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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Beautiful Acoustic Guitar Chords
Hello,
I have been playing guitar (self taught) for about 9 years now. I play praise and worship on my acoustic and I really want to spice up my playing with some fresh chords. If any of you out there could suggest some that would be great. I could really use some chords that really add something to the music. Thank you all for your help.
may I suggest a capo? it opens a whole new world of sounds.
What about playing in an open tuning. I believe this can give you all sorts of new possibilities.
Hi, Alvee33,
Open tunings are fun and so rewarding. If you gig and play different tunings, please have a different guitar for each tuning.
Nothing is more irritating that holding up the show while some goober pulls his guitar into an alternate tuning.
Christmetalking,
Chosing fresh new songs to learn that have inspiring chord progressions is the best way to discover new chords and find out how and where they are used.
Hey, Tubatooter, my last post makes me sound like I have experience of playing in open tunings when, in fact, I do not. It's something I have been looking at in the past few weeks, trying to find one that suits me best. So far I've just been going round in circles.
I recently, through Youtube, discovered the band Boyce Avenue. They have a lot of acoustic covers posted and watching the guy play it looks like he's playing in some open tuning, but I don't know which (possibly C). Hence the reason for my interest.
Any recommendations on a good all round open tuning?
Most popular alternative tunings around here are open E chord (all strings open) and playing in D with the big E string, only, tuned down to D.
I ran into the same type of chord rut, too. I went out and bought myself a book called "Picture Chord Encyclopedia" which shows many voicings of about any chord you can think of. It's very well done and helped alot; it also challenged my fingering technique. Chordie also has an AWESOME chord chart under the Resources tab at the top of this page. If you folks haven't checked it out, you owe it to yourselves! Hats off to whomever put that bad boy together!!
Something I discovered by chance was clicking on the chords beside the song on chordie . You will get a host of alternatives to the one suggested voicing.
In terms of your sound, have you tried playing bass runs, or trying to follow key parts of the tune by adding notes to the chord you are holding down, a bit like hitting the 7th etc when playing blues?
I would say use OPEN G, it so easy to tune to and sound very suitable for gospel as its widely used in the Blues......chords become so easy are are very lush.
Caracena
(One of these days I'll think of a clever signature)
I think this is very clever . Direct translation - Irish / Italian---- Friendly Dinner. Or ! Irish /French----- Friendly Diner. 
Dont ya just love words ?.
Old Doll.
OOPs, back to the thread!
Direct translation - Irish / Italian---- Friendly Dinner. Or ! Irish /French----- Friendly Diner.
And in Spanish it's Costly or Expensive Dinner. There's even a story about how the name came to be!
Yep words are cool!
Sorry 'bout going off thread.....
Caracena,
I pray thee to tell me of this ?
Nosey Old doll.
I say go for some experimenting with alternate tunings. A great start is to try Bruce Cockburn's Wondering Where the Lions Are in drop to D tuning (drop the low E to match the sound of the D). Add a capo in the 2nd fret and this is a beauty! If you have a lot of patience, you can also try Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy either in drop D or even double drop D (tune both E strings to match the D). Experiment with the capo on this tune and again - pure magic baby! Biggest trouble with this one is remembering all the words.
Also here's a link to a nifty little site that will get you thinking and playing with tunings:
http://www.howtotuneaguitar.org/
Have fun with it and don't be afraid to try some new things. Good luck!
Most popular alternative tunings around here are open E chord (all strings open) and playing in D with the big E string, only, tuned down to D.
That's called Drop D.
I found just adding a few extra chords around the basic 3-chord trick really adds something. Too many guitar chord books go for the minumum easy guitar accompaniment. Song books intended for piano often have some extra chords - maybe not with chord boxes but you can usually work them out (especially with a resource such as Chordie).
Lots of great suggestions here... Playing with a capo opens up a lot of sound possibilities...example: a C F and G played without a capo can be played as an A D E with capo on 5th fret... that also works great if you are playing with other guitar players...gives more sound to the overall mix... Open and Dropped tunings can work well also but can really be a challenge to play at times... I was playing with a praise group and since we already had a 6 sting and 12 string guitar players, I decided to bring a mandolin...that opened up and really great sound...
I guess to better answer your question...learn to play each of your basic chords several different ways...also in the minor, 7th, 9th, etc... some times changing the way you play a chord during a song can help elaborate on the sounds and texture of the song... Hope this helps...
I get together with a group of folks twice a month to play music. The majority of these people are "ole time" musicans and they play the old style chords. Most of them will stay with playing G...C..D all night long for every song (they will sometimes throw in a Em). Here's hpw they do it.
If the song is in the Key of "G" they play a G..C..D.. progression.
If the song is in the key of "A"they just capo the 2nd fret and play G..C..D..
If the song is in the key of "B" they just capo the 4th fret and play G..C..D..
If the song is in the key of "C" they just capo the 5th fret and play G..C..D..
They seldom capo above the 5th fret.
They will use the capo to change the keys of songs while using the simplist of the open chords. With these musicans you will never see a barre chord.
Nela
Lots of great suggestions here... Playing with a capo opens up a lot of sound possibilities...example: a C F and G played without a capo can be played as an A D E with capo on 5th fret... that also works great if you are playing with other guitar players...gives more sound to the overall mix... Open and Dropped tunings can work well also but can really be a challenge to play at times... I was playing with a praise group and since we already had a 6 sting and 12 string guitar players, I decided to bring a mandolin...that opened up and really great sound...
I guess to better answer your question...learn to play each of your basic chords several different ways...also in the minor, 7th, 9th, etc... some times changing the way you play a chord during a song can help elaborate on the sounds and texture of the song... Hope this helps...
I agree, a capo opens a lot of possibilities. And a good teacher, like I have will show you different fingerings of a chord. Mine loves to do that, especially when it comes to chord changes.
Much good advice. I would suggest that you double check a few things on your instrument. I'll just make a list if that's OK
Make sure you have a good set of strings on your guitar. Check several different brands and make sure you have the one that sounds the best on your guitar. Take your guitar to a luthier and check the set up and intonation. Make sure your strings are not set too low (if you play unplugged) as it will take some of the voice off your guitar. I've been playing at the guitar for almost 50 years and the old song about "guitars tuned good" is dead on. If you don't have a tuner, invest in one and use it. If you are playing plugged in, try playing through a condenser mic with a new set of strings. You will be surprised at the difference. As to chords, purchase a James Taylor song book or two and learn the songs. Listen to some of Norman Blakes stuff. Your guitar should ring like a bell generating overtones that you as the player notice. If it can't do that, time for a different guitar. Good luck!!
Much of the fun is in the quest! Clarence
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Beautiful Acoustic Guitar Chords
