Need a Chord?

I've been playing guitar for a little over two years now so I know most of the basics of soloing. I like to play a variety of music, mostly 80's metal & speedmetal but I also like to have a kind of classical sound in my songs. I've always had problems when I wanted to get a different sound from a progression that I was jamming. I haven't really spent much time on learning a bunch of chords because it's really boring to me and I mostly play lead. But then one day it finally came to me when I was practicing a song I wrote that mainly uses double stops. I was applying the double stops diatonicly and I realized that you can make a chord out of any scale using two or more of the notes in the scale. This allows me to get whatever sound I want out of the progression and makes it so that I can try different soloing ideas and write songs that have my own unique sound to them without having to learn all the different chords and theory. This has really helped me a lot and I hope it'll help you if you're having problems with trying to get the sound you want.

If you have any questions about what I'm talking about just post them and I'll answer them as soon as possible.

[Edited by keepingitbrutal on 06-11-2002 at 01:19 AM]

Cool finding! I'm sorry to tell this so abruptly, but if you had had a teacher, you would have learnt that in about... 20 minutes! :D

You can do the thing you say with the major scale, all 7 modes, and with any 7,8,9,10 notes scale... That's a bunch of chords and sounds.

Originally posted by keepingitbrutal
I've been playing guitar for a little over two years now so I know most of the basics of soloing. I like to play a variety of music, mostly 80's metal & speedmetal but I also like to have a kind of classical sound in my songs. I've always had problems when I wanted to get a different sound from a progression that I was jamming. I haven't really spent much time on learning a bunch of chords because it's really boring to me and I mostly play lead. But then one day it finally came to me when I was practicing a song I wrote that mainly uses double stops. I was applying the double stops diatonicly and I realized that you can make a chord out of any scale using two or more of the notes in the scale.

[Edited by keepingitbrutal on 06-11-2002 at 01:19 AM]

I can't belive that you find playing chords "really boring". Playing chords is a fundamental part of playing and mastering the guitar. You say you have been playing for two years and you've just now discovered that by playing two or more notes in a scale you can make a chord? I don't know how anyone can write a song without first building the chord structure. Ask any song writer. I'm not criticizing your taste in music but you need to listen to other types of music besides speed metal and fast guitar licks and check out some players that know how to use chords to their fullest. There was a band back in the sixties that had a guitar player by the name of George Harrison. I think his band was called the "Beatles" or Something. Listen to what this man could do with chords. There are many more examples of outstanding chord players out there. One of the "Masters" at playing chords, leads and thumb pick the bass line at the same time was Chet Atkins. I'll admit that some of the songs he covered were corny, but listen to what that man could do with that combination on the guitar. Perhaps some of the other players on this site can recomend a few of their favorite chord players.
There's a free download of a gadget called The Powertab Editor 1.7. It has a great chord dictionary in it complete with audio.
You can get it at http://powertab.guitarnetwork.org/downloads.htm
Do yourself a favor and learn how to play and use chords. You wont be sorry.

I like 'speed metal' (called thrash by most) and love 80's metal, but if you're looking for chord varieties check out Eric Clapton's 'Unplugged' albumn. It's not too bluesy, and it's acoustic, but you'll find most of his 'boring chords' are tough as crap to play like he does. Brian May of Queen does a lot of chords in his solos too.

hey...easy on the guy, lalimacefolle :-) I know how keepingitbrutal feels about 'discovering' something nice while playing the guitar. I didn't have a teacher, so I ran into the same situation. I had to go through all the theoy sites on the net to know something that might look so simple for those who were lucky enough to have someone to teach them the basics. I'm not saying I'm perfect..in fact I think I learn slowly, but that's not a problem as long as I'm learning in the end. The bottom line is: keep trying, keepingitbrutal..keep asking questions (Guitartricks is the best place to do so :-)), and everything is gonna be fine. A teacher is a must if you wanna be 'good', but if you're taking the guitar as a hobby, 'trial and error' method will be fine. Thanks guys :-)

I didn't want to sound hard! Sorry if I did :)

No harm done anyway, lalimacefolle :-) I really love you guys and love your great site. You've been a great help to me - and to others as well, I assume. Thanks :-)

No offence taken lalimacefolle. Oh and kimbob what I meant when I said I found learning chords is really boring is that I can't sit there and stare at a peice of paper with a bunch of chords on it. I'll learn them but I won't know how to use them so I just forget about them cause whenever I try to use them it sounds horrible. I like to learn chords but I have to know the theory behind them or its like a 3 year-old trying to figure out a math problem. F.Y.I. I have a teacher but were pretty much only going over how to solo and shred over progressions we really haven't gone over chord thoery yet so it's up to me to figure that out on my own for right now.

Originally posted by keepingitbrutal
No offence taken lalimacefolle. Oh and kimbob what I meant when I said I found learning chords is really boring is that I can't sit there and stare at a peice of paper with a bunch of chords on it. I'll learn them but I won't know how to use them so I just forget about them cause whenever I try to use them it sounds horrible. I like to learn chords but I have to know the theory behind them or its like a 3 year-old trying to figure out a math problem. F.Y.I. I have a teacher but were pretty much only going over how to solo and shred over progressions we really haven't gone over chord thoery yet so it's up to me to figure that out on my own for right now.

One way to learn chord progressions is to find a song you like that is not too difficult and learn the song. Alot of the lyric sites and tab sites have the chords all ready worked out for you. Once you work out a few songs you will find that many songs have similar chord progressions. After a while you will be able to identify a chord in any song and tell what it is just by hearing it(minors, majors, 6th, 7th, etc..even fancy chords)(amaze your friends, be the life of the party).. It takes more strength to chords than it does to play leads, but you will find that benificial to your soloing. It is also good exercise for spreading(to spread is to shread) and using all your fingers. Learn your basic barre chords. When your jamming with other people someone has to play the rythm and when in doubt barre chords can fill just about anywhere.
This is just my opinion, but I'm a firm beliver in the necessity of chord knowledge to become an accomplished guitar player(Hendrix). Especially for writing songs. That's enough for now(sorry if I got carried away). :o