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Thread: bouzouki chords

  1. #1
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    I have heard many people talk about chords on the bouzouki being kind of tough because of the reach, but is it much harder than reaching on guitar?

  2. #2
    Registered User otterly2k's Avatar
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    halfling...they are hard to reach if you try to play them the same as on a mandolin. When playing 'zouk, though, most folks seem to use chords that utilize the open strings, or that take one or two fingers... different forms of the chords-- in which case, no, it's not harder than guitar.
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    The reach question is most often brought up comparing a zouk to an OM in playing melodies. But the chord shapes on a zouk tuned in fifths tend to be more spread out than on a guitar with its fourths with a third thrown in. For instance the simplest A chord on a guitar has three strings fretted all on the same fret. On an 4 string instrument tuned GDAE it takes fretting at three different frets. #It isn't that chording a zouk is difficult, but that you don't have all the chording choices as on a mandolin, because some of the reaches for the variants are impossible, the classic 7-5-2-3 mandolin G chord, for instance. #You can't reach 6 frets from 1st postion on a zouk any more than you could on a guitar.




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    Since I have a background in Music Theory, making a chord is not hard for me, I alwyas find it and not just read it out of a book. So I always find the simplest chord and use that for example a D is, 2-0-0-2, of course on an A you are kind of stuck with the usual setup, which I find alot easier to do on the bigger instruments, but that is what happens when one has a size 12.5 ring.

  5. #5
    '`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`' Jacob's Avatar
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    The chord charts for common Irish bouzouki tunings at Han's Irish Bouzouki Homepage may be useful.

  6. #6
    Registered User steve V. johnson's Avatar
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    I came to bouzouki playing from guitar, and I had a zouk made that is the same scale length as my favorite guitar, so the chord reaches are no much of a concern for me. I do, however play one-and two-finger chords often, and my fiddler says that I haven't played a complete triad in years... <GGG>

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