| Author |
Topic: The Consistency of Chord Patterns |
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
|
Posted 23 Jun 2014 10:17 am |
|
Those of you who play a regular-tuned guitar, i.e. not a steel guitar, will often wonder if there is a connection between the chord shapes that we learn by rote as beginners. Well there is, and I've put together this chart to demonstrate the point.
What makes the chord posiions is not the pitch of the strings, but the interval between them. For instance, with the regular tuning of E A D G B E (6th to 1st) the intervals in semitones are 5, 5, 5, 4, 5. Now imagine that you are holding down an E chord. The intervals are now 7,5,4,3,5. Note that in both cases the total is 24, which is the two octave range of the instrument's open strings.
Now see if you can follow this chart:-
You see, there is a constant progression from one chord shape to the next.
Last edited by Alan Brookes on 26 Jun 2014 12:13 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
|
 |
Jason Stillwell
From:
Caddo, OK, USA
|
Posted 25 Jun 2014 7:30 pm
|
|
| Alan, this is very interesting! It seems that, as long as strings 6 and 1 employ octaves of the same note, the sum will always end up 24. However, I think about the old "long" A that my uncle was so fond of. It's (from 6 to 1) frets 002225. I haven't done the math, but my guess is that its sum is 29. |
|
|
|
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
|
Posted 25 Jun 2014 8:00 pm
|
|
Alan, I'm misunderstanding something here (unless there's an error). For example:
Your very first chord shown, B (major) includes the notes E and G# which don't belong in a B major triad. Even if we use the notes you show, the distance (in semitones) between the B and the E is 5 semitones (i.e. a fourth), whereas you show it as 4 semitones (i.e., a major third). And the chord diagram corresponds to the pitches you list but, as noted above, they do not constitute a B major chord.
Are you trying to confuse me cuz, if so, you've succeeded!
_________________
www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com |
|
|
|
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
|
Posted 26 Jun 2014 11:37 am
|
|
Jim: Thanks for pointing out the anomolies, which I have now corrected. I did the original calculations on paper about twenty years ago and then typed them into an Excel spreadsheet from my notes. In the original B major chord a line of the diagram had become hidden so that the finger positions were moved out of place. My original calculations used a numbering system, where notes were numbered 1 through 11, and formulae for chords were in the form of algebra. For instance, a major triad in x would be x, x+4 and x+7. It's a system I derived in the early 60s when I was doing my Mathematics degree at Exeter University. Unfortunately, when I transcribed the numbers into normal musical nomenclature a few errors crept in. Of course, I should have started the progression with an E chord since the first and sixth strings are both tuned to E, and not included a B chord until its later inversion.
The basic concept of the consistent progression of chord patterns still holds.
Last edited by Alan Brookes on 26 Jun 2014 12:15 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
|
|
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
|
Posted 26 Jun 2014 11:46 am
|
|
| Jason Stillwell wrote: |
| Alan, this is very interesting! It seems that, as long as strings 6 and 1 employ octaves of the same note, the sum will always end up 24. However, I think about the old "long" A that my uncle was so fond of. It's (from 6 to 1) frets 002225. I haven't done the math, but my guess is that its sum is 29. |
Yes Jason, you're right. They will always add up to 24 as long as the first and sixth strings are the same note, two octaves apart. Your long A would be this:-
Of course, you could play an A on the sixth string too, and they would add up to 24 again, but it would be very awkward to play. 
There are, of course, several inversions of the chords shown here. |
|
|
|
