You Won't Find These on Chord Charts - Alternate Open Chords

Get the book (and more) on Patreon: / fretjam
Using open strings as part of our chord voicings is a beautiful and vibrant way of adding colour to familiar shapes and accompany other harmony parts. In this lesson I take you through some lesser known forms of open chord and demonstrate their functional versatility.
-TIME STAMPS-
0:00​ - Complementary Voicings
1:00 - Open Chord Basics
2:22​ - Movable/Alternate Open Shapes
7:06​ - Chord Relationships
12:17​ - Open Spread Triads
14:32 - Open Dyad Forms
16:12 - More Help
#guitarchords #guitarlesson #guitartheory #musictheory #openchords

[@overtonesnteatime198]

Still the top guitar theory channel on youtube.

[@kevc-69-]

The best of the best is fretjam.

[@calebcadainoo]

This guy is just legendary 🙌 been here with us for all these years still great content

[@ss_avsmt]

There's a phenomenal Science channel called SceinceClick English. It produces some of the most intuitive explanations for the complex physics observed at the quantum and the cosmic level. Your channel is like that in the Guitar community. Moreover, the narrator has almost the same voice and accent as yours. Great video!

[@fretjamdotcom]

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll have a look at that channel.

[@manmademoonmusic]

With every lesson Fret jam, as an Internet/KZbin content provider, clearly demonstrates what it takes to excel in that arena. Top notch presentations of relevant topics!

[@MLife1000]

I love the visuals from all these guitar videos thank you so much.

[@Chris-cf2kp]

The Smiths used a lot of chords like these. Especially the C triad variants with open strings. I'd say these open string chords are a primary harmonic advantage of a guitar as an instrument.

[@fretjamdotcom]

Yes I've often thought Johnny Marr's use of open strings in his rhythm playing was a big part of the defining sound of The Smiths. I think for guitarists, one of the subtle benefits of using open strings is that they can create more of a varied interval structure in our chords. Another example that came to mind today was the opening of Foo Fighters' Times Like These. That open B (2nd string) gives the chord a very distinctive quality.

[@EscapeTheGuitar]

I've subscribed to your channel so long ago, and I cannot start to describe how thankful I have been for your content, thank you so much for your expressiveness and detailed down-to-earth (or frets) theory teachings! I'll be joining your Patreon soon and hopefully be picking up my guitar on a daily basis again along with it.. Cheers mate, and whatever you do please take good care of yourself :)

[@fretjamdotcom]

So nice to read, thank you! I'm sure you'll have seen how my lessons have evolved over time and I really do think the best is yet to come. I've learned a lot since you first subscribed, both with music in general and in creating more incisive lessons and I hope that continues to show. Really appreciate your time over the years my friend.

[@miketsai4288]

Finally a new video! So happy!

[@kublaicarl4818]

Excellent resource, every guitarist should study this, well done.

[@pablodebiddlybo3771]

Really got a lot from that . I’ve been getting stuck into my acoustic playing for a while now . This has really helped thanks

[@fretjamdotcom]

Thanks for taking the time with it. I set out for open chords to only be part of a wider topic. But it became a topic in of itself!

[@the_benjamin_effect]

Your videos have helped breathe new life, and enjoyment into my playing. This video hits it out of the park. Your videos are well paced, detailed yet clear, and packed with useful info. Thank you very much.

[@ToastedAndButter]

I check weekly for new vids from you. Thanks so much!

[@MizuRino]

What a wonderful lesson!

[@patrickblay7684]

Unbelievable, this is a Golden mine for me filled up with Diamonds. Incredible Teaching Thank you so much in behalf of the people who are willing to learn Theory in order to be able to transfer it to concrete playing. I did’nt think I coud find such a Treasure. Thank you so much again.

[@zepolicesaberon]

Been waiting on your next post. Thank you!!

[@fretjamdotcom]

Your beyond patience is appreciated!

[@briandpaul8134]

best Chon tutorial ever

[@valentinbatir3129]

The greatest lesson I have ever seen 💯💯💯👍

[@apisdude]

very nice. I will be incorporating this into my playing

[@emiliosujar7197]

Thank you very much for your prompt response and I have to tell you that I had not reached that point yet but I will now with more knowledge thanks to your enormous kindness. You have opened my eyes, this material will be an invaluable help to start working with a looper that I plan to acquire soon. I also congratulate you for the amazing visual efficiency of all your graphics, impressive.

[@fretjamdotcom]

Emilio, musical brother, I hope this lesson has provided a catalyst for your own creation. Keep those eyes and ears (and strings where appropriate) open.

[@estebansaez2145]

Thanks a lot, grettings from Chile my good friend.

[@sitgesstudio]

amazing lesson thank you!

[@dkpitt3912]

Nice! Finally something new from the man!

[@davidlegalley1161]

Mike this is a great video. A real musical enhancement while I am still working on being able to "play/finger" bar chords. Still working to elevate my beginner level finger picking and this video lesson provides some good sounding musical options. Thank you for your Chord Connections Course and all you online lessons you have given for FREE over the years! ❤️FRETJAM👍🏾👍🏽🕊

[@fretjamdotcom]

David, you've been a supporter of my content for some time and I recognise and appreciate that. Thank you so much.

[@reneraymond7807]

Fantastic!

[@spacemanspliff7844]

I’ve been playing with these ideas since very early on but only through just messing around. A lot of it came from lacking hand strength to constantly be fretting barre chords or lacking stamina in my finger tips. This lesson actually taught me the names of many chords I regularly use which I love, and I’m glad to see this is actually an area of study, not just messing around!

[@fretjamdotcom]

Absolutely this is an area of study. And with the benefit of convenience (fewer fingers, more colour). I too grew up with using open strings in chords. It's a very subtle area of study, but I just don't see it in the beginner's manuals and traditional chord charts. It had to be out there.

[@johnharvey7108]

Amazing concept!

[@gopithota21]

So helpful as always..Thanx a ton..

[@MrLBDude]

My first time here today. Quite a genius. I'm very impressed. Excellent content, and excellent communication style as well.

[@johnnymurphy7664]

Nice chords!!!!

[@930Tony]

Great lesson - it won't make me into Bukovac but it sets me on the path. Much thanks.

[@fretjamdotcom]

I love this.

[@nomandad2000]

Wow, groundbreaking for me! Thanks x a million!

[@fretjamdotcom]

So glad it helped!

[@davidthor9118]

You are a genius!!!

[@joelgraham3]

great-thanks

[@Hesohi]

Great lesson. Very useful reference. Thank you. You get the full compliment. Liked, commented, subscribed. Nice one.

[@JamesSpeiser]

bangin lesson

[@rafaelunplugged]

6:30 was quite beautiful

[@WickBeavers]

how cool is this??! thanks!

[@TwilightStorm]

Ty for the diad thing. Been mucking around with that and I wasn't sure what exactly I stumbled over.

[@fretjamdotcom]

Ah you're already there!

[@oPosiidon2800]

That Bb6(#11) chord just opened my eyes. That shit is beautiful. Same with F#11, man I can think of so much I can do with those. I love open chords but I never thought about an open C before for some reason, moving across the fretboard that is. Great video

[@fretjamdotcom]

You know what, sometimes it just takes that one idea and boom you've just expanded your creative options. I think that's what this video is ultimately about. It's kind of random in how we might place a familiar shape up the neck and keep the strings open. But at the same time, it's what is available to us for a given chord. It can create something that isn't possible using all-fretted strings.

[@oPosiidon2800]

@@fretjamdotcom yea, what's crazy is I've been playing for 8 years now or so and I've loved playing the chord D(add9,11). Playing the G string on an open C is just something that never acurred to me lol. For the Gadd9 you can leave the high G out and play the high E for a G6(9) and playing that after an Emaj is neat. Emaj, G6(9), Asus2, you could also add the Dsus2. I usually loop those chords and practice soloing in E Dorian.

[@oneeyemonster3262]

@@oPosiidon2800 From the Key of E MAJOR/C#min.... You can play the four outside strings open. Im going to finger pick it.... A sus F Maj....( LESS the BARR) as the N6 chord of E MAJOR ( 1st fret) Then Im simply going to lift my middle finger to let the Open A ring.. Then G4...against open top 4 strings Then F# BARR at the 2nd fret. Then D Maj as N6 of C# min Then G# min Then C# min If you use E Harmonic MAJOR ...it's A lyd b3 ( A min) But of going to play the C MAJOR barr shape.(LESS the barr..8th fret) against open B/E Then A min.....against the open B/E Then G# min Barr Then C# min barr.. Sometimes...I'll simply make the C# sus9 shape..against open high E ( C# min add 9) The magic is I'll also reach over to play the D note as alternative Bass note or play the G# with my THUMB wrap over the Low E string The guitar sounds BEAUTIFUL in E MAJOR/C#min. added/inserted chord to get dreamy , sexy feel to it :-P Im finger picking it....it sounds like a harp

[@chut335]

Bonjour , Je suis français et je ne comprends pas l'anglais .Mais vos videos je les comprends grâce aux shémas et au son qui les accompagnent. Vos vidéos sont géniales. Pas de bla-bla, elles vont directement à l'essentiel .Mille merci !

[@fretjamdotcom]

Merci mon ami. Je suis désolé que ces vidéos ne vous communiquent pas dans votre langue principale. Ceux qui parlent anglais sont dans une position privilégiée par rapport à l'histoire et j'en suis gêné. En Angleterre, nous avons appris le français à l'école, mais c'était très basique. Je veux communiquer dans toutes les langues et j'espère que la musique est la façon dont je peux le faire.

[@sureimhappy]

I’ve learned some of these odd chords by playing Rush, Alex Lifeson is the man

[@thejamnasium6447]

my favorite chord of all time is the Dm9 played with C on the G string, F on the B string, and open D and E strings

[@fretjamdotcom]

Beautiful! I love how the open 9th is sequenced above the m3.

[@resb1714]

Oooh goodness ... I just tried a few days ago to finally get more serious into this subject. But I have to say "tried" ... since it is really a quite complex chapter. So now ... you actually came up with this topic in the exact right moment to safe my heavily tortured brain 🤣! But still ... quite a bit to digest 😎🙏!!!

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

It's all connected to knowing the Major scale in all seven positions. This videos examples, plus all seven diatonic keys and the accompanying modes are all directly connected to that. If you learn that, then you know all of this and watching this particular video is only suggesting different ways of applying those seven shapes. It only gets more complex when adding "exotic" scales, and or chromatic stuff. But even those ideas are many times easier (or I should say actually _possible)_ once one knows the major scale all across the fretboard. My apologies if I seem at all disparaging though, my intention is the exact opposite. Only to show where I can see you must be stuck. It's either that or he's only confusing you with the names of the chords. If so, then you need to know for starters that the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are only = to A, B, C, D, E, F, and G in the key of A minor. If you are playing in the key of E minor for instance, then it's 1, 2, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 = E, F#, G, A, B, C, and D (or E = 1, F# = 2, G = 3, A = 4, B = 5, C = 6, and D = 7). Play the first position minor scale starting on the low string, fifth fret. And then the E minor scale in the open position. Notice how the shape of both of those keys are still exactly the same? Only the fifth fret of the A minor scale is like the nit on E minor scale in open position. But if you think of those shapes, the numbers just transfer with the shape. So now take the last example (the key of E minor) and build an E minor chord in the open position. The three notes are E, G, and B. So starting from the low string you have an open E, then on the next string a B note on the second fret, then another E note on the second fret of the next string, the next string is an open G note, then an open B note on the B string, and an open E note on the high E string. It's E, G, and B. Or 1, 3, and 5 = an E minor chord. Now do the same exact thing but thinking of the 5th fret as the "nut" or "open notes." We're back to A, B, C, D, E, F, and G being = to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. So the A minor chord is still 1, 3, and 5, but now the notes are A, C, and E. The only difference is where those chord and scale shapes are moved to. In this, the most complex difference there is, the E minor chord and accompanying scale in that position are using the open strings. Whereas you can play those same shapes on the fifth fret, but your index finger replaces the "nut." Hopefully that doesn't feel overwhelming. But look at it this way: that's essentially music theory 101 in a nutshell. If you get that under your fingers, the rest is not just a 100 times easier, it's actually possible. For those who don't learn that, oh well. Never forget, essentially it's just seven shapes to memorize. [Note: both examples are minor keys (because those are easier for us mere guitarists, lols), so the 3rd's are both "minor" 3rd's or "flat" thirds. This is because the Major scale is considered the basic starting point (at least in western music).] P.S. I also advise learning the names of the notes as you go. I learned this best in the beginning by filling in the notes myself on blank scale graphs. But this was the early 1980's, so I was mostly drawing out six horizontal lines by hand on a piece of paper (archaic, I know, lols), then filling in the vertical lines for the frets. But even by the late 1980's most music stores had the blank graphs you could buy. Now you could easily do this in photoshop once, then make a copy of it any time you learn a new scale, and fill in the correct notes. Some people at least seem to do fine without writing them all down, but I've noticed it's almost always those people who don't know what literally every note on the fretboard is at a glance. I do because I spent that time writing them all down from scratch myself. My point there is, you can learn the seven shapes and get by just fine and understand any of this well enough to apply it yourself. Or you can go the extra step and be able to transcribe virtually anything that uses the 12 note system. As an example, after just a couple of years of doing this sort of stuff, I was already transcribing Bach and Paganini violin solos for electric guitar.

[@vickist.pierre9826]

@@aylbdrmadison1051 Thank you!!

[@mamutakada]

@@aylbdrmadison1051 i really appreciate you took the time to write all this down. THanks a lot !!!

[@brianpost8827]

Great on 12 string

[@robertomassarenti]

Hi! Nice work! I really did not understand how can I buy only this material with classes and audios files.

[@ianbarnes1406]

fantastic lesson. I love the bass sound and the guitar sound at 11.32 over the G13 is awesome. Is that from a plug in?

[@fretjamdotcom]

Thanks! It's all using modified presets from a Boss GT-001.

[@rafaelunplugged]

@@fretjamdotcom do you offer your presets on the boss app? Haha. 🙃

[@tsering90]

Please make videos on rhythm n timings 🙏

[@fretjamdotcom]

I'm actually working on a course on that very subject! I'll be sure to upload lessons that take ideas from that.

[@mattmarkus4868]

Think Alex Lifeson.

[@LooMinn]

🤯seriously, 🤯!

[@jacek3633]

Hi there, when they will be lessons about all scales in the vertical meaning?

[@fretjamdotcom]

I'll put it to the vote mate.

[@elliotskunk]

holy shit dude you do teach us some beautiful stuff. your examples are pretty sick tbh. you ever considered releasing your own music?

[@camcam297]

THANK YOU FOR THE LESSON!!! Do you have tips or insight for effectively utilizing or learning different alternate tunings like drop D, open G, CGDGBE, DADABE, etc? Is it a simple case of practicing or playing the lower notes and using higher strings to make chords around it?

[@fretjamdotcom]

Pretty much. Form the root and 3rd, 5th and/or 7th on the lower strings and then see how the open string interact with that.

[@emiliosujar7197]

The video is extraordinary and I understand everything except one thing, please, from point 0.33 of the video you start with some harmonies where the second guitar is playing chords that are a minor third above, right? They sound very good. Does the second guitar use some other different harmonic interval? Thanks and congratulations.

[@fretjamdotcom]

Thank you! If you jump to 12:07 you'll see a table of relationships that were used in the opening example. Focusing just on the fretted strings, we have... G#m7 over E (major 3rd relationship) G#m over C#m (5th) F#m over D (major 3rd) F#m9 over Bsus (5th) G#m7 / Emaj7 over E (major 3rd / root position) D#m7 / F#m6 over B (major 3rd / 5th) Bm7 over A (major 3rd)

[@edwinpaul4301]

Any chord book available online???

[@klerin2732]

Excellent content...how can I have pdf on this ...?

[@fretjamdotcom]

Thank you my friend! The pdf, along with other content, is available on my Patreon (link in description). I would also like to offer the pdf in exchange for a one-time donation if you prefer not to join Patreon. You can email me (mike at fretjam.com) and I'll set you up!

[@deetee5156]

What is the size of the pdf. Like content size.

[@fretjamdotcom]

@@deetee5156 It's 81 pages, so not massive, but digestible. I just wanted to offer a more comprehensive yet concise and accessible guide to these kinds of chords.

[@Itzjustjada1]

How will I know which strum patterns to use?

[@joelgraham3]

it's up to you

[@olivier3847]

4:12 4:40

[@sergeybogdanovich7019]

Super ❤️🙏❤️🙏❤️🙏🎶🎼🎵🎸✌️🍀👌🇮🇱

[@somethingoff1327]

Sorry a little confusing, how do we get a copy of the book regarding this episode, there is a patreon link but no link to book? Thanks

[@fretjamdotcom]

Sorry for the confusion there. The book is available in the member's area when you join on the 2nd or 3rd tier. If you prefer not to join Patreon (which I totally understand) just send me an email (mike at fretjam.com) and I'll send you the details. Cheers!

[@somethingoff1327]

@@fretjamdotcom I had to add myself to your email whitelist to email you !

[@fretjamdotcom]

​@@somethingoff1327 Ah sorry about that. I received and responded to your email. Thanks again for your time my friend.

[@terdcutter3193]

How tf did people make all this theory up. Absolutely amazing I am aware of Pythagoras but like man how tf did anyone pull this outta the void

[@fretjamdotcom]

Simply put, it's been a long, evolving, collaborative process of discovery across many different cultures. We started with basic melody - lines of single pitches. Then we learned how pitches interact with one another - two part, three part, four part (etc.) harmony. Some time later those harmonies and their naturally related pitches were collectivised into recognisable systems/structures such as the diatonic scale (the basis of tonal music and the modern concept of key center). Obviously there are some gaps to fill there! The fascinating thing (for me at least) is how all this stuff already existed in the physical universe long before humans perceived and standardised it into some kind of communicable formula. There were always frequencies that could sound simultaneously and would one day be pleasing to the ears of a conscious perceiver. And there were always intrinsic, naturally occurring relationships between collections of frequencies that would one day become known as (for example) "relative minor/major". Music is, in a way, physics all the way down. And like all other physical phenomena, it just needed a conscious agent (actually many conscious agents) to perceive and formalise some kind of strategy around it in order to realise objective physical energy as subjective meaning. As for me, I'm in a very privileged position in terms of being able to draw on that vast, evolved history of musical discovery and present it in a digestible way for a new audience.

[@caleblawrence2743]

@@fretjamdotcom thank you

[@Gnufrax]

Holy shit I was just playing around with these chords wtf

[@fretjamdotcom]

Yes, I see you there...

[@asrafulhaque3598]

🎉❤🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💥😯😱

[@kingorbit]

Good lord, how many years did it take to learn what you know?

[@fretjamdotcom]

I've been playing/learning for 23 years. Trust me you can learn a hell of a lot more than I did in that time frame.

[@m007mm]

It would be practical if you would somehow number your videos. Since you frequently reference "before" videos...

[@momotigomo]

inspired by alex lifeson

[@sergeybogdanovich7019]

❤️🙏🎶🎸🎼🎵✌️🍀🇮🇱

[@nomandad2000]

I just heard about six albums worth of unwritten Jeff Buckley songs here…

[@eugenio6686]

𝐩𝓻Ỗ𝓂Ø𝓈Ｍ

[@Max.Sinister]

Sup

[@Max.Sinister]

Wanna get a donut?

[@fretjamdotcom]

Beer and kebab?

[@Max.Sinister]

@@fretjamdotcom you seem like a coors lite kinda guy

[@fretjamdotcom]

@@Max.Sinister Only if there's no IPA or tap water available.

[@yypo9844]

Please slow

[@danielfitzgerald2561]

Very 00s emo