Re: Chords
Originally Posted by
JeffD
... religiously making sure I hit every note of the chord, not me. That is above my pay grade.
Absolutely agree, and the OP (plus probably the rest of us!) should keep in mind these "not-real-important-but-certainly-informative" points:
- Many tunes, but especially the roots-influenced ones that attract mandolinists, outline their tonality in the melody itself. Generally, notes that fall on strong beats (1 especially, but also 2,3, etc.) are the notes of the accompanying chord, while passing, off-chord tones fall on the "ands" or other spaces between those strong beats. So the tonality is pretty much established in the listener's head, leaving the accompanist free to add whatever (hopefully!) tasteful sparseness YOU might think is appropriate.
- I've been surprised in the past year or so by piano arrangements of standard and classical pieces (where the underlying chord is often NOT given, but is expressed by the notes written, usually, on the bass clef and played by the left hand), and seeing just how sparse the accompaniment can be. Very often, notes of the underlying chord are not played in unison, or are totally omitted.
- And since many of us are guitarists, as well: While rock & folk guitarists love playing five or six-string chords, classical & jazz players tend to NOT do that at all, instead picking out only the notes that express the intended tonality. They rarely use barre chords and generally avoid playing octaves of the same note. That makes those 7 or 8-string jazz guitars more comprehensible to me; if they're only playing 3 or 4 strings on a 6-string guitar, then playing only 3 or 4 on a 7-string guitar sounds almost reasonable!
Thus, playing only 2 or 3 strings out of a possible 4 would seem to fit right in with the approach of many established professionals.
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
- Ian Tyson
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