Song Help Request Need help with complicated Guitar chords.

JerryR

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Hi all,

I am trying to learn a worship type song that is written for piano and has guitar chords. This is the first song I'm trying to learn from guitar chords. My Uke is strung in Low G. I can post a PDF of the song if that helps.

I'm reaching way back to grade/middle school for my music theory.... the song is written in a key with two sharps, C and F, which I believe equals D Major. Which may or may not be important.

There are a lot of different chords used in the song that I don't know. I'm wondering if some could be simplified, without needing a masters degree in music theory. If so, how do I learn how to figure these out? I prefer to learn than to have someone do it. Or perhaps it would be wiser to change the key? (I have Guitar Pro 6 if that would make it easier??)

Examples of some chords I don't know or if they can be played on Uke are:

Asus4
F#sus4
Bm9/A
F#7+5
A7sus4
Dadd9

Any and all input greatly appreciated.

Jerry
 
Not sure if this will duplicate the functionality of Guitar Pro, but you can check this site:

https://ukebuddy.com/ukulele-chords

and click on the chord NAMES (in the top 2 rows, like "C" and "aug") and it shows you finger positions all up and down the neck to play any chords, and the "<" and ">" on the headstock graphic (between the representation of the tuner posts) lets you cycle through the various positions for the same 'named' chord, but in different inversions...

You can also do the reverse of this by clicking on the CHORD NAMER, and then you can place notes on the fretboard and it tells you what chord those notes are. Not perfect in all of them, but a very good start.

BTW: you can take ANY music, guitar, piano, trumpet etc, from standard notation, or from chord names like G7, Asus4add9, etc, and play them on ukulele, since the MUSIC is the same, just different fingerings.

...meaning, you can be looking at a piece of sheet music that has 3 staves on it, the top is the vocal melody, and then the bottom 2 are right hand in treble clef and left hand in bass clef, with chord names or chord pictograms across the top-line, and whatever those named chords are, you CAN just PLAY them on ukulele, even if the chord pictotrams are for 'guitar'.

Music is meant to be played and is not the domain of a single instrument, but rather ANY instrument.

Hope this helps! :) if not let me know and I will do my best to assist further, and do not be afraid to ask as there are also many other helpful and generous folks here on UU that will participate....
 
(Just my two penneth)

I think you may be able to substitute a lot of chords & still keep the essence of a tune, but I'm more of a picker than a chord player, but when I do attempt to sing & strum, I nearly always substitute chords that are easier to play, but sound about right, to me. :)
 
Booli,

Thank you for the helpful information.

Is there also a way to determine a more simplified chord for some of the more difficult ones? My ear training is in its infancy, so I'm wondering if there is a more direct, perhaps mathematical per say, type of approach to chord simplification. Then as I improve I can add them back in?

I hope this makes sense.
 
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Uke1950, yes that is essentially what I'm trying to do, just not sure how to go about it.
 
Booli,

Thank you for the helpful information.

Is there also a way to determine a more simplified chord for some of the more difficult ones? My ear training is in its infancy, so I'm wondering if there is a more direct, perhaps mathematical per say, type of approach to chord simplification. Then as I improve I can add them back in?

I hope this makes sense.

I'm glad to help.

In order to understand what chord substitutions would be harmonically appropriate, it's important to know the chords before and after the one you want to replace or simplify. The way the notes fall, and how the chord notes relate to the melody will show you the 'cadence', which is a musical term for how the sequence of the different notes either go up, or go down in the timeline across the measure.

Sometimes you can drop the sus4 and just play the major chord, and sometimes with a minor-7 chord you can play any one of either the minor, or the 7th or the major chord, depending upon the melody line notes and/or other instruments, like a bass guitar for example, which might be playing the root note (like in a C chord the notes are C-E-G and the root is C, and a bass might be playing a C) and for example with a sus4 chord, the bass might be playing the root OR the bass could be playing the note that makes the chord a sus4, but in either case you can usually 'cheat' and just play the major chord...

There's lots of ways to get 'around' it, and usually way of 'simplifying' as in your original post, really is to drop notes out of the chord and not play them.

Typically, in terms of music theory, you need at least what is called a 'triad', i.e. a minimum of 3 notes, to create a 'chord', but you can usually get by and cheat with only 2 notes, like the root and 3rd of the C chord as C and E, or the root and 5th of the C chord which is C and G, or the 3rd and 5th of the C chord which is E and G...

I hesitate to say more because I do not want to overwhelm you. I am not an expert in theory but I know enough for myself to be 'dangerous'. There is another fine UU member here named 'ubulele' who by his posts might have a Masters Degree in music and he is supremely knowledgeable about music theory and might now of resources you can use to learn the skills you are seeking, as well as provide technical help far beyond my own knowledge...

However, please report back and let me know if the above makes sense. I am always happy to help further if/when needed to the limits of my own humble knowledge.
 
It would probably help if we knew the song and knew what key you want to play it in? Maybe post that pdf. Otherwise we are all just guessing. If you are just playing it yourself, change the key to one that has more favorable chords. Those look like a lot of weird chords for a song, even for a hymn in D major.
 
Ok, I'm getting the picture. I'm going to start gong through all he new chords and the ones that are beyond me at the moment I will apply this logic to and see what I can do to simplify things.
 
Just an intermediate player here and not strong on theory, but I read somewhere that you can try simplifying by starting at the end of the chord name and start removing numbers, one at a time (or letters, like in slash chords) from that right end til you get to a chord that sounds good and is easy enough to play. You can hear when you reach the point where the chord no longer works and then backtrack. Also, Brian's huge chord list (google it) has an enormous chord chart giving you many different ways to play just about any chord. I have it bookmarked myself and use it all the time. Certainly, as ubulele points out, knowing how chords are formed though is an invaluable bit of knowledge that will take you further, when you want to go it on your own. I'm not there yet, so I often use my first suggestion when I have to play unfamiliar chords on the fly.
 
Ok, I'm getting the picture. I'm going to start gong through all he new chords and the ones that are beyond me at the moment I will apply this logic to and see what I can do to simplify things.
If you just tell me the name of it, and tell me if you are stuck on the key of D or not, and I'll see if I can find an easier one on the internet for you. I've had a bit of experience in doing that for songs that I play myself.
 
Cool, thanks for the tip. I'll search for that chart.
 
A quick note that a simplified version of all the songs I'm working on learning was just published! So now I just need to learn them.

I really appreciate all the help. I have a lot of good information to study thanks to everyones input.

Ciao, Jerry
 
Hi Jerry,

Unlike what many have said here, I would just play the chords as specified, except for two. My little chord books lists all the chords except for the 7+5 and the slash chord. For slash chords I usually just ignore the specified base note and play what's to the left of the slash. For the 7+5 chord, my book doesn't have those, but it does have 7b5 chords. Unless I am mistaken, to convert a 7b5 to a 7+5, all you would need to do is move the finger playing the 5 up to frets and then the 5 would be augmented.

Despite the scary names some of the chords aren't that difficult. The Asus4 is a two-finger chord and the A7sus4 is a one-finger chord.
 
Hi Jerry,

Unlike what many have said here, I would just play the chords as specified, except for two. My little chord books lists all the chords except for the 7+5 and the slash chord. For slash chords I usually just ignore the specified base note and play what's to the left of the slash. For the 7+5 chord, my book doesn't have those, but it does have 7b5 chords. Unless I am mistaken, to convert a 7b5 to a 7+5, all you would need to do is move the finger playing the 5 up to frets and then the 5 would be augmented.

Despite the scary names some of the chords aren't that difficult. The Asus4 is a two-finger chord and the A7sus4 is a one-finger chord.

Thank you!
 
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