(guitar) chord voicings

[D-Tuned]

I've now completed a major hardware upgrade including a game-changing 32" 4K monitor* and am tinkering (this time) with a chord aide-mémoire (some might remember the exotic chord namings I was playing with a couple of years ago). This time I'm trying to nail down so called voicings to incorporate into a bash script. A randomly selected note/mood would pop up to prompt for a given chord to be played. Some chords remain out of bounds for lack of interest and some for lack of fingers to do them but there still remains a fairly rich field of possibilities.

So for B as an example with D-Tuning the shapes I can manage are these 3:

• A shape with root on string 3 (fret6)
• F shape with root on string 4 (fret11)
• C shape with root on string 5 (fret4)

The random pop-up in the above F case would just say "B 4" meaning a B (major) with root on string 4. The prompt would wait a user-settable number of seconds and then morphe into the full color chord diagram with the fret number and an audio sample. I've done something similar with my jam videos in folder 'jam-tracks'

Code: Select all

#!/bin/bash
# repopulate promt directory from standard
cp /0/data/music/chordquiz/promptsrc/* /0/data/music/chordquiz/prompt
directory_path="/0/data/music/chordquiz/prompt"
while [ "$(ls -A "$directory_path")" ]

do
cd /0/data/music/chordquiz/prompt
array=( * )     #make new array from directory contents
#
#echo "${array[@]}" # will dump all elements of the array
size=${#array[@]}   # assign size of array to variable 'size'
rfromsize=$(($RANDOM % size))  # # Pick an array element, rfromsize WAS 'index'before
echo $rfromsize $size > ~/r1-size1.txt
longelement=${array[$rfromsize]}
element=${longelement::-4}   # remove (.png) extension extension from longelement to make element
#
# SHOW the PROMT image for element:
###################################
feh -x -g 540x924+1500+500 --zoom 300  /0/data/music/chordquiz/prompt/$element.png &
pid=$!      # get pid of THIS command now backgrnd process
sleep 1s    # wait X seconds
kill $pid   # close this pid
#
# show image 2 of element:
feh -x -g 540x1596+1500+300 --zoom 300 /0/data/music/chordquiz/diags/$element.png &
pid2=$!      # get pid of THIS command now backgrnd process
sleep 10s    # wait X seconds
#
# LOOP the mp3 XY times while still showing image 2 of element
#mpg123 --loop 3 /0/data/music/chordquiz/mp3/$element.mp3
# only have the 1 mp3 so far
#mpg123 --loop 3 /0/data/music/chordquiz/mp3/B_3.mp3
pid3=$!      # get pid of THIS command now backgrnd process
kill $pid    # close this pid
kill $pid2   # close this pid
kill $pid3   # close this pid
#
# remove file from prompt directory
rm /0/data/music/chordquiz/prompt/"$longelement"

done

exit

Problem with the above is that it WORKS with brute force and uneklegantly because my bash skills are short of poor and re-remembering do it it Perl would take weeks.

Is the string # for root note enough to uniquely identify the (guitar) voicing or can there be several voicings with the root on the same string (AFAIK the root is always the lowest note in the subject triad in the chord)? What would generic (any instrument) voicings be called?

• There's a sweet-spot for monitor size/resolution and if I want to be working at my desk with the chair rolled back a couple of feet to make room for a guitar in front of me then such a monitor works out pretty good.

[merlyn]

... So for B as an example with D-Tuning the shapes I can manage are these 3:

• A shape with root on string 3 (fret6)
• F shape with root on string 4 (fret11)
• C shape with root on string 5 (fret4)

There's some ambiguity here as do you mean an A shape in E standard, or an A shape in D standard? An A shape in E standard does indeed have the root on the third string:

In E standard using this shape with the root at the sixth fret is C#, so using it with the root at the sixth fret in D standard is down a tone from C# and is B. Is this the shape you are talking about?

... Is the string # for root note enough to uniquely identify the (guitar) voicing ...

No. If we go with the idea that you're using E standard shape names on a D standard guitar then a F shape with the root on the eleventh fret would be this:

That's C# in E standard, therefore B in D standard. With the root on the fourth string that could also be a D shape:

Not the nicest of keys. Just ignore that and focus on the tab.

(AFAIK the root is always the lowest note in the subject triad in the chord)?

It doesn't have to be. Here is an A chord (whew, only three sharps) taken up the neck with the root as the lowest note, then the third as the lowest note, then the fifth as the lowest note:

On a D standard guitar that's a G chord.

What would generic (any instrument) voicings be called?

If you post an example, I'll tell you what it's called. If it's required to specify an exact voicing then the best way to do that would be with notation. Chord symbols like B, G, D, A, and E are open to interpretation.

[D-Tuned]

Code: Select all

OP code edited to show where I'm at with it.

I always use dropstep D-tuning (OK, call it D-standard). Prototyping the quiz and taking my 1st example of a B major chord using the A shape with the root note on the 3rd string....

The prompt image (only part of the full story):

https://archive.org/details/b-3_20250617
just says B (major) with root on 3rd string. There'll be a countdown to let the student think about it.

The full image:

https://archive.org/details/b-0306
would then show to allow for practice/memory with a validation mp3 looping every (5?) seconds or so (just slightly arpeggiated). This validation mp3 would be sourced elsewhere to serve as a check and the image would remain untill the mp3 loops end.

Using only D-standard and below fret 12, I plan to index on the root string only but if this is not enough then I will add other known cue(s) to hint voicing.

[merlyn]

I would call this:

a big ol' A shape barre chord. As you are tuned to D, it would make sense for you to call that a G shape barre chord, as the chord is G when played in the open position. Entirely up to you, of course. There's also a root on the fifth string and usually that would be the reference point, with most people thinking about this shape as "root on the fifth string", here at the fourth fret.

That is a particularly guitar oriented voicing. When I suggested notation, I was suggesting notation for "generic (any instrument)" voicings. For chords, there really only is the guitar and keyboard, so to tell a keyboard player the exact voicing, notation could be used. For a guitar-specific quiz like you're doing, I think the chord box would be enough.

[D-Tuned]

I would call this:

a big ol' A shape barre chord. As you are tuned to D, it would make sense for you to call that a G shape barre chord, as the chord is G when played in the open position. Entirely up to you, of course.

Why do you complicate my life every time you respond?

All this time I was convinced that the A shape was any chord in which strings 2, 3 & 4 are fretted on the same fret.

There's also a root on the fifth string and usually that would be the reference point, with most people thinking about this shape as "root on the fifth string", here at the fourth fret.

My old teach told me that "the triad is where it's at", THAT root is THE root and any lower instance of the root would be one of them 'over X' thingies. Also the position of root within the triad is what determines voicing but that one I never really understood (yet).

That is a particularly guitar oriented voicing. When I suggested notation, I was suggesting notation for "generic (any instrument)" voicings.

I could use that one AS WELL since the prompt image already has the staff notation (only because I'm too lazy to take it out, I have like 300 diagrams).

For chords, there really only is the guitar and keyboard, so to tell a keyboard player the exact voicing, notation could be used. For a guitar-specific quiz like you're doing, I think the chord box would be enough.

I could use the chord box without a fret # without giving the secret away but that could become unproductive. Provisionally I'm going to continue using the string # of the triad root for purposes of prompting in the quiz, I'll superscript the other over the notation once I figure out what those look like.

Thanks.

[merlyn]

You're welcome.

... All this time I was convinced that the A shape was any chord in which strings 2, 3 & 4 are fretted on the same fret. ...

The shape names come from open position chords. A popular system is CAGED, which uses five open position chords to span the whole neck.

Even that diagram is not definitive as e.g. the G shape could have open B instead of fretted D, the C shape could have G (the fifth) in the bass ...

On a guitar tuned to D these shapes are Bb G F D C, so you have the BbGFDC system which is more difficult to pronounce. Alternatively, the shape names are CAGED when barred at the second fret on a guitar tuned to D.

Worth remembering that music is a sonic art, and whatever you call anything, it still sounds the same.