Chords In Keys On The Neck

Music Theory Chords In Keys & Common Progressions
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Learn how to find chord progressions using your guitar fretboard.


View the full lesson at Chords In Keys On The Neck | JustinGuitar

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Great lesson as always! However, I am a little confused watching Justin strum the IV and V Major chords. I can see he is fretting the Root and 5th note but, it appears he strums all the strings including the open G,B, and E strings, which aren’t necessarily in the chord. What am I missing?
Thank you!
Kevin

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@Washburn64

Kevin, I haven’t watched the lesson but assume he is playing barre chords and will be using the index finger to mute the GBE strings and the tip of the index finger to mute the low E when the root note is on the A string. That way you can strum all 6 strings and only the required notes ring out.

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Hi David, thank you for the reply! He definitely plays a barre chord on the root note of the key but, it doesn’t look like he is barring or muting any of the strings except the low E with his finger tip. It also sounds as though the G B E strings are ringing out. I could be wrong.

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Hi Kevin I’d like to try and help but the link to the lesson links to a subscription serviced lesson.

Is there a subscription specific helpline?

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@Washburn64

Hi Kevin,

I just watched this. It does look to me that he is playing barre chords. All strings are being strummed (except for the 6th string on A shape barre chords) as he goes through the Maj, Min, Min, Maj, Maj progression.

Rod.

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Hello @Washburn64 and welcome to the community.

Justin is playing E-shape and A-shape major barre chords.

Cheers :blush:
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide & Moderator

ps
Feel free to pop in to the Community Hub and introduce yourself there. Community Hub - JustinGuitar Community

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Rod and Richard,
Thanks for the input! It made sense that he was playing the A shape barre chord but his index finger looked like it was arched to high for it. Looks can be deceiving! Especially in pictures and video.

Thanks again and look forward to interacting with you again.

Kevin

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The next lesson shows some common chord progressions, and shows Under the Bridge as an example in the Key of E. How can I apply this diagram when the root is on the 5th Fret on the A string as it is in Under the Bridge?

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The root would be on the 7th fret of the A string or the open E string.
If the former, shift the diagram across one string so it sits on the A and D strings rather than E and A. If the latter simply see the root and the IV as being the open E and A strings.
Hope that helps.

Cheers :smiley:

| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide

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What fingering was Justin using for the diminished chord. I’m not sure why it always gets dismissed as it sounded great!

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That was a root 5 min7b5 (minor seventh flat five or half-diminished) grip. You can find it here as well: 10 Basic Jazz Chords

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Thanks Jozsef, I’ll be trying that one out running through my diatonic chords!

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Justin, your link to “Rut Buster series In Episode 6” was a breakthrough for me in two ways. Using the scale degree pattern is a sure fire way to determine chords in any key. And, knowing which scale the chords are in opens the door to improvising over the chords. This approach also provides great practice for barre chords on strings 5 and 6. Thanks

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I have not learned barre chords yet but was wondering if this only works on strings 5 and 6 or does it work on other strings?

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It works on string pairs: 6 & 5 plus 5 & 4 plus 4 & 3 and that is all you need to cover each and every one of the 12 keys. That is more than enough. The first pair does it if you go upto fret 12. The first two pairs does it easily if heading beyond fret 5 gives you anxiety! :wink:
You don’t need to venture beyond those.

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I have loved the music theory course but just hit the first “wait, what?” moment. I’m assuming the barre chords mentioned are further along in the guitar course than I have gotten. I’ve understood everything in the theory course up til now but I’m guessing this is where I’ll get left behind.

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Hello @Hopeypooze and welcome to the Community.

The grade system of the theory course does not align with the grade system of the guitar courses. Barre chords are something you learn as you progress on guitar. For the moment, just know that the commonly used ones have root note on either 6th or 5th string and are played as major or minor. You have major and minor open postion chords - these are not so different.
:slight_smile:

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Thanks for the reply, I can’t seem to reply to your reply!

Is there a particular lesson in the guitar course I should jump to? I can PLAY barre chords but don’t know them the way we’re obviously needing to right now?

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I find myself exactly in the same position, the second he started talking about barre chords I was like :face_with_raised_eyebrow::thinking:. I’m confused on how those are supposed to be major and minor chords, I don’t understand how they relate to barre chords, maybe @Richard_close2u could help? Any learning material on this in the website would greatly help to get me back up to speed with what Justin is talking about in this video

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