Guitar/chord question

[doppelkorn]

The standard open D chord is played on the top 4 strings with an open D string for the bass. When you learn D they tell you to only play the top 4 strings. Standard. If you accidentally hit the open A string it sounds muddy.

 

There's a variation where you add the F# bass in using your thumb on the top string. In that variation (technically an inversion?) you mute the open A string, because it sounds muddy.

 

QUESTION: why?

 

The A note is part of the D major triad. You're playing an A on the G string in a D major anyway, so why does it sound muddy to bring in a lower A note?

 

If you're doing a bouncing bass note thing (like Johnny Cash does) on a D chord, you'll alternate between a D bass and an A bass and that sounds fine. For example, Neil Young's Harvest springs to mind.

[Solemn]

i used to play guitar when i was a child. that's how i did a d chord http://www.cs.utah.edu/~bnewbold/guitarguide/dchord.jpg

 

which one do you mean? a picture would be tremendously helpful...

[doppelkorn]

I mean exactly that.

[Solemn]

why do you have to question everything? don't hit that string then or just play another chord, there's loads of good ones

[doppelkorn]

What an odd response.

 

I'm not complaining that I'm not allowed to hit that string. I'm asking why, in terms of music theory.

[mfsop]

I don't play guitar, so this is just a guess but if you play by yourself, you should normally play the root note as the lowest tone. Of course, you could play an inversion on a piano but without the bass player / left hand playing the root, it could be unclear which chord you're playing. Not saying, that it should never be done..

 

F# A D could also be F#m aug.5 which is a weird chord and it might also suggest that you're playing in A major (F# being the parallel to A). Now A is the fifth of D and their triads don't share any notes. That's probably why a Fifth always begs for a resolution to the root (see ii-V-I progressions).

 

For the alternating bass line: playing the fifth below the root is quite common in Soul bass lines, too. It creates "stress" because it's not clear if you're playing I-IV or I-V by just listening to that one bar, I guess.

 

Now, people of DV that actually know something about this stuff, please step up!

[doppelkorn]

D/F# is definitely an established chord. It's often used to do bass runs between G and Em.

 

I don't know if it's an inversion because I've only heard that term in relation to piano.

[mfsop]

I don't think I understand what you mean - all I'm saying is that the lowest tone you hear in a chord is usually believed to be the root note, so it might feel like F#=root, A=minor third, D=augmented fifth, even though it's just an inversion of D major.

Just playing D and F# could also belong to B minor, so the extensions are often responsbile for making clear which chord you play.

Again, not a guitar player and I was never great a piano, either. It might be better to ask this on another forum but if you find out, it'd be nice to post a link to it.

[Mike-L]

Inversion is the right term it's not specific to piano. I think muddiness is a matter of taste than right & wrong . Bass sounds seem to take up more space sonically - that's why you tend not to play dense chords in the bass register on any instrument. With the two chords you described there is more space between the F# and the D than there is between the A and the D.Hence the subjective mudiness. Also, Distorted sounds take up more space sonically too due to the harmonic richness that's why you tend not to play 3rds, 7ths etc with distortion but stick to roots and fifths.

[doppelkorn]

Thanks Mike. You managed to understand what I meant!

[Frost]

Ooooh look at me, I play a guitar.

 

#classicdopp

[ericuk]

"Ooooh look at me, I play a guitar."

 

Said in Ricky Gervais voice = even better.

[Unit27]

As far as I understand harmony, the perfect 5th, being the note that adds the least color to a chord after the octave, doesn't do much to define the chord. That's why, when doing voice leading it's better to double the root or 3rd of the chord, which help reinforce the degree or character of the chord.

 

In D Mayor, when you use the 2nd inversion of D (A D F#) it sounds closer to the V chord with its tensions (4th and 6th) than an inverted I chord. That's why playing bouncing bass works, it's kinda like doing a whole chord change just by moving one note.

[R Funksmith]

muddiness is a matter of taste than right & wrong .

 

totally. A D chord with an A at the bottom works fine depending on context. It's almost exactly the same as playing an A chord with an open E at the bottom. Don't do it all the time but don't feel like it must be avoided at all costs