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Topic: What is this chord!? |
Shawn Tuck
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 2:12 pm |
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Hi all,
I've been working out of the Winnie Winston book and I came across this chord I really like. I'm sure you all will know what it is. It seems to function as the IV chord in a turnaround walkdown... 4--3minor--2minor--1tonic chord scale kinda thing. You play strings 2, 3, and 5 and press the A and B pedals. Its a Major chord with a flat 5th? I was calling it half diminished but it has a major 3rd. Its such a crazy quintessential steel sound. Harrowing, crying kind of wail.
Thanks,
-Shawn |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 2:30 pm
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It could be called 3 different names in the context you describe. One you already said - the IVb5. Two more I can think of are ii6 and viiØ (half-dim).
That voicing also works well as a bluesy IV9 if you slide it down two frets.
There is a lot of magic in that book. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 2:52 pm
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| Key of G, strings 5-3-2 with A&B down is a V chord, a D9. Let off the pedals and walk down to I. It has just enough ambiguity to sonically hint at IV at the same time. |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 3:03 pm
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| Jon Light wrote: |
| Key of G, strings 5-3-2 with A&B down is a V chord, a D9. Let off the pedals and walk down to I. It has just enough ambiguity to sonically hint at IV at the same time. |
Yep, that too. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 3:11 pm
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| Oops -- I had meant to say "at the third fret". |
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Shawn Tuck
From:
Vermont, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 3:50 pm
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Thanks Jon and Fred,
If I remember right I think it is said to be the V chord in the book. It just seemed like it was sounding more like the 4, as it begins the walk-down. So I think it threw me a little. Anyway I love the sound of that voicing, whatever it is.   I guess we'd need to know what note the bass would play under it to truly define it. |
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Jon Light
From:
Saugerties, NY
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 4:03 pm
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I actually prefer to play it with strings 3-4-5 with the E lower lever (partly because I tune my 2nd string to D natural, raising it with a lever). If you play it at fret 3 and come off the A pedal, it's a straight D7. So 'nuancing' the A pedal up or down just milks that bit of ambiguity. This was one of the first "my favorite moves!" I fell upon on steel and it is still a top shelf sound.
In my head, I nearly always hear "To See An Angel Cry" -- the final line of the chorus of Conway Twitty's song of that name. |
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Ian Rae
From:
Redditch, England
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 5:13 pm
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2,3 & 5 with A&B is a dominant ninth as Jon says.
The root is absent (taken care of by the bass),
2 is the 3rd
3 is the 7th and
5 is the 9th
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Last edited by Ian Rae on 30 Dec 2022 9:46 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fred Treece
From:
California, USA
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Posted 30 Dec 2022 6:12 pm
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| Yes, it is a fairly common dom9 voicing. The chord melody in the OP’s example works great over a V7 chord. But that voicing can fulfill several other roles. |
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Pete Bailey
From:
Seattle, WA
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Posted 31 Dec 2022 1:27 pm
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The ABE 9th on strings 654 is pretty much the classic pedal steel chord. Drop down 2 frets from a V with AB, add the E lever and presto: instant steel guitar goodness.
You can find this same chord relationship in the other grips as well. Drop down 2 frets from open, add the B->Bb lever, same thing.
And from the AF grip, drop down 2 frets and lower string 6 by a half-step (usually by splitting your string 6 whole-tone drop with the B pedal).
Salt your V->I or your I->IV transitions with this move, it's one of the best sounds on the instrument, right up there with open to A pedal, or open to BC pedals. Country gold. |
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