What chord is this and why?

SlopeSoarer · June 2022

What chord is this and why?

https://www.scales-chords.com/chord-charts/guitar-C_G-c-n-l-v-3-3-2-0-1-0.png

Edit: I've just realised there is a name over the top in the image, I wish that wasn't there!

TheBigDipper · June 2022

It's a C major chord - C(root)-E(3rd)-G(5th) - with a G (5th) bass note.

If you were playing this in a band, you might find the guitarist plays the 1-3-5 notes and the bass player plays the low G. On an acoustic, accompanying yourself, you might play this chord in its entirety to get the same musical effect.

SlopeSoarer · June 2022

C major and C/G are both the correct ways to name it are they?

viz · June 2022

SlopeSoarer said:

C major and C/G are both the correct ways to name it are they?

There are 5 names for it:

C
C major
C over G
C with a G in the bass
C 2nd inversion

Most guitarists would say C over G

SlopeSoarer · June 2022

OK thanks both. Sorry for the early call!

viz · June 2022

That’s ok, we’re here 247

(which is also called Dm6)

Tannin · June 2022

But we haven't really said why. It's some sort of C because it contains all three notes of the C major triad, and no other notes. Nothing else fits half so well.

It's a C/G (or 2nd inversion) because it has the 5th (G) in the bass.

Pjon · June 2022

viz said:

That’s ok, we’re here 247

(which is also called Dm6)

Hold on, I think that might be a useful musical Dad joke. Let me note it down for use later..

viz · June 2022

Pjon said:

viz said:

That’s ok, we’re here 247

(which is also called Dm6)

Hold on, I think that might be a useful musical Dad joke. Let me note it down for use later..

Call that a dad joke? This is a dad joke: Dad is a power chord

Bellycaster · June 2022

viz said:

Pjon said:

viz said:

That’s ok, we’re here 247

(which is also called Dm6)

Hold on, I think that might be a useful musical Dad joke. Let me note it down for use later..

Call that a dad joke? This is a dad joke: Dad is a power chord

In that case, what is DADGE?

Lestratcaster · June 2022

C/G as a 2nd inversion as the 5th interval in C (which is a G) is the lowest bass note. Nice chord to play on acoustic.

PolarityMan · June 2022

Colin...because it's the kind of chord a Colin would play.

Open_G · June 2022

I've known a few people who would use that fingering to play a C major open chord, stating they like the fuller sound... Actually when I say a few, I mean one..

Its a C over G for me.

Roland · June 2022

Would anybody like to make a case for Gsus4+6 or Em#5/G? At the end of the day nomenclature is just a way of writing down what’s being played. A lot depends on context, and particularly what the bass line is. Most of us would automatically go for C/G. On an acoustic guitar it helps stop the open E ring in the bass.

Devil#20 · June 2022

Roland said:

Would anybody like to make a case for Gsus4+6 or Em#5/G? At the end of the day nomenclature is just a way of writing down what’s being played. A lot depends on context, and particularly what the bass line is. Most of us would automatically go for C/G. On an acoustic guitar it helps stop the open E ring in the bass.

I stop the E ring in the bass by muting with the 3rd finger whilst it frets the C on the 5th. I think C/G was the more popular fingering for a C back in the day.

bloodandtears · June 2022

Bellycaster said:

viz said:

Pjon said:

viz said:

That’s ok, we’re here 247

(which is also called Dm6)

Hold on, I think that might be a useful musical Dad joke. Let me note it down for use later..

Call that a dad joke? This is a dad joke: Dad is a power chord

In that case, what is DADGE?

A type of Oak?

viz · June 2022

bloodandtears said:

Bellycaster said:

viz said:

Pjon said:

viz said:

That’s ok, we’re here 247

(which is also called Dm6)

Hold on, I think that might be a useful musical Dad joke. Let me note it down for use later..

Call that a dad joke? This is a dad joke: Dad is a power chord

In that case, what is DADGE?

A type of Oak?

Adji · June 2022

Roland said:

Would anybody like to make a case for Gsus4+6 or Em#5/G? At the end of the day nomenclature is just a way of writing down what’s being played. A lot depends on context, and particularly what the bass line is. Most of us would automatically go for C/G. On an acoustic guitar it helps stop the open E ring in the bass.

Agreed. The spelling depends on the context.

If there was only that chord and nothing else, it probably has to be assumed G is the root / tonic right? So Gsus4add13 or something is perhaps TECHNICALLY correct. Its been many years since I studied theory mind!

If it forms part of a progression: Gsus4add13, Fmaj, Gmaj then it would make a hell of a lot more sense to spell it as C/G.

I always give the example to students when talking about this kind of thing or F# vs Gb for instance:
It's like THERE and THERE. They both sound exactly the same, but the different spelling makes it mean something entirely different.

viz · June 2022

It’s pretty bloody hard to twist your brain and ears to think of that as any type of G chord; even were the sus4 to resolve (both of them). Also you’d still have that nuisance 6 hanging around.

I can’t think of an obvious situation where that would be a G sus 4 add 6 or whatever, when there’s a C 2nd inversion on offer as the obvious alternative.

Rocker · June 2022

That chord is what I and every guitar player that I knew, learned as C major back in 1970s Ireland. In those days we did not have a chord book and, of course, there was no such thing as the internet. We learned chords from each other. It never occurred to me to work out how to spell the chord and even if I did, I knew nothing of music theory so that knowledge would have been of little use. As far as I am concerned, the chord is C/G

TheBigDipper · June 2022

Roland said:

Would anybody like to make a case for Gsus4+6 or Em#5/G? At the end of the day nomenclature is just a way of writing down what’s being played. A lot depends on context, and particularly what the bass line is. Most of us would automatically go for C/G. On an acoustic guitar it helps stop the open E ring in the bass.

Agreed. In isolation it immediately says "cowboy C major with a G bass". In musical context. it might not be. As a guitarist, though, reading a chord chart, I'd be OK about using C/g as shorthand for those notes even if C wasn't the right root to use in that context.

FWIW, I use the third finger to play the 3rd fret C on the A string when I'm playing a standard C and let it mute the bottom E string so it doesn't ring out on those times when my pick hits it by mistake. Which is just as well, actually... :-)

Rocker · June 2022

As a follow on to what the @TheBigDipper wrote above, the C major chord has the notes CEG, yet it sounds 'wrong' if the low E is played as part of the C major chord. IMHO the low G in the C/G chord alluded to earlier sounds fine. Music can be hard to understand sometimes.......

viz · June 2022

Rocker said:

As a follow on to what the @TheBigDipper wrote above, the C major chord has the notes CEG, yet it sounds 'wrong' if the low E is played as part of the C major chord.

That'd depend on what's happening in the music, sometimes a first inversion is called for. But yep, when just played with the E lazily sounding out it sounds no better than D thumb-over

Anyhow there's a thread about whether the guitarist "should" play the inversion elsewhere.

Good chat as always

CaseOfAce · June 2022

Rocker said:

As a follow on to what the @TheBigDipper wrote above, the C major chord has the notes CEG, yet it sounds 'wrong' if the low E is played as part of the C major chord. IMHO the low G in the C/G chord alluded to earlier sounds fine. Music can be hard to understand sometimes.......

Indeed - music can be hard to understand sometimes Rocker - take a listen 40 seconds in here and you'll heard a C power chord being followed with a low E note underneath it giving a lovely build up of tension resolving to F and G power chords...

and yes - I've just used a Lita Ford song to demonstrate music theory - I win the internet today!!

viz · June 2022

And Jump!

Tannin · June 2022

What is a "D thumb-over"? I'm guessing a D/F#?

That's a wonderful, wonderful chord and if you want to say bad things about it I'll meet you outside with your coat off.

But it's important to manage the repeated 3rd on the first string, either by muting it or by replacing it with a 2 (the open E).

(Mind you, you wouldn't catch me playing it with my thumb over when I've got two perfectly good fingers going spare.)

It often seems to me that the TOP note of a chord is every bit as important as the bass note, and arguably has more influence on the overall character of it.

Example #1: the D/F# just mentioned. (Or ordinary D, which I very often play as Dsus2 because that 3rd on top with no deep bass note to thicken the sound makes it too twee. D minor is worse, and I tend to do the same thing, or else play it up the neck somewhere.)

Example #2: G7. Heaps of guitarists hate the open position G7 chord with that high F making it sound horribly twangy . (If you are playing country or bluegrass, sure. For anything else it sucks.) This one is particularly bad because you've got that open B string making a shouty tritone. I habitually fret the 2nd string when I play it (turning the 3rd into a 5th and the tritone into a minor 3rd), which is vastly better. Or play 3234xx instead.

Example #3. A7 played with the 7 on the first string (x02223) is a bit much for most contexts; most people, most of the time prefer to play 002020 with the 7th on the 3rd string and the ring-out high note being an E. (Again, and as always, it depends what you want.) Something similar applies to E7 played with the 7 on the second string (022130), which is a bit much for some contexts; most people, most of the time prefer to play 020100 with the 7th on the 4th string

Example #4: consider the difference between ordinary open A (x02220) and the A you play for extra cut-through (x02255). We are not just getting more high notes, we have also swapped the last two notes from a 3 and a 5 to a 5 and a 1. Very different sound.

Anyway, there is no musical term for the choice of high note the way there is for the choice of bass note ("second inversion" "Am over E" and so on), but it is just as important, maybe more important.

PAL · July 2022

C .

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What chord is this and why?

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