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#740551 11/24/22 11:17 AM
Woodshedding - Learning to Play!
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If I had known about this stuff 30 years ago....


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One of the best videos on the subject for guitarists I've seen.

A lot of info to digest.
It also opens up some alternative shells one can create .
Pretty cool.

Thank you for the introduction to this teacher.


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Originally Posted By: mrgeeze
One of the best videos on the subject for guitarists I've seen.

As a keyboard player I still found it interesting. I do already use shell voicings, but another perspective on it was very interesting.

FWIW, as a keys player where I may also have a bass player, my shell voicings may well comprise just the third and the sixth/seventh, with the bass player playing the root.


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Nice...a little fancier than doing 1,3,5,(or 1,5), and good sounds...taking it to the next level and dropping the root revives the argument about whether two notes, like a "power chord", are actually chords. Worked well for Django.
I'd sell this to most guitarist by telling them they're playing chords that fit into an ensemble - the "other" power chord.
When recording it makes heaps of sense to drop the root, particularly as many guitar home recordists follow the fool rule of highpassing at 100 Hz.

Last edited by rayc; 12/05/22 08:06 PM.

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Shell chords can be quite helpful arranging solo guitar or duo/trio band arrangements.
As mentioned they provide the harmonic color using a minimum of strings.
Different voicing (drop2 drop3) allow you to put the shells down in the lowest 3 or 4 strings.
That leaves strings 1-2 open for the melody or to add some color during your comping.

If a bass player shows up it adds more freedom.
Now double stops can carry a lot of the chording load.

As a practical exercise, I've been rebuilding some of my BIAB/DAW performance tracks with only bass and drums.
I pan drums hard left and bass hard right.
This allows me to "perform" as a trio or duet.
With these arrangements I work more on harmonizing the melody for solo/duet work.
It also provides a nice comping workout using the various voicings of the shell chords and various string sets.


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Playing fingerstyle guitar instrumentals, you will use shell chords a lot. As you need to free up left hand fingers for melody notes etc. All you need is the hint of the chord. You also end up with 3rds, 5ths even 7ths in the bass with some weird looking chord shapes. It confuses some people when they play guitar and watch you and can't quite figure out what chord you are playing, but when you show it and explain it the light goes on. Chet Atkins was very good at this. First picking the key that made it easiest to play and then reconfiguring the chords to allow the melody to pop out.


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Originally Posted By: mrgeeze

If a bass player shows up it adds more freedom.

Though restrict the bass player somewhat.


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For the guitars players out there, Randy Vincent has some great books on shell voicings.


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