'high position' chords

[Childbride]

ok, Keepers of All Guitar Knowledge worthy of having...

i have another newbie question.

last night, at my lesson, which is only 30 min long a week, i got the rest of my fillers for my song i'm working on.

we spent a disproportionate amount of time with my teacher and i noodling with my new amph and him checking out shiner's EA30, so i quickly nailed my intro and he dictated out the rest of the fillers...

he told me that i had to play 'high position chords' for B and A with a flatpicking route on part of it, but didn't have time to explain what that means.

i know if i google it, i will eventually find some explanation that involves theory that will hurt my head and i'm tired.

can someone give me the cliff notes? what is a high position chord, and how is it different from others?

thank you in advance for advancing my theory horizons.

k

[ted s]

Sounds like he's talking about playing that A & B up the neck like maybe at the 5th & 7th fret.
http://chordfind.com/

[Childbride]

that is exactly right, the 5th and the 7th; basically you take an F and slide it up.

i was just wondering what the significance was of the term 'high position chord'?

sounds a bit elitist... makes the other chords feel badly?

[oldguy]

Well, it may just be a term your instructor uses. I've always heard the term "chord inversions" used to describe fingering chords in different fretboard positions, and "chord substitutions" to describe using 7ths, 9ths, etc. in place of a "regular" maj or min............but that's just around here in country/hillbilly territory.
Also, the term "farmer chords" is used 'round these parts to describe 1st position open chords....... an elitist term, as you say.
I do feel knowing the chord shapes, names, and keys in as many positions possible is a very desirable thing. If you learn them as you go, it makes it much easier to "set up your next shot" if you will (much as you would do in a game of pool). Not having to move far up or down the fretboard is handy, although chords played in certain positions have certain sounds that can add or detract from the sound of a song.
CB, you say take and F and slide it up......... good! That's referencing the chord to the E string. Open is E, 1st fret F, 3rd fret G, 5th=A, 7th=B.
You can then find the other position chords in various places and reference them in the same manner. Open A major at the 2nd fret becomes D major if you barre at the 5th fret and hold the D,G, and B strings at the 7th fret.
Hope that helps and wasn't confusing......

[oldguy]

This may interest you also, CB. You can enter any chord you are familiar with, then move it up one fret, add the barre behind it, and see the name of the chord as it moves progressively up the fretboard. If you "fill in the dots" at the first fret, then fill in an open E major chord at the 2nd fret instead of the first, you'll see you have an F major chord, and so on up the fretboard. It will also give you alternative names for that chord, depending on how it's used. You just have to remember to enter the chord, then fill in your barre behind it on the unused strings, the barre takes the place of the nut as you move up the fretboard. Also, you've got to mute strings you don't play, and pay attention to the ones you play open. I entered an open position A major as an example.
And if this is TMI (too much info), you might still want to bookmark it to use later..... as you progress it will come in handy. I don't want it to confuse you..... as a friend of mine used to tell me....... "Man, if you stand with 'yer nose against the cans of green beans, 'you'll never see what other kinds of vegetables are on the shelf!"

http://jguitar.com/chordname?string5...g1=0&string0=x

[Adrian30]

What a great website that is! Thanks for posting that, OG.

[oldguy]

Welcome.........
All the added features...... chord search/calculator/dictionary......... scale calculator, etc. are great tools.

[markb]

Nice link, bookmarked. Thanks.

[piebaldpython***]

CB,
OG mentioned "chord inversions", which aren't what your instructor meant, but OG (being ahead of the curve, ) is right about how useful they are. Major and minor chords are made up of 3 notes. I have a book around here somewhere that details all of this; but if memory serves, there are like 12 different ways (inversions) to play any major chord (say an A) between the nut and twelfth fret. These inversions have the 3 notes on adjacent strings and the 12 ways are spread from the bass to the treble strings. The same applies to minor chords too. Oh, found my book..."The About.com Guide to Acoustic Guitar" by Dan Cross. Sorry for the lousy description but it's late and I'm tired. ahahaah

[Childbride]

thanks to all of you! i really appreciate the help!

and i concur w/OG's pool analogy... when i first started playing, i was daunted by the number of ways you can play a single chord... but now, it's all just intriguing instead of intimidating, b/c somehow, someway, there's an easier/faster way to get to your next fingering or fretting, and it's just a manner of thinking out the progressions...

and i used to think rubik's cube was hard.

[player***]

Not to throw a monkey wrench in the wonderful works so far.would it be such a stretch to also explain the use of A barred chords to achieve other chords like C,D,E,etc on up the fretboard.many times it is easier to pull off one of those and carry on with other chords in a given tune however as mentioned chords played in certain/different positions may affect the tonal quality,personal preferance and all that.

[oldguy]

Not to throw a monkey wrench in the wonderful works so far.would it be such a stretch to also explain the use of A barred chords to achieve other chords like C,D,E,etc on up the fretboard.many times it is easier to pull off one of those and carry on with other chords in a given tune however as mentioned chords played in certain/different positions may affect the tonal quality,personal preferance and all that.

Not at all..... that's where this link is helpful.... if you start here and move up one fret at a time, you will see the "achieved" chord at each position.
3rd fret=C, 5th fret=D, etc. The 1st chord shown at the top of the list is what you'll be looking for, btw.

http://jguitar.com/chordname?string5...g1=0&string0=x

[player***]

just trying to help without causing anyone to have an overload.when I started playing and using them it became hard not to at times depending on the project at hand(pun intended)

[Katastrophe]

Welcome.........
All the added features...... chord search/calculator/dictionary......... scale calculator, etc. are great tools.

Great stuff! The scale calculator is outstanding. Thanks for the link, OG!

[tot_Ou_tard]

An inverted chord has nothing whatsoever to do with where it is played on the neck.

It is a very simple concept (although I think a better term could be used).

An non-inverted chord has the root tone as the lowest (bass) tone.

An inverted chord uses some other chord tone (eg the third or the fifth) as the bass note.

Think of an open A major chord.

The pitches in the A major scale are (the numbers underneath give the scale degrees):

A B C# D E F# G#
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Major chords are formed using the 1 (= root), 3, & 5 of the scale. So an A major chord contains the notes: A, C#, and E.

You are often told *not* to strum the 6th string. The reason is to make the open 5th (= A) string the lowest note. If you go ahead & strum the sixth string, you still have a A major chord (the open 6th string is an E which is one of the notes in an A major chord), but you have inverted the bass, as the fifth of the scale is the lowest note.

This is often written as A/E.

If you are not muting the 6th string while strumming an open A chord, then you are probably randomly switching between regular and inverted forms of the chord.

In fact, if you only strum the first 4 strings then the E on the fourth string at the second fret is the bass note so you have another voicing of the A major chord with the fifth inverted.

[oldguy]

Thanks, Tot. That clears up a misconception I've had for a long time, and "inverted" makes perfect sense after reading your explanation.
Would "high position chords" then be chords using the root note first as you move up the fretboard?........ it's a term I'm not familiar with...... another curse of being self-taught and fundamentally lazy in regards to learning theory!:

[Cal]

"High position chords" are simply chords that are played at a "high" position on the fretboard (the higher the fret number, the higher the position).

REMEMBER
Playing in 1st position is where fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4 are covering frets 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Playing in 2nd position is where fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4 are covering frets 2, 3, 4 and 5.
etc, etc, 'til you run out of frets.

[tot_Ou_tard]

...... another curse of being self-taught and fundamentally lazy in regards to learning theory!:

Maybe we should make a deal. I'll mod my Champion 600 with a new trannie or two & you mod your brain with a little theory .

It won't hurt you none .

[oldguy]

I was doing some reading on those Champ 600's........ seems they don't really need a different transformer.

Just kidding. Any good sites you'd recommend?