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Chapter 4: Getting a Grip on Left-Hand Chords
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For most of your blues guitar chording efforts, you use the E and A forms. But
some other forms do exist and spice up your rhythm playing and give you
some options:
The C chord is sometimes used in a barre configuration, but C7 —
because it’s a movable chord on the inner four strings — is used a lot.
The D form is a good form for rhythm playing when you want to emphasize
the upper strings of the guitar and produce a higher, scratchier
sound than the E and A forms provide. Great for R&B-type blues!
The B7 form is often used for jazz- and rock-based blues because the
highest string, fretted by the fourth finger, can slide around to produce
jazz-like dissonances.
Figure 4-4 shows the C7 form played at the fifth fret, which makes it an E7 — a
very useful chord for the blues in A.
Figure 4-4:
The C7
moveable
form at the
fifth fret
creates an
E7 chord.
E7
3241
5fr.
Playing E-based barre chords
Because barre chords, in their true from, are really open-position chords with
the barre added on, you can form them by using an F barre chord as an example.
Try out the following steps:
1. Finger the E-form barre chord.
Use fingers two, three, and four for the chord part instead of how you
fret for an open-position chord.
2. Slide the E chord up one fret.
Make sure to slide as a unit, so your middle finger is now on the second
fret and the third and fourth fingers are on the third fret.
3. Place your index finger across the first fret, covering all six strings.
The sixth string should fall under the tip of your index finger so you can
fret it. The first and second strings must also be fretted with the fleshy
part of your index finger. Your left hand should look like Figure 4-2.
TEAM LinG