Chord phrasing is art of taking a chord progression and
turning it into a means of personal expression. Chord
phrasing allows you total freedom during the performance
of a song to do anything you can imagine with the song's
chord structure. In other words, when playing rhythm guitar
you don't have to just play the chords that go along with
the progression. Playing just the chords can, and will
get boring rather quickly.
Every chord that you can play on the guitar has a scale
pattern based around it. To perform chord phrasing we
take notes from the scale patterns based on the chord
voicings found in the song's chord progression. Sound
complicated? Maybe the best way to show you exactlly what
is chord phrasing is to let you hear it for yourself.
Below are audio examples of two versions of a chord progression
"Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix. The first version
is the song with just it's chords being strummed. Here's
the songs chord progression: Em G Am Em Bm Bbm Am C
G F C D.
Now take a listen:
Now let's take a listen to the same chord progression-
only this time chord phrasing is used:
That's quite a change! With chord phrasing we are playing
along with the chord progression while using notes from
the basic scale patterns associated with each chord voicing.
Again, in plain English that means this: Each chord that
you play has a scale pattern associated with it. For example,
a Em style barre chord has a scale pattern (Em scale pattern)
that is built around the chord shape.
You'll learn all about chord phrasing in the Chord
Phrasing section of the Guitar Alliance Member's
Site. We'll break it down for you in easy to digest
chunks and before you know it you'll be able to improvise
along with any chord progression (song)
using chord phrasing like in the song Little Wing. Seriously!
Find out more
by clicking here!
In the tab below is the complete intro to Little Wing
as performed by Stevie Ray Vaughan (and heard in the chord
phrasing audio sample above). Above each tab staff is
the names of the chords that Vaughan is phrasing from.
All the root notes played on the low E string (6th) are
played with the thumb. It's the only way to free up enough
fingers to play the passages on the other strings. If
you've never played with your thumb, don't frown upon
it. Try to incorporate it into your playing, because it
can open up a world of possibilities.
One final note: Stevie Ray adds the Am voicing right
at the beginning that is not in the original song. Have
fun!
We'll show you how to master the art of chord phrasing
and much more in the Guitar Alliance Member's Site. Click
here to find out more!
