4.6
Chord Voicing
37
•
Movable Chords
. These chords do not use open strings. As a result they can be moved
along the fretboard of the guitar allowing one to easily play the same voicing in different
tonalities. This type of chords includes barre chords which are obtained by using one finger to
press down multiple strings across the fretboard. Movable chords always use the maximum
possible number of strings and are therefore useful to play arpeggios. Furthermore they allow
one to play the same arpeggio patterns in different keys.
•
Drop Chords
. These are four note chords which allow for fast and subtle movement between
chords. The positions used by
Strum
are based on drop 2 and drop 3 chords. These chords
are obtained by dropping the second or third voice of a chord down one octave. Chords
played on the keyboard with three notes will always be played on three strings by
Strum
. If
the chord contains 4 or more notes, the corresponding voicing will always be played on four
strings. This type of chord sounds lighter and is extensively used in jazz.
In addition to these voicing categories, the voicing can be made more precise by specifying
what should be the lowest note of the chord played by
Strum
:
•
Lowest
. The lowest note in the guitar voicing chosen by
Strum
is the lowest note played
on the keyboard. This type of voicing is useful if it is necessary that the bass of the chord
sequence follows a specific movement.
•
Root
. The lowest note in the guitar voicing chosen by
Strum
is the root of the detected chord.
It is very common for guitar chords to have the root in bass position. This choice of chord
type allows one to play chords on the keyboard using any voicing and still obtain a guitar
chord in root position.
Finally, the
Playing Position
parameter from the
Chord
section allows one to specify the lowest
fret on which the lowest note of a chord should be played. This control gives
Strum
an indication
of the position on the neck where chords should be played and chords are voiced accordingly when
possible. This parameter is of course only valid for movable chords and it is therefore inactive
when open chords are chosen.
Although there is no general rule and there are many ways to play in different musical styles or
obtain different effects, we give some guidelines on chord types and performance settings which
should work well in specific situations:
•
Folk
. Open-Root and medium strumming speed.
•
Country and Bluegrass
. Open-Root with a high strumming speed.
•
Pop-Rock
. Moveable-Root.
•
Arpeggios with bass motion
. Moveable-Lowest or Open-Lowest.
•
Jazz
. Drop chords.
•
Samba Bossa
. Drop chords. Use the arp 6 strumming key to play the bass and arp keys 4, 3
and 2 simultaneously to play the rest of the chord.
