Chording help

[Sorefingers100]

I've been playing the guitar for years and started the mandolin a couple of years ago. I still find chords on the mandolin difficult. For one, some chords just don't sound correct. For example, with some major 7th chord fingerings, I can't hear the 7th sound. Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[FredK]

I've played guitar since the early 70's and just picked up playing the mandolin a little over a year ago. With guitar, there are a limited number of chord shapes because of the tuning and the length of the fretboard (combined with the player's finger dexterity). The mandolin is quite different with so many chord shapes due to tuning in 5ths and smaller fretboard. Even with a fair understanding of music and its make up, I've found that I had to go back to the drawing board and fine-tune my education on chord composition. That, along with knowing the fretboard, has made a great impact on what I can get out of the instrument for any particular score. Mandolessons.com has some very basic lessons on chords. I almost didn't watch them because I thought they would be too basic but seeing how to create the different chordal variants has changed my way of practicing. I know there will be others here with much better suggestions but check it out and happy pickin's!

[Tom Wright]

The sound of a chord depends on which notes dominate, and the relation between the notes. Because it's hard or impossible to play close-voiced chords with the wider 5ths tuning the interesting note, like the major 7th, will likely be in a different relation to the other notes than you are used to. Don't settle for the voicings in a chord book if they don't sound right to you,

I'm most likely to use this form for Maj7 = 5-2-2-3, for example as C M7. But if the song wants the 7th on top, drop the note on the E string for 5-2-2-x.

You may see this for G M7 = 0-0-2-2, which is legal but the spread is so wide it doesn't have the rich feel of a guitar M7 chord. I like 7-5-2-2, x-5-2-2, or 0-4-5-x.

It's useful to skip a note for finding the right shape, dropping the 5th or 3rd from a chord if needed, as in the 0-4-5-x example. Even the tonic can be skipped if it's in the song, by voice or other melody. Also, if you've just played a chord those notes are still in the listener's ear and will be part of the feel of the next chord. For example, I often like the close-voiced chord 5-2-3-x instead of 0-2-3-x because it is more focused, and the 5th is probably not needed. Two Cs in the chord convince the ear it is a C chord.

Chords match melodies, or add to them. The top note is often the same as the song melody, and the bottom note is most satisfying when it matches the bass line. Those preferences give way to necessity of course, when one or the other is awkward.

[Mark Gunter]

Think creatively, think about the intervals you need and try new fingerings to find the sound that pleases you, I really like Tom's advice, "Don't settle for the voicings in a chord book if they don't sound right to you."

You can't really invent new chord shapes, it's all been done, but you can certainly discover for yourself voicings that you haven't yet seen by thinking creatively and doing some experimentation. I'm a guitarist and newbie-mandolinist too, like you, and have had a lot of fun finding chords I like on the mandolin. When I first started trying to play chords on the mandolin, I didn't like the sound, but that prejudice passed with time and practice.

[DavidKOS]

As a guitarist, mandolinist and tenor banjo player, I understand your issues with chords and the different voicings that each tuning offers.

I often tune a 4 string banjo to "Chicago" tuning if I need to play a lot of "dixieland" and early jazz solo chord melody style. Why? The close voicings on DGBE tuning, more than on any of the tunings in 5ths, sound better to my ears - because it's the same as the top strings on guitar but because of the sound.

However, I love the open, spread voicings that 5ths give when playing rhythm in a traditional jazz band.

For example, with some major 7th chord fingerings, I can't hear the 7th sound. Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

As for M7th chords, I try to keep the M7th note on the top two strings as it gets a bit lost on the D or G strings.

[Mark Miller]

Same thing happened to me. Coming from guitar, when I first learned 7th chords on the mandolin I just couldn’t hear that sound. You can get it in the appropriate places by playing tremolo on a double stop that includes that note, especially if a guitarist is holding down the full chord, but that won’t get you the satisfaction of a full chord if you’re playing by yourself. IMO mandolin just isn’t as suited for solo playing as guitar. But in an ensemble, it can’t be beat!

[EdHanrahan]

... Don't settle for the voicings in a chord book.

... especially because, with widely-spaced string tuning and tightly-spaced frets, mandolin allows more note combinations for any given chord than does guitar. Some interesting sounds can be had by combining open strings with fretting well up the neck.