The Secret Chords

An introduction to open moveable chords

Jesper Kaae

• Publisher: Jesper Kaae
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9788793140004
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music Theory & Appreciation

Grab a standard open E chord and move it five frets up the neck and you will get a beautiful sounding Aadd9 chord. Open moveable chords are seldom described despite the vast amount of guitar literature available. Although often used by various artists these chords and chord systems are well kept secrets to many aspiring guitarists. This book will help expand your chord vocabulary with a set of new and refreshing chords that will inspire you and spark your creativity. Open moveable chords combine the movability of the barre chords and the easy fingering of the standard open chords, and they create some interesting new sounds at the same time. These types of chords will often add complex harmonic extensions to standard major/minor chords so this book focuses on scale degrees rather than chord names to simplify the theoretically complex nature of open moveable chords. The book also includes options for using pedal points on standard open chords. The Secret Chords contains explanatory introductions to each chapter but it is primarily a comprehensive collection of chord charts for open moveable chords. Read less and play more.

En

Combining Open Moveable Chords

In the previous chapters you have seen some very useful systems for moving chords up and down the fretboard. However, when using one system exclusively you will often be jumping around a lot. To avoid that you can combine the systems. In this chapter you will see two different ways to combine the open moveable chords you have learned. You can see them as two different systems of a harmonized E major scale, and you can create many more systems yourself.

The first system is often used by various artists. Using this set of chords has two advantages. Firstly, it makes use of chords which are relatively closely positioned to each other, so you don’t have to jump around the fretboard. Secondly, it makes use of anchored finger positions. Notice how the third and fourth finger stays in the same position throughout thus making it easy to switch between the chords. We start out with a plain open E chord on the first degree. The second and third degree use the Em7 shape from chapter 7 and the rest of the chords use the A shape from chapter 5.

The second system makes use of many different chord shapes. This makes it possible to keep all chords positioned within only four frets. First degree uses the A shape from chapter 5. Second degree uses the Cm7 shape from chapter 7. Third and fourth degree uses the D shape from chapter 5. Fifth degree uses the E shape from chapter 4. Sixth degree uses the Em7 shape from chapter 7, and the low seventh degree uses the G shape from chapter 5.

Part Otte

Combining Open Moveable Chords

In the previous chapters you have seen some very useful systems for moving chords up and down the fretboard. However, when using one system exclusively you will often be jumping around a lot. To avoid that you can combine the systems. In this chapter you will see two different ways to combine the open moveable chords you have learned. You can see them as two different systems of a harmonized E major scale, and you can create many more systems yourself.

The first system is often used by various artists. Using this set of chords has two advantages. Firstly, it makes use of chords which are relatively closely positioned to each other, so you don’t have to jump around the fretboard. Secondly, it makes use of anchored finger positions. Notice how the third and fourth finger stays in the same position throughout thus making it easy to switch between the chords. We start out with a plain open E chord on the first degree. The second and third degree use the Em7 shape from chapter 7 and the rest of the chords use the A shape from chapter 5.

The second system makes use of many different chord shapes. This makes it possible to keep all chords positioned within only four frets. First degree uses the A shape from chapter 5. Second degree uses the Cm7 shape from chapter 7. Third and fourth degree uses the D shape from chapter 5. Fifth degree uses the E shape from chapter 4. Sixth degree uses the Em7 shape from chapter 7, and the low seventh degree uses the G shape from chapter 5.

E Major Scales Combined Chords 1

E Major Scales Combined Chords 2

Part Ni

Pedal Points

Playing progressions with the chord systems shown in this book will create pedal points. A pedal point is a note that is sustained through a series of chord changes. The pedal point is most often placed in the bass, but it may be placed in other voices too, and this is the case for most chords in...