A Question on Chords

[Steevo25]

Hi All,

 

I hope this is the right place to post this question.

 

I am just starting my journey on learning guitar (a couple of months in). I come from a musical background and have played the keyboard/piano for many years. Obviously that has involved many years of music theory which is why I have my question on guitar chords.

 

Why do you not strum some strings in a chord even though those string are notes from the triad.

 

I will give an example. The Am chord is made up of A C and E. But every guitar chord chart says you do not strum the Low E when playing that chord. Why is that as the note E is part of the triad. The same is true of the C chord. The triad is made up of C E and G, but again the chart shows you do not strum the Low E. Dm is made up of D F and A, but you only strum strings 1 to 4 even though string 5 is an A.

 

I totally understand why some strings are not used during certain chords where those strings do not make up the triad, but what is the reason in the examples above?

[ezbass]

 

I would imagine it is so that the chord isn’t muddied by the bass notes and changing the ‘flavour’ of the chord. For the open chords, a lot of folk just saw away on all 6 strings and it sounds fine, as you have pointed out it should. That said, there’s a lot to be said for training some restraint in the early days, as this will pay dividends further down the line, when it will be require. Have fun in your journey.

[Dad3353]

2 hours ago, Steevo25 said:

... Why do you not strum some strings in a chord even though those string are notes from the triad...

 

The technical reason is that chords are, in their basic form, defined by their lowest note (so an 'Am' should have an 'A' as its lowest note...) the open 'E', although in the triad, robs the 'A' of its status; the chord becomes 'E, A, C' instead of 'A, C, E', and could be named 'E sus4#5', following the 'lowest note gives the name' notion. In practise, everyone would still call it 'Am', or better still 'Am/E' (the stroke indicates that it has an 'E' as a bass note...).
I'd echo the above ^^ advice about strumming all the strings, all the time, and try to only play the strings that 'count'; in the 'Am' example, the low 'E' would, indeed, 'muddy' the sound.

All chords have multiple names, for the same set of notes, and it should be the lowest note that gives the 'usual' name. These 'enharmonic' chord names are seldom used, though, except in particular circumstances when composing specific harmonies. One may play an instrument for one's whole life and never come across this; they do occur in orchestral composition, or jazz themes, though; here's one from the Mickey Baker jazz method...

 

 

It takes its name from the 'root' 'G' on the 'D' string, or from the 'missing' root 'E' played by a bass player, and absent from the chord on guitar. Either way, only the strings fingered are played, never the 'open' strings.

Disclaimer : I tend to prefer other voicings, and would privilege 'moveable' chords, that don't use open strings at all, and can therefore be played anywhere on the neck. I seldom play all six strings (usually four, often three...) by 'clawing' with my right-hand fingers, rather than strumming 'up'n'down'. There are exceptions (jig'n'reels  in 'D', using hammer-on's for melody lines, or open tunings...).

Hope this helps.  

Edited December 10 by Dad3353

[Steevo25]

I totally get it. Obviously there are chord inversions but totally understand how playing the Low E could take away the glory from the A in Am.

 

Many thanks.