metallica riffs and Bodom solos I've been trying to sharpen my, uh, sense of musicality, so to speak. Even though I'm primarily a metal guitarist and power chords do almost all of my work for me, I've always known complex chords and I've used them here and there. But I'm sort of re-learning how I use them, trying different things with them. I find myself doing less and less noodling and just letting chords ring and fill me with their sound. Just absorbing the feel of specific voicings, wondering "where do we go from here" like I just paused my life in the middle of a chord progression. It's what helps me being creative these days, I feel like.

So I thought, let's make a thread about this. Come in here, any time you've found a chord that made you go "hmmm" enough that you'd want to share how it made you feel in that moment. It's really tough to describe sounds and feelings with words but I think it's one way to enrich our musical vocabulary.

I'll start this off and see if I can get anyone interested in the idea I have for this thread.

I play this C7M chord : x32000 (low to high : EADGBe). It's got this sort of melancholic hope sound to it that just mirrors how I've felt so often in my life. Every time I hear a 7M chord voiced like that (sometimes without the highest note, making it a bit darker) it resonates with me. I like the sound of it clean, less so distorted. Think "Soothsayer" by Buckethead, the last chord of the clean intro bit before the song gets energized by the heavy riff. I feel like this chord embodies a feeling I carry with me every day, like it's the musical definition of a big, big side of me. I hope everyone can find a chord or two like that. You tell me about it. If the thread lives long enough, I'll come back when I find another chord I like enough that I want to talk about it to somebody (that's you).

(I also like the added 9th version of this chord... x32033. It gives me the same feeling of melancholic hope, but it's the sound I prefer on my brighter days.)


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## Winspear (Mar 11, 2021)

The opening chord to All New Materials by Periphery. Yikes that's been with me 12 years now I guess! It was the first time I ever really heard big chords on guitar I think. I learned the riff, it's stayed with me all that time and the first chord gets played any time I happen to pick up a standard or drop tuned guitar (rare these days ). One of those chords that only sounds good when intonation and tuning is great - I'll always play it after a setup.
x 0 11 13 10 0 followed by x 0 11 13 12 0. AMaj7 followed by AMaj9 I guess. 
Aint it funny, without a guitar in hand I had to look up the tab to tell you that.


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## Wuuthrad (Mar 11, 2021)

At times playing acoustic, I like making variants on the different L hand triad (and other) shapes across the strings, up and down the fretboard without any regard to conventional theory, using open strings for harmonics and dissonance, sometimes arpeggios, strummed, plucked, focusing on rythm and articulation of each note or combination of notes, and then use this as an idea for chord progressions and see how this transfers to hi gain electric.

Also using open tunings and minor open tunings, and trying to incorporate my limited knowledge of flamenco copas into riffs or even chord leads if I’m up for it (rarely lol!)


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## Winspear (Mar 11, 2021)

To make use of the website I showed you, how about this one that's possible on my microtonal guitar  A minor seventh chord with the 3rd and 7th tuned down 33 cents. https://xenp.io/#{r150hz} [0,702c,1...-
{r150hz} [0,702c,1466c,2167c]--------------


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## Nag (Mar 11, 2021)

That sounded rather unsettling. Mister microtonal weird stuff.


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## Wuuthrad (Mar 11, 2021)

Winspear said:


> To make use of the website I showed you, how about this one that's possible on my microtonal guitar  A minor seventh chord with the 3rd and 7th tuned down 33 cents. https://xenp.io/#{r150hz} [0,702c,1466c,2167c]-------------- {r262hz} [0,702c,1466c,2167c]-------------- {r150hz} [0,702c,1466c,2167c]--------------



Nice!


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## gnoll (Mar 11, 2021)

I have trouble coming up with a guitar voicing, I just don't play chords on guitar!! Hm wait. Can I say power chords??

But generally... I like maj7 and add9 chords when I can put them to good use. But I think I pay more attention to good melodies and voice leading and making the most out of pretty simple chords. Maybe I'm not spicy enough as a musician


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## Wc707 (Mar 11, 2021)

Gotta be the 004630 in a drop tuning. I have no idea what is


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## bostjan (Mar 11, 2021)

Wc707 said:


> Gotta be the 004630 in a drop tuning. I have no idea what is


"a drop tuning?" Drop A?

Then it's Amaj9

I always liked all flavours of 9th chords: add9, madd9, maj9, min9, 7aug9, etc.

From the Beginning by Emerson Lake and Palmer has some really nice chords in it. That was my general approach to songwriting as a teenager- take a chord shape and move it up and down, sometimes flip the shape over. It didn't matter how the chord was spelled, I could figure that out later.

The nümetal band I was in back in the very early 2000's - the other guitar player usually played either open chords clean or power chords dirty. Once I started writing the chord structures for them, we worked out something I quite liked, where he (the other guitarist) played stacked fifths (add9 power chords) and I played different voicings of m9 or maj9 chords with lots of open strings in between fretted strings. I know it was pretty much the trend of what a lot of bands were doing back then, but I still liked the sound of the guitar arrangements done this way.


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## Wc707 (Mar 11, 2021)

bostjan said:


> "a drop tuning?" Drop A?
> 
> Then it's Amaj9
> 
> ...


Probably should've clarified better. I just mean a drop tuning overall, not specifically A. But good to know what that translates too! 
I wish i found theory interesting. Always start learning but find it hard to keep pursuing.


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## Nag (Mar 11, 2021)

In this thread : people discuss the importance and awesomeness of 9th chords


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## Bodes (Mar 11, 2021)

This one is pretty nice! 



Ok. I am sitting on the couch with a cold and my brain thinks my joke is much funnier than it probably is. *exit stage left*


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## Wuuthrad (Mar 12, 2021)

074000

7400xx

alternating arpeggios, rhand patterns, and or strummed, works well with

x32000




Nag said:


> I'm guessing this is the best subsection of the forum to post this thread in.
> 
> So, recently (at least in my guitarist life) I've taken a rather different approach to music in general. Instead of just working on chops-based stuff like nailing Metallica riffs and Bodom solos I've been trying to sharpen my, uh, sense of musicality, so to speak. Even though I'm primarily a metal guitarist and power chords do almost all of my work for me, I've always known complex chords and I've used them here and there. But I'm sort of re-learning how I use them, trying different things with them. I find myself doing less and less noodling and just letting chords ring and fill me with their sound. Just absorbing the feel of specific voicings, wondering "where do we go from here" like I just paused my life in the middle of a chord progression. It's what helps me being creative these days, I feel like.
> 
> ...


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## Nag (Mar 12, 2021)

7400xx sounds dark, man


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## Nag (Mar 15, 2021)

By the way, this video here is a gold mine :


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## USMarine75 (Mar 15, 2021)

My favorite chord is the next chord.


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## ElRay (Mar 15, 2021)

Bodes said:


> ... Ok. I am sitting on the couch with a cold and my brain thinks my joke is much funnier than it probably is. *exit stage left*


 Important information left out, Bodes is sitting on his couch:

Wearing a Chord Sweater
Covered in a Crocheted Blanked
Staring at a macrame planter
Just dropped a stack of "radial network diagrams" (aka Chord Diagrams) on the floor.


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## mongey (Mar 15, 2021)

Nag said:


> I'm guessing this is the best subsection of the forum to post this thread in.
> 
> So, recently (at least in my guitarist life) I've taken a rather different approach to music in general. Instead of just working on chops-based stuff like nailing Metallica riffs and Bodom solos I've been trying to sharpen my, uh, sense of musicality, so to speak. Even though I'm primarily a metal guitarist and power chords do almost all of my work for me, I've always known complex chords and I've used them here and there. But I'm sort of re-learning how I use them, trying different things with them. I find myself doing less and less noodling and just letting chords ring and fill me with their sound. Just absorbing the feel of specific voicings, wondering "where do we go from here" like I just paused my life in the middle of a chord progression. It's what helps me being creative these days, I feel like.
> 
> ...



I've always liked a c maj 7 chord. I'm partial to this one with the B doubled 

879000



also this 13 shape - great final chord for a jazzy major thing 

A 13 for example 

5x567x


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## Nag (Mar 19, 2021)

See this is what I think could be great about this thread.

So often, I hear a sound that I like but I don't really know what it is. Because chords are complicated, so many pitches going on at the same time, and often it's fast and in a mix, so it's even harder to figure everything out. I often experiment randomly trying to find chords but I rarely come across a voicing that's "oh, so THAT's what this is". That 5x567x chord is TOTALLY the jazz resolution chord. Glad someone finally showed me


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## HungryGuitarStudent (Mar 20, 2021)

For the last 30 mins: Emb9sus4

Reason: I’m improvising over an E Phrygian backing track. Love that mood.

Voicing starting on 6th string:
Root b9 4 5 root.

Fingering: 12 x 15 14 12 12, I like to skip the 5th string 12 fret to make it less muddy.


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## Nag (Mar 20, 2021)

Lower it an octave and drop the bass note, you get xx3200 : it's almost an F7M chord, but with a b5 in it. You can also do x33200 and it's an inversion of F7M(#11)


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## michael_bolton (Mar 22, 2021)

been using jazz-inspired shell chords lately - 7 chords with 5th removed from them. so e.g. :
8x88xx -> x878xxx -> 6x77xx would be a 2-5-1 progression in Bb major.


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## HungryGuitarStudent (Mar 22, 2021)

Nag said:


> Lower it an octave and drop the bass note, you get xx3200 : it's almost an F7M chord, but with a b5 in it. You can also do x33200 and it's an inversion of F7M(#11)



Good suggestions! That being said, I was trying to have a Phrygian chord (so I need that 1-b2). Your chords are Maj7#11, therefore more Lydian, but very cool nonetheless


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## 777 (Mar 22, 2021)

Anything with a b2 interval between the chord tones in it


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## Nag (Mar 22, 2021)

777 said:


> Anything with a b2 interval between the chord tones in it



Find me a couple that sound fun, I'm messing around and not coming up with much. I guess the question is more "what chords sound cool with a flat ninth", isn't it?


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## 777 (Mar 22, 2021)

Nag said:


> Find me a couple that sound fun, I'm messing around and not coming up with much. I guess the question is more "what chords sound cool with a flat ninth", isn't it?


Its not a b9 its a b2 interval in the chord tones, I have a few favorites and ill post tomorrow


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## Nag (Mar 22, 2021)

Ah so literally just a semitone interval inside the chord then? Cause that's not what that other chord was. And those will be annoying to fret as well...


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## DudeManBrother (Mar 22, 2021)

Nag said:


> Find me a couple that sound fun, I'm messing around and not coming up with much. I guess the question is more "what chords sound cool with a flat ninth", isn't it?


I like to use b9 chords in turnarounds like maybe E#9, A7b13, D7b9, G7 and resolve to Cmaj7 

x x x 3 3
8 6 4 3 5
7 6 5 4 4
6 5 4 3 5
7 x 5 5 3
x 5 x 3 x


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## lurè (Mar 25, 2021)

x x 0 5 4 1


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## cflorez (Mar 28, 2021)

Been learning lots of jazzy shapes lately. One favorite one I keep going to is a quartal voiced major7 chord with extensions. So from top to bottom, it's 7x8899. If I need a less harsh sound, 7x8879 works well too.

Also:


michael_bolton said:


> been using jazz-inspired shell chords lately - 7 chords with 5th removed from them. so e.g. :
> 8x88xx -> x878xxx -> 6x77xx would be a 2-5-1 progression in Bb major.



Doing this a lot too, but I like to play it like this: 8x888x -> x87888 -> 6x7788 (same quartal chord from above). Also adding some alterations to the dominant chord sound really awesome, so I'll sometimes switch the second chord in that progression to x87878 or x87879. You can also start doing lots of diminished/octatonic stuff on top of these last two chords for some interesting flavors/options.


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## Nag (Mar 30, 2021)

Man, playing those voicings I realize how much I prefer playing chords that don't have too high notes in them. At least in most cases... I guess a dissonant chord with lots of distortion sounds extra jarring when you play it high up there.


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## gnoll (Mar 31, 2021)

Nag said:


> Man, playing those voicings I realize how much I prefer playing chords that don't have too high notes in them. At least in most cases... I guess a dissonant chord with lots of distortion sounds extra jarring when you play it high up there.



Do you have to play all the notes yourself?

Typically for chords and harmony I let the rhythm guitars do power chords and then keyboards/vocals/bass/lead guitar can do other notes to together form a chord.

Or you could play piano instead, that's a good instrument for big chords.


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## Nag (Mar 31, 2021)

I don't really write music as chord progressions first, then split the chords across instruments. I could try that though.


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## Solodini (Apr 1, 2021)

Anything with a 9th on the top, always. Also, Maj/min chords, i.e. chords with a minor and major 3rd in the same chord. D min/maj add9 in standard tuning would be 203230. Funsies.


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## Musiscience (Apr 5, 2021)

Anything MajAddb9

Edit: or simple augmented chords/inversions of them.


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## Musiscience (Apr 5, 2021)

Nag said:


> In this thread : people discuss the importance and awesomeness of 9th chords



I read the thread after making my post to realize there is definitely a trend here haha


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## Caelumamittendum (Apr 6, 2021)

I'm gonna chime in here with a shape that I quite like, rather than one single chord. The shape can easily be moved around, up and down the fretboard, but gives a few different flavors and chord and chord voicings. It goes through sus2, maj7, maj7(b5) and maj9.

Notice how the fingering stays exactly the same throughout:





*Bsus2/D: *
X 5 4 6 0 2​*Emaj7: *
X 7 6 8 0 4​*Fmaj7(b5): *
X 8 7 9 0 5​*Gmaj7:*
X 10 9 11 0 7​*Amaj9:*
X 12 11 13 0 9​*Bmaj7:*
X 14 13 15 0 11​*Cmaj7:*
X 15 14 16 0 12​*Bsus2/D: *
X 17 16 18 0 14​
And then you are back at the "beginning" in the octave above the first chord. If you want to spice up the end of the sequence, you can alter the shape a bit to X 16 15 18 0 14 giving you a C#7add11.

I made a little thing using some of the chords (Bsus2, Gmaj7, Amaj9, Bmaj7, C#7add11, C#7add13):

​


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## lurè (Apr 6, 2021)

Sus chords and triads in general are also really cool; on maj7 chors they give a sense of partial resolving that I quite like.


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## Nag (Apr 6, 2021)

Caelumamittendum : it's a bit stretchy, but I like it (nice little clip, too. helpful!). The whole "slide a chord shape with open strings in it around" reminds me of what Emperor did sometimes, are you a fan? 

 lurè : yup! I'm having fun playing chuggy riffs where I replace the power chords with sus2 ones, so like x35533. Leaving the high notes in and ringing is pretty cool.


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## Caelumamittendum (Apr 7, 2021)

Nag said:


> Caelumamittendum : it's a bit stretchy, but I like it (nice little clip, too. helpful!). The whole "slide a chord shape with open strings in it around" reminds me of what Emperor did sometimes, are you a fan?



It's a bit stretchy for sure, and it's not a chord shape I'd like to switch too much in and out of, as I'm actually not very good at doing that, so that's also the reason why I thought sliding it around would be cool. I'm not familiar with Emperor besides the name. Will check them out!


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## Karg (Apr 23, 2021)

Ebmaj7 XX1333


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Apr 23, 2021)

F#Maj add4, or, the opening chord from Hemisphere’s, RUSH.


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## Nag (Apr 29, 2021)

I just messed around and ended up playing x0301x, should be an Am7(b13). No idea what to do with that chord yet though

EDIT : the sound of it reminds of "Rylynn" by Andy McKee for some reason, I don't think that chord/voicing shows up in the song, but, yeah. It's got that feel to it


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## wheresthefbomb (Apr 30, 2021)

This stripped down D chord: 3x00xx, B standard tuning. Drones beautifully and loves dirt. Tasty overtones. I could listen to this chord through a RAT all day. 

I'll let the F# in if I'm feeling sassy, but if it ain't broke...


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## InCasinoOut (May 1, 2021)

E Maj9 07687x


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## Joan Maal (May 2, 2021)

Some of them.... 

E(add9) 0 11 9 11 0 0
Emaj7 0 7 6 8 0 0 
Dm6(9,11) 10 8 7 12 0 0


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## Nag (May 30, 2021)

I haven't really found much for this thread in the terms of actual chords, but here's a fun thing. I should have thought of this much, much earlier, but anyway, it's a cool tool for writing melodies or solos.

Instead of playing a complex chord "full", let the rhythm guitar play the bottom power chord (or major/minor triad, I guess, depending on the genre) and let the lead guitar play the other notes as an arpeggio.

As an example : 7M(#11) is a good sounding chord, seems to be popular too. For example C7M(#11) is C, E, G, B, F#. Play the C-G as a C power chord, then E, B, F# is an Esus2 chord... or you can hear it as an Em(add9) with the G in it, or think of it like a full Em9. I didn't record it because I'm super lazy, but, Em9 arpeggio over C5 sounds pretty cool! 

I guess you could take an entire chord progression with complex 9/11/13 chords and split it into rhythm/lead like that. There's probably thousands of people who write like this, but I just figured it out today


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## Nag (Jun 28, 2021)

Also can we appreciate sus2 chords for a sec? 335533 and so on. Pretty basic but _damn_ they're tasty.


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## Matt08642 (Jun 28, 2021)

Nag said:


> Also can we appreciate sus2 chords for a sec? 335533 and so on. Pretty basic but _damn_ they're tasty.



Any sus chord is simply god-tier to me. I don't know if I like sus chords because I listened to Devin Townsend so much, or if his music clicked with me because it's sus city.


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## gnoll (Jun 28, 2021)

Sus chords are nice but I think most times I tend to have thirds in there when I add my 2s and 4s. I like that denseness I think.


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## gnoll (Jun 28, 2021)

Btw maybe we can post some examples of chords we like used in music? Could be pretty sweet. I like hearing what other people like.


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## Caelumamittendum (Oct 31, 2021)

gnoll said:


> Btw maybe we can post some examples of chords we like used in music? Could be pretty sweet. I like hearing what other people like.



See my quoted post from below. I included an example piece 



Caelumamittendum said:


> I'm gonna chime in here with a shape that I quite like, rather than one single chord. The shape can easily be moved around, up and down the fretboard, but gives a few different flavors and chord and chord voicings. It goes through sus2, maj7, maj7(b5) and maj9.
> 
> Notice how the fingering stays exactly the same throughout:
> 
> ...


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## Nag (Apr 22, 2022)

Necrobumping my own thread to bring you this chord:

e-0
B-2
G-0
D-1
A-3
E-2

You can try to name it, but warn you, it's awful. This chord consists of three minor 9th mashed together (the first two being a tritone apart, the last one being a minor third up from that). It's hilariously dissonant. Have fun with it.


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## bostjan (Apr 22, 2022)

Em7add9 is always nice and melancholy

e--0--
b--3--
G--0--
D--4--
A--2--
E--0--


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## wheresthefbomb (Apr 22, 2022)

Love me some cowboy chords, can't wait to noodle with both of these.


Nag said:


> Necrobumping my own thread to bring you this chord:
> 
> e-0
> B-2
> ...





bostjan said:


> Em7add9 is always nice and melancholy
> 
> e--0--
> b--3--
> ...




Still this, but in drop A.


wheresthefbomb said:


> This stripped down D chord: 3x00xx, B standard tuning. Drones beautifully and loves dirt. Tasty overtones. I could listen to this chord through a RAT all day.
> 
> I'll let the F# in if I'm feeling sassy, but if it ain't broke...




Also really love this F#m7 in B standard, I learned this shape originally from the Radiohead song There, There in high school and it just stuck. I had a lot of fun perfecting my positioning and transitions with this chord.

220202


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## Nag (Apr 22, 2022)

bostjan said:


> Em7add9 is always nice and melancholy
> 
> e--0--
> b--3--
> ...


 
I just did a thing. If you fret this without your index finger (so fret the B5 power chord with middle/pinky) you can use your index finger to go down from that high 3rd fret (fretted with the ring finger) chromatically 3-2-1-0 (so fretting 2 with index, slide down to fret 1, then lift) and it sounds pretty cool. Reminds me of James Bond movies for some weird reason.


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## SCJR (May 13, 2022)

My hand seems to always first go for the sixth string root Amaj7. Probably my favorite.


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## michael_bolton (May 13, 2022)

my go-to for noodling lately has been a IIm7/9 -> V7/9 cadence.

these have some very easy fingerings, e.g:
Gm7/9 -> C7/9, would look like:

----5----3---
----3----3--
----3----3--
----3----2--


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