Chord Shape Names

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Ed1

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Just like string naming conventions, chord shapes have been given different names by books. For example, the basic F major chord (2010), where the nut might be considered the barre, is sometimes called the F shape by some as it is moved up and down the fretboard. Another book calls it the G shape, perhaps because G major is a common chord. Brad Bordessa in his very nice "Ukulele Chord Shape" book doesn't give it a name but shows it as a G#.

I realize the name is irrelevant to using the concept of moveable shapes, but am curious if one style of a chord shape name is used more than another. How would you tell a ukulele friend over the phone that you're moving the "XXX Shape" up or down a fret or two?
 
The chord shape names are different depending on the tuning. 2010 is only a F in GCEA and is only a G in ADF#B.
 
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I had a minor revelation some time ago that G was the F shape, but the cognitive dissonance of thinking about a three finger chord being the extension of a two finger chord just blew my mind.

The G shape itself isn't very movable, although I'm sure some people can do it. I try to practice with a barre, playing the C, F, G, and Am shapes (sometimes Dm). But the barre makes it tricky. It is easier to move the F shape up two frets instead.
 
ubulele said:
The most common convention which is consistent is to name movable shapes according to the chord they play when moved all the way down to the nut. Some variances exist when the chord root is not a common one in the most common keys; instead, some people will use the next higher root. So rather than call the movable n:1014 minor shape C#m, some will call it Dm instead. I myself think of it as a "Cm" shape, since it's just like C but with the 3rd dropped a fret--making it not playable at the nut, but thinking in generic patterns is more important to me. Actually, I think of it as a 3rd string [root] shape, which avoids all the other "what do you call it" differences, though you can also play a 3rd string minor triad using the shapes n:2210 and n:0432, if you're high enough on the neck. Admittedly, the naming of movable shapes is a tricky referential problem.

Then there's the problem that some players think mainly in D or G tuning. The movable shapes are all the same, but these people would give them different fixed-position names. Because of this, referring to the shapes by root string is the clearest method--it works the same whichever fleas tuning you're using--but of course you'd have had to learn the root position in all your chord shapes. As you should have: it's the best preparation for applying generic patterns, visualizing "skeleton" paths to help recall chord progressions, moving up the neck, deriving other chord shapes, transposing, and adapting to other fleas tunings.
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Yes, I that is about the same the way I think about it. The root is most important and a great first step, but I've found that knowing the 3rd and 5th (especially on the 1st and 2nd strings) for three note chords is almost as important for each shape. It makes some chord/melodies a little easier for me to understand and also helps me to work toward creating my own chords around a melody.

For practice, I sometimes play the three shapes (major and minor) using the roots of the most common keys for positioning, and then the same thing using the 3rd, and then the 5th.

This is getting a little far from my op question. I was only thinking about GCEA when I asked the question. As usual, simple questions may need complicated answers.
 
ubulele said:
I use the movable G shape (n:0232) a lot, though mainly when I'm using a linear tuning, where the sound of the movable G and F shapes is very different. But I play it as a four-finger chord, not as a barre or partial-barre shape. The shape is a little awkward, but I find it indispensable. First master it in the middle of the fretboard, where the index stretch is less, then move it down as you get more comfortable with it.
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I'll have to give that a try, as I've never thought of using a movable G. But I DO find the G7 shape to be very useful as a movable chord, especially when you want a closed form of A7 and it's easier to reach the G7 form at 2434 then the E7 form up at 6757.
 
I’ve always thought of it this way: first, one has to settle on a tuning, for example GCEA. Then one considers the Nut to be the same as one’s finger(s). That means, for example, that the open strings playing a C6 (or Am7 depending on context) is the “Shape” of a Full Barre chord as one goes up the fretboard; C#6, D6, D#6, etc. Likewise, a Nut plus one finger Chord, such as Am, A7, or C7 takes the Chord Shape name of that chord, as it is moved up the fretboard with the aid of a Barre above, becoming successively higher chords. And from there, always starting at the Nut, one identifies two, or three, finger chords, and gives each the “Shape” name of that chord closest to the Nut. Note, the Nut alway plays a role defining one or more notes. In such manner, every Chord Shape, i.e. every Chord, can be identified. For example, the four finger F#7 is seen as an E7 shape, where the Nut accounts for E in the chord. Once the “Shape” of each chord is understood, it is only a matter of moving that shape up the fretboard to play successively higher chords.
 
These are the 4 moveable Major chord shapes that I use.

I'd call the shape #1 "Root on the 4th (1st)".
Shape #2 is "Root on the 3rd".
Shape #3 is "Root on the 3rd (1st)".
Shape # 4 is "Root on the 2nd".

chord shapes.jpg
 
In my guitar class, the "shape" referred to the open chords. So, I would call chords based on 2010 F chord (as in the OP), F chord shape.
 
Maybe I'm dense, but I think I am missing something here. I would call 2010 F, of course. But if I moved it up a fret I would call it F#. And if I moved it another fret I would call it G. Am I missing something?
 
ripock said:
Maybe I'm dense, but I think I am missing something here. I would call 2010 F, of course. But if I moved it up a fret I would call it F#. And if I moved it another fret I would call it G. Am I missing something?
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The G you describe can be referred to the F shape on the second fret. So someone might say play the F shape on the fourth fret to get an A chord. Or play an A shape (2100) on the third fret to get a C chord. So the OP is asking how the naming convention on the original chord is named. Some might say play the A shape on the third fret while others might say play a Bb shape on the third fret. Same result but why do some call it an A shape and some a Bb shape?
 
Mike $ said:
I like to think of them as the Root chord, first inversion and second inversion or 1st position, 2nd position and 3rd position. The Root and 1st position chords have the Root of the chord, ie the chord name on the 1st string. The first inversion and the 2nd position have the root of the chord on the 2nd string and the second inversion and 3rd position chords have the root of the chord on the 3rd string. In GCEA tuning, I would call the 1st position chord the F-shape chord, the 2nd position chord, the G-shape chord and the 3rd position chord the D-shape chord or the Barre sometimes. I think it's great practice to change between the shapes as accurately as possible at all kinds of speeds with a metronome.
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Well, I understand what your doing and I think that is mostly the way I think about it, but it does get in the way of how the inversions are usually named. I have decided to name the shapes (like you and many others) from the nut and like you thinking of GCEA.

Traditionally, the inversion is named from the lowest note of the chord used; that is 1st inversion has the 3rd as lowest note and 2nd inversion has the 5th as lowest note. That would give the root, 1st, and 2nd inversion in the order D-shape, A-shape (or Bb-shape if others wish), and F-shape (or G). I don't think it matters much for what we're discussing but since I've taken a step back or two in my practice to spend more time with the treble clef than with tabs, it helps me to use the more traditional piano way of looking at inversions and how the notes are stacked.
 
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This thread has been entertaining and illuminating, but I still don't see how it is very practical. For example, I never refer to the A-shaped movable chord at the seventh position; I call it E. Admittedly we all have different musical goals and use different means of attaining those goals. However I cannot imagine why anyone would refer to these chords in such paraphrastic and formulaic ways. Live and learn, I suppose, and to each his or her own.
 
ripock said:
This thread has been entertaining and illuminating, but I still don't see how it is very practical. For example, I never refer to the A-shaped movable chord at the seventh position; I call it E. Admittedly we all have different musical goals and use different means of attaining those goals. However I cannot imagine why anyone would refer to these chords in such paraphrastic and formulaic ways. Live and learn, I suppose, and to each his or her own.
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I think naming the chord shapes is a good, shorthand way to talk about them and perhaps to learn them. For me, it's not that important anymore, but a while back it helped me to think about the chords and the fretboard and was a help. I'm guessing with all your modal work, you're far beyond having to think about this.

The reason I brought up this topic, was in trying to talk to a beginner about barre chords over the phone, I realized I had books that defined the chord-shape names differently and just wondered if there was a standard way - or perhaps a majority opinion here - what to call them.
 
ripock said:
This thread has been entertaining and illuminating, but I still don't see how it is very practical. For example, I never refer to the A-shaped movable chord at the seventh position; I call it E. Admittedly we all have different musical goals and use different means of attaining those goals. However I cannot imagine why anyone would refer to these chords in such paraphrastic and formulaic ways. Live and learn, I suppose, and to each his or her own.
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Different goals and backgrounds. Some start playing ukulele with a lot of musical background and are intend to use many inversions of all chords from the start.
But a lot of people start playing ukulele without a lot of knowledge. A lot of people start by learning the inversion of chords closest to the nut, the one you find in many chord sheets, without thinking about using other inversions or about why.
If you were to explain that inversion of the E chord to someone without visual means or knowing how much they knew, how would you do it?
"you bar the first string at the ninth fret and..."
Or:
"you play an E chord, but up the neck where you bare the seventh fret and use the A chord shape."
I would say that the latter is easier, since "everyone" knows the chords from the cheat sheets but not everyone knows music theory.
 
Oh. I finally see. I knew you guys had some motivation, but I just couldn't see what it was. Part of my problem is that I never thought about the chords in that way. Instead of thinking of it as an F-shaped movable chord, I have always thought of it as the major shape with a root on the E string. Another problem is that I usually mute part of the shape thereby ruining its resemblance to its namesake. Anyway...thanks I finally see what you all were getting at.
 
Thanks for the plug, Ed. This thread is an interesting look into the mind of the collective uke conscious regarding something I'm always trying to teach better/more effectively.

FWIW, as I've been creating a video course for the book on how to apply chord shapes practically, I've settled on calling the shape by inversion name. This seems the most simple and elegant approach to me.

It also detaches the shape from a set reference point like a hard chord name ("F shape"). 1st inversion is ONLY a shape, never to be confused by a letter name. Hopefully in the long run this makes it more natural for folks to get comfortable with playing these shapes freely anywhere on the fretboard.

This approach makes the most sense to me in my teaching. But YMMV and there's never one right way.
 
Jim Yates said:
These are the 4 moveable Major chord shapes that I use.

I'd call the shape #1 "Root on the 4th (1st)".
Shape #2 is "Root on the 3rd".
Shape #3 is "Root on the 3rd (1st)".
Shape # 4 is "Root on the 2nd".

View attachment 130663
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Is the "root" not the lowest note in a chord? This means that for linear tuning root is either on the G or C string. But with re-entrant this is not as straightforward.
 
merlin666 said:
Is the "root" not the lowest note in a chord? This means that for linear tuning root is either on the G or C string. But with re-entrant this is not as straightforward.
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The root of a C chord is always "C". The root of a Bb chord is always "Bb". The root of an Am chord is always "A". . . The root does not have to be the lowest note in the chord. The root may be found at the bottom of the chord, but it may also be in the middle of the chord or the highest note in the chord.
A chord may have 2 or more roots in different octaves. A first position C chord 0003, has a root on both the 1st and 3rd string of the C6 tuned ukulele. These roots are both "C", but an octave apart.

If the lowest note in a C chord is a G, then it is sometimes written C/G (a "slash chord").
 
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Brad Bordessa said:
Thanks for the plug, Ed. This thread is an interesting look into the mind of the collective uke conscious regarding something I'm always trying to teach better/more effectively.

FWIW, as I've been creating a video course for the book on how to apply chord shapes practically, I've settled on calling the shape by inversion name. This seems the most simple and elegant approach to me.

It also detaches the shape from a set reference point like a hard chord name ("F shape"). 1st inversion is ONLY a shape, never to be confused by a letter name. Hopefully in the long run this makes it more natural for folks to get comfortable with playing these shapes freely anywhere on the fretboard.

This approach makes the most sense to me in my teaching. But YMMV and there's never one right way.
Click to expand...

The problem with the inversion method, as has been noticed in this thread, is that one would get a different "shape" whether using GCEA or gCEA. However, I'm sure you have taken this into account. If your video on this topic is as clear and concise as the book - no matter how you set it up - I look forward to it.

I've been thinking for a while that a better shorthand approach for my focusing on solo, chord/melody work, would be to create a system of numbering that focused on the high note on the first or second string. This is sort of what Mike$ mentioned in Post#11. For example, placing over a note something like C-R (C Major chord with the root on the first fret) or F-5 (F Major with 5th on the first fret) helps one think both of chord changes and shapes. It could be especially useful with something like C6/9-9.

All of this, of course, is hoping that it is only a temporary need on the way toward the holy grail of intuitively knowing what notes and chords to use at a given time. Back to practicing ... :eek:
 
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Just for fun:

Maybe if we give the chord shapes symbolic names, we can discuss them better and we add a note we can describe that note in conjunction with the shape. For instance, we can call the Bb chord 3211 the "Dog" shape and the G chord 4232 the "Cat" shape and the Eb chord 3331 the "Bear" shape (since it is generally considered a more difficult shape to play). You can move these shapes around to come up with different chords, of course.

Now I'm only talking triads. So using the Dog shape with the next higher note of the chord (the third) to replace the high root note we would say the Dog shape with a pinky on top and the shape would be: either 3215 or 15,14,12,17. The "G" Cat shape with the pinky on top would be: Either 4235 or 16,14,15,17. and The Eb Bear shape with the pinky on top would be: 3336 or 15,15,15,18. As you can see, each shape can be used for any chord as long as you move it appropriately, and may used only twice per chord. Down the neck and up above the 12th fret where the notes repeat.

There are also minor shapes. The "C" minor Dog shape is: 5333, the "A" minor Cat shape is: 5453. And the "F" minor Bear shape is: 5543.

Maybe the diminished chord (1212) is the Dragon shape, and the augmented chord (3221) is the Snake shape. And that covers the Triads. I realize the the fully diminished chord isn't really a triad, but... Dragon chord sounds really cool for that one.

Can you figure out what a Cat7 shape with a pinky on top is?
 
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