How to Play Ambient Guitar #3 - Layering Chords (Ambient Guitar Swells and Chords)

[@robhughed6728]

You, sir have completely changed my direction with my guitar playing! Thank for breathing life into what was almost dead

[@chordsoforion]

Thanks for letting me know the vid was useful!!

[@DruLeeParsec]

Just wanted to write a quick note saying how much I'm enjoying these lessons. I teach acoustic guitar, jazz guitar, fingerstyle guitar, mandolin, and banjo at a local music store and I appreciate good teaching technique. Well done.

[@infantrymanejb358]

I'm Not a great guitarist but this sounds amazing. also I can't help but think you're the Bob Ross of guitars.

[@alabastersmidge4692]

InfantrymanEJB I agree!

[@joshuacedars8849]

Yup. And I think that's the highest compliment.

[@krilin84]

Oh man, I just discovered your channel and music. I've been playing guitar and making music as a hobbyist since I was a kid, and looove ambient music like Hammock and Chihei Hatakeyama, but had never thought of the possibility of making my electric guitar sound like an analogue synth pad like this, and how you can layer multiple chords on top of each other to get at these amazing tonal relationships that are basically impossible to get at any other wqy. I completely agree that some of them just speeks to you once you discover them! Man I just feel so inspired to explore this musically. Thanks so much for making these videos and this amazing music!

[@cliveburgess4128]

After watching a lot of your videos, which I very much enjoy, I just realized you are a Holdsworth fan! he is sadly missed! thanks for all your content.

[@brubakersflatcakes9755]

Bill. Love your work! I just wanted to say thanks. I’ve always had a thing for ambient but you’ve pretty well tipped the scales for me. Building my toolkit now! I’ve been playing blues, rock, pop, and metal for decades and though I love it, it gets boring. This ambient style is like a brand new world. Thanks so much for the lessons and inspiration. 🙏

[@apisdude]

you and Mark Speer have captured my guitar playing heart

[@rontakabuda4474]

Neither a chord for modern songs nor 70s,80s, songs /music at all.absolutely useful in church ,great !!

[@UltimateForceMarketing]

Absolute most unique and inspiring acoustic electric guitar artist around & non egotistical presentation available anywhere on youtube. Also you and Sit James Taylor are my favorite gurus to go to!😀

[@contrazzed3651]

I'm thoroughly convinced this series is going to change how I play guitar.

[@robhughed6728]

Contrazzed same here!

[@BrianJilgMusic]

It is so good it is going to change how I play piano!

[@natashanyxx9486]

I love that quilted Maple on the Carvin. Very sweet!

[@randyleahy5055]

thank you so much for these! you've really helped me progress when it comes to playing a more ambient style. Also what you play in your videos is so soothing and beautiful! Keep em coming, I'll be watching them all multiple times

[@chordsoforion]

+Randy Leahy I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos! Next one in this series will post on 12/23. Stay tuned!!

[@Neil-qf6df]

Just came back to this vid and came up with some great results so thanks for the inspiration Bill.

[@maximum805]

I have Appalachian Spring on the Telarc label. With Louis Lane & the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. A side note. I learned how to play Fanfare for the Common Man Which involves using 4ths and 5ths. I glade to see you use Appalachian Spring for your example.

[@BarryGrueter]

Very nice Bill thanks for sharing 🙏

[@MrPodvig]

This hits very close to where I want to be - experimenting with jazz harmonies, but with wider voicings than are usually possible with a single guitar.

[@neilgroves3592]

Just been trying this technique with different chords with some great results, then adding some other pedals to the chain such as my sub'n'up.... there is a lot of mileage to be had using this technique ...... thanks for the lesson Bill.

[@liancemusic]

Thanks for these videos. Couldn't ask for a better or clearer demonstration tbh.

[@chordsoforion]

I am really glad you are like the series!

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

So , my pedal board is growing, now with the addition of a Boss RV-6 reverb, Boss Delay DD-7 and a Dunlop volume pedal. Will be trying out some ambient chords asap. Loving the tutorials by the way.

[@chordsoforion]

Sounds like a good combination of effects!

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

Indeed, the Boss reverb pedal has a setting called shimmer, which is extremely nice in my opinion.

[@candybycameo2194]

im getting way into ambient guitar playing and your videos (which i just found today) are REALLY awesome i love the stuff you come up with

[@chordsoforion]

+Lawrence Swingle Thanks for letting me know you like the vids!

[@ax_el_alvarez]

I started watching your review videos and came across these lessons, they're awesome! Thanks for the good quality!

[@chordsoforion]

You are quite welcome!

[@scottymac3634]

The first 2 videos in this playlist were good but this one's really got me thinking. That might not be allowed these days but if I do it quietly I should be OK. 😊

[@j.p.zukauskas7626]

Beautiful stuff and very well explained. My kind of guitar hero...

[@chordsoforion]

Thanks so much!!

[@rowellalcon1344]

I'm new to ambient using a boss GT-3 (bit outdated & limited), yet I enjoy finding things out of my multi efx, thanks to you ambient music youtubers, I love the sound:)

[@chordsoforion]

+rowell alcon Great! I don't think having a particular type of gear is as important as knowing how to get good sounds with what you do have, and using your musical imagination. Thanks for commenting!

[@rowellalcon1344]

Thanks to all of you Ambient guitar guys! And to you sir :)

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

Judy bought the source audio collider pedal wow. Delay + reverb. Top knotch. $350. Worth it. Just added a Morley volume, mxr clone looper and keeley Compressor. I'm good now. Amp - - ampeg reverberocket have fun

[@brianjasinski]

Great video series. Very informative. Thanks for putting the time into this. Subscribed and looking forward to more.

[@chordsoforion]

+brian jasinski Thanks so much for letting me know you got some value out of the video, and thanks for subscribing! And I do indeed have a bunch more episodes in the works!

[@denielpierrick6437]

i love this guy. refreshing.

[@mattsnyder1325]

You rock! I really enjoy this whole series, keep up the good work!

[@chordsoforion]

+Matt Snyder Glad you are liking the vids. Thanks for letting me know!!!!

[@otsuspyre1841]

Thanks for posting this video. Incredible ambient sounds.

[@maximum805]

I just put the CD on and Appalachian Spring. With your example of the two arpeggios back to back, it is quite trilling.

[@maximum805]

I mean to say Thrilling

[@vikinin]

Bill, way cool once more. I love your channel, exciting and inspiring. thanks man.

[@chordsoforion]

+vik Thanks so much for the encouragement. Means a lot to me!!

[@johnsmith-lb4mo]

I just arpagiated the D over the A chord and it sounds great i can't make out where your fingers are for the chords you are using?

[@kanepour9691]

that sounds really good and your guitar is beautiful

[@necronorris]

I havent finished gathering all my pedals(full time adult student with a mortgage!) but my wife grabbed me a Strymon Blue Sky. I also have a Line 6 Pod XT live from back in the day. Im having a very hard time getting a good delay.

[@chordsoforion]

I am not familiar with the Pod XT, so not sure how to advise. One thought - can you put the Pod delay last in the chain before the output? If so, that would probably be best to feed into the Blue Sky.

[@necronorris]

I think so. Eventually I want ot do away with the POD all together but for now I found a fix. Thanks for the vids! Love your guitar btw.

[@LoVeAmBiEnT]

Carvin guitars were sooooo great. Wish I bought a couple when they being produced. Kiesel (spell that right)? guitars are great just expensive AF

[@anantwashere]

WOW! Such a great learning. THank you so much!

[@chordsoforion]

Glad it was helpful!

[@simoncrewe5625]

Sooooooo glad I come across this guy and subscribed

[@etffff1]

Great stuff well explained! Looking forward to more.

[@chordsoforion]

+Eric Freeman #4 coming up soon. Thanks!!

[@bohenian]

I am getting into ambient guitar playing and plan to buy my volume pedal. Lol. What are your suggestions on album that I can listen to? This content is amazing.

[@thatellipsisguy8984]

Christian Jandicala ummm... something by Chords of Orion?

[@wds77guitarzan77]

Great work! What guitar are you playing it's very beautiful and great sounding

[@jfo3000]

Carvin Holdsworth, Fatboy model I'm pretty sure.

[@Rumaelchannel]

muchas gracias amigo

[@chordsoforion]

You are welcome!!!

[@plextor12]

how do you record this directly to digital? or if mic? what model? btw im a lead guitarist on my church! GREAT VIDEOS ABOUT THIS AMBIENT STUFFS!

[@mobizoid8261]

Great explanation to what I had been doing by fluke.

[@Normandy_Mike]

I ordered a volume pedal today, on the strength of your films

[@Byakuyasbrother]

All right all right I got to get into playing ambient guitar

[@necronorris]

Unrelated, but those shoes look mighty comfortable.

[@chordsoforion]

They are! :-)

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

lmao

[@chordsoforion]

The problem with those shoes is that they wore out on me, and I can't get another pair! :-(

[@suzanne_atkinson]

i had the same ones!

[@marcosherrera382]

I hope you can make more videos great channel

[@Mohammarezaaa]

Great job man i love it!

[@darrinj7908]

awesome playing and I love this series. I use a Line 6 HD500X - would suggest any particular patch that could be used for this type of playing?

[@chordsoforion]

+Darrin Boyd I don't know the patches for the HD500X - but if you can a clean Fender tone with a compressor in front of the amp model, and then put a delay (or 2 if possible) and a reverb after the amp, you should be able to get pretty close. I just got a Line 6 Amplifi FX100. I will be doing a demo soon, and am working on some ambient patches. I will post back here when it's out. It may well be that the HD500 can be set up similarly.

[@darrinj7908]

+Chords Of Orion ok cool and thank you for your response. I play a Gretsch G5420T and I am sure it will sound a bit different with a Fender clean sound - who knows it might sound good. Should I have a 1/4 delay and a Dot8 delay together? I will create one tonight and just mess around with it.

[@chordsoforion]

Darrin Boyd Messing around - that's the best strategy!!! Seriously though, having a couple of delays patched in and setting them to different delay times will add a lot of great complexity. Good experimenting to you!

[@ronfairbairn6621]

Beautiful textures. Not quite sure how the DIG works - do you still need to define a tempo with the TAP switch?

[@chordsoforion]

If the 2 delays are synced (the default setting), then you can set delay 1 with either the Tap tempo button or the delay 1 knob. delay 2 is linked to delay as a ratio (dotted eighth etc.) so it just follows the delay 1 setting.

[@ronfairbairn6621]

TY. I can see the light. You have a good way of explaining.

[@aLoudSi1ence]

Hi. Your stuff is amazing. I'm just starting out so all your videos are very helpful. Can I ask how do you get stereo sound when guitar output is mono? Sorry may be a stupid question for many but I'm very new to guitars etc. Your soundscape is wide and big like cinematic. Thanks

[@chordsoforion]

I use stereo delays and reverbs and the great thing is that they can convert a mono signal into a stereo effected signal. If you think about it, it make a lot of sense. For example, if you are listening to a trumpet being play in a big room you will hear reverb coming from all the walls, the ceiling and the floors, creating a "stereo" image. So, the pedals can work in a similar way. In order to preserve the stereo signal, I don't use an amp. I use a rack mounted amp modeler that has stereo outputs - they run directly into my recording interface. Hope this helps!!

[@aLoudSi1ence]

Thank you so much for your very detailed reply. I didn't know there are stereo pedals available as well. I have a Vintage V100 guitar and a delay pedal Joyo D-Seed for now. Had an outboard unit Roland SRV3030 which I've just sold. My DAW is Cubase 9 Pro. Could you please suggest me what are the budget options available for a decent sounding stereo reverb and delay pedal/unit? Also a budget amp modeler please. I'll expand my rig later, now just want to have a decent starting point. Many many thanks!

[@neilgroves3592]

Dammit Bill....I was having trouble using the strymon delay in as creating anything useful with it, I just played with this lesson and i'm addicted lmao.....what can I do with even longer delays and which pedals will give me even longer delays?

[@chordsoforion]

Neil - I am glad this video was helpful! Here's a suggestion: If you have a delay that will do a longer time (say 4-8 seconds), try layering that on top of the Strymon. Would be very cool!

[@neilgroves3592]

give me a suggestion for a pedal that will give me a nice delay please Bill......any demo's?

[@jeremydeane7057]

Great ideas

[@neilgroves3592]

How do you have the DIG set up Bill? I read online you set up different parameters such as holding down the two buttons on power up?

[@chordsoforion]

My setup varies from piece to piece. And you are correct, there are a set of secondary functions that can be accessed by holding down the buttons at the same time (you don't have to power up). There are also some other settings accessed at power up as you refer to.

[@AnwaarAliOfficial]

Sir, you are amazing.

[@chordsoforion]

Thanks!

[@AnwaarAliOfficial]

You are welcome. Keep up the great work.

[@JeanClodVanShot]

Hello! Thank you for great content! I have a question: how do you think Firehawk FX would handle the whole ambient thing?

[@chordsoforion]

i don't have a Firehawk, but I do have the cheaper Amplify FX100, and have gotten some nice ambient patches with it. I am quite sure that the higher-end Firehawk would be able to do as well or better. If you can link 2 delays and a reverb together in the effects chain, you will be good to go.

[@JeanClodVanShot]

Chords Of Orion Thanks for answering!

[@leadiakanamwa892]

Been searching for this Thank you so much

[@chordsoforion]

You are welcome!

[@delvijavier7761]

If i want to do something like this with a boss delay, What settins shoul I use?

[@Ravi1Nanda]

I love this guy!!

[@jonzambo246]

Im a drummer switched to guitar. Love the vids.

[@EarthsideSacrifice]

Great series this is, very inspiring!!

[@chordsoforion]

+Earthside Sacrifice Glad you like it. More to come!!

[@EarthsideSacrifice]

+Chords Of Orion I can't wait. I make ambient guitar music as well over on my channel, if you would like to check it out. I'm still progressing as an ambient guitarist (aren't we all) so not quite as polished your music.

[@thomasherlofsen2814]

When recording ambient stuff do you double track for more ambience and thickness?

[@chordsoforion]

No, I do not normally double-track, although I often play multiple parts.

[@AAR.Channel91]

i dont understand the chords positions can u help me? i know they are invertions but idk how do it

[@TimothyBussMusic]

Nice! Is your Fatboy chambered? If not it must be kind of heavy!

[@chordsoforion]

+Timothy Buss The Fatboy is actually hollow inside (except for 2 rails that the top and pickups sit on, and only weighs a little over 6 pounds. It's pretty darn awesome!!

[@Simonsmukke]

Are These 13' strings? :0

[@neilgroves3592]

can you give the tabs for the chords you are using Bill, I can't see cuz your fingers are in the way.

[@chordsoforion]

Sorry - I don't have tabs. :-(

[@Pedalnerds]

Very interesting. I will have to try this out :)

[@chordsoforion]

+Nathan Shafer (EchoEchoGuy) Definitely!!

[@omkarshirsat]

Hello!! referring to your first video in the series, i am using the exact same signal chain on my POD HD500x. However, the moment I lift the expression pedal up, the sound mutes, as compared to your pedal in this video where the delayed sound continues like an ambient tone. Can you guide me as to what I must be missing out? Due to this, I haven't been able to dial in a 'David Gilmour sound-on-sound kind of tone'. Waiting. Thanks!

[@chordsoforion]

Sounds like you have the expression pedal AFTER the delay instead of before the delay. Can you change the order on the HD500x?

[@omkarshirsat]

Yes I can change the order. The expression pedal was before the delay, just the way you have set up yours. Does your volume pedal also act like a pan pedal?

[@chordsoforion]

No, my pedal is just a plain old volume pedal. Not sure what to suggest, as I have never used a HD500x.

[@omkarshirsat]

I got it. One of the delays in my chain was ping-pong delay. So now I used both of them as Digital delays and I got the effect as per your tutorial. so now I think i can also get the Gilmour tone by using digital delay. Sorry If I am troubling you too much, but do you think with your setup, it is possible to achieve sound on sound? Or would you make some changes?

[@dannyhassan944]

all around great guy!

[@Fsuholley]

Another great lesson:)

[@chordsoforion]

+Fsuholley I am glad you are liking the series!

[@crohno]

so basically a 9th arpeggio? (A over E the notes are A C# E G# B which is an A9)

[@loflobro]

L R - Amaj9 (A9 would have a G natural)

[@dannyhassan944]

you are the man!!

[@sergiocarvalho8168]

nice.

[@longships9373]

Seriously in the music dictionary under the term 'beauty' it says see your guitar work.

[@thennardgarcia1591]

What is your string gauge?

[@chordsoforion]

10-46. Elixirs...

[@thennardgarcia1591]

Chords Of Orion thanksss

[@EkkelOkkel]

Say, what's the chord(s) for the first 5 seconds of the video?

[@chordsoforion]

It's the same as the last chord of the video. Check out the vid starting at 8:33. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGnGkJ6gdp6EjqMm33s. You'll see me play the notes to the D Major chord followed by A Major. So all the notes ringing out are: F#ADEAC#. If you untwist the order of the notes you get a Dmaj9. Hope this helps!

[@EkkelOkkel]

Ah, I see. Thank you kindly. Loving your videos.

[@neilgroves3592]

I watched you do this Bill and thought that's sooo easy....then I tried it....shiiiit!!! LOL

[@mauropablocastrocardona9262]

awesomeeeeee

[@chordsoforion]

Thanks!

[@TiniMaker]

hawck picks?

[@chordsoforion]

No - the pick is a Wegen Bluegrass, 1.4mm thick: www.wegenpicks.com

[@matheussantosreis4495]

don't have how you to translate to português BR? please

[@claudiotormen759]

habilita a legenda no video kra, não da no celular mas no computador sim.

[@matheussantosreis4495]

Orra brigadão mano, por isso q comentei pq n celular eu n tava conseguindo. Brigadao aí mano, eh noois

[@citizenstormwatchcolemanDrhudy]

nice sounds man :)

[@blkjakk]

I need this when I get a massage..........!

[@longships9373]

I wish we could see you're face. You have a soothing look that matches your sound : )

[@chordsoforion]

Just check the channel out. There are lots of videos with my aging face. :-)

[@longships9373]

I've subscribed and I think you're incredible. Thank you for inspiring me dude.

[@maximum805]

I can't believe some of the comments on this video. Chords Of Orion is giving us a great deal of awesome information and some of you reply with "Comfortable shoes"or "You look like Bob Ross"/"Bryan Cranston". REALLY !!! The people who wrote those comments should be in a mosh pit, at the bottom. Anyway, it is good to see some serious musicians with some good feedback. And I am one of them. I laid out the chord progression and for each chord I learned different intervals for each. EX. root & 3rd. root & 5th. 3rd & 9th, root & 6th. Things are really coming along now. Thanks Chords Of Orion.

[@WarButler]

You're a pretentious ass.

[@ajaysivaramakrishnan7283]

1: 1 5 9

[@ajaysivaramakrishnan7283]

1; 100

[@anubhabsaikia4778]

White Chocolate Choco bar guitar.

[@Glennastete]

Somehow you remind me Bryan Cranston...XD

[@chatovanderzwan3857]

more sir davos of got, but this is great

[@CMHobbies]

The correct pronunciation of Appalachian is “App-uh-latch-un” :)

[@JammyGit]

Who are you? The grammar police? Get a life. I bet you're 1 of those people who trawl through comments sections etc correcting people's spellings. People like you bore me to tears.

[@roscoechance5155]

choice of guitars is pretentious

[@chordsoforion]

How so?