JAM TRACKS

WITH RICHARD BARRETT

THERE IS A LOT TO BE GAINED from raising or lowering individual voices within a chord, plus finding the different inversions on the fretboard. In cases like this, the guitar’s limitations can force us into some interesting situations, which may lead to unexpected creative solutions! These chords all make use of the open first string as a root note, but can be converted to movable chords with the omission of open strings. Seeing chords with numbers and symbols in the name throw many of us, but understanding this terminology can free us to invent a more varied chord accompaniment. This will take time to assimilate; while it’s obvious that playing these chords will get you started on the right road, listening for and recognising similar ideas in use by others will also help.