| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
 Posted - 05/05/2007 : 09:13:37 AM
|
Another of my Absolute Beginner questions. I was having trouble with the Bb chord, until I lowered the action at the nut on the ukuleles. I have never found the D chord to be comfortable with GCEA tuning. I supposed I could use a different tuning. I'd rather not switch. The problem is that my finger always touches the C string, or if I raise it up off the C string, it doesn't force one or more of the other strings against the fret properly. I have trouble switching into this chord position quickly, because it's kind of tricky for me.
I tend to perceive D6 as a substitution option, but Mark likes to remind me that chords should not be casually substituted. I don't do it casually, merely out of practical limitations. I try to bar the three strings, and encounter the problem I mentioned. I can't squeeze three fingers on the three strings across. They don't fit. Any suggestions, other than lowering the action at the nut more? I was not able to come up with a viable alternate fingering. Maybe someone else has one.
|
Thank you. |
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2007 : 11:08:53 AM
|
| What the heck. I'll just substitute DbMaj7 (3-2-1-0) for D and Dm. At least my fingers fit without interfering with the "A" string. |
Thank you. |
 |
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2007 : 3:53:58 PM
|
| I found this, but the alternate fingerings suggested don't seem to maintain the chord's note structure. |
Thank you. |
|
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
|
|
Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 03:49:15 AM
|
Looking at the link there it's showing you a different D. It'll work fine - the notes for the '2nd fret' D are A D Fsharp A, and the alternative one is A D Fsharp D. It's got the same 3 notes, just with a different one 'doubled up'. Either will be OK, but you might not always want the high D.
If you dont, you can always just play three strings, muting the A. What I do is use fingers 2, 3 and 4, as it's easier to get the little finger to fit in the space. A friend always uses fingers 3, 1 and 2, because you can fit the fingers in better with that.
There's a topic on here called 'The G Chord Fingering' which also touches on D. I'd do a link to it, but I don't know how, sorry. |
|
|
|
Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 09:19:43 AM
|
quote:
What the heck. I'll just substitute DbMaj7 (3-2-1-0) for D and Dm.
Which would mean you are substituting what jazz guys call a D alt. for the D. That means a chord with a raised or lowered 4th, 5th and 9th, usually. In this case, if the song called for a D major, you'd be suggesting a D+5#9. Which would sound gawd awful in almost every case I can think of.
OK, it's a legit substitution for a D7 in jazz... but you aren't play jazz and you are trying to stick it in place of a major chord, not a dominant.
Substituting the Db maj7 for a Dm would give you something like a Dm+5; another unacceptable subsitition in most cases.
The Dmaj chord with the high D is EZ to play, and has the advantage of being moveble. That means if you slide the whole mess up one fret at a time you have an Eb, E, F, F#, G... etc.
Or try Trev's fingering.
Or substitue a D6 -- which is an acceptable subsitition in almost every case.
Here's a quick rule of thumb: (The following is hugely simplified. No flames please.)
You can add a 6th or major 7th to most major chords. Adding a 9th is OK, too, mostly.
So, for D maj, you can play D, D6, Dmaj7, D6/9... as long as the chord is not supposed to be a dominant chord (Like the D in the key of G.)
You can add 9ths & 13ths (6ths) to most dominant 7th chords, including minor 7ths. Minor 7ths sometimes sound great with the 11th, too.
So, for D7: D9th, D13th are all fine.
For Dm7: Dm9, Dm13, Dm11th ... also all fine.
But swapping a major for a minor of the same root is flat out ugly. Swapping a major chord a 1/2 step higher or lower is also flat out ugly, unless you are deliberately trying to mess with someone's mind.
Good luck!
|
|
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 11:39:34 AM
|
I have no combination of three fingers that fits across the G-C-E strings and makes contact with the strings to prevent "plunk"-tone-"plunk" results. I think I like the High D and D6 options. D6 is fairly easy.
Only strumming the G,C, and E strings (effectively "muting the A string") seems to be the best option if I barre the second fret as though playing the D6 note. That way if I don't stop in time and tap the A string while strumming I'm still playing an "acceptable" alternate chord (per Mark's concepts). The high D may be a bit too high where D is meant to convey a lower tone for chord based melodic works, but its nice to know about.
Thanks, Trev, Mark. |
|
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 11:42:04 AM
|
P.S.
To copy a link into a post here just copy the address from the address line of your web browser when the page is active your browser (before you start to change pages) and paste it into your post. It automatically becomes an active link. |
Thank you. |
|
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 11:49:41 AM
|
quote:
Originally posted by Absolute
I have no combination of three fingers that fits across the G-C-E strings and makes contact with the strings to prevent "plunk"-tone-"plunk" results. I think I like the High D and D6 options. D6 is fairly easy.
Only strumming the G,C, and E strings when strumming downward only with my thumb (effectively "muting the A string") seems to be the best option if I barre the second fret as though playing the D6 note. That way if I don't stop in time and tap the A string while strumming down with my thumb I'm still playing an "acceptable" alternate chord (per Mark's concepts). The high D may be a bit too high where D is meant to convey a lower tone for chord based melodic works, but its nice to know about.
Thanks, Trev, Mark.
|
Thank you. |
|
|
|
Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/06/2007 : 11:55:29 AM
|
| By stopping before I touch the A string, I mean when only strumming downward with thumb, not up and down with forefinger. I asked to try to avoid the accidental "muting" of the A string I'd been doing due to unintentional contact. I get a better tone when I barre the second fret than when I try to make contact with only three strings, because I'm doing a better job of fretting. |
Thank you. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Topic Locked
