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Thread: Three string chords - good and bad?

  1. #26
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Quote Originally Posted by tmsweeney View Post
    on the root - I really mean for basic harmony demonstration, but if you play just an EG instead of a C chord that could be an Em or an A7, and often omitting the root in a chord with an ensemble that has plenty of fingers to cover it can create harmonic suspension.
    I actually do hear many of the pros use full chords in solos but only here and there, circling back 3 finger chords and double stops work very well in solos and or ornamentation.
    I hear what you’re saying brother, and don’t mean to be contentious, but I play a great deal of solo mandolin and my experience differs a bit. Played in the context of a song or tune with an established melody, that rootless C will be heard as a C rather than the other options by the brain of the listener ... context matters a great deal more than whether or not a root note is played in many if not most circumstances even when playing solo.
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  2. #27
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    A while back, I was studying Micky Baker's method for jazz guitar ... he uses 33 chord forms ... and I asked a fellow musician who had written a lot of extraneous material on it, 'Why do you consider such-and-such chord to be this chord when there is no root note to indicate that?'

    Eventually I internalized the idea that notes can be omitted from chords in orders of least importance to the sound you want to achieve - and inside the actual musical context the root is often wholly unnecessary, it can be implied by the movement of the melody and "heard" by implication in the harmony. The reason I pointed it out in this thread is because I don't believe beginners should be led to believe that they have to play the root note of every chord. Why be taught something like that early on?

    The fact that we use double stops, and learn them, even those without the root note, should be a clue as to this fallacy, even when playing solo apart from an ensemble.

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  4. #28

    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Good points. However, as far as beginners are concerned, it may be a somewhat advanced approach. I think it may be easiest (simplest) - and perhaps why the common practice - to teach the complete chord. Then we can omit discrete tones as desired.

  5. #29
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Quote Originally Posted by catmandu2 View Post
    Good points. However, as far as beginners are concerned, it may be a somewhat advanced approach. I think it may be easiest (simplest) - and perhaps why the common practice - to teach the complete chord. Then we can omit discrete tones as desired.
    I definitely agree with the approach of teaching the complete chord - 100% agreement on that, and on introducing the basics of "chord building" - but I also think partial chords & doublestops should be introduced early on when learning comping to tunes. A beginner should have no trouble with 4-3-x-x or 4-3-5-x for G7, for example.
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  6. #30
    The Amateur Mandolinist Mark Gunter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    For instance, I would teach 4-5-5-7 for a Gmaj voicing, and show how that leads to 4-3-5-x for G7 partial chord sans root
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  7. #31

    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Ya, I'm just answering the question, "Why (teach) something like that early on?"

    Seems to me I occasionally see beginning folks here expressing, "Why do mandolin chords sound weird?" or something like that. So to help simplify for the beginner - who may be accustomed to hearing basic chords on a guitar or something - it prbly helps to start with a commensurate chordal approach; it may be helpful for them to hear the root, while they begin interval training.

  8. #32

    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Well I could be all wrong. I suppose it's predicated on the beginner's grasp of chords/intervals - perhaps students get right to it after all.. I suppose it varies among learners. I think your material is great Mark.

  9. #33
    Mandolin user MontanaMatt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Try to learn ALL the possibilities of how to play a chord. Then you have a choice of what and how to play. I know lots of options, but get stuck on odd dim, aug, and add(something) chords when I have to do math I’m too late
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  10. #34
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    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Speaking of three note chords, here's all you could ever want and more in some cases https://www.mandozine.com/resources/...ote-Chords.pdf

  11. #35
    harvester of clams Bill McCall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Quote Originally Posted by CBFrench View Post
    Speaking of three note chords, here's all you could ever want and more in some cases https://www.mandozine.com/resources/...ote-Chords.pdf
    That’s nice, but there’s 4 other stand inversions, if you desires are not met.
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  12. #36
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    Default Re: Three string chords - good and bad?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill McCall View Post
    That’s nice, but there’s 4 other stand inversions, if you desires are not met.
    tks but a plenty for a simple person such as i

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